Mac watched the gentle rise and fall of Juliana’s chest as she slept. She looked at peace, but he knew that was probably due to the sedative that Caran had given her.

He picked up her hand, stroking his thumb over the back of it.

Juliana murmured and rolled over, pulling her hand with her as she moved.

“Juliana? Can you hear me?” He gently nudged her.

“Hmmm.” She mumbled sleepily.

“It’s time to wake up.”

“Later.” She swatted at him lazily. “I’m sleeping.”

He frowned as he caressed her hand. Perhaps he should let her sleep. Sleeping was a more preferable option to being awake and knowing what had happened.

Dragonspark destroyed.

Tessa dead.

The bruises that covered his torso from the bazooka bullet had knocked him down. Thank god he fell into a tree and not the rocks. Because of that he didn’t lose consciousness and was able to save Juliana from the same fate that struck Tessa.

Both women fell. The one he loved living.

And he did love her. He was ready to tell her that now.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Juliana, wake up.”

“Five more minutes.” She snorted as she breathed in.

Mac stood up ready to walk out of the room when she peeled open one eye.

“Hey there,” he said.

Juliana rolled over and rubbed her eyes. She looked around the room as if trying to remember how she got here. She sat up slowly, her body clearly aching with movement.

Bruised was better than dead though. “Hey,” she said. She swallowed and pointed to the bottle of water beside her bed.

Mac fetched it for her and handed it over.

She gulped down the water until the entire bottle was gone.

“You look like shit,” she said, grinning.

He chuckled and sat back down next to her. “You look gorgeous.”

“Liar.” She looked down at the blanket and began to pick at the corner. “Tessa’s dead isn’t she.”

Mac opened his mouth to speak but found the words wouldn’t come. Instead, he simply nodded.

“What happens now?” She looked up concern over her face.

“We just try and move forward. It’ll take a while to rebuild Dragonspark.”

“There’s a lot to rebuild.” She leaned over and squeezed his hand. “I suppose you’re wondering about the fire thing.”

He shrugged. “You have a fire thing? I didn’t notice.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Elle said I was some type of fire empath, where I can manipulate flames when there are strong emotions around me. It could be true. I don't know.”

“Could be.”

“I was going to tell you, I didn’t know how to explain.”

“You thought I’d be surprised about weird powers?" He chuckled. "I can change into a dragon.”

He stroked her arm. “So you’re not frightened I could hurt you?”

“Juliana, you’d never hurt me.”

“I lost a baby because of it.” She looked up tears forming at the corner of her eyes. “It was my fault.”

“No. Not your fault. You didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“I can’t control it.”

“We’ll figure it out together. Perhaps you can learn how to.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She continued to pick at the blanket. “What are you going to do about Blaze?”

“He needs a parent, although I don’t know how to explain what happened to his mother.” Mac sighed. “It’s all so complicated.”

She squeezed his hand. “Then we’ll figure it out together.”

Mac pulled her in and hugged her. He kissed the top of her head then down across her cheek to her lips. “I love you, you know.”

“I know,” she said. “But it’s nice to hear out loud.”

* * *

Mac stared up at the tall glass building. He didn’t like being in the city with so many people around. It made him jumpy and nervous. The top floor was obscured by a low persistent fog that had given the cool morning an eerie feel.

He crossed the road and pressed his hand against the clear glass door before walking inside.

A receptionist sat at the base of the tower. Her dark hair was pulled back into a neat bun and she had bright red lipstick on. She tapped away at a keyboard while talking into a headset.

She looked up as he approached and smiled. “Mac Dragonspark, I presume?”

“Yes.”

“Go on up, they’re expecting you.”

“Right. Thanks.”

He turned toward the shiny elevator doors behind her and walked over to press the button to bring the elevator down.

The doors opened and he stepped inside, choosing the top floor, just like Elle told him to.

The low hum of the motor as it pulled him upwards made him uneasy. He grabbed the ledge that surrounded the tiny steel room for support.

The motor whirred to a halt and a chime rang as the doors slid open. Elle was standing in front of him with a similar headset to the one the receptionist was wearing downstairs.

She looked different with her hair pulled back and a knee length pencil skirt and business shirt. “Hey, you made it.” She turned, her hair flicking over her shoulder.

He stepped out glancing warily up and down the corridor. “Where’s Lyson?” he asked.

“Presentation downstairs in the training room.” She turned and rolled her eyes. “There is a lot of information we have to re-program here. You won’t believe half of it. How’s Juliana doing?”

“Better. She wanted to come.”

“But Caran wouldn’t let her. I swear Caran has turned into such a den mother.” She grinned. “This way. He’s a little nervous.”

“That makes two of us.”

Elle pushed open the door.

Mac peered inside. A boy with remarkably similar hair color to his own sat in the middle of a rug playing with toy dinosaurs. He looked up as Mac entered.

“I’ll catch you later,” said Elle. “We’re changing the security system on five and I need to advise the crew of the new passwords.”

Mac nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on Blaze. The door behind him closed softly.

“You’re my dad, aren’t you.” Blaze looked back to his toys.

“My name’s Mac.” He walked forward. “It’s so good to meet you.”

“I know.” He made a growling noise with his mouth as he picked up one dinosaur and crashed it into another. “My mom said you were gone and not coming back.”

Mac sat down on the sofa. “I’m here now.”

He stuck his lip out. “Okay. Good.”

“Can I play?”

Blaze nodded.

“That’s a good collection of dinosaurs you have there.”

“This is my favorite.” He lifted the one with wings up and handed it over. “You can play with it.”

Mac smiled and pretended to fly it around in front of him.

Blaze watched curiously. “I’m going to fly like that one day.”

“Oh?” Mac raised a brow.

“I know I am.”

“I hope you do. I hope you get everything you want.”

Blaze frowned. “I want to get out of here.”

“You want to go to a park or somewhere else? I can see if we’re allowed to leave.”

“I know I have to go. I can’t stay here now that mom isn’t coming back.”

Mac winced. “I’m sorry about your mom.”

Blaze pretended to study the dinosaur in his hand. “How come you never came here before?”

“I didn’t know about you. Not until very recently. As soon as I found out, I knew I had to come meet you.”

He looked up curiously. “Oh. I was a secret.” He nodded like it made sense to him. “Am I not a secret anymore?”

“No. You’re not.”

“I think I would like to leave.”

“Go to a park.”

“No. Just leave here. Where do you live?”