Chapter Two
In two quick strides, Zavien crossed the space, and he ripped the paper off, revealing a white gift box. He removed the lid and frowned.
Clint leaned closer to peer inside. “Bryn, you might want to take a look in here.”
“It’s not books?” A small jeweler’s box sat on top of the textbooks. Nabbing the blue velvet box, she snapped the lid open. Dime-sized sapphire earrings gleamed on the silk liner. “Wow.”
“There’s a card taped to the bottom,” Ivy said.
Bryn opened the card and smiled. “They’re from Jaxon’s mom, Lillith.”
Zavien leaned over her shoulder and read the message aloud. “I thought these would make a suitable thank-you gift. Love, Lillith.”
Ivy touched the sparkling stones. “She’s generous.”
“I like her. She’s more like a friend than someone’s mom.” Her gaze moved to Zavien. “Feel better now?”
He ducked his head and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “After spending time around all that Blue Clan money, I thought you might be ready to move on.”
Moron. How could he not know how she felt about him? “Money isn’t important to me.”
Zavien pointed at the earrings. “It buys pretty things.”
She set the earrings down and moved closer to wrap her arms around him and lay her head on his chest. “I don’t care about things. I care about you.”
Clint stood and pulled Ivy toward the door. “I sense a heartwarming moment coming on. Call Ivy later to share.”
Ivy objected as he tugged her out the door.
Zavien’s heartbeat filled the silence. Why wasn’t he saying he cared about her? Her throat became tight. She lifted her head and met his gaze. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
He leaned down and pressed his mouth against hers. Happy warmth filtered through her chest. He may be too much of a guy to say he cared, but his actions proved he did.
Knock knock. Was that the door? Too bad. They were busy.
Knock knock knock.
“Damn it.” Zavien stepped away from her. “You better see who that is.”
Bryn opened the door ready to tell whoever it was to go away. Nola on her doorstep made her grind her teeth.
The dark-haired Barbie sniffled. “Is Zavien here?”
Zavien pushed past Bryn so fast, he shoved her into the doorframe.
“Nola, what’s wrong?” He wrapped his arms around the other woman.
What the hell? Heat fanned the flames in Bryn’s gut. She engaged in a brief fantasy about ripping every hair from Nola’s pretty little head.
Zavien led Nola to the couch and sat with his arm around her shoulders.
Why was he touching her? Smoke crawled up the back of Bryn’s throat. If this went much further, she might accidentally blast Nola to a cinder.
“I’m sorry.” Nola sniffled and dabbed at her nose with a lace-edged handkerchief. “I didn’t know who else to turn to.”
Zavien pressed his lips to Nola’s temple.
Bryn gritted her teeth and forced the flames down. She had to get out of there, but it was her dorm room. She needed a reason to leave. “I was going to grab a soda from the vending machine. Do you guys want one?”
Wiping a tear from her cheek, Nola nodded. “That would be great. Thank you.”
Pretending she wasn’t on the verge of losing control, Bryn walked out the door. Once out of their sight, she stomped down the hall and bought three sodas. “They’re just friends,” she stalked back to her room muttering to herself.
Hand on the doorknob, she took a deep breath. “You can do this.” The knob was yanked from her hand as Zavien opened the door from the inside. She lurched forward and stumbled against him. He caught her with his free arm, while he kept his other arm around Nola.
Trying to be a better person than she was, she stepped away from him and held a can of soda out to Nola.
“Thanks, I can see why you and Zavien are such good friends. You’re a sweet girl.”
“That’s me,” Bryn shoved the other soda into Zavien’s rib cage. “Were you leaving?”
“Nola needs me,” he said.
“Right.” Asshat. “You should go.” And don’t come back until you figure out what the hell you want. As he walked away from her, she fantasized about beaning him in the back of the head with the last can of soda.
She slammed the door as loud as possible, stalked to the phone, and dialed Ivy’s number. Her friend picked up on the first ring.
“Tell me everything,” Ivy said.
“The jerk kissed me and then left with Nola.”
“Crap. I’ll be right over.”
True to her word, Ivy showed up in five minutes. Once they were seated on the couch, Bryn relayed the story of Nola showing up out of nowhere. “She stole him right out from under my nose. One minute he was kissing me, and then he’s hugging her and kissing her forehead. What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.” Ivy hesitated. “They have been friends forever.”
Smoke shot from Bryn’s nostrils. “I hate her.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Fine.” She kicked the coffee table. “I hate that she showed up and he abandoned me. He could’ve at least kissed me good-bye.” She kicked the coffee table again. “She called me a sweet girl…made me sound like I was five.”
“I guess Zavien hasn’t told her about you,” Ivy said. “She needs to find her own guy.”
“According to the Directorate, Zavien is her guy. My life sucks.”
“She may be his intended, but he chose you,” Ivy said.
“Right.” Zavien had sworn that he and Nola were friends who wanted to put off marriage as long as possible, and he was working to change the law. Still, being abandoned hurt.
“Come on.” Ivy stood. “You need chocolate. We’re going to the dining hall to binge on dessert.”
