The island hospital contained everything necessary during an emergency because Teotihuacan spared no expense when it came to the safety of his resort visitors and residents. In a situation beyond their staff’s skill, however, a handful of trained employees could operate the chopper and medevac anyone to the mainland.

Javier had only been asleep in his private bed for a few minutes, dozing into a light sleep once the pleasant dose of painkillers reached his brain. Then his mother’s voice spilled through the drugged haze, a rapid flurry of Spanish demands and threats to skin whoever stood between her and his room.

“Where is he? Where’s my son?”

“Right this way, Señora Arcillanegro.”

Doctor Almeda’s white coat flared around her pink blouse and gray slacks as she swept into the room with his mother hot on her heels. His father entered next, his grim features in an ashen, pale face set with wrinkles that made him appear so much older than Javier remembered.

Had his father actually been worried about him. Really worried?

Marcy rushed to the bedside and wrung her hands together. “My baby. He’s covered in bandages.”

“Covered? Mom, I’m fine.”

“Your eye is swollen shut. You are not fine,” she argued. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Oh, look at you. My baby,” she repeated again, ignoring he was a twenty-two-year-old man. Recently twenty-two, but twenty-two all the same.

“Mom—”

“Don’t you ‘mom’ me. I never fuss over you, but this is exactly the time when I should.” She cupped a hand to his unbruised cheek. “You could have been killed.”

“I’ll heal.”

“It was much worse in the initial hour,” the doctor agreed. “I personally documented his injuries to compare them against the stages of regeneration we’ve studied in Señor Arcillanegro.”

“How long do you expect it to take?” Teo asked. “He’s only half-dragon. Will he recover as quickly as I do?”

“Possibly. Although he is a dragon, his young flesh isn’t as tough as yours.” His doctor launched into a long discussion about numerous lacerations, multiple contusions, and the many first- and second-degree burns he’d endured while fighting the mage. None of it was new to him, so he tuned it out for a while in favor of laying back against his pillow with his eyes closed while his mother patted the back of his hand and stroked his knuckles like he was still a toddler needing to be soothed after a nightmare.

“But most of them have healed?” his father asked.

Gods, there were tears in the man’s eyes, like even he’d arrived fearing the worst when the news reached him about Javier being held in the hospital.

“Yes. Your son should make a full recovery without lasting trouble. Had he not been in his dragon form, the severity of the burn damage could have been much worse.”

“What about Oscar?” Javier asked.

Doctor Almeda smiled. “The compound fracture inflicted to his wing became a broken arm, which has been set and treated by another member of staff. He’ll be flying again in no time.”

The Great Teotihuacan, black dragon god of the Aztecs, exhaled a long sigh before his broad shoulders sagged in relief. “Grant him anything he needs for his recovery at the resort’s expense. No cost is too great. As for you, son, I—”

“I’m fine. They’ve got the one shifter in custody, right?”

His parents exchanged glances.

“What?” he asked.

“Both of those dog shifters are dead.”

“What? How? I swear, I was sure the one was still alive at least.”

Teo dragged a seat to the bedside and directed his wife to it, standing behind Marcy with one hand on her shoulder. “Both were alive, but the details are a little too grisly to discuss now. What matters most is that you and the boy are safe. Javier…” The old dragon hesitated a moment, then set his hand down on his son’s uninjured shoulder and squeezed. “I am very proud of what you did today. All of it. That boy is returned to his mother because of you.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Despite winding up in a hospital bed crowded by his parents, accomplishment sent a warm, fuzzy feeling buzzing through him. Or was that the morphine?

No, it was pride. Definitely pride and happiness, not only because, for the first time ever, he saw approval in his father’s eyes, but because he’d done something that actually mattered, something he had figured out and handled on his own, as if fate had heard his petty complaints and finally delivered a purpose to him.

His only regret was that he’d missed telling Yasmin goodbye. Although she’d left the island no more than two hours ago, the bonding mark had already begun to fade.

Apparently distance only made the heart grow fonder if one wasn’t a shifter.

