Rui roared, his mouth unleashing a steady stream of fire that bounced against the glass and ricocheted onto the bed, sending it into a ball of flames.

“Father, stop!” Cassius commanded, his own body shifting into a similar formidable beast. The two faced off, circling one another in a clash of tails and anger.

“You betrayed me!” Rui shouted. “You turned your back on me when I needed you the most!”

“Father, you don’t need to do this!” Cassius stormed, noting Brooklyn cowering back as the two crept toward one another, the tension increasing between them.

“You said you would help me reclaim my kingdom!”

“You have no kingdom anymore!” Cassius yelled, and his statement was rewarded with another streak of fire that bounced harmlessly off his chest.

“Is this why you have turned your back on your family?” the king snarled, turning his massive blue head toward Brooklyn, who was crouched on the floor. “For a woman? A mortal woman, no less?”

“Leave her alone!” Cassius thundered, leaping to throw himself between his father and Brooklyn. “She has no part in this!”

“They all have a part in this!” Rui raged. “You can’t protect her anymore!” With a violent toss of his head, he threw Cassius aside, towering over Brooklyn. “You will be a good lesson to the others,” he hissed, his face inches from hers. He snatched her between his silver teeth and swung her from the full height of his body.

Rui’s giant head smashed into the wall, and Brooklyn began to scream in panic. As her cries filled the air, they were met with the sound of another wail. All eyes trailed to the doorway, where a horrified redhead held a terror-stricken baby in her arms.

Cassius recognized the girl.

Audrey, he thought automatically. The loudmouth from the restaurant.

But he was less concerned about her than he was about the child who bawling in her arm, his fists furiously waving in the air.

Rui’s golden eyes widened in surprise, and he dropped Brooklyn to the floor, his full gaze on the infant. Cassius leapt to his feet, his rippled shoulders arched back as he tossed his jaw forward, unhinging them, but before he could expel a burst of flames, he watched in shock as Brooklyn began to transform before him.

Her eyes glowed amber as her head enlarged to become a huge violet mass. A high-pitched noise emanated from her, and she lunged toward Rui, who was fixated on the child.

“Get away from my son!” she squealed, her wings spreading as she leapt toward his face.

Cassius teetered to grab his balance, diving into the mess of scales and tails, his weight shifting to unhook his father from Brooklyn. They remained tangled in a lock of fury, Brooklyn beating at Rui with her wings, her ferociously teeth gnashing at him.

“Stay away from my child!”

“I am not hurting the boy!” Rui bellowed above the ruckus. “I only want to see him!”

All wings stopped flapping at once. Only the boy’s sobs could be heard in the glass room as the bed smoldered behind them. Bit by bit, the trio began to fall back into their human forms as Audrey stood, her face pale as she uncomprehendingly gaped at sight.

“Give him to me,” Brooklyn rasped, snatching the baby from her friend’s arms. Audrey did not struggle, handing the boy to his mother as Cass stared on in disbelief.

“What is his name?” Rui asked, stepping toward them. Brooklyn pressed the baby closer to her chest, her eyes cold and furious.

“You get away from us,” she hissed, but he shook his greying head.

“I will not hurt him. I swear it.”

Brooklyn looked at Cass in desperation, and he finally shot into action, slipping his arm around her waist as he peered down at the child.

“Who is this?” he choked, Ruby’s words floating endlessly through his mind as he realized that the sage had been right all along. Brooklyn looked at him warily.

“This is your son, you fool!” Rui snapped. “Can’t you see that he’s a small dragon with your eyes?”

“Brooklyn?” Cassius asked softly. “Is he mine?”

“Yes,” she murmured, nodding her head.

“And you?” he whispered. “You’re one of us! Why didn’t you say something?”

Brooklyn shook her head, and Cassius realized that she was as confused at what had happened as he. “I can’t explain it,” she said. “I have never done that before. I have never—”

“You are a dormant,” Rui explained, inching closer to their child. “When he impregnated you, he activated the sleeping cell, awakening your inner dragon. What is my grandson’s name?”

Cassius stared incredulously at his father, the desire in his eyes to simply touch the infant’s red face almost tangible.

“Audren,” Brooklyn muttered, again looking to Cassius for reassurance.

“It’s okay,” he told her. “He would never hurt him.”

“He just tried to kill you!” she protested, unwilling to unhand her child, and Cassius felt a surge of pride watching her protect their baby. She was a true mother, and most certainly a dragon mother. He tenderly kissed the top of her head, drawing her into his arms.

“He can’t kill me,” Cassius said. “This was an argument. Isn’t that so, Father?”

“Yes, of course!” Rui agreed, a smile on his lips. “I would never hurt my family.”

“It’s okay,” Cassius whispered to her. “Trust me.” He could tell Brooklyn didn’t want to, but she finally relented, her eyes fixated on the duo. Cassius could see she was ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble.

“What the hell is going on?”

Cassius and Brooklyn turned to Audrey, who had finally found her voice, and she gaped at them, probably unsure of whether to run or scream.

“It’s all right,” Brooklyn told her friend. “No one is going to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” she choked. “I’m going to need a psych exam after this! What’s going on?” Her voice was nearing hysteria, and Cassius knew he had to find a place to explain it all to them; both of them. But he also knew that Brooklyn had some explaining of her own to do.

