“Poor woman,” her mom said.
“She’s checked out emotionally, like it seems all Blue wives do with their husbands, but she seems happy most of the time.” And that gave Bryn hope for her future.
“I forgot how crazy this world was,” her dad said.
“It’s plenty nuts,” Bryn said. “But the flying and magic kind of balance things out.”
“Speaking of balance.” Her dad pointed at the brace he wore. “Your friend Garret is a genius. This brace has made a huge difference in my ability to move around.”
“Good. Garret is probably the first dragon to work on prosthetics since injured dragons used to be shunned.” Bryn thought of something ironic and grinned. “Did Garret tell you who funded his research and development of these products?”
“No,” her dad said.
“Your father-in-law,” Bryn said. “I asked him to help Garret, so he funded the whole thing.”
Her mom stared open-mouthed. “I have no idea how you worked your way into their hearts, but I’m so glad you did. I think you’ve had a positive influence on them.”
“They’ve been good to me,” Bryn said. “I care about them. I know they still care about you, and I’m hoping they’ll let you back in to their lives.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” her mom said. “I committed an unforgiveable crime in their eyes. I’d love to make amends somehow, but for now, I’m grateful that they’ve taken care of you.”
“Your mom and I are prepared to live in Sanctuary so we can be near you. We have no illusions that we’ll be welcomed back into Dragon society. I hope your mom can visit her parents, but I have no plan to ever step foot into Sinclair Estate.”
That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Not that her grandparents would welcome him with open arms, but she hoped they could all be together one day. “Maybe for special occasions like Christmas you could visit,” Bryn said. “Because honestly, Christmas without you guys last year, when I thought you were gone…” Bryn teared up. “Worst holiday ever. I really want us all to be together this year.”
“We may be able to meet on neutral ground,” her mom said. “But I don’t expect to be invited into my parents’ home. Truthfully, it might be better that way.”
“You are ruining the family reunion I’ve spent many hours planning in my head,” Bryn said. “And I’m only sort of joking.”
Her mom grabbed Bryn’s hand and squeezed. “Having you back in our lives is a miracle. I knew that once you attended the Institute and had a taste of living like a dragon…flying whenever you wanted…using magic…you’d never be satisfied with the human world again. So being able to visit you, and eventually having you visit us, is enough for me. Don’t push my parents to make amends. I don’t want to upset the balance of your new life for something that will probably never happen.”
“Well, that sucks,” Bryn said.
“Things could have been so much worse,” her mom said. “We could have been tried for treason or tossed in a prison without a trial. The moral of today’s story is be-happy-with-what-we-have.”
“I can do that,” Bryn said. “For now.” There was one other uncomfortable topic they needed to address. “Dad, when I came here I tried to find your relatives, but—”
“The car crash,” her dad said. “I heard about that a few weeks ago.”
“I’m so sorry.” Bryn was grateful she wasn’t the one breaking the news to him that his parents had been killed in a car crash, but it still sucked.
He nodded and looked away. After a moment, he cleared his throat and said, “I wasn’t expecting a happy family reunion, but finding out they were gone was hard. Having you back is the most important thing.”
Chapter Ten
Saying goodbye to her parents was a tearful affair, but it helped that she now knew she could see them again. Once she was back in her room, she felt emotionally exhausted but wired. She was sitting on her couch reading the book Miss Enid had given her when her phone rang.
Clint’s voice came through the phone loud and clear and slightly panicked. “I think Ivy over-exerted herself growing the trees. She’s fallen asleep on my couch and I can’t wake her up.”
“Oh my God. Did you send for a Medic?”
“Yes. They’re on their way, but waiting by myself is making me crazy.”
“If it wasn’t past curfew I’d be there in a heartbeat,” Bryn said.
“I know. Can you just stay on the phone with me?”
“Sure.” She’d never heard Clint so flustered.
“Distract me,” Clint said. “Tell me about Garret’s new wing.”
Bryn rambled about how cool the new wing was. Clint made sounds like he was listening, and then she heard a knock in the background.
“Leave the phone off the hook so I can hear,” Bryn said.
Clint didn’t answer, but she heard the phone land on a hard surface, probably the table, and that was followed by the sound of people talking. A few words drifted through the phone but most of it was unclear. Bryn waited not-so-patiently for Clint to come back on the line. Maybe she could just dash over to Ivy’s room, but her grandparents would have a fit if she was caught out after curfew. She paced back and forth, waiting to hear something. Finally, someone came on the line.
“Bryn, this is Medic Williams. Ivy is fine. In her untrained enthusiasm she spent too much of her Quintessence growing those trees. I want to track down the Orange who let an inexperienced student do something like this, but Ivy can’t remember the woman’s name. Did you catch it?”
“No. I don’t think she introduced herself while I was there.”
“This is disturbing. Since all this information will go into an official file, don’t be surprised if you’re called in for questioning.” And then Bryn was listening to the dial tone.
That was weird. It’s not like the Orange would have done this to Ivy on purpose. They’d probably track the woman down and warn her about working with untrained students. Poor Ivy. She’d seemed so excited about working on the trees. They probably wouldn’t let her do it again.
Ten minutes later, Bryn’s phone rang again. She answered, expecting it to be Ivy.
“It’s Clint again. Ivy is sleeping.”
“She’s all right?”
“Yes, but something is bothering me. And it might be my overactive imagination, and the fact that I’ve been reading about Silvers—”
“No way.” Bryn sucked in a breath as she guessed where he was going with this. “I mean that lady did have her hand on Ivy’s to help her grow the tree, but the tree actually grew, so she had to be funneling Quintessence out, not sucking it in. Right?”
“After you left, the woman kept her hand on Ivy’s forearm, supposedly to guide her. I sat there thinking ‘what a nice Orange dragon.’ Most of them are standoffish and kind of quiet, but this lady was really nice…almost too nice.”
“Now my brain is spinning, too,” Bryn said. “Do you think I should call my grandfather and mention this?”
“You could, but I’d hate to get a nice Orange in trouble, if we’re just being paranoid.”
What should she do? Bryn frowned. “Should we wait and ask Ivy what she wants us to do?”
“It might be better if you did it while she’s sleeping. If she were awake she’d try to talk you out of it. She’s kind of embarrassed about the whole thing.”
Bryn sat on the couch and tried to consider this from all angles. “Medic Williams will file a report that someone on the Directorate will read, so my grandfather will hear about it sooner or later. I think I’ll call him because if I don’t and this ends up being an issue and he finds out that I knew and didn’t say anything, he’ll be mad.”