Javier didn’t have a lot of female friends, and he didn’t trust Phoebe’s advice. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but that he didn’t want his relationship with Yasmin, or lack thereof, to hinge on the opinions of a sixteen-year-old girl.

As he slouched on a hammock at home—his home, not with the parents who wanted to suddenly dote over him for his near-death experience—he eyed the silent cell phone that had finally stopped ringing. Everyone but who he wanted to talk to the most had called.

He didn’t have Yasmin’s phone number, and pride dictated that he didn’t run to his mother and beg to know how to contact her. After all, if Yasmin had any interest in pursuing a friendship, in pursuing anything, she’d have left the information herself.

Right?

The longer Javier stewed on it in the days following his release from the hospital, the more uncertain he became. The only thing that hurt more than the bruises he’d received during the fight for little Dylan, was the ache in his chest whenever he thought about the fading, one-sided bond between them.

He’d have been an asshole to reciprocate it if it wasn’t what she wanted, but he had a shit ton of regrets for what they could have had.

Now that he was injured, sitting around at his bungalow playing video games bored him, and he yearned to do something useful. Saving that kid had been like a drug—a shot of heroin for his soul—and all he wanted was another hit. Kicking major ass had been nice, but it was about more than defeating a wizard and his two drooling lackeys. While he wanted to claim it was entirely altruistic, it was also about the way Dylan’s mother had smiled through her tears when hand-delivering him flowers and a get-well card, the way her little boy thanked Javier for rescuing him from the bad guys. And it was about the fucking way his father had looked up to him for once instead of peering down his nose at him.

He wanted to recreate that over and over again.

Javier stumbled off the hammock and swiped the phone from the table. Left with no alternative, he dialed the only other childhood friend likely to give him an ounce of sage advice.

Astrid Drakenstone picked up on the third ring. “Hi, Javier. What’s up?”

“I need advice about a girl.” There. Better to just get out with it before she could start droning on about her baby boy’s latest milestones. She could go on and on about Arthur, not that he could blame her.

“Girl or woman? There’s a difference.”

“Definitely a woman.”

“Anyone I’d have heard of?”

He hesitated a brief moment, but if he couldn’t be honest with Astrid then he really had no other options. “Yasmin.”

Astrid sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ll be right over.”

When she meant she’d be over, she meant that very moment. A portal opened, though this one was fueled by dragon’s magic and not some human wizard’s arcane design. It shimmered like an oval window into the Drakenstone residence, then his longest childhood buddy stepped through.

Javier and Astrid’s mothers had both been close friends, and then they’d each met their own dragon shifter and become bonded to him. Though she was several years older than him, Astrid didn’t look it, her features eternally youthful, hair golden blonde and eyes the clearest blue.

Both their mothers had hoped they’d bond to one another when Javier came of age, but it hadn’t worked out that way. He viewed Astrid more like an older sister than a friend. Besides, she’d fallen head over heels for a dragonslayer, of all people.

“Uh, hey.” He set the phone down.

Astrid went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out the tequila. “Start from the beginning and leave out nothing. Except for the really steamy parts because I don’t need to hear about you dicking Yasmin.”

Javier grunted and told her. When he reached the end of the story, they were three shots in and that still wasn’t enough to soothe the raw knot in his chest.

“I can’t believe she bit you. I mean, she knew better. We all do.”

“She got carried away.”

“Then she lied to you. No one does something like that unless they want to, Javier. It’s instinct. Your soul reacting to what it needs, not what it wants. Let me see it.” Astrid tugged his shirt open and peeked at the once raw mark. He’d looked at it every day since Yasmin’s departure, watching it fade from glossy silver to soft brown. In a week or so, it’d just be another faded scar.

“It took everything in me to resist biting her.”

“But you did.”

Javier dropped his chin and sighed. “So? What should I do about it?”

“Depends on what you want? Is this all about Yasmin or is there something else driving you?”

“I—” He stopped and considered her words. Astrid always had a way of making him pause to look at himself. “I want to help more people like Dylan and his mother. It felt good to use all of this power for something worthwhile. It was like… finally knowing what the hell I’m here for.”

Astrid cocked a brow. “Have you told your dad?”

