Sera had smiled at the question. “Want to know a secret?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve never shifted.”
Both of them had gaped at her.
“Never?” Hadyn gasped.
“Never. My parents didn’t believe in it for Arcadians. And since I’ve never been shocked… I’ve always been human.”
Edena had returned to being human. “Then why did you make us do this?”
She’d brushed the hair back from her baby’s beautiful eyes that reminded her so much of Maxis’s. “Because your father was a beautiful, proud dragon. And I wanted you to share this part of him. No one should take that from you. Don’t ever let them.”
Frowning, Hadyn had moved closer to them. “You loved our father?”
“I did and I’m sorry I took him from you. But never be afraid of using the gift he left you with. You are drakomai. Hold your heads up in pride of that and never let anyone make you feel inferior.”
Max pulled back out of her memory to stare at her. “You really told them that?”
She nodded. “I meant what I said, Maxis.”
“Then prove it.”
“How?”
“Turn into a dragon.”
The color faded from her face. “Pardon?”
Max took a deep breath before he explained his ultimatum. “You say that you want a fresh start? Then open your heart and show me that you’re willing to bend. I want you to face the beast inside you. As you made our children shift, I want you to shift. Just once. If you can embrace the dragon inside your own heart, then we might stand a chance.”
“And if I can’t?”
“Then I know you’re lying. If you can’t stomach the dragon that lives in your body, how could you ever accept and love the one that is inside me?”
Seraphina knew he was right. But as she stared at him, she doubted she could do this. For too long she’d denied that beast. Had hidden it away. To bring it out now…
What if she couldn’t go back?
“I mean this, Sera. You gave me an impossible choice once. Now I give you one. Shift for me or lose me forever.”
11
“You want me to shift here?” Seraphina asked, looking around the loft that suddenly seemed way too tiny for two full-sized dragons.
A teasing light shone in his eyes. “You’ll do it?”
“I don’t know… I’m scared.”
The playful light extinguished immediately. “And that’s why I’m insisting. You need to understand the beast inside you. Make peace with that part of yourself. I want you to understand the gift you unknowingly gave our dragonets.”
Still, it terrified her. But he was right. She’d made her children do this. In all fairness, she should do it too.
Maxis pulled back from her and rose to his feet. He held his hand out for her. “Come with me, my precious swan. Let me show you what it means to be a ferocious dragon. Trust me.”
Against all reason and sanity, she did.