They walked through her bedroom to the floor-to-ceiling window between the armoires, which provided access to the terrace. Once they were outside, Bryn shifted. It was second nature now. All she had to do was tap into her dragon essence. She could feel the power unfurling inside her, transforming her human body into a powerful beast with leatherlike wings and scales bigger than her palm and flames blazing in her chest. If she concentrated, she could change the flames to ice due to her Blue heritage, but fire came first. She was predominantly Red, like her father.
Stretching her wings, Bryn inhaled the crisp autumn air and launched herself into the sky. Freedom. That’s what flying felt like.
“Let’s fly for a while,” she called out to Ivy.
Ivy’s black scales flashed in the moonlight as she swooped in close and slapped Bryn’s flank with her tail. “Tag, you’re it.”
To make it more of a challenge, she gave Ivy a head start. Using her wing muscles she powered up above the cloud line and aimed for the Black dragon several hundred yards ahead of her.
Catching her was too easy. She bumped Ivy with her shoulder. “Try to keep up.”
Tucking her wings, Bryn dove through the clouds. She aimed for a grove of trees and skimmed above the branches. A glance over her shoulder showed Ivy trailing behind. Time to slow down.
Ivy panted. “You’re too fast. Let’s play follow the leader. Maybe I can outmaneuver you.” Ivy flew a lap around Bryn and then performed a midair somersault.
Cool. “Do it again,” Bryn yelled against the wind. “I need to see what you did with your wings.”
Ivy worked up some speed, tucked her wings against her body, and tumbled head over tail.
Looked simple enough. Bryn flew in a circle to build speed, pulled her wings in tight against her flank and flipped. The world spun over and over and over. Too fast. She couldn’t stop her momentum. Laughing, she managed to stop flipping after four complete revolutions.
“That was a pathetic display,” a male dragon’s voice said.
Where had the Blue come from? Sneaky jerk. The outline of Jaxon’s features flashed across the Blue dragon’s face. At least it was a sneaky jerk she knew. Just for fun, she huffed a fireball at his head, which he dodged with ease. “Show me what you can do, Jaxon.”
He accepted the challenge and demonstrated a precise diving roll.
“How feminine of you.” She attempted to copy him. Considering she’d never tried the maneuver, she didn’t do too badly.
“How inept of you,” he shot back.
Ivy imitated the move with ease. “I thought Blues were supposed to be better fliers.”
Jaxon yawned and managed to look bored. “If I had any competition I might try harder.”
He could outmaneuver her, but he couldn’t outfly her. “See the roof of the dining hall? First one to touch down wins. Ivy can start us.”
Frost shot from his nostrils. “You’re on.”
“Ready, set, go,” Ivy said.
Pumping her wings, Bryn gained speed and barreled forward. Blue scales stayed in her peripheral vision. Jaxon winning was not an option. She pushed harder, moving ahead a fraction of an inch. He gained ground. She gritted her teeth and pushed harder. The rooftop came into view below. Her claws scraped the asphalt seconds before Jaxon’s.
Momentum carried her forward. She had to fly a lap around the building to slow her speed. Jaxon managed to stick his landing.
The Blue dragon lifted his snout into the air when she landed next to him, her claws scraping the asphalt as she stumbled forward. “You have speed, but no finesse,” he informed her.
“Nice landing.” She copied his snooty snout-in-the-air maneuver. “Too bad you’re so slow.”
Ivy set down on the rooftop. “Enough flying, I’m ready for chocolate.”
Right on cue, Bryn’s stomach growled. “We’re going to eat our weight in dessert if you’d like to join us.”
Inviting Jaxon to join them felt strange, but not asking him seemed rude.
For a moment, he seemed at a loss for words. Then he cleared his throat. “I’ve eaten already. Thank you.”
“This is weird,” Bryn said.
“I could insult you before I leave, if you like.”
“No thanks. Let’s go, Ivy.”
They flew down to the entrance and shifted back to human form. It was a neat bit of magic that whatever clothes or jewelry a dragon wore had been spelled to shift with them, because ending up naked after a shift would be way too embarrassing.
They entered the building. About half the tables were full, since most students liked to eat in Dragon’s Bluff on Sunday night.
“What’s Clint doing?” Bryn asked as she checked out her dessert options on the buffet and grabbed three slices of apple pie.
Ivy reached for a piece of chocolate cake and then hesitated. “Is it rude to eat this in front of you?”
“I doubt I’ll ever find cake appetizing again.” A carrot cake laced with Dragonbane had ended her love affair with that entire line of baked goods. “Go ahead. It doesn’t bother me.”
“Thanks. When I left, Clint was about to start on his homework. He asked me to bring him a pizza at eight.”
“Homework. Wait a minute, I had three completed assignments in my book bag.” She groaned and headed for their usual table. “I wonder if the Directorate would write me a note so I won’t have to do them again.”
“What happened to your book bag?” Ivy asked.
“Legally, I can’t tell you. But watch.” She pantomimed an explosion.
Ivy’s jaw fell open. “Your bag blew up?”
Bryn nodded.
Her friend scooted closer. “Were you hurt?”
