"Grayson, get Daphne some orange juice." Robert carried me to the living room. My thoughts were jumbled and I couldn’t focus. I listened to his voice and tried to get past my muddled mind. He placed me on the couch and wrapped a soft blanket around my shoulders to stop my trembles. The door opened and Grayson popped his head in. Without being asked, Grayson poured glasses of orange juice.

I shivered and I know Robert saw me, but I couldn’t lie down. I needed to be connected to Robert. I needed to understand that I am still me. I turned and placed two feet on the ground. Human feet. My head throbbed.

Robert gently placed a glass of orange juice in my hands. "Daphne, are you okay?"

With a nod, I swallowed every drop. The sweet nectar soothed my ragged throat like I’d been parched. Once I was done, my jittery grip almost dropped it as I gave the glass back to Robert. "This tastes good."

Grayson handed him a second glass and Robert replaced the juice in my hand. "Have another."

I drank this more slowly and the orange juice burst through my veins, giving me energy. Once done, I returned it with a steadier hand. "Thank you." He shared a look with his brother but I couldn't let Robert leave, not now. I swallowed and put my hand on his chest. "Robert I have so many questions. Am I... no, what am I to do? I thought I was just a normal human…"

"You are special. Human, but more. You are my mate. We are in the same flight."

Again my grandmother's dying words hit me hard. I looked into his blue eyes. This time I had to ask more specific questions. "Flight. I know there are twelve of us, but tell me more."

Her feet were still on the mahogany floor with a red Persian rug in the center of the room. Robert let me go for a moment and turned toward his brother. "Grayson, can you leave us now?"

I sat back. Yes. There were tons of questions I had and most of it started with our hurried wedding. Changing into a dragon meant I was powerful. I needed to start acting the part.

Grayson walked to the door but then called back into the room. "Yes, but don't forget to ask her if she knows any others?"

"I will." Robert nodded.

Once the door closed, I sat straighter and stared at Robert. He was so strong. I steeled my own muscles to be like him. Then I crumpled. He’d been amazing out there—he’d married me knowing what I was. I had no idea. So many questions circled. Again I firmed my body and refused to bury my head, ever again. I narrowed my gaze. "What is he talking about?"

He sat next to me. I realized the pine scent was more like a home scent. He put his hand on mine, brushing against my gold wedding band. "Let me answer your first question."

I lowered my gaze. I didn't even remember my question. "Okay."

"A flight is a group of twelve dragons."

A flight. Right. Grandma knew twelve dragons? No. Grandma could not have had twelve mates. She wasn't that type and I wasn't attracted to Robert's brother at all. I tilted my head up. "Why twelve? What’s special about the number?"

His hand on mine was warm. "We can cover the globe faster if we split up the work."

Oh good. I'm an idiot. Grandma must have only married one dragon, my grandfather. I hoped my face didn't flush as I said, “What work? Grandma didn’t work. She kept me home and away from people, all my life.”

"There are seven continents."

“And four oceans. What does that have to do with me?”

“Vampires, werewolves, succubi, dragons, angels, demons, genies, fairies, and unicorns are all supposed to live on different planes, but the universe combined our existence with normal humanity. Werewolves, Dragons, angels, fairies and unicorns all voted to ensure humanity knows nothing about us.”

His speech hit me harder than bullets from his black handgun. “What’s a flight to do?”

“Ensure the world has no clue about what happens in our world.”

“How?”

“We spread out and find where vampires, succubi, demons and genies might reveal themselves. Those four groups want humanity to live in fear.”

“That’s it? The entire globe, every night?”

"Not every spot is populated. Cities take more time."

Circle the globe? Seriously. Robert's grave expression made me believe him. "What? Cities? Do we fly by skyscrapers unseen? Do we have more powers I don’t know?"

"No. Yes. Dragons are lucky and we always have money.”

“I grew up poor.”

“You never went without.”

“True, but…”

“Let me continue."

My head throbbed but I had to know. "Okay."

He must have seen a spark of something frantic in my gaze. He pressed his right hand on my knee and checked my forehead with the left. "Do you feel okay?"

I brushed his hand off. My temperature was fine. "Just tell me what's going on."

"You will have memories come to you soon." He adjusted the blanket around me.

I’d known the colors meant different things without being told. Were those the memories he was talking about? "Tell me."

