Chapter 26: Chapter Twenty-Five

A few minutes later Alanza pulled into the drive for my aunt and uncle’s house. “We’re coming up the drive now,” I mind linked Daniel.

“Okay I’ll let the welcome wagon know.”

When we pulled up at the house Daniel and Josie were outside along with my mom's brother, my uncle, Tapani, his wife Kachina, and their son Stefan. As soon as the car was put in park my door was ripped open. Daniel and Tapani helped me out of the SUV and stayed on either side of me as I walked into the house.

Lavi and Kachina followed us into the room I usually stayed in when I visited. Daniel and Tapani left while I stripped and Lavi and Kachina helped me into the shower, preparing a herbal bath for me once they were satisfied I was okay to shower by myself. I watched as dirt and blood went down the drain, washing the scent of the hunters away, and I hissed as the water hit my back. I scrubbed as hard and as well as I could given I had burns to a lot of my lower body and torso, cuts to my torso, and my back looked like it went through a meat grinder.

I got out but didn’t bother with a towel because it felt so good to have access to my powers, bending the water so that it pooled around the drain. Kachina caught me and shook her head, “Hey you lose access to your abilities for a week and tell me how happy you are when you finally get them back.”

She chuckled, “I’m sure. Come on, your herbal bath is ready.” She gave me her arm to stabilize myself on my shaky legs. She kissed my temple, "How are you really?”

“Glad I only need to sleep a couple of hours a night because I’m having nightmares that leave me waking up screaming, and even happier to be clean.”

“I have a herbal supplement you can have for the nightmares but what works best is a mate in your bed,” she said. I got settled in the bath and blew out a breath, “I won’t have one of those around for a while, if ever.”

“What do you mean?” Kachina asked.

“My mate is a human who found out about supernaturals a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t heard from him since,” I said, sadness taking over.

“He will come around, he may be human but he still feels the pull. He will come to you eventually,” Lavi stated in a matter of fact tone.

I could only sigh because one way or the other right now I didn’t have my mate. They left me alone in the bath and I stayed there until the water got cold. Kachina and Lavi helped me out and I lay on the bed. “Are you okay if I bring Stefan back in for the healing?”

“Yeah.”

She mind linked Stefan and he came in right away, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “They’re dead right?”

“Yes they are. I made sure of it,” I answered.

He just nodded and they got to work.

At some point during the healing I fell asleep. I dreamt again of the barn, just when it was getting to its worst point I woke up screaming. Kachina was the one this time that whispered the spell in my ear that broke me from sleep fully. I curled into a ball and finally let the tears come. Kachina soothed me but didn’t try to quiet me or understand what I went through. After a while I was cried out and was tired again but Kachina had other ideas, “No you need to eat. Come on, let’s go down and eat with everyone.”

She helped me get dressed and held my hand as we went down the stairs and into the dining room. Jax finished up a phone call with a disappointed look on his face. Daniel walked up to me but looked at Kachina, “Is a hug okay?”

She nodded, “Just not too tight.”

He nodded and gathered me into his arms, I hugged him back hard. Our dragons reached out to one another, giving each other comfort. “I thought I had lost you too.”

“I’m not going anywhere dad,” I promised him. He took in a deep breath and I felt him stiffen.

“You smell different.” He pulled back and gave me a look, “You still have your petrichor scent but you smell vaguely minty too; like your mother.”

“We’ll talk about it after dinner.’ I told him, going in for one final hug and giving him a kiss on the cheek before moving around him to sit at the table.

Jax and Josie sat on either side of me and bickered about nothing but it sounded like home so I soaked up as much as I could. I ate as much as I could but didn’t overdo it because I didn’t want to get sick. I excused myself, heading back to my room. Daniel came in a little while later, “So why do you smell like that?”

“Please sit down, you’ll need to after I tell you this.” I gestured to one of the chairs in the room and waited for him to get settled before beginning again, “I saw mom while I was in that place. She came to me each time I passed out or was knocked out by one of them. She’s the one that gave me my new powers. She told me that to be Queen of the Dragons means when I die I will become goddess of the dragons. The queen is picked by the gods not by us, right? It just happened that I followed in mom’s footsteps being queen. I’m a goddess dad, technically. So I think the reason I vaguely smell like her now is because she is the one who gave me these powers.” He stared at me stunned, “Say something.”

“I don’t know what to say. That’s a lot to unpack. Who else have you told?”

“Technically no one. Lavi knows because she’s from a line of high priestesses and she figured it completely out when I got control of Ruairi. I was going to ask you if you thought I should tell anyone else, like Josie, Jax, and Alanza, or if I should just keep it to myself.”

“Keep it to yourself for now, and let me think about it. I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve processed everything.” I gave him a nod, “Try to get some rest, little one.”

I took some of the herbal supplement Kachina set out for me, “Love you dad.”

“Love you too, little one.”

He kissed me on my forehead before leaving. I laid down, trying to find a position in bed that was comfortable. Soon enough I drifted off to sleep.