“She was so young, only in her forties,” Pia said. “And I don’t think she had any family. I remember she once said the children in her classroom were her family. Liam’s going to be sad to hear she died. She was so nice to him.”

Liam had also grown at such an accelerated pace he hadn’t stayed in one classroom for very long, so he hadn’t formed lifelong attachments to anybody. Dragos was rather proud that he avoided mentioning that, since he knew he wasn’t always the most tactful of creatures.

“Let’s not interrupt him any further while he’s at school,” he suggested. “He’s had enough disruptions this year. We can always break the news when he comes to visit.”

Pia gave that some thought. “That makes sense, I guess.”

The conversation moved on to other things, and the last hours of their remaining time on Earth flew by, until at last it was their final evening. Dragos looked forward to a good night of sleep and sex, not in that order, enjoying a great, homecooked breakfast in the morning, and making a leisurely crossing over to Rhyacia around midmorning.

Of course, that would be when things slid sideways, as they did every fucking time things went too fucking smoothly in his life.

That night, he lounged on their bed watching the late-night news, feet crossed at the ankles. He was going to miss the twenty-four-hour news channels. He’d hired someone to compile a summary report each week of the world news, both human and Elder Races, and to collect various newspapers to have couriered to him. He might be withdrawing from Earth, but he wasn’t going to stick his head in the sand. It always paid to stay informed.

Pia lay back against a pile of pillows. She had just finished nursing the baby, and Niall had fallen asleep on her chest. The French doors were propped open, as they so often were, to the cool evening air that smelled damp with impending rain.

Stroking the baby’s dark, downy head, Pia crooned, “Who’s my stabby little psychopath?”

Dragos chuckled as he curled a hand around her knee. “You better not let him hear you say it like that when he’s in his Wyr form. He might get the idea that being a stabby little psychopath is a good thing.”

“I would never.” She grinned. “At the moment, he’s just a baby and he doesn’t know any better, but in his Wyr form he understands every single thing we say.”

“Only goes to prove what I’ve been saying for centuries,” he remarked lazily. “Animals are the most intelligent of all creatures.”