Page 122 of The Heart of the Dragon

As I peered out the open window again, a shiver swept over me and Magnus growled in response before pulling me tighter to his side. I certainly wasn't ever going to complain about the warmth he provided. Once the sun had gone down so had the temperature. I made a note that if we were going to use carriages for travel in the future, I'd need to pack a blanket.

"We're almost there," he said against my ear. "And once we are, you can take your clothes off and?—"

"For the Goddess's sake do not finish that sentence. I do not want any pictures in my head that do not belong there," Isaac hissed.

Kitra elbowed him in the ribs. "Grow up, dragon-man. The only naked woman you'll be seeing is me."

"Okay, maybe we should change the subject," Magnus said. "We need something else to occupy our minds until we are alone again."

"I offered to go my own way. In fact, I would have preferred it."

"And we both know that if you'd taken to the skies, you would have drawn every demon sprite in the kingdom. Those little shits never stop."

Isaac snorted. "Maybe now that you're King, you can do something about that. I, for one, am totally up for a good barbecue."

"Isaac," Kitra groaned. "Must you always try to kill them? Especially Ensley. How many times is she going to help us before you give her a break?"

"A tiger doesn't change his stripes, little beast. And neither does a demon. If you don't think her help has come at a price, then you are blind."

"What kind of price?" I asked.

Kitra shook her head. "There is no price. My mate is just extra paranoid."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Mark my words."

"There is no price," Kitra repeated. "Trust me."

"What are you going to do, now that you've come back here?" Magnus blurted, changing the subject without an ounce of subtlety. "I never expected to see either of you again."

Isaac clamped his mouth shut and crossed his arms over his chest.

Kitra sighed.

I couldn't tell exactly what was going on between them right now as they both seemed reluctant to answer. It was then it finally dawned on me. They'd warned me about the time shifts and what would happen when we came through the portal and then tried to go back. Which is why I'd assumed we wouldn't go back.

I didn't want to see everything I'd missed. Coming here was too important and an experience I couldn't pass up, but to go back. No. For better or worse, I belonged here now.

"How much time has passed?"

"A lot," Magnus said when it seemed neither of them were going to answer me. "A lot."

It didn't seem like we had been here that long, but I distinctly remember Kitra telling me that her and Isaac had only been apart for five minutes here and for him in Scotland, three months had passed.

That would mean... At least decades...

"There will be no reason to go back. My motives for being in that time were already thin to begin with." The tone of Isaac's voice squeezed my heart. I could feel the pain and heartbreak, no matter how well he tried to hide it.

"What about you Kitra? You must have some family here. You weren't gone that long, right?"

She shook her head. "No family. But I have Ensley. She was my mother's friend."

Isaac snorted again and both Kitra and I glared at him. Whatever his issues were with the sprite this was NOT the time. I could feelthis conversation weighing on everyone in this carriage, making it difficult to take a cleansing breath.

"I would have happily stayed in the human realm. Most of my recent memories from this one are too harsh to bear. But I also could not put my happiness above what the bastard king would have done to both realms if he'd opened that portal. Ultimately, we made the right choice."

She gave Isaac's hand a squeeze, and the look he turned on her was both so full of love and desire that it nearly took my own breath away. Before I could reach across the carriage and reassure Kitra that all would be well, the vehicle came to a halting stop.

"We're here," the driver announced.

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