Page 66 of Under the Dragon's Spell
"Why did you want to bond with Mother if you're so against the idea now?"
"I've read descriptions about the connection it achieves between two people. They sounded intoxicating. Probably why young dragons kept doing it. But that's not why you want to do it, is it?"
I shook my head, although I didn't feel the need or the desire to explain myself to him. "You didn't only want the connection. You also wanted to live longer."
"I'll admit that would have been a nice bonus for me. Your mother wasn't that invested in the idea, though. She got it into her head that I was using her."
"Were you?"
"Would you believe it if I said no?"
I shrugged. None of that mattered now. Not truly. "Tell me how it's done."
He sighed and then he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Before he unfolded it, he asked: "Will I ever get to meet your mate?"
I looked at the paper, then at him. "If this saves him, I suppose I can allow a visit. A short one. You can see your grandkids."
His eyes widened. "I have grandkids?"
"You will, in a few weeks. Twins." I actually felt a little proud as I said that.
"Wow. That's great. They'll drive you insane."
I laughed in spite of myself. I'd gladly let them drive me insane if they were just born safely and without hurting their other daddy.
Meanwhile, my father finally unfolded the paper. It had a collection of runes on it.
"This is the ancient language of your kind," he said.
"I can see that." I couldn'treadit, but I'd seen the writing in text books before. "What does it say?"
"I'm not too sure myself, to be honest. I know the last part is your name. Like a signature."
"A signature? What do I do with these runes?"
"You turn into your dragon form, and then you write them onto your mate's skin using your claw."
I winced. "That sounds painful."
"The cuts don't need to be deep, but they do need to be there. There's no way around that. Then when you're done, you cauterize the wound by breathing your fire on him."
"I'm not going to burn him."
"It won't hurt him at that point. At least, that's what the texts say."
"If I trust you on this and I end up hurting him, I will hunt you down and make sure you hurt worse."
"No need for threats, son."
I pressed my lips into a thin line, hoping for both our sakes that he was right. "Is that everything?" I asked.
"That's everything."
"Good. Then we're done here." I stood and threw a few dollar notes on the table to pay for the coffee I didn't even drink.
"When can I see my grandkids?" my father asked, still sitting at the table.
"I'll call you when they're born." Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. For now, I had to go see to Adrian, and that was exactly what I did.
