Nim was tying back his hair. He always did when he was teaching. Amelia’s face appeared in the mirror. “Amelia? What’s wrong?” They’d given her and Curt a charm to scry him if they had an emergency. “Your friend John’s fiancé is here, hysterical. She can’t find John and is afraid he’s dead. She wanted me to help her contact you to see if you knew anything.” “Tell her John’s fine. He’s here. Jo and I will be there as soon as possible. Jo’s with a patient and I need to find someone to cover my class. Just keep her there and keep an eye on her.” Nim went and found Remtani. He was meeting with Bacna and Janta. “Sorry to interrupt your highness. I need permission to bring John’s chosen here,” he said. “Why? Has he gotten worse?” Remtani asked. “No. She’s having problems too. Amelia scried with the emergency charm and said she’s hysterical. John can’t go there yet or he’ll get sick.” Remtani nodded. “Getting them together would help.” He wrote out the permission. “Do you want me to send a page to the college to have someone cover your classes?” He offered. “I’m at the school today.” Remtani nodded. “Janta, go take over for him.” “Me?” “You’re good with kids and Bacna will stutter too much.” “Y-yeah, I-I w-will,” Bacna agreed, forcing his stutter to seem worse than it really was. “And my leg hurts today.” He had his cane, so it was likely he was telling the truth. “Bac, you go sit with John. Jo’s scheduled right now. Bacna nodded. “Thank you,” Nim said and went to the room John was using. “Jo, we need to go. Bacna will watch John.” “I’m fine. I don’t need to be watched,” John insisted. They ignored him. “Do you know what to do?” Nim asked Bacna. The prince nodded. “I helped with Ann’s d-deathwatch. Keep an eye on him. D-don’t let him hurt himself. If he acts up, hit him with my cane.” “Excuse me?” John asked. Bacna grinned. “Oh w-wait. That last part was j-just for Ann.” “Can you watch Kory too? His diaper bag is there.” Jo asked. “I’ll be happy too. And don’t worry. I won’t hit him with my c-cane.” “Thanks. If he gets hungry, it’s time for meat.” “G-good. I’m n-not n-nursing him.” Bacna grinned. Nim transported them to the gate. He drew in as much magic as he could, filling his vial too. They went through. Once on Earth, he transported them to the Thompson’s home. He was going to pay for this. They let themselves in. Nim couldn’t stay long. “Mom?” Jo called. The butler appeared. “Miss Jo, when did you get here?” “Just now. Where’s Mom?” “In the library with that frightfully…” “Do not finish that sentence,” Jo warned. They hurried to the library. There they found Amelia sitting next to Carry on the couch. Amelia looked perplexed while Carry was crying hysterically. “I keep telling her John’s alive, but she won’t believe me.” “It’s the bond, Mom,” Jo explained. “Because he’s on Torthoc, she can’t feel him, so it’s telling her he’s dead.” She sat on the other side of Carry. “Carry, John’s okay. I just saw him,” Jo assured her. “Really.” Carry shook her head. “My dad shot him.” “But he didn’t hit anything vital. The healers worked on him and he’s fine.” “He’s dead. I can feel it.” “No, you feel he’s gone. You shouldn’t not feel him so it’s confusing.” Carry frowned, confused. “Not feel him?” Nim knelt on the floor at her feet. “John told you he was a dragon?” She frowned and nodded. “He kept insisting he wasn’t human.” “He’s not and neither am I.” Nim shifted his face and hands briefly. “I can’t change all the way in here. I’m too big. “We’re not mammals. We’re reptiles. In true form, we have scales and wings and claws but we’re warm-blooded and we don’t lay eggs. We can change shape to look humanoid. And we’re creatures of magic. We bond with our mates.” “Mates?” Carry looked offended. “Only one at a time. We don’t ever have multiple partners. When we fall in love, we start bonding with the person. I suppose it’s sort of like pheromones or something. We start feeling what our love feels. We call it bonding. When we mate, the bond becomes permanent. I know you and John haven’t mated yet, but you’re still strongly bonded. You’ve been together for eight years. You’ve probably been bonding most of that time. “John’s on Torthoc so, right now, you can’t feel him. He’s not dead.” “When Nim went back to Torthoc and I stayed here, it felt the same even though I knew he wasn’t dead,” Jo added. “Would you like to see him?” Nim offered. “We can take you there.” “Can’t we call him?” Nim shook his head. “There are no phones there.” “Then how did Amelia call you?” “It’s a special device. But it can’t be used again for a while. It, uh, takes a while to be recharged,” Jo explained. Carry nodded. Nim was starting to feel nauseous. They needed to get going. “How about we go see him. You’ll see he’s fine,” he suggested. “But he lied to me.” “Carry, he was the only dragon here. Would you tell everyone you know?” Jo asked. “He was probably afraid of what people would do to him,” Nim pointed out. Carry nodded. She was starting to calm down. “It just feels…” Nim nodded. “I know.” He stood. Come, I’ll take you to him.” Carry nodded and followed him outside. “We’ll bring her back in a couple of days,” Jo told her mom. Amelia nodded. “If her dad comes looking for her, we’ll stall him.” “Don’t tell him about the gate,” Jo warned. “I won’t.” Without warning, Nim transported them to the country club, almost inside the gate. He didn’t want to risk her recognizing where the gate was. He thought she could be trusted, but he’d been wrong before. She gasped when her eyes cleared. He took her arm and guided her through before she could look around. They stepped out of the gate. “What the…?” Carry started. Nim drew in more energy and transported them right to John’s room. He was dressed and playing cards with Bacna. He jumped up when he saw her. “Carry!” He took her in his arms kissing her. Tears of joy streamed down his face, mixing with hers. “I thought I’d never see you again,” he finally said. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?” “Nim and Jo brought me. I was so sure you were dead. Dad said he’d hit you. There was blood but no body, but I couldn’t stop thinking it. I remembered Jo talking about the doctors where you grew up and how they helped Nim when he was so sick. I went to Amelia hoping she’d have a way to contact them. She called Nim or something. We were just at her house.” John smiled. “Magic can be a bit confusing.” He led her to sit with him on the bed. He looked at the others. “Go away. I’m fi…” he smiled. “I’m great. Let me talk with my fiancé.” “Fiancé?” Bacna asked. “A fancy word for pledged,” Nim explained. “Where’s Kory?” Jo asked as they left. “Mom and Cari c-came and got him shortly after you left,” Bacna said. “How did you get him to play cards?” Nim asked. He needed to find one of the healers soon. “I threatened to hit him with my cane again.” “Again?” Bacna grinned. “I was balancing it on two fingers and it kept falling. It hit him a couple of times. Jo laughed and shook her head. “I was bored.” “I think you use that cane more for manipulation than for support.” “Shh, don’t tell. I do need it today. Most of the time I only carry it if I think I’ll need it to help me walk.”