A powerful wave of pride conquered Dragos’s rage. Already, his son was a far better man than he would ever be.
Walking over to Pia and Liam, he asked gently, Are you all right?
The boy gave him a faint smile, and Dragos got a glimpse of the older soul inhabiting that young body. Yeah. I didn’t let her keep my phone.
He stroked Liam’s bright, silken hair. Good boy.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Liam said aloud. He looked up at his mom and gave her a crooked grin. “I’ve got a girlfriend.”
Dragos wished he could have taken a photo of that moment, because the look on Pia’s face was priceless.
* * *
Maybe things didn’t completely and totally suck after all.
A couple of the guards who had been watching over the school with Hugh came to take Mrs. Teaberry away, but not before Dad stood in the corner with her for a long time in silence. Liam never found out what Dad said to her, but whatever it was, it turned her skin pasty white and made her hands shake.
Briefly, Liam thought he might feel bad about that, but then he didn’t. Sorry, not sorry.
After the guards took Mrs. Teaberry out of the room, Mom, Dad, Mrs. Chambers and he talked. Mom asked, “How do you feel about school now?”
“I like it!” he told her. It had been a busy first day, and going undercover was every bit as interesting as he thought it would be.
“Do you want to come back tomorrow?” Mom watched him closely.
“Yeah. Does that mean I get a new teacher?”
“It absolutely does,” Dad said.
The adults talked for a while, and Liam lost interest. He wandered over to the bookcases that Mrs. Chambers had in her office, and he read a couple of books until they were finished. Mrs. Chambers said, “There’ll be a substitute teacher in his class until I can hire someone else. Again, I can’t tell you how sorry I am that this happened. Elora worked here for years, and I never heard a whisper of anything like this before.”
Liam sneaked a look at Mom, who didn’t look mollified. Her face set, she said, “Sometimes you only hear whispers if you listen for them well enough.”
At that, Mrs. Chambers looked both terribly apologetic and rather offended, which Liam thought was a pretty hard expression to pull off. But she must have thought Mom had a point, because she didn’t say anything.
Soon afterward, they left. Liam would have rather gone back into class, but Mom and Dad decided he’d had enough for one day. Outside, Eva leaned against the bumper of an SUV. Dad held out his hand, and Eva tossed the keys at him.
Dad said, “Thanks. Find your own way home, okay?”
“You got it,” Eva said.
“I’m going to ride in the back with Liam,” Mom said.
Dad smiled at them. “Good idea.”
While he wouldn’t have thought to ask for it, Liam was glad she did. They rode for a while quietly, and when he sneaked his hand into Mom’s, she closed her fingers around his tightly.
Suddenly, she burst out, “I want to punch her evil, lying face.”
Liam caught a flash of hot gold as Dad looked at them, narrow-eyed, in the rearview mirror. Dad said, completely seriously, “I can make that happen.”
It wasn’t really funny, and yet somehow it was. He burst out laughing, and after a few moments Mom and Dad laughed too. Mom raised his hand and kissed it. He wiggled sideways in his seat belt so he could lay his head on her shoulder, and in that moment, he felt completely happy.
She said, “I’m so sorry you ever had to go through that, but especially on your first day.”
“I’m not,” he told her.
She turned to him with a look of surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah. I mean, she made me mad and she sort of scared me for a few minutes, but it didn’t last long, and she shouldn’t be a teacher.”
“Out of the mouth of babes,” said Dad.
“What do you want for supper?” Mom asked him.
He replied, “Lots and lots of spaghetti. I’m starving.”
She chuckled. “Dad and I might eat something else, but you can have spaghetti every night this week if you want.”
So, in fact, everything turned out to be almost perfect.
Almost.
That night he ate so much spaghetti, Mom said he was in danger of turning into a big noodle, which made him laugh so hard, he fell out of his chair. The rest of the school week went well. The substitute teacher was wonderful, a smart and nice man named Mr. Huddleston. After a few days, Principal Chambers came into the classroom to announce that Mr. Huddleston would be their permanent teacher, and all the kids cheered.
Dad told him Mrs. Teaberry went to jail. It turned out she had been mean to other kids, and Dad said that lots of parents were pressing charges. Andrew, Brad and Joel stayed quiet at recess, and they left all the other kids alone.
Mom contacted Marika’s and Perrin’s parents, and one day, they came over for a playdate after school.
Liam had an awesome time. Perrin was an odd, nervous little nerd of a boy, but after he relaxed, he shouted and charged around with every bit as much energy as Marika did. They explored the woods behind the house and played pirates until the sun went down and the other kids had to go home.
So actually life could hardly have been better, except for one thing that weighed and weighed on his mind, until finally, on Friday evening, he couldn’t take it any longer.
After supper, he and Mom made vegan rice crispy treats and together they ate the whole batch. Then, when Mom went upstairs to take a bath, he went in search of Dad and found him reading one of his history books in the library.