Dawn borke over the horizon, yet Cassius noticed nothing but the blonde who had haunted his dreams for the past months and the miracle they had created. He tightly wrapped his arms around Brooklyn, inhaling the scent of her hair as Audren slept peacefully in his mother’s lap. Peace enveloped him, one he had not known in centuries.

Have I ever felt this wonderful? he asked himself. Or have I been waiting for this precise moment my entire life?

“I don’t claim to understand what is happening,” Brooklyn murmured sleepily as the gulls screamed overhead, dipping toward the water to take their morning meal.

The scent of salt water tickled Cassius’ nose, combined with the aroma of her body, and he was suddenly heady from sensory overload. He, too, was having a difficult time comprehending what had happened, but he had given up trying to sort through the mess of the past months.

I will never take her for granted, he vowed silently. As he thought it, Brooklyn’s voice piped into his head in response.

And I will never let you go again. She raised her head off his chest and looked back at Cass, her teal irises wide with wonder. “You can hear me in your thoughts? I can hear you!” she gasped, and he nodded, a small smile toying on his lips.

“I imagine you will experience a lot of surprises now,” he replied gently, lowering his face to kiss her parted lips. “But I will be here to show you and Audren how to get through this and embrace these changes.”

“What will we do now?” Brooklyn sighed, a spark of tension causing her back to stiffen. Cassius willed away her stress by drawing her closer.

“We will do whatever we want,” he said. “I have my business, this island. You can do anything you want with your life. You can stay here and raise our babies or go out in the world and become a career woman, should you choose to do so.”

“Babies?” she echoed, again craning her neck to study his face. “As in, more than one?”

Cassius chuckled and began to rock them as Audren stirred in his sleep.

“Consider this,” he whispered, his eyes darting toward where his father lay sprawled, snoring on an Adirondack chair, his bushy white eyebrows rising and falling as he dreamt. “The more babies we have, the less likely my father is to plan world domination.”

“That’s hardly a reason to have children!” Brooklyn retorted hotly. “Keeping your father in line is something you and your brothers will have to work on without getting my children involved.”

“Your children?” Cassius repeated teasingly. “So now we are having more than one?”

“I said my children,” she replied jokingly. “Who said anything about you?”

Cassius captured her face between his thumb and forefinger. The love in Brooklyn’s eyes made emotion swell through him, and he exhaled, kissing her forehead. No words could adequately describe the sensations coursing through his body.

“Brook?”

They turned and looked at Audrey, who had woken from an exhausted and terrified sleep, her face slightly more relaxed until her gaze rested on Rui.

“Hey,” Cassius said. “Are you hungry? I’ll have Kirra talk to the chefs about breakfast.”

Audrey tentatively approached, her eyes darting from him to Brooklyn, to the king, and back again.

“Is it safe now?” she whispered, even though they had done their best to alleviate her terror before tucking her into a suite.

How can she possibly understand any of this? Cassius thought. Brooklyn doesn’t fully comprehend what has happened, either. All I can do is my best to ensure they are comfortable and cared for.

“I promise you, Audrey, nothing is as bad as it seemed earlier,” Cassius assured her. “Come and sit with us.”

She hurried over to sit beside them, carefully shielding her body from Rui, lest he wake and see her there.

“We’ll see about getting you home to Burlingame,” Brooklyn said, but as she spoke the words, Cassius could read the disappointment in her face. Audrey had been there for her since the very beginning. She was a protective, mouthy sister, and a wonderful aunt to Audren.

“How would you like to stay here with us?”

He asked the question before he could consider it. Both women whipped their heads around to look at him in shock.

“What?” Audrey gasped, but Cassius could read the hope sparking in Brooklyn’s eyes. Her whole life had been shaken since he had walked into it. She needed a sense of stability, and who better to give her that than Audrey? Cassius shrugged his shoulders.

“This island is secluded,” he told her. “But I have a Learjet, a yacht, a speed boat… you can come and go as you please.”

He watched as the women exchanged a look, and judging from the expression on Brooklyn’s face, he could tell he had offered the right thing. Hope glistened in her eyes as she stared at her redheaded friend.

“Will you stay?” Brooklyn asked, and Audrey began to nod slowly, again shooting Rui a cautious look.

“How often does he come to visit?” she asked, and Cassius snorted.

“This is the first time he has been on this island in two hundred years,” he answered.

Audrey turned her attention to him. “Can you make me a dragon, too?”

Cassius’s mind flittered to Ruby as he looked at his lover.

“I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “But we could try.”

Excitement lit Audrey’s blue eyes, and she swallowed and utterance as a smile covered her face.

“Okay,” she agreed. “I will stay here. But only for Audren and Brooklyn.” She added the last sentence almost guiltily, but neither Cassius nor Brooklyn were buying it.

“Of course,” they echoed as she jumped to her feet and almost skipped back to the house.

“Why did you do that?” Brooklyn murmured as she disappeared. “You have no idea what you’re in for if she lives here.”

“I did that for you. And I don’t care what I’m in for; as long as you and Audren are happy.” Brooklyn’s shoulders sagged, and Cassius knew he had done the right thing.

There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you.

I know, she replied, her hand grabbing at his to squeeze. I finally know the feeling of being genuinely loved.