Bryn batted her eyelashes. “How do you like my new eyebrows?”
“It sucks that you can’t tell us what happened.”
“Later, we can play charades. The Directorate never said anything about that.” Bryn took a bite of pie. “Do they offer cooking classes as an elective?”
“My sister used to gripe about being paired with a Blue who couldn’t cook to save his life, so there must be a foods class somewhere in the curriculum.”
They chatted as they ate. Bryn tried not to look for Zavien, but his absence gnawed at her. Where was he?
“You’ve checked the door every time it’s opened.” Ivy licked chocolate icing off her fork. “Did Zavien say when he was coming back?”
“No.” Bryn finished off her second piece of apple pie. One major perk of being a dragon: a much faster metabolism, which gave her the ability to eat whatever she wanted and never gain weight. “Once she appeared, he never looked back.”
“He cares about you.”
“I know.” She smacked her fork down on the table. “He swore they were just friends. What if that changes? I know they’re not into the same things, but she’s so freaking perfect.”
“I don’t think she’s perfect,” Ivy said. “Her look is too contrived. No one walks around in those flowing dresses in real life. It’s like she’s putting on a show.”
“For whom?”
“I don’t know.” Ivy toyed with her cake. “Now that your grandparents have recognized you, do you think an arranged marriage is in your future?”
“My grandfather wants the Sinclair line to continue.” Bryn slumped in her seat. “He told Ferrin to have me declared eligible for marriage. I don’t even want to think about what a nightmare that might be. On a happier note, Merrick retracted his offer to be my benefactor.”
“That must be a relief. Now you don’t have to wonder at his motives when he’s helping you.”
“Exactly. My grandmother wanted me to accept him. She doesn’t think the Directorate will declare me fit to marry.”
“You’d think she’d want what’s best for you.”
Bryn leaned closer. “In the human world, no one assumes a woman needs a man to support her. I told my grandmother that if Zavien and I don’t work out I’ll become a medic and take care of myself. She didn’t approve of my answer.”
“Growing up, we were taught that only a small percentage of petitions are denied based on lineage. About half of those denied are offered an arranged marriage that would be more suitable. The unlucky ones with undesirable genes are offered a benefactor.”
“And everyone just accepts that?”
Ivy shrugged. “It’s the way things have always been done, but if you told your grandmother you’d be happy single she should respect that.”
“Happiness isn’t a big part of the Blue Clan’s belief system. ‘Honor and loyalty above all else even if you’re miserable’ seems to be their motto.” Bryn sipped her soda and tried to focus on the positives. “My grandfather was warmer while I was there. The only time my grandmother showed any emotion was when she warned me about being involved with Zavien. She said he was just amusing himself—gave me this whole ‘only those you love can truly hurt you’ speech.”
“Falling in love with anyone is a risk,” Ivy said.
Bryn finished off the third piece of pie and ignored the nervous feeling in her stomach.
…
Back in her room, Bryn picked up one of the legends books she had checked out of the library based on a time when dragons were allowed to fall in love by instinct, before the Directorate mandated arranged marriages to keep dragons in line. She curled up on the couch and lost herself in the battles of love and war. Funny how the war part seemed easier to negotiate.
The Directorate had wanted to ban these books from the library, but Miss Enid the librarian had fought them fang and claw. The Directorate probably didn’t want anyone reading these stories because they might inspire dragons to think for themselves. In her mind, she imagined small communities of dragons living under the radar. There had to be other hybrids out there. Her parents couldn’t have been the only ones to ever defy the law.
A knock on the door had her up and running. No. She stopped herself. She would not run to him. “Who is it?”
“It’s Zavien.”
By the clock on her desk it had been five hours since he’d ditched her. She pulled the door open a few inches. “What’s up?”
Hands shoved in the front pocket of his jeans, he had the good sense to look sheepish. “Can I come in?”
She stepped back, crossed her arms over her chest, and waited for him to explain.
He entered and leaned against the closed door. “Sorry about earlier. Nola needed me.”
Not what she wanted to hear. “Really? What did she need you for?”
“I knew you’d be like this.” He rubbed his hand over the stubble on his chin.
Flames roared in her chest. She tamped them down. “Don’t patronize me. She’s your friend. I get that. What if Valmont dropped by and I left with him. How would you feel?” Valmont was her own personal knight, who had become magically bonded to her when he’d protected her from a perceived threat. It was an added bonus that he was smoking hot and had made Zavien jealous enough to kiss her and admit his feelings.
Zavien bristled at the knight’s name. “You have a point, but what did you expect me to do? She was crying.”
“What was the emergency? Why were you the only person she could confide in?”
“Can we sit?” Zavien asked.
Shadows stood out under his eyes. In fact, now that she really paid attention, he looked like crap.
She waved him toward the couch. He sat close enough that his thigh brushed against hers, creating a frisson of warmth. Hormones would not distract her right now. At the moment, she’d rather kick him than kiss him.
“Nola is having a hard time dealing with Alec’s death. She always felt like she should’ve been a better influence on him.”
“Why would she think that?”
“He was her brother.”