Liam wandered over to hang on the arm of his chair. Dad looked at him over the edge of his book. “Something on your mind?”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Liam couldn’t look into his dad’s keen gaze, and he bent his head as he asked, “Can I talk to you in private?”
Dad glanced around the library, but instead of pointing out that the room was already empty except for them, after a moment he said, “Let’s go for a walk.”
Liam swallowed and nodded.
They went outside.
The sun had just set behind the nearby mountains, but it was still hot and plenty light enough. Overhead, the sky was streaked with rainbow colors. It would be a good evening to go flying, except Liam didn’t feel like it.
Dad led him to the path that went to the lake, and soon they walked along the beach toward the half-completed office complex. It was the one place where Mom never came anymore.
Liam darted a thoughtful, uncertain glance up at Dad’s face. While it was impossible to read Dad’s expression, he felt pretty sure Dad hadn’t picked the location by accident.
He said, experimentally, “I like the lake.”
“I do too,” said Dad. Stopping at a stack of concrete blocks, he sat on the edge of the pile and stretched his long legs out. He gave Liam a sidelong smile. “Don’t worry, Mom will get over it. I think she’ll come down here a lot once the building is completed and people move in. She doesn’t let much hold her down, you know.”
Liam nodded and turned to look out over the water, which reflected the rainbow colors in the sky. The lake blurred as his eyes filled, and his mouth wobbled as he asked, “Am I bad?”
In a very quiet voice, Dad asked, “Now, why would you think to ask such a thing?”
Squatting, he picked up a stick to poke at the ground, mostly to hide the fact that his tears had spilled over. “Last Sunday, when I was playing Spy Wyr, I heard you and Mom talking about how I needed school, so I could learn how to control myself.”
Dad stayed silent a moment. He said, “We were on the balcony. Where were you?”
“I climbed up to the beams u-underneath.”
From the corner of his eye, he watched as Dad closed his eyes briefly and said to himself, “I didn’t sense a damned thing.”
He guessed that meant he’d gotten pretty good at his cloaking spell. Ducking his head, he said, “There
were some bad boys at school. I made one of them cry, and I scared the other one pretty good. And I meant to. I . . . liked it. Oh—also, I can breathe fire. Watch.”
Holding the stick to his lips, he concentrated on pulling on his Power as he hissed. Heat boiled out of his mouth, along with a lick of flame, and the stick caught fire.
“That’s something, that is,” said Dad in a soft voice. “Can you put it out?”
“Sure.” He started to bury it in the dirt between his feet.
Dad took him gently by the wrist to stop him. “No, not that way. Try to put it out with your mind.”
Liam looked at him uncertainly then focused on the stick. After a few moments, he said, “I don’t think I can do that.”
“That’s okay, maybe you can’t do it yet, but I’m sure you will be able to. We’ll practice at it.” Dad passed his hand over the stick and the tiny flame died down. “Okay, first things first. Come here.”
As Liam stood up, Dad did something he didn’t often do anymore. He picked Liam up like he was a little kid. Turning into the embrace, Liam wrapped his legs around Dad’s waist and put his head on his shoulder.
Dad sat down again, holding him in a whole body hug. It felt good, like being surrounded by a hot, comforting fire. He rested his chin on Liam’s shoulder. “Your mom and I already know about what happened with those other boys.”
He mumbled, “You do?”
“Mm-hm. Hugh told us. After talking about it, we decided not to say anything unless you brought it up.”
“Oh.” After thinking about it, he whispered, “I’m not sorry.”
Sorry, not sorry.
Dad rubbed his back. “You know what I think?”
He shook his head.
“I think you did an outstanding job.”
Outstanding. He lifted his head. “Really?”
“Really. You spoke to them in their language. You backed them off, and you made them stop hurting other kids. And you controlled yourself, and you didn’t hurt them in return.”
He had to point out, “I scared them pretty bad.”
“Yes, you did.” Dad’s face was calm. “If you were to talk to humans about this, they would probably say that things should be handled in a different way, and I respect that—but Liam, it’s important to remember, we’re not humans, and neither are those boys. They’re stronger than humans, more dangerous. They’re predators, and they crossed a line. You know what happens when Wyr go bad, don’t you? They can hurt a lot of people before they’re brought down.”
“That’s what the sentinels do,” he said.
“That’s right—that’s part of what the sentinels do.” Dad paused. “I also think it’s important for you to remember, you have two sides to your nature. You have some of me in you, but you also have some of your mom too.”
“That makes sense,” he muttered.
“Your mom is much more peaceful than I am, so sometimes, you might find that those two sides are in conflict with each other. When that happens, you’ve got to give yourself time to think things over. You can always talk to either your mom or me. Between the three of us, I feel sure that we can sort things out. Okay?”
Blinking to clear his eyesight, he nodded. “Okay.”
Dad looked over the water then back at him. “You know how old I am, right?”
“Yeah.” It was actually hard to wrap his mind around the concept of just how old Dad was, but he had a general sort of idea.
