I nod slowly.
A smile takes over his face, accentuating his tusks. “What if we held the ball at Ravenscroft Castle?”
“The castle?”
I’ve been there before—for the Yuletide ball after our first semester here at Coven Crest. Alina invited all of us, and Mama brought her baked goods, and since then, the castle sometimes puts in big orders at the café, which is both good and tough since Mama already works so hard, especially with me gone during the academic year.
“Have you been?” Aric asks, echoing my thoughts.
“Yeah. Once.”
Aric’s eyes widen as he glances down at me. “Really? Was it awesome?”
He sounds full of childlike wonder, and it makes me smile. “Yeah. It’s amazing. And their ballroom is so beautiful.”
“So, you’ll ask her? The princess?” Aric says as we slow our climb up the spiral staircase and stop outside NT33. Raelan’s not here, so I’m assuming Alina isn’t either.
“I don’t want to inconvenience her...” I say, glancing away from Aric. His hazel gaze is making heat creep up my neck.
“I have a feeling the princess will say no if it’s too big an inconvenience. Right? She doesn’t seem like someone who’s pushed around too easily.”
He’s got a point. Between being the princess of Elarwyn and fated mate to a rare dragon shifter, she’s a force to be reckoned with.
I take a steadying breath, then nod. “Okay, I’ll ask her. But no promises.”
“Here.” Aric hands me the cake plate, and I try to ignore the tingles that go through me when our fingers brush. It almost seems like Aric felt something too, but he steps back from me quickly and clears his throat. “If I were you, I’d ask her after you feed her that cake.”
I glance down at the cake plate, not understanding. “Why? It’s not charmed.” I’d never do such a thing.
Starting to back down the stairs, Aric gives me another butterfly-inducing smile before saying, “Because you made it. That’s charm enough.”
My mouth opens, and there’s no stopping the burst of warmth that floods my face. “I... I...”
Aric is still smiling now as he lifts a hand and says, “Meet you in the library tomorrow? After breakfast?”
I’m still tongue-tied, so all I can do is nod.
And I’m still standing there a moment later, after Aric disappears, when Lyra pulls open the door and gasps.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asks.
With Aric’s spell over me broken, I turn and smile at her. “Apple-cinnamon cake. Thought you might want some.”
Lyra slings an arm over my shoulders and ushers me into our dorm room. “Right you are, Pops. You know me so well.”
“YES!” LYRA SAYS, HOLDING HER cake fork in the air. “We have to have it at the castle! That would be epic.”
The girls are all back from class, and we’re about to head down to the dining hall for dinner, but they insisted on each having a slice of cake first. Lyra and Maeve sit on the floorwhile Alina and I share a couch. Yuki is tucked between us, enjoying bites of Alina’s cake.
“When is it again?” Alina asks. “The blue moon?”
“It’s in December, the weekend after finals week.”
“So, it wouldn’t overlap with Yule.” Alina takes another bite and tips her head thoughtfully, her blue hair slipping over one shoulder. “I don’t think we have anything going on at the castle that weekend. I’ll write to Grandfather and ask. He’d probably love that. He’s always enjoyed throwing parties.”
“Your gramps is the best,” Lyra says while Juniper sits on her plate, mopping up the cake crumbs.
“Pretty sure you shouldn’t call His Majesty that,” Maeve mumbles, most of her attention on her cake. Her purple eyes flick up to meet mine. “This is amazing. You made this in class?”
