“How about this one?” Evan danced a little, moving his shoulders back and forth. “I-I-I love you like a love song, baby. And I keep hitting re-re-repeat.”
To Sophia’s total astonishment, Tiffannee joined in and sang along with Evan while swinging her hips back and forth.
The mortal’s singing voice wasn’t bad either. “No one compares. You stand alone, to every record I own. Music to my heart; that’s what you are. A song that goes on and on.”
Still holding Tiffannee’s hand, Evan twirled her around and dipped her before directing her farther into the field. Sophia worried that they weren’t allowing themselves to be directed, but when she glanced at Blathers, he gave her a reassuring expression.
“They’re doing fine,” he stated in a low voice.
She nodded and returned her attention to the pair who were now on the far side of the hill, still taking turns singing love songs to each other and dancing. They had moved onto a Wings song called Silly Love Songs.
Tiffannee shook her shoulders and danced close to Evan. He smiled and got down.
“What’s happening?” Sophia wondered aloud. She started to think the two had been drugged.
“They’re doing what they need to,” Blathers stated. “The hill and the potency of the Glenlivet Thistle are encouraging them. You have good friends.”
Sophia smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I really do.”
When she glanced back, she was surprised to find the pair kneeling as their free hands reached for a single thistle. In unison, like two people doing a rehearsed dance, they wrapped their fingers around the prickly stem and tugged it free of the earth.
It came up cleanly. Sophia held her breath and hoped that they hadn’t picked the wrong one. She didn’t know when or how they’d get confirmation.
But then a wind swept across the hill, and all the other purple thistles disappeared like the swans had, but without the smoke. Evan and Tiffannee stood there holding the only thistle in view with wide grins on their faces.
Chapter Forty-Three
The seemingly happy couple strode back over to Sophia and Blather carrying the Glenlivet Thistle, which appeared very sturdy in both their grasps. It glowed with a shimmering gold that confirmed for Sophia that it was the right one.
When Evan and Tiffannee handed it to Sophia, she hesitated, not wanting to make it disappear because she touched it. Her gaze connected with Blathers and he gave her a reassuring nod.
“It’s fine to take it now,” he stated. “Now that it’s been picked, it will be free for whomever to touch.”
Sophia drew in a breath and took the thistle, careful to avoid the prickly areas. It glowed brightly for a second, then dimmed to appear like a normal thistle. She jerked her head up and looked at the gillie, but he simply smiled.
“It’s fine,” he reassured her. “Not all things can glow brightly all the time. The powerful energy of the thistle is still in the flower. I promise you that.”
Sophia nodded and put the flower in the pocket of her cloak for safekeeping.
“This is where I leave you.” Blathers looked toward the stone pillar where he’d come from. “It was a pleasure assisting you. If you should ever need a gillie for your travels of the Highlands, you know where to find me.”
“Count me out if it involves getting chased by Angus again,” Evan replied.
“Well, it most likely will,” Blathers said. “If your need is great enough, then you might find it worth the effort.”
He offered the three a pleasant smile and nothing else before he turned on his heels and marched down the hill, back the way he’d come.
“I sort of took a shine to that guy,” Evan admitted. “He’s understated and slightly mysterious.”
“He came out of a boulder,” Sophia argued. “He isn’t just slightly mysterious.”
Evan shrugged. “I live in a Castle and ride a dragon. My threshold for these things is different from yours.”
“I live there with you,” Sophia returned. “And also ride a dragon.”
“A baby dragon and you live in the servant’s wing,” Evan teased.
Sophia rolled her eyes and turned to stride down the hill. “Tiffannee, thank you for all your help. I’ll ensure you get home safely and that you’re compensated for your time and efforts. We can annul the marriage right away.”
“Yes, I’d appreciate that,” Tiffannee replied, her tone careful. “But compensation isn’t really necessary. Being able to help with such important matters was an honor.”
Sophia smiled, grateful that in the end, the mortal had been reasonable to work with. She couldn’t blame Dr. Freud for her attitude on the various missions. These weren’t the sorts of events that most were used to—none, really. In the greater scheme of things, Tiffannee had done all right.
When they made it to the Barrier and a place where Sophia could create a portal for Tiffannee back to Baton Rouge, she turned to find a look of regret and hesitation on the mortal’s face.
“Is everything okay?” Sophia asked.
Tiffannee nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine. It will be weird to return to my regular life. I’m not sure anyone would believe me if I told them everything that happened while I was gone.”
“They definitely won’t believe that you got to marry a dashing young dragonrider,” Evan boasted.
“You’re one hundred years old,” Sophia corrected.
“You’re one hundred years old?” Tiffannee repeated in disbelief.
“I know,” Sophia returned. “You’d expect him to be a little more mature. Maybe in another couple of hundred years.”
“You didn’t realize that your husband was so much older, did you?” Evan slid his hand along the side of his head. “Well, you can go back to dating young and inexperienced mortals now, darling.”
“I do think that we should get the marriage annulled,” Tiffannee began. “But I was thinking, that whole thing on the hill. It was nice and…” Her eyes drifted up to Evan’s before sliding with nervousness to Sophia.
Sensing she was invading a personal moment, Sophia turned and hurried off. “Oh, I have to open the portal. I’ll be over here.”
Tiffannee sighed. “Anyway, I know we’re very different, but you don’t seem as… Well, my initial judgment of you might have been wrong, Evan.”
Sophia went to work opening the portal and pretended she couldn’t hear. Dr. Freud wouldn’t know that dragonriders had superior hearing and they weren’t that far away anyway.
“I knew this would happen.” Evan let out a breath. “As much as I tried, you still ended up falling in love with me. Regrettably, I have to let you go. We aren’t cut out for each other.”
“That’s what I thought too,” Tiffannee argued. “But there was a connection on the hill. I thought that maybe we could at least—”
“Shhhhush,” Evan said. From the corner of her vision, Sophia spied him press a single finger to the mortal’s lips. “It would never work. I’m a dragonrider. You’re a shrink. I like brunettes. Also, I already have feelings for someone else.”