There was no time to explain. I snatched the blanket off the bed while Thystle was still in it, then ran out of the room. I heard him sputter in confusion.
“Wait, Matteo, where are you going?” he asked.
I wanted to tell him how I felt, but I was choked by the need to nest. The urge was similar to a strike of musical inspiration. When that happened, I couldn’t breathe until I got the lyrics and chords down. This was the same, except I needed to gather and arrange nesting materials.
I bolted towards the staircase. One of them went higher, didn’t it? I needed access to the roof. If I couldn’t take the stairs, I’d go outside, shift, and fly up, but carrying things was easier in human form.
“Matteo, wait for me!” Thystle called down the hall.
I heard his voice and footsteps as he tried to catch up, but I couldn’t stop to explain. The urge overwhelmed me. I knew instinctively that I was on a strict time limit.
Clutching the blanket, I ran up the stairs. My skin prickled with sweat and urgency. When I reached the landing, a dark door stood before me.
That must be the exit to the roof,I thought eagerly.
I grabbed the handle—and found it locked. My heart dropped. I came all this way for nothing, and I was running out of time.
The door flew open from the inside. Viol glowered threateningly in the threshold until he saw me. The simmering rage vanished from his expression.
“What are you doing here?” Viol asked.
Sweat dripped from my brow—not because I was scared of him, but because I needed to nest ASAP.
“Rooftop,” I managed.
His dark eyes flashed with understanding. Viol didn’t waste time. In a blur of iridescence, he shifted to dragon form. It happened so fast, I barely saw it. In the following seconds, he grasped me gently with his paw, then threw himself over the railing. The castle accommodated dragon forms, but Viol flew so fast and erratically, I was afraid he’d tear the whole place down by accident.
During the chaos, I heard Thystle cry out to me, but the rushing wind in my ears smothered his words.
Viol banked his wings when we hit the main floor, sped through the doors, then arched over the building. A couple seconds later, he placed me—and my blanket—down on the rooftop.
“This what you wanted?” he asked gruffly.
I got to work nesting straight away, so I couldn’t speak. I hoped my appreciative nod was enough to convey my gratitude.
“Viol!”
Thystle’s furious dragon voice ripped through the air like thunder. It startled me so badly that I momentarily forgot about my nest as I whipped around to look at him. A chill ran down my spine when I saw my mate advance on Viol. The two purple dragons faced off, hissing and snarling at each other. Viol was bigger and darker, but Thystle’s anger at the perceived injustice flared around his body like a nasty miasma.
“What did you do to my mate?” Thystle snapped, his voice crueller than I’d ever heard it.
Viol didn’t respond. He glared him down like he was two seconds away from losing control.
My heart leapt into my throat. I had to intervene before either of them got hurt.
I dropped the blanket and ran between them. I hugged one of Thystle’s front arm to grab his attention.
“Wait, Thystle,” I cried. “It’s okay. He didn’t hurt me. He just brought me to the rooftop like I asked.”
The muscles beneath Thystle’s scales relaxed, and the vicious growl in his throat subsided, but he didn’t change back to human form. He lowered his scaly maw to nuzzle me.
“Do you know how worried I was?” he asked in his gravelly dragon voice.
I stroked the side of his face. “I know, I’m sorry. But Viol was only helping, so please don’t bite his face off.”
Viol scoffed, flicking his tail dismissively as he turned around. “He couldtry.”
Thystle narrowed his eyes, but I drew his attention back to me by kissing the front of his snout. That was enough to diffuse his well-meaning alpha overreaction.
