The Dragon’s E-Mail Order Menage

He was right, and they both knew it. Although there were many talents that being a shifter (and a dragon shifter at that), afforded Maggie, the ability to put a stop to time was not one of them. She could choose to hide out in this bathroom for as long as she was able, but it wouldn’t change a thing about what was waiting for her when she got out.

She may not have been around on the earth for all that long, but she was wise enough to know that you couldn’t run away from life and you couldn’t hide from it. No matter how hard you tried, eventually it would all catch up with you, come crashing down around you in a spectacular display. Maggie had tried it that way before, more times than she cared to remember, and every time it had failed magnificently.

It was best to just get downstairs like her father had so genuinely suggested. It was the only way to navigate this situation without drawing attention to the fact that there was something amiss, something not quite right in Maggie’s world. It was something she would have to deal with eventually, she knew that, and probably sooner rather than later. But not yet. Not quite yet. She just wasn’t ready to handle what she knew she needed to handle. It was going to blow her world apart when she did and even if it was a world she was no longer satisfied with, it was always difficult to see your homeostasis shattered.

“All right, Maggie, get a grip. You can do this. It’s just another family dinner, just like any other. You’re being the worst kind of baby.”

She looked deeper into the mirror, pinching her cheeks to make sure there was adequate color there, and checking her eyes to make sure that they would not betray her. What she saw there was the fire that had been passed down through generation after generation of her people, the last great clan of the dragon shifters. Perhaps that wasn’t a fair analysis, which was why she never spoke that particular sentiment out loud, but it was how she felt nonetheless. Her bloodline could be traced directly back to royalty, back when dragons were believed in, when they were considered to be awesome and feared creatures and men maintained a healthy respect, an awe even.

She supposed that fact didn’t mean all that much all of these years later when dragons were thought to be little more than a fairy tale, but to her, it meant a lot. It meant practically everything. It was that bloodline she saw shining in her eyes, that fire burning so brightly she wondered how it was possible that anyone could have any doubts about what she truly was. She was strong, stronger than even her family knew, and she could certainly handle a little dinner, however uncomfortable it might feel or how much she didn’t want to do it.

She gave her face one final little pat for good luck, nodded in a tentative approval of the reflection she saw gazing back at her, and unlocked the door. There, standing directly on the other side of the door, was Eddie. Christ, she would have sworn he was her shadow if she hadn’t known better! He had an inquisitive look in his eyes, his nice crisp shirt already stained with some unknown sticky substance despite him having so recently showered and changed.

Maggie wondered to herself if he had yet again been sent by their mother with the express mission of retrieving his wayward older sister, or if this time he had taken it upon himself. She guessed it didn’t really matter in the end. Either way, she was constantly being hunted in her own home, by her own family. She would have killed for just a little bit of autonomy. Just a little bit was all she asked!

But now was not the moment when she was going to see that dream realized, and if she hadn’t known that already she would have been sure when she saw the grin spreading across her small brother’s face. It was like he could see inside of her head, like he could see her  dissatisfied and most probably selfish thoughts and found them funny.

“What are you smiling at, little man?”

“Nothin’.”

“Nothing, huh? It sure doesn’t look like nothing.”

“It’s just that you’re always in trouble! Mamma hasn’t said anything cuz your boyfriend is here, but I can tell she’s mad. Cali looks mad, too. Papa keeps making jokes though, so he isn’t mad at all. He thinks you’re funny. He says you’re ‘willful.’ What does that mean, Maggie? What does it mean for you to be willful?”

“It basically means that I’m stubborn, the way you are when Mamma makes some kind of vegetable for dinner that you don’t want to eat.”

“Ugh. Like brussel sprouts.”

“Yes,” Maggie said warmly, smiling in spite of herself, “like brussel sprouts. So everyone is down there waiting on me, huh?”

“Yup, just like always. That’s what Mamma said.”

“Sure, and I guess she’s right, too. I guess that means we’d better go ahead and make our way downstairs. Want to be my escort?”

“I don’t know,” he said eyeing her suspiciously, “what would I have to do?”

“Nothing bad. Just hold out your arm, lead me down the stairs like a proper gentleman. If I’m going to be late, I might as well make an entrance, right?”

“Sure, I guess. That sounds easy!”

“It does,” she said lowly, feeling far more serious than the occasion called for, “it really does.”

“Well come on, then. Let’s make our entrance! Mamma made potatoes and I’m so hungry I feel like I’m going to die. I think I’m growing. I think I’m going to start to get big and tall, finally. It’s about time, right?”

“Right. That means it’s even more important that we go get you some food.”

Edward adopted an almost comically serious face, held his arm out, and waited for her to link it with her own. She was overcome with love then and had to resist the urge to ruffle his precariously combed hair. She knew he didn’t like that, that he felt like it was a gesture reserved for babies, and she wanted to respect his wishes. So instead of missing his hair, she simply took the arm he offered and the two of them made their way slowly and somberly down the wide and worn family staircase.