How Not To Fall For A Dragon (Lexi and Blake) novel Chapter 157

How

Chapter 157 Bonus Chapter 9- Never Forget Dragons Don’t Do

‘Casual’ Dating

LEXI-10 YEARS LATER

I am in the kitchen with my mother loading up the dishwasher after dinner. Blake bought this house for us six years ago when we graduated from the Academy. Now that was a hard day. Not the graduation, that part was fun, but the moving out part… The Academy handled it very badly. First it kept hiding my things. Then random drawers vanished. Then one shoe from every pair I owned started appearing in completely different rooms. For a while my bedroom door actually disappeared entirely. Not moved. Just… gone. Blake was furious. Principal Istvan laughed so hard she had to sit down. It wasn’t until I promised to come back regularly that the Academy finally started cooperating again. And I’ve kept that promise religiously. Every Friday Blake and I fly down there together and help out in Layla’s medicinal magic class. Sort of like a student teacher. I still work as a healer too, of course. That’s what I always wanted to do. But people come to me now. This house is enormous, and there’s a whole separate section of it set up for patients. Warm waiting rooms, treatment spaces, herb gardens, everything I could possibly need. Layla helped me register officially as a healer years ago, though apparently being ‘the unicorn healer protected by a dragon’ meant word spread faster than the paperwork did. Blake is always hovering nearby while I work too, making sure I’m safe. Not obviously. He thinks he’s subtle about it. He’s not. But honestly, the deterrent of visiting the home of a dragon is generally enough to scare off anyone who isn’t genuinely seeking help. I do charge for healing, technically, but barely. Mostly enough to cover supplies and stop people from feeling

awkward about accepting help. I don’t really need to worry about money anyway. Blake collected more wealth over

the years than I think I could spend in three lifetimes, and somehow he’s still adding to it. I worried for a while

that it might bother him that I don’t earn as much as I potentially could. Instead he looked horrified when I

suggested overworking myself and reminded me that he was the one who wanted me seeing patients from home in

the first place so that I could stay safe.

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I did cut back my hours more four years ago though. Because four years ago, Gemma was born. Our daughter. Our

absolutely perfect little girl. Her hair is blonde like mine, though darker, more orange-gold than bright, her eyes

are Blake’s, bright molten gold that somehow already carry the exact same dramatic intensity. She is fearless, stubborn, clever and completely adored by everyone in this house. Especially Blake, though he tries very hard to

pretend otherwise whenever she wraps him around her tiny little finger for the hundredth time that day. I thought

balancing work and motherhood would be difficult, but Blake solved that problem in typical Blake fashion by

going completely overboard. Somehow he convinced my parents to rent out their house and move in with us

permanently so they could help with Gemma and any future children we might have. I still don’t entirely know

how he managed it. Although considering my mother now has her dream kitchen and my father has an enormous

workshop and library, I suspect bribery was involved. It’s a relief having them here though. Not just because of the

help, but because I know they’re safe. There are still people out there who would happily hunt me if they could.

Probably Gemma too once people realise what she might become someday. We still don’t know exactly what kind

of shifter she is yet. Maybe unicorn. Maybe dragon. Maybe somehow both. Layla says magical genetics are

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Chapter 157 Bonus Chapter 9- Never Forget Dragons Don’t Do ‘Casual’ Dating

‘complicated. Blake says it doesn’t matter because either way she’s going to be perfect. My father has taken the whole thing incredibly seriously. He’s spent the last few years studying magical education alongside human schooling so he can homeschool Gemma properly since sending her out to school on her own wouldn’t be safe. She’s four years old and already knows basic rune symbols, healing herbs, and approximately two hundred completely unnecessary facts about magical creatures because Grandpa keeps ‘accidentally’ teaching her advanced

material.

You would think all of us living together would feel crowded, but this place is honestly huge. I could scream from

one side of the house and nobody on the other end would hear me. The property itself is massive too. Big enough

for Blake to shift and fly whenever he wants, and for me to run in my unicorn form, which it turns out I absolutely

love doing. The first time Blake saw me running freely just for the joy of it instead of fear or survival, he looked so

happy. The real reason Blake chose this property though was underneath it. The place came with a network of

underground bunkers originally built by some incredibly wealthy human convinced the apocalypse was coming

any day now. Apparently he spent millions preparing for the end of the world and then ultimately died in a

completely normal car accident. Blake immediately decided the bunkers were perfect. He had them converted into

giant underground vaults and moved his hoard into them. I have never seen Blake so paranoid in my life.