"Okay." He leaned forward, his muscular forearms resting on his knees. My body stirred with desire, but I ignored it as he said, "Every fifty years another flight of twelve dragons is formed. We spend the first twenty-five years or so discovering the world and ourselves. Then once we uncover our power, we come together and form our flight. We work for another fifty years to protect humanity from the others, like the vampires. I know I told you this earlier, but then we return to our nest as another flight begins so there are only ever twelve of us at a time."

That was seventy-five years as a dragon. I was twenty-seven. I fell into the 'so' category. "My parents died in a car crash... my grandmother said her flight had ended. But she lived to be a hundred."

He nodded. "She extended her time to protect you. Sometimes dragons extend their time because they simply enjoy their human life, but at the end, the call of the flight is part of our soul."

Some part of my brain accepted his words. My fists clenched in my lap. "How could I not know?"

"In every flight of twelve, some of us are born with the knowledge of what we are. The rest of the flight experiences human life so we know how it feels to be human. My brothers, Grayson and Logan, and I were like you—though we discovered our powers earlier, when the vampires came for our parents and us. "

Either we were both crazy or this was the strangest dream I’d ever had. "Where are your parents? I thought that your father was in Hollywood and that your mother abandoned you? It was what you said. Did you lie about that?"

“No, my brothers and I were adopted. I told you what happened to my adopted family. Mrs. Adams brought us to them as she wanted to protect us.”

I inhaled. I had everything so wrong about her then. “Mrs. Adams? Your housekeeper?”

“Yes. I didn’t want to lie to you, Daphne. I just couldn’t tell you about what I truly am, what we truly are, until I brought you here.”

Fair enough. This was a lot of information. My brain felt like it throbbed as I digested what he said, but I had to push forward. “What happened to your real parents then?”

"A vampire killed my father in front of us. Mother flew us away to protect us here."

I wouldn’t call this house protected. “Why here?”

“We can survive on the harsh coast and at the end of our lives, we return to the caverns below.”

“What caverns?”

“I’ll show you. You’ll get to see your grandmother there.”

This cavern sounded like a mystical place. I pushed my hair out of my face and adjusted my seat on the silk blue couch. "Why would we be born human at all when we're not?"

"So we understand and feel as those we must protect from the others. The old ones decreed this was our way."

Old ones made me think about ancient dragons who lived on some sort of Mount Olympus somewhere. The stories my grandmother read to me about dangerous magic floated in my head. “If we’re to be connected to humanity, why had my grandmother lived in the middle of nowhere? She “died” happy to join her flight again."

“It must be because of your parents. She hid you so that your life wasn’t revealed before it was your time. I hope you ask her when you see her.”

Fair enough, whenever that was, though it had to be soon. I had other questions. Robert had known I was a dragon, before I knew. Was I simply required of him to carry on his family or did he care about me? Love me? I prayed my voice didn't shake as I asked, "Why did you marry another and not come find me years ago?"

"I told you, I thought you were dead, that you had died in the car accident with your parents.” He curled the golden streak in my hair around his finger. “After my parents died, I lost hope too, until I heard the call.”

I snuggled back against the pillows. “How did you know about me, when I didn’t know?”

"I felt in my veins that I needed to go to Italy when I did, but I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t know who you were, Daphne, not your name or what you looked like. And then, at the top of the bell tower, just as I was getting ready to fly across Florence, you appeared like an apparition."

At least it wasn't suicide as I had originally suspected. Then the puzzle pieces of our conversation kept connecting. "Then how did you know in Pisa?”

"I suspected it was you from the emotional connection I felt right then, but then I didn’t know what to do when I realized how innocent you were.”

I’d had an emotional pull toward him the moment we met too. “Okay, you put off a few of my questions by suggesting I ask my grandmother. How can I do that?”

"With practice you will be able to communicate with all your family who are in the cavern that protects us until we are reborn."

Past lives too? No wonder I dreamed of knights trying to slay me. I stood up and paced. The clothes on my back and how they transformed was one. So many questions about my parents surged forward, but I stayed on this topic first. “Reborn? Do we always have the same spiritual mate?”

“Yes.”

Right now I needed to understand the more immediate danger. And after that, if my husband might ever love me. I didn’t want to be married simply because I'm a dragon, and he’s a dragon. Love mattered.

"I don't grasp all of this, but I’m trying. Why would vampires attack dragons? We can kill them with our fire if they approach."

"Yes." His eyes flashed as he brought me into his memory. I could see in my own mind how he and his brothers were in the back of an SUV. Their mother sat in the passenger seat. The car was parked. Waiting. Through Robert’s eyes, I saw their father come out of the grocery store, bags in his hands. White faces suddenly surrounded him. His father dropped the groceries and transformed, but the vampire attacked his weak spot, killing him. Their mother jumped from the car and transformed, picking up the SUV with her talons to fly her children away. Robert stared out the back window as his father was eaten. The memory hit me hard, like it was my own.

