Gasping, I slapped a hand on his chest and pushed up to look at his amused gaze. “Damien!”
“I love how many times my name has come out of your mouth,” he groaned, letting his head tilt back and expose the array of tattoos on his neck.
I let my fingertips glide over them, and he stilled a moment before relaxing again.
He pulled his head back up and met my gaze with a lopsided smile. “Get some rest. You’ve had a long day.”
“Stay with me,” I murmured as I laid my head back on his chest and snuggled closer.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Rowan
“Idon’tknow.”Iset my jaw as I stared at Blair, who sat in the middle of the bench across from my desk. “But I know a dragon kill when I see one.”
Her dark hood covered her features as always, but her pure white eyes glowed with interest as she clasped her hands together on her lap. “I’m not questioning the one responsible for the kill. It was a dragon, as you guessed.”
“Can you see any relevance in the kill? They were four students from my academy in Fate Hollow. Only one dragon, three icedrakes, and two firedrakes—including myself—live in Fate Hollow. All the rest of our supernatural type have closed themselves off from other territories in Blezen.” I huffed out a breath as I grabbed the crystal sphere on my desk and poured excess fire magic into it to relieve the pent up magic my anger was creating.
“Relevance to what, exactly? To you? Yes. The dragon who did this did it to send you a message.” Blair’s eyes flicked toward the ball as the orange flames flared within. “Glad to see my magical sphere has been of use to you.”
I scoffed, and the magic continued to pour out as it built up inside me. “Can’t be turning into a firedrake and destroying Arcane Hall, can I?”
An eerie twinkle showed in her eye as she chuckled. “Would be interesting.”
“What message were they trying to send?”
Tilting her head, she paused for a moment. “The time is coming. There will be more attacks in the coming days, but not at the academy. The ward Tabitha has placed will hold... for now.”
“For now?” My brow raised, and the feeling of not being in control seized my chest. The sphere was swirling with flames and scalded my palm. “What does that mean?”
“It will not matter when the wards come down,” she said vaguely. “I still can’t see the threat on campus, but I can see that they are two separate threats. The dragons cannot get into the academy without expressed approval. You needn’t worry about the cult.”
My power forced the ball out of my hand and it hit the desk with a thud, rolling off and onto the floor. Red scales formed on my arm, but I pushed out the smoke filling my lungs as my nostrils flared. “Don’t tell me not to worry about the cult.”
“Very well.” She made a low humming noise as she stood and gave a small bow. “I will leave you to sort this out. You know where I am if you need me, and please, control your anger. You know it only makes your dragon form come out.” She turned as if she were a ghost, her cloak barely swishing, and she glided out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
My hands slammed into my desk, leaving indents in the metal, and I exhaled gray rolling smoke plumes that ran over the sides of the desk.
I knew the day would come when the cult would try to make contact with me. Dragons were few and far between, especially when they were classified as an icedrake or firedrake as I was.
There was a reason dragons were at the top of the hierarchy, and also why there were so few of us left. I believed there were only fifty of us within Kalista, the majority living in Blezen within the cult. Ice and firedrakes had about ten or fifteen left.
Dragons had a difficult time conceiving, and our long lifespans were one of the only reasons we were still around.
Riiiing.
The tablet on the side of my desk lit up, and I smashed a finger on the screen to answer Rhett’s call.
“What is it?” My voice came out in a growl as I tried to calm my anger.
“Ah.” Rhett chuckled. “Something piss you off?”
“Obviously.”
“Well, how about I tell you about Wren?”
