Sahan fidgeted next to Ravi, pulling his phone from his pocket. He unlocked it and opened the photo gallery.
“We wanted to bring the real thing, but we were afraid it might be damaged on the flight. Balin thought it would be safer if we took a picture for now and then worry about getting the original to you later.”
“What?”
Sahan handed him the phone, and on the screen was a picture of what looked to be a very old portrait. A man and a woman stood together, the woman holding a small baby with black hair. Behind the trio was a large blue dragon with scales that were an interesting mix of sky blue and shining sapphire.
“Those are your parents, Ravi,” Balin explained. “The painting was made when you were only about six months old. Your mother demanded that your father be painted in his dragon form, as well, because she said he had the bluest and shiniest scales of all the dragons.”
Ravi’s legs finally gave out, and he sat on the ground in the middle of the courtyard, cradling the phone in both hands as if it were the most precious thing in the world. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, even after his vision became blurry with tears. He sniffed and roughly wiped the tears away.
His parents. And young. They looked so very young. His father was a couple inches taller than his mother and had a handsome, kind face. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her in tight against him. His mother was gorgeous and regal. She looked like she was meant to be a queen. And he was there, in her arms. Looking at the picture, he could see that he had his father’s nose, his mother’s curly hair and eyes. He was definitely a blend of his parents.
While the adults were looking forward, as if staring at the painter, he couldn’t miss the fact that the dragon was staring down at his mother with a look of absolute love and devotion.
The portrait was absolutely perfect.
It was the first time he’d seen a picture of his parents. Ravi wanted to latch onto it and stare at it for a few days. His throat felt tight with unshed tears; he was so overwhelmed with love and grief.
“Thank you,” he finally managed in a choked voice. “I—I didn’t know what they looked like. Hoheit has described them, but he never could have shared this much detail. And my dad’s dragon…I think I have some of his same coloring.”
“If you’d like me to send it to you—” Sahan started to offer.
Ravi was immediately shoving the phone back into his hands while firing off his contact information. He wanted a copy on his phone, and then he’d ask Cassie if she could clean it up a little bit so he could have it printed for his room. He wanted it hanging on his wall so he could always look up and see his parents there. At least, until he got his hands on the original painting.
It all seemed too much. He had wind dragons. He had a family. He had a picture of his parents. Sora had made it all possible.
He looked up to find the mage smiling at him, his hands shoved into his pockets. This man, this amazing, sexy man was the greatest gift of all.
Ravi shoved to his feet and launched himself at Sora. He barely had enough time to pull his hands out of his pocket before Ravi was crashing into him, peppering him with kisses.
“You are” kiss “the most amazing” kiss “thoughtful” kiss “kindest” kiss “sexiest man” kiss “in all the world.” Kiss.
Sora was laughing by the last one, and the kiss might have landed square on his teeth, but Ravi didn’t care. His mage needed to know how much this meant to him and that Ravi was forever in his debt.
Grabbing his face with both hands, Sora forced him to slow down, kissing him sweetly before pulling away.
“Anything for you, my dear heart,” he whispered in a voice roughened by emotion. “Anything.”
Sora suddenly released him and laughed. “Now, go play. Find out what it’s like to fly with wind dragons.”
Balin groaned. “The youngsters may go play. My old bones need a rest after that long flight, and I should present myself to King Alric.”
Ravi hesitated. He really should be there when Balin met with Alric. It was his duty, and—
Sora’s bark of laughter broke off his train of thought. The mage swatted him on the ass, and Ravi’s eyes became huge.
“Go, Ravi! Have fun! Be a wind dragon! I can escort Balin to King Alric and handle introductions for you. He understands. That’s why he gave you the day off.”
That’s right! He was off duty for the day.
“Father?” Chandi inquired, a note of hope in her soft voice.
“Yes, yes. Go and have fun.” He paused and wagged his finger at his daughter. “But listen to Ravi and Sahan. I don’t want King Alric to regret inviting us to visit his clan.”
Ravi swore he heard an excited squeak escape her before she popped back into her dragon form. With a laugh, Ravi stepped away from the others and shifted as well. He started to extend his wings to take flight when a blue blur zipped past him. He looked up to find that Sahan was already in the air.
Holy crap! He was fast.
Laughing, Ravi leapt into the air at the same time as Chandi. He was vaguely aware of Sora cheering for him and the shouts of the humans outside the castle, but it all fell away as he spiraled and soared through the air with two wind dragons. It felt like a dream, and Ravi prayed he would never wake up.
This was quickly becoming the second-best day of his life.
The first was still the day he’d hopped on the back of the motorcycle and wrapped his arms around Sora. His mage.
Sora frowned at the book in his hand. He’d been trying to read it for the past ten minutes and was still on the same page. It wasn’t holding his attention—not that it was the book’s fault. It was Ravi’s.
Or rather, a distinct lack of Ravi in his life.
They’d known each other barely three weeks, and now Sora couldn’t go a day without seeing the dragon.
Not that he was surprised he hadn’t seen Ravi all day. After introducing Ravi to the wind dragons, he was gone from sight, streaking through the sky like a bolt of blue lightning against white clouds. Balin had told him years ago that a wind dragon was at his happiest when he was flying. He needed to feel the wind across his face, lifting his wings.
Sora had taken Balin to meet with King Alric and the other dragon leaders. He’d then excused himself so he could meet with Lisette and the other mages for a bit.
His day had been busy enough as he helped screen the humans outside the castle and then assisted with recording more spells. North and Gunter were overseeing the process in an effort to make sure that nothing was lost and that the information was shared with the Valerii mages in Brazil.
He took his meals with the mages and heard the other dragons talking about spotting Ravi, but he hadn’t seen the man with his own eyes in hours.
Now, he was alone in his chambers, feeling completely at loose ends.
Which was a very odd sensation. His entire life, he’d been content with his own company. Never before had he sat in a room and wondered what to do. Or felt as if nothing at all appealed.
He missed Ravi. That was the real issue. The only thing he wanted to do was spend time with his wind dragon, but he wasn’t there. It was as if someone had drained all the color from his world and he was walking around in somber shades of grey, waiting for his personal rainbow to bounce back into his life.