“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!”

—J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Snow was falling thickly over a little house in a quaint neighborhood only two miles from a lake. The night was cold, but the inside of the house was filled with warmth and laughter. Madelyn leaned into Grigori as she told her parents about everything she’d seen in Russia and how she’d met him.

“You met while researching?” Her father asked as he poured Grigori a second glass of wine.

“Yes, we were interested in the same thing.” Grigori’s lips curved in a smile and he winked at her, making her bite her own lip to keep from laughing. That was certainly one way of putting it.

“Dragons? You are interested in dragons?” Her mother had just pulled a tray of cookies out the oven and the smell of the freshly baked sugar cookies was intoxicating.

A rush of memories filled Madelyn’s mind, holidays spent here with her parents. The taste of cinnamon and cocoa and the feel of being loved . . . She might never have known her real parents, the ones who died saving her, but she’d been gifted with these parents. John and Linda had saved her, loved her, and given her a life, one that had led her to Grigori and the wilds of Russia. For the first time she didn’t feel like an outsider and she knew why.

I’ve embraced who I am, I’m not afraid of it.

“How does dragon mythology relate to your business exactly?” Her father was watching them closely, a protective gleam in his eyes even though she knew he had liked Grigori from the moment they’d come into the house two hours ago.

“Well, it’s more of a passion for me, not really connected to my business.” Grigori leaned over the tray of cookies now cooling on the kitchen counter. He inhaled deeply, grinning.

Her mother’s lips twitched. “Dragons and cookies . . . I should have made a double batch for his appetite.”

Madelyn and Grigori both stiffened when she realized what her mother had said.

“Mom . . .” Madelyn’s hand clenched and her skin prickled fear began to slither under her skin.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. We know what he is, just as we know what you are.” Her mother slipped her oven mitts off and set them on the counter before she smoothed a lock of her blond hair back from her face.

“What I am?” Madelyn choked on the words.

“Yes,” her father said. “We’ve always known. From the moment that female dragon gave you to us. You’re a thunderbird, the last of your kind. The second we held you in our arms, we knew you were meant to be ours, to protect and love.” Her father’s eyes glimmered with a dozen emotions.

“You know that dragons are real?” Grigori slipped an arm around Madelyn’s waist as he studied her parents intently.

Madelyn cut in with another question. “Wait, you knew I wasn’t human? You knew I was a thunderbird?”

“We knew. We saw the dragons fighting. It was . . . terrifying, but when the woman came to our house with you, she made us forget our fear. We wanted you no matter what you were.”

The words filled Madelyn’s heart with pure love. She’d always felt lost, but to know now that her parents had always loved her, even knowing she wasn’t human like them . . . Her eyes burned with tears and she brushed them away.

Grigori spoke up. “How did you know what she was? Did she show signs of being different?”

Her parents both chuckled and nodded and her mother answered. “She did. When she was a baby and had colic, she blew the gates off her crib and wrecked some of the curtains. It was like a minor hurricane had gone through our house. Whenever she fell and skinned her knee . . . it always rained.” Her mother’s voice was gentle and warm as though those were fond memories.

“But . . .” Madelyn’s head was light. “Weren’t you afraid of me? Didn’t you want to get rid of me because I was different?” Discovering that her parents had known all this time . . . it made her feel a little crazy with an overload of emotions.

“Afraid of you? Never. When that woman gave you to us, we understood that you were special. You were ours, Madelyn. We were never afraid, not for one minute. We did our best to make you feel normal, to feel loved.”

Madelyn felt it, the skin prickling and the surge of the energy in the air. Thunder boomed outside and rather than make her parents jump, they both laughed and held open their arms. She pulled away from Grigori to hug her parents. The embrace enveloped all three of them, and she stopped fighting the tears she’d been holding onto for so long. When she finally calmed and lifted her head, she saw her mate, her beautiful, enchanting, sexy-as-hell dragon shifter lover, watching her. Grigori’s indulgent smile, the one she’d seen sketched in Barrow’s book two hundred years ago was there upon his lips. The man she’d loved before she’d even known him, was finally there, in the small, cozy kitchen with her and her parents.

Everything in the world was right. Everything was going to be okay.

“Well, let me get these cookies cooled off and then we can frost them.” Her mother grinned and pushed her toward Grigori. “Why don’t you two settle in the family room, watch a movie or rest. It was a long flight from Russia and I imagine you’re both jetlagged.

“Yeah.” Madelyn sighed and smiled. “That sounds great, mom.” She took Grigori’s hand and led him to the family room where a large leather sofa faced a massive flat screen. Grigori whistled softly. “Sixty-five inches. Nice.”

She scoffed playfully. “Men and their TVs.”

He tugged her down onto the couch and they curled up together as Grigori lifted the remote and started channel surfing. She tangled her legs in his as they watched the news. His lips brushed her temple and she sighed dreamily and stroked a hand over his sweater-clad chest. The beat of his heart filled her ears as she lay her head against his chest.

When he suddenly tensed, she tensed too, her instincts kicking into gear.

“What is it? What’s the matter?” She lifted her head and stared at him. His eyes were wide and his lips were parted. He didn’t speak, he merely continued to stare at the TV screen. When she followed his gaze, she swallowed down her own startled gasp and reached for the remote. She turned the volume up to listen to the man standing in a large auction house room.

“This is the largest find of jewelry from Elizabethan England that has ever been documented. They’re calling it the Westside Hoard, and that’s exactly what it is. A massive and stunning discovery of jewelry pieces that are close to priceless. The items will be going up for sale at the Thorne Auction House in two weeks. Museums from all over the world will be watching London as the jewels are unveiled. Behind me, some of the pieces are on display until a few days before the auction and the public can view them . . .”

Madelyn stopped listening to the words as she watched the crowds behind the newscaster. Her eyes were trapped on the dark-haired figure standing behind the newscaster. It was a face she recognized, especially the glowing eyes that were fixed on a large compass made entirely out of emeralds.

“Is that . . .” she began.

“Mikhail,” Grigori whispered. “My brother is alive . . .”