Moira looked up, misery written on every line of her face. “Jules. Y…you shouldn’t be here. Go to bed.”
The pain radiating from her tore at Jules’s heart. This was his guardian, his protector, the only mother he recalled. He’d taken for granted that nothing could affect her like this. “If something’s hurting you, then here’s where I need to be.”
Despite her words, Moira took one of Jules’s hands in hers, giving a weak smile. He squeezed her fingers. If only he could take her pain away.
“What happened?” Oh, Goddess! Had the mage come back and told them Adrakus no longer existed?
Radomir explained softly, “Moira lifted the concealment spell for a few moments, hoping to feel something from the other side.”
“They’re gone! Both of them are gone!” she wailed.
“What? Who’s gone?”
“Our children,” Radomir said, tucking Moira’s face into his shoulder and holding her tight. “Our children are gone.”
Only then did Jules notice Radomir’s red eyes, so like Moira’s. Children. Their children. Moira had told stories over the years of her and Radomir’s children, their antics. How proud she’d been of them. They’d so looked forward to seeing them again. Now they were gone?
“Oh, Goddess! I’m so sorry! Are you sure?” There had to be a mistake.
Radomir nodded. “She couldn’t feel them.”
“Couldn’t they be hidden like we are?” Jules clutched at any excuse to make this tragedy not be real.
“No. Nothing can hide a dragon’s offspring from them without the spell.” Moira sobbed harder.
From all they’d said, feeling a familiar connection cut came close to experiencing death oneself. Jules eased down on the fur on Moira’s other side, rubbing what he hoped was a comforting hand over her back. He wanted to ask "What now?" but didn’t dare.
Moira pulled Jules into a near-painful grip.
Radomir answered the unasked question. “Moira has enough magic to keep us all concealed, but not enough to open a portal. We have no way of knowing what’s happening in our world, but it must be bad to claim the lives of both our beta children. They are…were…experienced fighters.”
“I…I tried to feel my sister too,” Moira gasped out. “Nothing.”
“Maybe something's wrong with the connection. Can’t you try again?” The image of the man who must be Jules’s brother revisited his mind, as well as the strange sensations he’d felt.
“You don’t understand,” Radomir said. “By uncloaking herself, she left us vulnerable. Any nearby dragon who felt her might come investigate.”
“I’m so sorry!” Moira wailed again. “I had to know!”
“But is that so wrong? They won’t find us, right? Or if they do, they won’t mean us harm, will they?” Although Moira lecturedconstantly about staying hidden, that couldn’t be the case. Jules suddenly no longer saw her caution as paranoia. “What can we do?”
“Stay close,” Radomir said. “But we have to continue our usual routines. Perhaps they won't detect us, or if they do, they’ll think they made a mistake.”
“I’m…I’m so sorry for being weak,” Moira choked out. “But I had to know. I remembered during one of our conversations how long it had been since we’d received any kind of word.”
Guilt struck Jules like a dagger to the heart. He’d been the one to put those thoughts in her head by asking how she knew anyone was still alive. Jules would do anything, say anything to take back the words, for Moira’s offspring to still be alive.
“Shh…” Radomir soothed, stroking her hair. “We’ll be fine. We have to be fine.” He met Jules’s gaze over the top of Moira’s head. “Go on to bed, Jules. I’ll take care of Moira.”
Jules reluctantly backed from the room, Moira’s crying reduced to sniffles now. If he’d been exposed, could he have reached out to his brother? Had that moment in the truck been real? Had Donovan felt Jules’s presence too?
The more time that passed, the less he wanted to return to the dangerous dragon realm. It sounded like a horrible place, possibly more dangerous than the fictional Westeros.
Poor Moira and Radomir. Jules had never met their offspring, but through retellings of fledgeling misadventures, he had come to know them. Once more he thanked the Goddess for his guardians and begged her to comfort them.
Jules lay awake in bed the next morning when a soft tap sounded on his door.
His dragon growled softly at the thought of letting someone into his lair, but this was Radomir. “Come in.”