Page 40 of Mated in Flames

It doesn’t surprise me. It was what I had thought the moment Luciana told me what happened. Luciana probably had never even considered it, and would likely have put anything odd that happens around her down to coincidence.

“I don’t even know what to do with the information,” Luciana says, shaking her head. “Later, I’ll read more… maybe my father will finally explain what happened. For now, though…”

She shakes her head again. It must feel strange, to her, to be told that everything she thought she knew about herself and her family was wrong.

“I need to think about it more before I talk about it,” she finally says.

Dane and I nod. After all, if it wasn’t for Luciana, neither of us would be here right now. We owe her our lives, and if all she asks for in return is a bit of processing time, then we’re more than willing to give it to her.

“Luciana, thank you,” Dane says.

Luciana starts, jolted from her thoughts.

“What for?” she asks with a frown.

“The antidote worked,” I reply. “I didn’t believe you could do it, but you did.”

“It isn’t perfect,” Luciana says with a grimace. “You still died.”

“But now we know that we can be revived,” Dane explains. “Even if the antidote isn’t perfect, it will save our lives until it is. I’m assuming you’ll keep working on it?”

Luciana gives him a weak smile.

“Yeah,” she says. “Maybe I’ll be able to prevent death altogether.”

“We’ll help however we can,” I say. “In the meantime, I think Dane and I should carry a vial of the antidote you have right now at all times. Just in case.”

“I’m not sure you’ll be able to administer it to yourself,” Luciana warns. “You blacked out within seconds of being poisoned, Warwick, and you were in too much pain to know what was going on around you.”

“Then we’ll be even more careful,” Dane says, giving me a hard look. “We won’t risk anything anymore.”

I grimace. It seems my flying days are over, permanently. Perhaps seeing the distress on my face, Dane sighs.

“I was thinking of building another barn,” he says suddenly, in an offhand manner. “A really big one, maybe lowering it into the ground with a high roof. Plenty of room in it.”

I understand what he’s saying instantly. A barn that the two of us can go to in order to stretch our wings without danger, to be who we are. I grin at him and he smiles back.

“That sounds wonderful,” Luciana says warmly. “I can’t wait to see it. My father has a few contacts, maybe we can get some of them to help with building it.”

“Sounds good to me,” Dane says with a nod.

I lean back. To think, last night, I was certain that none of us would be here anymore. Yet here we are, discussing a building project and future antidotes.

Luciana stands and stretches her arms over her head. She yawns, suddenly looking very tired.

“Dane, I might pass on the coffee, actually,” she says as the kettle boils. “I might head home and have a shower instead. My animals are going to need feeding and I can’t remember if I actually locked my door last night.”

“Actually, ours will, too,” I say, glancing at Dane. “I didn’t feed them last night; they’re going to be furious with us.”

“It’s fine,” Luciana says. “I fed them while I was waiting for you to get home yesterday.” She shrugs when we gape at her. “I had hours to worry and think, so I figured I’d make myself useful.”

“Well, I’m glad of that,” Dane says with a smile.

Is it just me, or does he seem far warmer toward Luciana now? I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised. After all, she did save us. If that didn’t convince Dane to trust her, nothing would.

Also, the discovery that she wasn’t as ‘normal’ a human as we had all originally thought probably helps, too.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” I ask, standing as well.

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