Correction, when I was pregnant, he was worse. Significantly worse. Apparently discovering that his pregnant

unicorn wife (yes wife, he put a ring on it in our third year at the Academy) was carrying his child triggered every

protective instinct he possessed all at once. He followed me around constantly, glared at anyone who stressed me

out, and nearly had a breakdown when I slipped on wet grass one time and didn’t even fall over. Layla still teases

him about it. But everything turned out fine. More than fine, really.

Gemma absolutely adores the vaults. Which… probably should have been our first clue. She is obsessed with shiny

things. Completely fascinated by them. She toddled into the hoard for the first time as a baby and immediately

tried to crawl directly toward a pile of gold while Blake looked on like the proudest father alive. That, combined

with her general personality, made me pretty convinced she would eventually shift into a dragon. Because

honestly? That child has her father’s temperament. She is patient and sweet and loving right up until the exact

moment she decides she’s had enough. Then suddenly she becomes terrifyingly stubborn. And good luck to anyone

trying to tell her what she can or can’t do. She has absolutely no fear whatsoever and a level of determination

that would honestly be alarming if she wasn’t also so affectionate. The only reason she isn’t a total menace is

because she genuinely wants to help people. She likes being involved. She wants everyone included in things. She

comforts people when they’re upset, shares her toys without being asked and somehow convinced Citri to tolerate

being dressed in necklaces and tiny hats. Blake disagrees completely with my dragon theory, of course. He insists

she has to be a unicorn because, and I quote, ‘she is incredibly perfect and an absolute angel and how dare you

even suggest otherwise.’ So yes. He is completely smitten. Not that he tries very hard to hide it. He brings her

gemstones the way other parents bring their children stuffed toys. Tiny diamonds. Polished crystals. Gold trinkets. He lets her play dress-up with jewellery worth more than most houses while I sit there trying not to have a heart attack. Citri, meanwhile, remains the most tolerant orange cat in existence. He still clearly prefers Blake, but he is unbelievably gentle with Gemma. He lets her carry him around badly, drape him in jewels and dramatically declare him ‘King Citrine’ without complaint.

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10:35 am Pp

Chapter 157 Bonus Chapter 9- Never Forget Dragons Don’t Do ‘Casual Dating

I’m just putting the last dish into the dishwasher when Blake suddenly comes BURSTING into the kitchen. He

looks completely panicked. Actually panicked. My stomach drops instantly.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Gemma?” I demand, spinning around.

“Dad just called, she’s still with him… But he said… She shifted!” Blake blurts out quickly. His eyes are wide. For a

second, I just stare at him. Then the plate slips from my fingers and clatters into the sink as I immediately start

moving.

“What?” Mum says sharply behind me, already hurrying after us.

“Did he say what she shifted into?” I ask breathlessly as Blake and I rush through the house. Blake shakes his

head.

“No. He just told us to come outside and see for ourselves.” He answers.

“She’s so young, I didn’t think…” I whisper, my heart pounding.

“It makes sense,” Blake says immediately, though he sounds just as overwhelmed as I feel.

“She’s been exposed to huge amounts of magic her whole life. I shifted young too.” He reminds me. We hurry out

toward the gardens behind the house. Dad is standing near the fountain. And Gemma is lying on the grass beside

him, her legs all tangled up beneath her. I stop dead.

“Oh…” I breathe. Blake freezes beside me. Then I hear his breath hitch.

“She’s beautiful,” he says softly, sounding completely awestruck. And she is. She’s the cutest little unicorn foal I

have ever seen. Except… Not entirely unicorn. Her coat gleams faintly with magic like mine does, but instead of

white or gold, her fur is deep glossy black. Her mane and tail are orange-gold, bright as firelight, and her tiny

horn gleams the same colour. Even her little hooves shimmer metallic gold against the grass. She looks like a

unicorn made from smoke and flame. Gemma spots us and immediately struggles to untangle her legs, wobbling

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