“Not yet.”

“Then maybe you should start there. If you’re serious, learn about law enforcement. Join the military or something.”

A couple seconds were all Javier needed to decide he wasn’t turned off by her advice. Join the military? Why the hell not. Thousands of shifters enlisted in the armed forces, but that didn’t strike the same chord as the idea of wearing a badge and upholding the law.

“Sure,” he said slowly, still testing the idea in his thoughts. “I’m not opposed to being a cop, but how’s that gonna help me with Yasmin?”

“It’s not. But it gets you off this island. Besides…” An impish smile came to her face. “I think there’s a college in San Antonio with a decent Criminal Justice program.”

“You don’t think that’s too stalkerish?”

“You want to show her you’re your own man? Then she needs to be able to see it for herself, not hear about it in a letter or over the phone. Besides, she said you two would always be friends, right?”

“Right.”

“So be her friend.”

Since his mother loved the Surf and Turf more than any other restaurant on the island, Javier invited his parents to join him for dinner. He ate his weight in lamb and swordfish alongside his father, waiting for the ideal moment to spring the news on them without sounding like an ungrateful ass for all they’d given him.

That moment came over dessert while his parents shared a slice of flan, behaving like an obnoxious couple by feeding each other bites. As a child, their over-the-moon love for each other had always irritated him.

As an adult, he wanted it for himself.

“The time in the hospital gave me a chance to think about what I want to do with my life. I’m going to pursue a career in law enforcement.”

A piece of flan dropped from Marcy’s fork to the dessert plate. “Law enforcement?”

“I know this is sudden, but saving that kid, Mom… it’s like suddenly everything about me made sense.”

Teo leaned back in his seat and lowered his utensils to the table. “According to Roberts and a few of the other veterans, you took to authority like a natural in my absence. There’s been nothing but praise. You can start interning in the security office—”

“No. As generous as the offer is, Dad, I want to get a job on my own merit, with an education to go with it.”

His father’s lips flattened, and frown lines creased his brow. “But you have an education. You—”

“Mom homeschooled me, and I had the best tutors, but it isn’t the same. I want the experience of meeting others who are not like me.” He held up a hand the moment Teo narrowed his green eyes and his opened his mouth for the rebuttal. “People who don’t have to kiss up to you. Everywhere I go on this island, I’m surrounded by family. It’s time to go my own way.”

Teo drew in a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “You’ve given this more thought than I anticipated. You have someplace in mind, son?”

“Well, I’d considered California since the Drakenstones are there, but… that’s a lot of dragons in one area. So I researched different programs and narrowed my choices down to Texas and New York.”

His mother brightened. “I have friends in Houston and San Antonio.”

Teo rubbed his chin. “As do I. Sam Houston State University is near Quickdraw. I believe it is Ian MacArthur’s alma mater and an excellent college.”

God. The mere mention of Ian MacArthur was enough to spike Javier’s excitement with a sharp dose of hero worship. The guy was a legend in the paranormal community, an American bald eagle shifter and a military veteran who had connections across the world.

And he’d considered SHSU until he gauged the five-hour distance between Huntsville and San Antonio. Damn.

“The University of Texas in San Antonio is on my shortlist. If I move fast, I can liquidate some funds from my hoard and get a small apartment or something. I already filled out some applications online.”

“Nonsense.” When his mother shook her head, anxiety fizzed in his stomach until she turned to Teo and swatted his arm. “Tell him we’ll pay his rent.”

“Of course we would.”

Javier blinked. “But—”

His father held up a hand this time. “I understand you are eager to be on your own, Javier, and I respect that. But please, if we must say goodbye to you for a time, allow us to do what we can to support your future endeavors.”

“Thank you.”

“We’d have to hurry to get you enrolled,” his mother said, turning to her husband. “It may be too close to the deadline to get him into UTSA, but I’m sure we could make a few calls. Right? If you’re happy to go there, mijo, you’ll be close to Zacarias and River Silva. They’ll look out for you.”

Javier hid his enthusiasm behind a modest smile. “Is that where they live? I had no idea.”

What his parents didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.