We reached the top of the stairs, but instead of walking down them, I pulled Irna to the side and looked at Xander again. “Give us a minute?” I asked him.
Irna was already a little nervous and I thought my best chance was to tell her who I was would be without Mr. Intimidating looming over her. He raised his eyebrows in question, then they lowered when, I assumed, he came to the same conclusion.
He cupped my upper arm and leaned in, kissing me on the forehead. “See you at breakfast.” Xan then walked down the stairs, giving Irna and me some privacy.
“What? What’s going on, Emelia?”
Irna gently pulled out of my grasp and backed away a step.
“Nothing bad. I swear!” I held up my hands in surrender. “I just thought you’d talk to me easier without him hanging around. I love the big dragon, but even I think he’s a bit terrifying.” I smiled, trying to reassure her, which seemed to make her relax a bit.
“Okay. What do you want to talk about then?”
I opened and closed my mouth as I tried to figure out the best place to start. “My uncle mentioned you once,” I began. She automatically stiffened, but I continued. “He told me of the mate fate sent him and how she was gracious enough to know it wouldn’t work out. He only said good things, Irna, so I’m going to trust you with something important.”
She scrunched her eyebrows, but nodded her head once.
I shifted my stance, knowing this was it as anxiety hit me full force.
“I’m not exactly what you think I am, Irna. I mean, yes, I’m a caster because my mother is a caster, but I’m also something else. A dragon shifter. My father was a dragon like Xan.”
She began shaking her head and backed all the way far wall.
“Mento menilla.”
I spoke the incantation out loud, letting Irna see the different colors of my aura. She stared at me with wide eyes as she tracked the different aspects of me. As it sunk in, she started to full-on panic.
“That’s, that’s impossible, Emelia! You can’t be both!” she stuttered.
I took a step forward and held my hands out. “But it is true. You can see it for yourself.”
She began pacing back and forth in front of me.
“You don’t understand, Emelia! It, it’s medically impossible! Paranormals from different species are unable to reproduce with one another. They’re not, not compatible! Your existence goes against everything I’ve learned up to this point! Even with...”
Her words died off and I took a deep breath as her words sunk in, filing them away to think about later, and held both of her shaking hands in mine.
“Irna, you need to calm down,” I told her.
“Calm.” She nodded her head slowly and took deep breaths in and out, relaxing herself as much as possible.
More and more voices were drifting up the stairs from the first level of the house, indicating it was breakfast time.
“We need to go,” she told me, “but I want to know more. I want to know everything! Emelia, I need to study you! You could be the key to helping mixed supernatural couples conceive. You could be the key to everything!”
I took a deep breath. Did I want to be poked and prodded in the name of science? No, not really. But what if I could help bring about a better system in the supernatural community? What if the races could not only coexist peacefully, but have the freedom to love whomever they choose? It could be the key to getting my own happiness as well. How could I say no to that?
But it wasn’t just me I needed to consider. Xan… and Ronan were a part of this too. Also, any children that were conceived from a mixed pair could end up like me with two mates. On a good day, the idea of juggling more than one mate was difficult. What would other people think?
I looped my arm through Irna’s and began leading her down the stairs.
“I’ll think about it,” I informed her. “I mean, I’d be happy to tell you more, but I’m not sure I want to be studied like a lab rat.”
“That’s not what I mean at all! I’d take a little blood, but that’s it!”
“Irna, I’ll think about it. Okay? I’m sorry, but that’s the best answer I can give you right now.”
She sighed and nodded her head, but I could see that she wasn’t going to give up. Maybe picking her to be the first person I told about myself was a mistake.
We found Xander picking up a couple of platters of bagels to take into the dining room. I separated myself from Irna and approached him, giving him a quick kiss. When I turned around, she was nowhere to be seen.
“How did it go?” he whispered to me.
I shrugged. “Well, she believes me.”
“And?”
“She’s a genetic scientist, Xan. She wants to study me.”
“I hope you told her no. You did tell her no, right?”
He gazed down at me with worry. I picked my hand up and smoothed his forehead with my thumb.
“I told her I’d think about it. There’s a lot to consider, but I think we should talk about it later.”
I cut my eyes around the room and saw there were several people milling around. I felt like I may have made a mistake telling Irna about me, so I was beginning to second-guess my plan to tell others in the house about me.
Xan nodded, understanding my hesitancy to talk more out in the open and leaned down to give me a kiss.
“Let’s go eat. We’ll talk more later. Yeah?”
I nodded my head and he kissed me one more time before turning and walking out of the kitchen.
“Hey, new girl!” I whipped my head around, stopping in my tracks and saw
