Emory wasn’t quite there yet, though.He’d keep that as a secret weapon, to use only if Graham proved himself to be too stubborn.
Chapter Eight
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EMORY SAT ON THE STONEwall overlooking the lake, watching the sun dip toward the horizon.Meyer was sitting beside him in his human form.They’d flown together earlier, a lazy afternoon patrol around the castle that had turned into an excuse to stretch their wings.
“You’re spending a lot of time with Graham,” Meyer said.It wasn’t an accusation, just an observation, but Emory tensed anyway.
He had to remind himself that Meyer wasn’t Tyne.“Is that a problem?”he asked.
“No.”Meyer’s voice was gentle.“I was just noticing.You sit together at meals now.You take walks.Yesterday I saw you by the lake.”He paused.“It looks like you’re building something with him.”
Emory picked at a loose piece of stone on the wall.“Maybe.I don’t know what it looks like from the outside.”But he knew what it felt like from the inside.
“It looks like two people who care about each other figuring out how to be together.”Meyer tilted his head.“But I’m guessing it doesn’t feel that simple.”
It didn’t.“The last time I let myself fall for someone, I lost everything.My ability to shift.My dragon.Years of my life.”He finally looked at Meyer.“How do I know I’m not making the same mistake again?”That was his worst fear, and it had nothing to do with who Graham was.
Meyer stared out at the lake.“I don’t remember the man I was before,” he said eventually.“But Tyne does.He remembers that I was going to leave him.For his cousin, of all people.”He snorted softly.
Emory knew the story, even though he didn’t have any details.He didn’t need them.Meyer wasn’t the man he’d been back then.
“It took Tyne a long time to accept that I’m not that person anymore,” Meyer continued.“That I don’t remember choosing to leave, but it was hard for him to trust that I wouldn’t do something like that again.”He smiled.“But eventually, he realized he had to make a choice.He could hold onto who I used to be and the past, or he could trust who I am now and give our future together a chance.”
“And if you remember someday?”Emory asked.“If it all comes back?”
“Then we’ll deal with it together.What we have now is real.It’s built on who we are today, not who we were a hundred years ago.”
Emory thought about that.Graham wasn’t Carlyle.He couldn’t be more different if he tried, and Emory should know since he’d known Carlyle very well.Graham was patient where Carlyle had been demanding, gentle where Carlyle had been harsh, even with the people he’d claimed to love.And he was human, which meant he’d never be able to use magic to hurt Emory.
“He can’t take my dragon,” Emory said.“Even if he wanted to.He’s human.There’s no bond between us, no magic for him to steal.”
Meyer nodded slowly.“So the thing you’re most afraid of is impossible with him.”
“Yes.”The worst wound Emory carried, his deepest fear—it didn’t apply in this case.
“That doesn’t mean he can’t hurt you in other ways,” Meyer said gently.“Love always comes with risks.But maybe this is a different kind of risk than you’re used to.”
Emory thought about Graham’s steady presence, the way he’d thrown himself between Emory and Carlyle without hesitation.He didn’t look at Emory with the intensity Carlyle had, but with something softer and much more gentle.
“I like him,” Emory admitted, and saying it out loud felt terrifying and freeing all at once.“I like spending time with him.I like that he doesn’t push, that he lets me set the pace.I like that he’s just...there.Steady.I know he’s not going anywhere.”And not only because Emory had asked him not to.Graham liked living there, even though he might never admit it to himself.
“Sounds like you’re falling for him.”
Emory’s first instinct was to deny it, but the words stuck in his throat.Was he?The thought should have terrified him.Maybe it did, a little.But underneath the fear, he could feel hope that maybe he could have this.That maybe he hadn’t lost the ability to love when Carlyle had taken his dragon.That maybe, with someone who couldn’t hurt him the same way, he could build something real that he hadn’t expected he’d ever have.
“I thought I’d lost this,” Emory said quietly.“The chance to have someone and not be afraid of what it would cost me.”He drew in a breath, then let it out slowly.“But Graham’s human.He’s not tied to me through magic.What we have would be a choice.”
“That’s the best kind of relationship,” Meyer said.“The kind that’s built on choosing each other every day, because you want to be together.”
Maybe Emory could let himself want Graham, and the comfort of his presence, and the way Graham looked at him like he was something precious.He wanted to be something precious, and he wanted Graham to know he mattered.
“Tyne’s waiting for you,” Emory said eventually, nodding toward the castle where he could see Tyne’s silhouette in one of the upper windows.It was a little creepy, but Meyer didn’t seem to mind.
Meyer smiled, looking happier than anyone dating Tyne should be.“He worries when I’m gone too long.”He stood, then paused.“For what it’s worth, I think Graham’s good for you.And I think you’re good for him.Sometimes second chances are what we need, even though we never thought we’d have one.”
After Meyer left, Emory stayed where he was to watch the sun sink lower.Maybe Meyer was right.Maybe this was a second chance for both Graham and Emory.Graham was trying to atone for his past and find a new purpose.Emory needed to learn to trust again.