Blakeshire (Insight #9)(103)

He pulled my chin up and carefully let his fingers caress my cheek where the tears had fallen when I was in the shower. “It’s almost over,” he said quietly to me before he let his lips brush against mine.

I heard a giggle from Preston and a chair scooting back.

Blushing, I pulled away from Drake to see Zander reaching for a tray that had two plates on it. “I’m taking Aden his food, little man, then you and I need to get settled in for the night,” Zander said to Preston.

Once he left, Preston looked up from under the wayward curls that were getting darker every day.

I leaned over the counter so I was eye-to-eye with him. “Little man, were you playing in dark caves today?”

He smiled. “Not all of me, just some.”

“How did you know?”

“I saw it. I felt it,” he said as he reached for his lips.

“Do you see bad things like that a lot?” I asked as I searched his mind, which seemed to reflect nothing less than bliss.

“No, I only see the good things that come from the bad things that try to hurt us.”

“I don’t want you to be scared,” I whispered.

He looked up at Drake, then let his eyes move between the two of us a few times. “I’m not anymore.”

I felt my stomach fall, my heart thunder. It was insane how connected I felt to this little boy, to Drake.

Zander walked back in at that moment. He stopped short as he saw how the three of us were looking at each other.

Preston broke his gaze with me first, turning to see Zander, then looking at Drake. He carefully signed something to Drake with a pleading expression.

“Oh, come on. Not this again,” Zander complained.

“Learn it, and it won’t bother you,” Drake taunted him.

“I know enough. I know that one word was ‘sleepover,’ and I hope Drake’s answer is no. Little man, I need your help tonight. Remember, we are going to watch over Aden as he gets better. You’re my right hand man. You wouldn’t leave me to guard this wing all by myself, would you?”

Drake had already answered Preston, and he didn’t like the reply. It looked as if Preston had moved on to some kind of bargaining.

Zander was doing his best to follow along. “Look, buddy,” he said to Preston, “Madison and Drake are super tired, and they are just now getting settled into this palace. It’s better for them to be alone.”

“He can stay with us,” I said. I would sleep better knowing he was safe.

Drake signed something else to Preston, and he must have liked it. He smiled and said, “Deal,” as he hopped down from his stool and ran from the room.

“What did you just do?” Zander asked Drake.

“You have to compromise with him. Half the time when he asks you for something, he doesn’t want that—he wants the compromise you are sure to offer.”

“Which was?”

“He wants Madison and me to take him to a waterfall tomorrow.”

“Waterfall?”

“That’s what he said,” Drake said as he winked at me and pulled me closer.

Preston ran back into the kitchen with a small backpack in hand. He wrestled around inside of it and pulled out a DVD, then smiled and handed it to Drake.

I caught a glimpse of the title and knew that soon Drake would know exactly what Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory looked like, which led me to question how close of an eye Preston was keeping on his big brother.

Preston hugged Drake and me, then waved as he left with Zander.

Drake managed to lower the lights with a glance and ignite the candles on the table.

“Dinner,” he said quietly to me as he took our plates to the table.

“How did you have time to cook all of this?”

“Mom started it earlier today,” he said with a slight smile.

It was all I could do not to stare at him as I savored every bite of the meal he made for us. When I couldn’t take another bite, I asked him what had been haunting my thoughts.

“Tell me how you feel about what I found in that cavern, about what happened then, with the three of us.”

His majestic eyes connected with mine right as the aroma of roses filled the room, and I felt an undeniable love come from him.

“I knew about Preston last night, when you told me that Donalt had said the child was damaged. I knew he spoke for the first time right after the eruption that this dimension had when I left to find Willow. Hearing you talk about your first vessel led me to believe my worst nightmare that has ever been birthed: evil stole not only the woman I love, my life, but also our child…history is not going to repeat itself. I will play their every word against them... karmic law is on our side in this life. I’m sure of it.”

“I don’t think the inky Alamos was Horace. I still have to figure out who that is. I don’t know if he is my next target or my last.”

“We are not worrying about that tonight. Or tomorrow. We’ve paid our dues. We have earned our privacy for a time.”

“I doubt your kingdom is going to give you that for long.”

He smiled boyishly. “Let me show you something.”

He took my hand and led me to my chambers. After crossing the massive room, he stood me before the window and with a thought willed the drapes to part so I could clearly see the lights of his city, lights that would normally be out at this hour.