At first glance, nothing in the Blackbird household had changed. Marcus still cleaned the house. Gabriel still spent his days resting. Annika still ambled about, drifting between her bed and the backyard.

Everything seemed normal... until you noticed Annika’s too-rounded belly, or the gashes and bruises on Gabriel’s face.

It had been months since the dragon attack, but nothing was really resolved. Healers came and went, all offering the same, unhelpful advice: clean the wounds, manage the infection, rest. Nobody could tell them what came after. Dragon injuries were unpredictable, after all.

The house smelled permanently of herbs and ointments now, heavy enough to cling to the throat. Annika was supposed to rest, but she rarely did. She knew Marcus would flip his shit if he saw her with a sword, but fencing was the only thing that kept her from going insane.