Page 103 of The Mating Claim
Lacey didn’t shift back, but soared upward, not wanting to see Aiden’s discipline doled out. Beatings, or worse, still triggered severeanxiety.
But not as much anxiety as learning her foster mother had kidnapped Tristan and Niki’s littleboy.
A shadow blocked out the sun. She glanced up and saw Drust soaring aboveher.
Land on that patch over there, Lacey. Tristan needs to speak withyou.
Her stomach churned, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. But she knew she could not fly away from thisproblem.
When she landed and shifted back to her human form, clad in blue jeans and a Western shirt, she steeled herself as the Silver Wizard and Drust materialized in front of her. To her shock, Tristan didn’t look furious. Yet this was her fault for reading that spell from the book and for the consequences of her wishmagick.
The Silver Wizard looked weary, his dark gaze haunted, his proud shoulders stooped. Lacey braced herself. Perhaps he would send her to the Shadow Landshimself.
Drust put a hand on Tristan’s shoulder. “Tell her, my friend. The truth. The truth you erased from her life’s history. Even her life file we keep in Tir Na-nog , so I did notknow.”
A long exhale of breath. Tristan reached up and traced runes in the air. They sparkled silver, glittering, and she felt the power rush through theair.
“Melanie took your son. I am sorry, Tristan.” She had to break this silence. “I wished… my foster motherhad…”
“She is not your foster mother,Lacey.”
Blinking, she felt her jaw open and close. “What, I think…what?”
A warm arm slid around her waist as Drust went to her side, encased her in a bracinghug.
“Melanie is your real mother.” Tristan heaved another weary sigh. “None of this was your fault, Lacey. It is mine for keeping the truth from you, and not dealing properly withMelanie.”
Had Drust’s arm not supported her, she would have collapsed. As it was, her knees were knocking and leg musclestrembling.
The Silver Wizard continued. “I thought my actions justified. You were so young, such a strong, spirited dragon and all you wanted was to be loved by your mother. Your real mother. I kept hoping Melanie’s mother instinct would overcome her hatred of what your fatherwas.”
“A dragon shifter with more warlock blood than dragon,” Drust spoke low into her ear, his deep voice soothing. “A warlock who led a coven of witches in Scotland. A warlock who tried to harness dragon magick to empower himself, and instead, fell in love with the dragon the coven captured, as she fell in love with him and conceived a very uniquechild.”
“My father,” she whispered, her voice sounding cracked and uneven. “The book was his, that’s where I got my witch magickfrom.”
“The coven threw him out when they realized he loved Melanie, and for a while Melanie and your father lived together. But her love for the skies and his desire for power clashed. Shortly after you were born, she took you and fled to the States. But the coven found her anyway, and cut off her wings to use in apotion.”
Lacey gasped. Her poor mother… how she hadsuffered.
“Your father did nothing, and your mother blamed all witches for what happened, for her being grounded. I granted a boon from Danu to restore her wings, but she was too proud and angry, and did not wish them again. All she wanted was proof the coven was punished, which Caderynprovided.”
Understanding, bittersweet but clear, filled her. She saw now the incidents where her mother punished her for displaying witch magick, a painful reminder of what Melanie hated themost.
“You began to fantasize she was not your real mother and dreamed of a real mother who loved you unconditionally. I removed you from Melanie, placed you with a dragon mother who loved you, and Evie, as her own. As much as she could. And then to make it less painful, I eradicated your memories and made the dream a reality foryou.”
Lacey bent over, bracing her hands on her knees. “I feelsick.”
Drust placed a hand on the small of her back, rubbing circles there. Warmth filled her, chasing away thenausea.
Finally she was able tostraighten.
“What, what happened to Melanie after you removed me andEvie?”
“She was placed in a care colony for dragons who have mental issues. I always check on her, but only today I realized she had left two daysago.”
Tristan looked at her, his expression contrite, his mouth a grim slash. “I am sorry, Lacey. I should have foreseen this would have happened. She took my child as revenge on me. You had nothing to do withit.”
Maybe once she would have cursed Tristan, or considered a way to tweak this tragedy to her advantage. But time with Drust had changed her, making her realize how precious every moment of life was, and sometimes even the best intentions got screwed up through no one’sfault.