The second I could breathe again, I cupped Robert’s face. “I’m so sorry.”

"Dragon's blood can transform vampires back into humans. We are easier targets as single dragons, before we come together as a flight."

“How do we still have clothes when we transform back into humans? In monster movies, the transformation often rips the guy’s clothes off?”

“Our bodies absorb the material inside our scales. Once we return, the clothes are returned into their energy form that they were. If you were holding a gun or a plate, that would go with you too. All physical matter is energy.”

“I guess I understand.” My heart ached for him, because Robert too had a weakness. "You lost a scale. Did a vampire do that?"

"Yes. I was trying to protect Serena. And failed."

Serena. Mating with me was his destiny but his heart had been otherwise engaged. I lowered my hands but stayed in front of him. "What happened to your wife?"

"We married young. My mother had died of a broken heart after my father was killed." Another memory flashed, this time of Robert standing over a grave as a teenaged boy. "Harper was born before I knew I was a dragon, like my parents. Serena defied her pack to be with me. I thought being chosen by a werewolf made me special—we fought against the vampires together, I as a human and her as a wolf. Once I came of age and transformed into dragon, we realized we were doomed as a couple and that our children were in even more danger."

The memories of Serena were blocked. I had no access. He must have loved her hard, but what he said struck a chord with me. His children had thought their father hadn't loved them when it was so clear he did. I sat beside him again. "Why?"

"They have dragon blood without the dragon powers. They are wolves."

Mrs. Adams had called them pups, so had he. "They are young still. Don’t they have werewolf powers?”

"A dragon can only produce more of us with another dragon. Half-blooded dragons have some of our powers, but they will never shift into a dragon. Their blood will still cure a vampire."

He spoke the truth. I felt it. I caressed his shoulder. "That's why you left them to me."

"If I cannot protect them, I need to know that you will." Our bond needed love to grow and strengthen, but I wondered if his love was reserved for Serena, and he felt his duty for me.

Memories flooded into me like a wave that swelled and then went down and I suddenly knew that a black dragon could heal Robert, if there was one in our flight. “How many are in our flight that you know already?”

“I only know of my brothers and you now.”

We needed to find the others. I’d found where I belonged. I massaged Robert's nape. "What did Grayson mean?"

"He wants to know if you know who his mate is."

“Why would I know, when I didn’t know who I was?” But I understood that we needed to find his dragon—only once we had our full flight would we be safe. I still had so many blank holes in my head. My hand went to my forehead.

"When anyone in our flight finds another, a friendship is usually felt. We were hatched to be one team."

"Hatched." I’d come from an egg? "That would explain why my grandmother never had any baby photos of me when I was born. There was no hospital for photos."

"So do you?"

My mind clearly wandered, as I had no idea what he meant. I’d always lived alone and isolated, until now. Then I remembered. We were talking about Grayson. I shook my head. "Know another dragon? I don't think so. I was pretty isolated, but I felt something for Aura. My great aunt… no wonder she put me with her."

“Ask that question tomorrow.” He shrugged. "We won’t give up searching—"

I stilled. "Did you love Serena?"

His hand went under my chin and gently lifted my face so that our eyes met. "Don't be jealous. I didn't know you existed or how I'd feel near you."

Feel was too vague. "How do you feel?"

"Alive." He kissed me and his lips made me feel free again. Then he released my chin. I reached out and held his hands to keep him. "Now, you must be hungry. I’ll go find Mrs. Adams."

I let go. My stomach growled. "Starving. Will you be right back?"

If he could read my mind then I sent a visual of us naked with our clothes off as he mounted me against the wall.

“Yes, later.” He laughed but didn’t say anything about the image. "I’ll order sandwiches and tell Samantha to put the children to bed. I hear them upstairs and they are probably worried."

I rose quickly and took a step to follow him but I mis-stepped and grabbed the table near me to hold myself straight. "No. Wait. I want to go with you."

He shook his head and pointed to the couch. "Next time. You're still weak."

"I don't feel weak." But I returned to the couch because it wasn’t quite true. The stairs meant expending energy that would take the wind from my lungs.

He saluted me as he walked out. "I will be right back."

"Okay. Hurry." I made him feel alive? Alive wasn't bad, but I needed to know how to protect my family now that I had one, find my place and figure out a way for Robert to fall in love with me.