"I'm curious about something," Vander said, dropping down at the picnic table where Lucy was sitting. It was one of the covered patios with tall heaters spread out but the didn't stop the occasional gust of wind from blowing snow into the patio so it was still mostly empty.
"They're not here," he added, noticing her furtive glances around.
"Oh. Right. Good. So, what's the question?"
"How did your family come to be dragon tamers?"
"A pact with Hestia. Ares created the first dragon slayers in the hopes of creating the perfect warrior. Except they were human and had free will. When they didn't turn out the way he wanted, he abandoned them and went back to the drawing board.
"Hestia, in her big sisterly way, knew that Ares creations needed to be protected. They were too powerful to be left to their own devices. So, she went to a couple who were trying to conceive and offered them a deal. They would have children and wealth on two conditions: the first was that they could never change their last name so that dragon slayers could always find their way to them and secondly, that they'd never turn away a dragon slayer.
"Dad has to walk a fine line with that one. If he turns them away before I know about them, it bypasses that part of the pact since he's not the Heartfilia. It actually what happened to Erik. He came into his powers after Mom died. Nearly killed his science class when he got nervous during an oral report. Dad didn't want him anywhere near me. I found out about him when he cornered me at the store."
"He's a good guy. And damn is he good in bed."
"I know the first. Didn't need to know the second. He just struggles with his powers more than others."
"You care about all of them, don't you?"
"Of course. They're my dragons," she said with a smile.
"And my brothers?"
Vander watched as her face turned so red that he was fairly certain it was hotter than the heater.
"You know, if one of you could figure out who you slept with, that would be great, 'cause the whole walking on eggshells at home is getting really old."
"Shut up," Lucy said, dropping her head into her textbook.