Page 54 of Mikhail
“Hopefullynot.”
She slipped upstairs to get dressed, trusting Mikhail had the situation under control. By the time she returned, she heard voices—both male andfemale.
“Piper, we’re in the kitchen,” Mikhail called when she reached the bottom stair. Once in the kitchen, she found a handsome blond man and a pretty woman with dark brown hair standing close toMikhail.
“Piper, this is my brother Grigori and his mate,Madelyn.”
Piper stared at Mikhail and the man beside him. The family resemblance was there, the proud features, the beautiful eyes, only Grigori’s were blue rather thangreen.
“Hi,” Madelyn said, her eyes bright and her smile warm. She was American like Piper, something that made Piper relax instantly. Madelyn held out a hand, and Piper shookit.
“Belishaw mentioned you might come,” was all she could think to say. She’d learned much about Grigori from the sketches with the small notes, and yet she still felt shy around him, afraid to make eyecontact.
“Belishaw, eh?” Grigori said with a chuckle and shared a smile with Mikhail. “Good man…for an English dragon.” Grigori spoke in the same soft, slightly rough, and yet irresistible Russian accent asMikhail.
Madelyn spoke up. “Why don’t you guys go out to the living room? Us girls will have some tea and see what’s in the kitchen to make for dinner.” She shooed the two men out of the kitchen and turned to Piper. “I can’t cook to save my life. I just needed a way to let them have a private talk. It’s been almost two hundred years since they last spoke. Besides, I’m dying to hear all aboutyou.”
“Me?” Piper swallowed. “Well, you probably heard about the jewelheist…”
Madelyn grinned. “Notthat. Don’t you realize you are the first human in a thousand years to turn into a dragon? At least, that’s what Grigori says. This ishuge.”
Piper sighed. “It really hasn’t sunk in. I just… I mean, my old life is over, isn’t it? I’m still thinking about… I mean, I don’t know how to…” She couldn’t finish, and she suddenly felt like crying. Madelyn was there in an instant, huggingher.
“Hey. It’s going to be okay. I’ve been exactly where you are. I spent my life thinking I was human, but then I met Grigori and learned I was a Thunderbird. My whole life got turned on itshead.”
“What’s a Thunderbird?” Piper wiped her eyes, curiosity outweighing herconfusion.
“Sort of like a phoenix,” Madelyn explained. “A mythical bird that can kill dragons. It summons storms and can create sonic booms with itswings.”
“Wait, you killdragons?”
Madelyn bit her lip and nodded. “They’re supposed to be my mortal enemy. It’s a long story, but being with Grigori changed the way I saw things. And being a part of the Barinov family… It’s amazing. You won’t regret being mated to Mikhail. Change this big is always scary, but it’s going to be okay. You’re meant to be one of us. We’ll help you get through this.” Madelyn gave her another warm hug. “Now, let’s find something to cook. Surely between the two of us we can make something edible. Dragons have big appetites. So do Thunderbirds, for thatmatter.”
Piper chuckled as she touched her stomach. She was definitelyhungry.
She followed Madelyn to the fridge and realized she could actually hear Mikhail talking in the other room. Her sense of hearing had improved. How cool was that? She was dying to know just what other abilities she’d picked up now that she was a dragonshifter.
Hopefully she’d have the next several millennia to findout.
18
It is time to end a story that began in sorrow and ordeal and has ended in a deep and lasting happiness. May it be so forothers.
-AnneMcCaffrey
“It’s been a long time, brother,”Grigorisaid.
“It has indeed,” Mikhail replied. A hundred things he’d longed to say simply faded. He pulled his elder brother into a fierce hug. Two hundred years had passed since he’d seen Grigori, and in that embrace he felt every single day fadeaway.
“Now that you have the jewels back, tell me you will stop this exile nonsense and come home. Rurik and I miss you. Besides, now that you shall be an unclesoon…”
Mikhail’s lips parted in shock. “You meanyou…”
“Madelyn and I are expecting a drakeling. Should be here in eight months. Can you believe it? I’m going to be a father.” Grigori’s blue eyes sparkled like diamonds. He’d never lookedhappier.
Mikhail slapped his brother’s back. “Congratulations.” But then he sobered. “But how? Madelyn isn’t a dragoness.” Belishaw was sure Mikhail’s brother had mated a mortal. He’d thought that Grigori wouldn’t want to have to watch his mate die, and children wouldn’t bepossible.
Grigori’s expression sobered. “No. Madelyn isn’t a dragon, but she’s not mortaleither.”
