I’d been putting off talking to my father about the celibacy oath.

With everything now calm and running smoothly, Caia and I were getting closer than ever. There was no way that we’d be able to keep ourselves away from one another. She burned so hot in my presence, and I was head over heels with her.

While I understood the value of a celibacy oath, I didn’t feel like it would do much to influence my success as a dragon anymore. I’d slayed many daemons and I’d helped save thousands of innocent lives. I’d done my best to keep my people safe, too. It just didn’t make sense to me, when all I wanted was to be with Caia and experience the world together.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Caia asked me as we stopped outside the former Palisade, overlooking the now-peaceful fields and gorges.

I nodded slowly. “Absolutely,” I said, then gently brushed my knuckles against her cheek, feeling my heart go on a crazy race whenever she smiled at me. “I don’t want us to stay apart and suffer because of an old tradition.”

She chuckled. “I thought you were all for traditions.”

“Yeah, but then I kissed you, and it pretty much flew out the window,” I replied with a shrug.

“There you are!” My father’s voice made me jump.

I quickly turned around to face him and smile. My palms were already clammy, and my throat was slowly but surely closing up. He was in a good mood, from what I could tell. That was a good sign for me to get right to it.

“Dad, thanks for coming,” I said. “I know you’ve been busy with the daemon rebels here…”

“That’s fine,” he replied. “They never last against fire anyway,” he added, then smiled at Caia and me. “What did you want to talk about?”

I looked at Caia, then exhaled and shifted my focus back on him.

“Look, Dad,” I said, my voice already shaky. “There’s no other way to say this but… Caia and I, we’re in love.”

Dad frowned slightly, but there was a flicker of amusement in his blue eyes that confused me a little. He crossed his arms as he kept his gaze fixed on me.

“Way to state the obvious, son,” he replied dryly. “I noticed that the first time I saw you two together.”

I paused, suddenly blank. Caia and I had been careful around him, mainly because I’d yet to find the courage to tell him that I wanted out of the celibacy oath, and because Caia, ever the sweet and supporting fae that she was, didn’t want him asking questions that I wasn’t ready to answer.

I blinked several times, trying to find my words.

“You know…” I managed.

“Of course,” he shot back, genuinely amused. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I know love when I see it. I would never be upset with you about it—” He added, then raised both his eyebrows. “Is that why you two have been sneaking around like thieves in the night?”

My cheeks flared. I gave Caia a quick glance and noticed her flushed face and wide eyes. “Oh, so your father knows…” she murmured.

My dad laughed wholeheartedly. “Darling, I know everything my son does and wants, even when he doesn’t,” he replied. “Just like I know he’s about to ask me to release him from his celibacy oath, but he’s not yet sure how to do it without making me angry.”

I froze.

But then Dad gave me a warm and understanding smile, causing a wave of sheer relief to wash over me.

“Son, times have changed,” he said. “Our dragon traditions won’t all survive in the future. We used to take celibacy oaths for reasons that were always deeply personal to us, but that doesn’t have to apply to all dragons.”

“Dad, I just… I don’t want you to be disappointed in me—”

“That’s ridiculous!” He cut me off. “Why would I be anything but proud of you, after what you’ve accomplished here? Blaze, you’re more of a dragon than I ever was at your age. You don’t need the celibacy oath to validate you. I would’ve appreciated you seeing it through, since you went ahead and took it, but… honestly? It’s not a big deal.”

It took me a few seconds to properly digest what he’d just said. My heart swelled with gratitude and love for him—he had a way of confusing me sometimes, but that was just a part of who he was.

“So… You’re okay with me not fulfilling the oath,” I said, trying to get him to say it again, just so I’d make sure I was in the clear.

“Son, you can do whatever you want,” he replied, grinning. “You proved your worth long before you even set foot on Neraka. If being with Caia makes you happy, I’m fully behind you on this.”

In a split-second, I’d already wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. He was still bigger than me, but even he couldn’t resist his son’s embrace. He hugged me back, chuckling softly. As soon as I stepped back, I nodded.

“Thanks, Dad,” I muttered.

“Nothing to thank me for, son. Traditions can be overrated, if you ask me,” he replied. “We could start some new ones instead.”

I laughed lightly, then took Caia’s hand in mine. She was once again relaxed and smiling, as if the weight of the whole world had just been taken off her shoulders. Dad gave her a brief, albeit not-that-serious scowl.

“You’d better not break his heart, little fae,” he said firmly. “My fire is stronger than yours.”

It was Caia’s turn to blink several times, unsure of how to respond to what had sounded like quite the threat. Knowing Dad, however, I chuckled, helping her loosen up a little. I swallowed my humor when he then glowered at me—he wasn’t joking this time. I could feel my spine tingling.

“And you. If you make this girl cry anything other than tears of joy, I will beat you into a pulp and then some, you hear me?” he muttered.

I nodded vehemently. “Yes, sir!”

He then smiled and took both Caia and me in his arms, keeping us close. We laughed, as he refused to let us go. Caia giggled, looking up at him.

“Thank you, sir,” she said softly. “I do love your son, you know…”

“I know you do. And call me Heath. Only he gets to call me ‘sir’,” he replied, nodding at me.

It felt good to have that celibacy oath off my plate. I’d come to Neraka thinking I’d be okay with it. But the closer I’d gotten to Caia, the more difficult it had become for me to envision myself making it to twenty-three without being able to make love to her.

Eloping to New Zealand suddenly became the next thing on my to-do list.

Just me, Caia, and the colorful volcanic lakes of Rotorua… I was going to spend the rest of my life loving her and making her happy. And she looked more than ready to do the same.