Page 93 of Saving the Last Heir
“Good.” I nodded to myself, holding back a floodgate of emotion. I wanted to mourn Tormynd, but there was too much to do. As the lone alpha of winged dragons, I had too much responsibility to allow myself to fall apart. I would mourn in private, but here, I had to be strong for the others.
“Go…uh…go get some rest,” I said. “You guys have been up all night.”
They nodded and shuffled out of the room. I watched them go and hoped they would be okay. I doubted they would actually sleep. I knew I wouldn’t. I wished I could be back in bed with Shyanne, her warm soft body pressed against mine, and have no knowledge of what had just happened. Instead, I was here, dealing with the aftermath. Another dragon gone. One fewer set of wings in the sky. One step closer to extinction.
I trudged down the hallway and the stairs to the hatchery. I had one more person to speak to.
Since my sister’s egg had been taken, Mom hadn’t been sleeping well. She’d finally stopped spending every minute in the empty room where the egg had been, but when she awoke in her bed, she still went down there. That was where I found her. She sat on a chair, a steaming mug in her hand, staring at the spot where the egg should have been.
“Hey, Mom,” I said, walking over and kneeling beside her. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.” She sipped her tea. “I didn’t think you were home. You weren’t there when I went to bed. Did you just get back?”
“I did.” I swallowed hard. “Carson called me home. There was an emergency.”
She sipped her coffee again and nodded. “It’s Tormynd, isn’t it? He’s gone?”
I stared at her, dumbfounded. “Uh…how did you know?”
She chuckled ruefully and stared into her mug. “Tiana and Carson are sweet. They tried to keep the truth from me. I heard the coughing last night. I knew that sound.” She turned sad, miserable eyes toward me. “It was the same cough your father had before he vanished. They think I’m fragile.”
“No, they just didn’t want to add to your stress,” I argued, though I knew that was a lie.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” she said, reaching out and touching my cheek. “I understand. When your sister was taken, I didn’t react well, so I don’t blame them. I said my goodbyes to him, though.”
“You did?” I couldn’t help but show my confusion.
She nodded. “When they were downstairs making soup and toast for Tormynd, I snuck into his room. The moment I saw him, I knew he didn’t have more than a few hours. I told him how happy I was to have gotten to know him, and how grateful we were that he came to live with us, even if it was only for a short time.” She sighed sadly. “He was a sweet man.”
I stared at the empty nest. The stones that usually kept the egg warm were now dark and cold.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” I said. “I should have been.”
“You have a life to live, Jackson,” she said, giving me a reproachful look. “I know you think every single thing involving our people is your business, but it’s too much for one man.”
“It’s not,” I said. “I can handle it. Trust me.”
“Boy, look at me,” she demanded in the same tone she’d used when I was a willful child who didn’t want to listen. Reluctantly, I stayed quiet and listened this time.
“You handleeverythingeven when there are people who can help. You’re managing all the companies, you’re hopping around the globe looking for cures and surviving dragons, you’re trying to a good alpha… That is too much for one man. You need a way to live. To survive. Who cares if you find a way to save our people if you’re miserable and drained? You can’t burn a candle from both ends and expect it not to end badly.” She heaved a weary sigh. “I wish you had someone to confide in and rely on. I’m your mother, and I’d love to be that for you but…” She shrugged. “It’s not the same.”
I thought of Shyanne, probably still asleep in the hotel. The fact that she was the very first person I thought of showed me where my heart lay, but I didn’t know how that would work. We weredesperate to save our race, and to do that I needed to mate with another winged dragon, or a wyrm or drake, to give us even a passing chance at a winged dragon child. But what point was there in living a life without happiness?
Mom talked about me taking on too much. Was this one of those times? Was I possibly forgoing the pursuit of something that might make my life worth living?
“I think I’m going to go back to bed,” Mom said, tearing me from my thoughts. She sounded more tired than ever.
“Okay,” I said as I stood.
She put her mug on the ground and rose, giving the empty nest one last look before moving toward the door.
“Poor Tormynd,” she said. “I’m going to miss that man.”
“I am too,” I admitted.
“I love you so much,” she said, looking back over her shoulder at me. “If either of us ever vanishes, I want you to know how much I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom,” I said, swallowing hard to keep fresh tears at bay.