Dad smiled at him. “In all of that time, you are the best thing I’ve ever done. You are the absolute best part of me, and I am so proud of you. Your mom is proud of you too, and she understands you better than you might think. You might be dangerous, but you could never, ever be bad. You just have to promise me one thing.”
The weight lifted from his shoulders, until he felt light and free again. “What’s that?”
“You’ve got to stop spying on adults, especially your mom and me. Sometimes we say things to each other that are private, and we say it in a way that the other person might understand, but nobody else would. It’s called taking things in context. When you overhear stuff you’re not supposed to hear, that’s a good way to get your feelings hurt over nothing.”
That made sense. He heaved a sigh. “Can I still play Spy Wyr with my friends?”
“Yes, you can.”
“Okay. I promise I’ll stop.”
“Good boy. Are you ready to go back inside?”
“Yeah.”
Dad hugged him tight then set him on his feet and stood.
As Liam looked up, his gaze caught on the thin white scar on Dad’s forehead.
Dad was so big, so strong. He was stronger than anyone else Liam knew, but still . . . his dad could be hurt. As strong, old and fast as he was, someone could come at his back.
And Liam loved him so much it hurt. It was a good, deep ache.
When I finish getting big, he thought, I’m not ever going to let anything happen to you, or to Mom.
Not on my watch.
Dad held out his hand, and he took it. Together in the peaceful, deepening twilight, they walked back up to the house.
Thank you!
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading my short story Peanut Goes To School. Dragos and Pia’s son Liam is one of my favorite characters, and I’m delighted to share this story with you. I hope you had as much fun visiting with him as I did!
Would you like to stay in touch and hear about new releases? You can:
• Sign up for my monthly email at: www.theaharrison.com
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Reviews help other readers find the books they like to read. I appreciate each and every review, whether positive or negative.
Peanut Goes To School is the final story in a three-story arc featuring Dragos, Pia and their son Liam (aka Peanut). The first story is Dragos Takes a Holiday (November, 2013 release), and the second is Pia Saves The Day (June, 2014 release).
Happy reading!
Thea
Also available:
Dragos Takes A Holiday
(A novella of the Elder Races)
The Bermuda Triangle. Pirates. The Peanut. What could possibly go wrong?
Dragos Cuelebre needs a vacation. So does Pia, his mate. When the First Family of the Wyr head to Bermuda for some much needed R&R, it’s no ordinary undertaking – and no ordinary weekend in the sun. Between hunting for ancient treasure buried beneath the waves and keeping track of their son, Liam—a.k.a. Peanut, whose Wyr abilities are manifesting far ahead of schedule—it’s a miracle that Pia and Dragos can get any time together.
They’re determined to make the most of each moment, no matter who tries to get in their way.
And did we mention pirates?
For fans of Dragon Bound and Lord’s Fall, passion, playfulness, and adventure abound in this Elder Races novella.
Also available:
Pia Saves The Day
(A novella of the Elder Races)
Two mates face their deadliest challenge yet—each other…
Pia and Dragos’s magical young son Liam (the Peanut), is growing at an unprecedented rate, and if that isn’t enough, he is also exhibiting new, and unpredictable, magical gifts. To protect him, the concerned parents decide to move to upstate New York.
Both Dragos and Pia relish the idea of leaving behind the city. They finally have the space to indulge their Wyr side, and Liam can grow in safety. It’s a breath of fresh air—literally—but their idyllic situation is shattered when Dragos is injured in a freak accident.
Stripped of his memory and bereft of Pia’s taming influence, there’s nothing holding back Dragos’s darkest side. And in order to restore her family and save her mate, Pia must confront the most powerful menace in Elder Races history.
It’s going to take more than a penny to fix this…
Look for these titles from Thea Harriso
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THE ELDER RACES SERIES – FULL LENGTH NOVELS
Published by Berkley
Dragon Bound
Storm’s Heart
Serpent’s Kiss
Oracle’s Moon
Lord’s Fall
Kinked
Night’s Honor (*September, 2014)
ELDER RACES NOVELLAS
Published by Samhain Publishing
True Colors
Natural Evil
Devil’s Gate
Hunter’s Season
The Wicked
OTHER WORKS BY THEA HARRISON
Dragos Takes a Holiday
Pia Saves the Day (*June, 2014)
Peanut Goes to School (*July, 2014)
GAME OF SHADOWS SERIES
Published by Berkley
Rising Darkness
Falling Light
ROMANCES UNDER THE NAME
AMANDA CARPENTER
E-published by Samhain Publishing
(original publication by Harlequin Mills & Boon)
A Deeper Dimension
The Wall
A Damaged Trust
The Great Escape
Flashback
Rage
Waking Up
Rose-Coloured Love
Reckless
The Gift of Happiness
Caprice
Passage of the Night
Cry Wolf
A Solitary Heart
The Winter King (*July, 2014)
Peanut Goes To School
Copyright © 2014 by Teddy Harrison LLC
ISBN 10: 0989972879
ISBN 13: 978-0-9899728-7-1
Kindle Edition
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, scanned or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.