He laughed again. “Nope. Noxlyn and I are becoming great friends, but he wants me to be friends with other people. He told me that. He said friends empower their friends to make other friends.”
That was a convoluted sentence. “He is a good friend.”
“He is.”
Through the crowd of the promenade, someone stopped in front of us, and I paused in my step. Monqilcolnen was staring down at us. His expression was the normal serene look, which I was pretty sure was a mask, but his tail thrashed and his eyes burned into me before flicking to Camden’s arm over my shoulders. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes heated the longer he looked at us.
I bowed inward, and my soul pounded in my chest. The urge to flee rose within me as it often did when I was aroundMonqilcolnen, but a warmer feeling I didn’t understand swelled in my gut as his hot gaze met mine.
Camden whispered in my ear, “Noxlyn might not be jealous, but someone else is.”
Monqilcolnen took a step closer, his tail picking up speed and hinting at the true state of his emotions. Was he jealous? It wasn’t possible. Monqilcolnen couldn’t possibly like me. His father had suggested it. Edith and Seth had hinted at it. But… No. I had to be imagining it.
“Hey, Commander,” Camden said, hauling me even closer to his side, then tucking his head against mine. Monqilcolnen’s eyes narrowed, making my breath sharpen.
“Lieutenant Wyn. Camden.” He’d practically snapped the human’s name. The roughness of his voice did something… different to me, something not unpleasant.
“What brings you here?” Camden asked.
“I was going to get lunch, but I was called away.”
My eyebrows drew together as worry pulsed inside of me. “Is everything alright?”
“It’s fine,” he replied.
I didn’t believe him. Something was bothering Monqilcolnen, and obviously it couldn’t be my close proximity to Camden. “Not that you need it,” I said, eyes on the floor, “but would you like my assistance?”
Shiny boots appeared in my line of sight, and I looked up. Monqilcolnen ducked enough to meet my gaze directly. His voice was utterly serious. “I will always need help from you, Wyn.”
For some reason I couldn’t identify, my soul stuttered and the warmth in my gut returned. Something inside of me never wanted to look away from his golden gaze while another part told me to run, to flee as fast and as far as I could get because ifI gave into him, my life would never be the same. Whether that was a good thing or not, I was unable to say.
I fought the urge to rip Camden’s arm off Wyn’s shoulders and throw the human to the floor. I did not like the casual touch between the two of them, but I had no right to feel like that. Wyn and I had no relationship where I was allowed to stake such a claim, even if I wanted to. Besides, I needed to know Wyn far better before I made any sort of romantic advancement toward him.
This, whatever this was, had to be more than attraction. Wyn was beautiful, but that wasn’t enough. Not for me and not for what I hoped this would develop into. There was also the fact that even now, Wyn was cowering in front of me.
“I will gladly accept your help,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I do know that this is your off day, though.”
Wyn shook his head. “I’m more than happy to assist you.”
I wanted to smile, but I contained it. Wyn always seemed eager to help, and it wasn’t just in regards to me, Seth, or Urgg. He volunteered to take extra shifts or mentor people. He always went the extra length to assist whenever possible.
“Thank you,” I said.
Camden gave me a smirk before he yanked Wyn into a tight hug. “Thank you for spending the morning with me.”
Wyn frowned, stiffening, but he patted Camden’s back before stepping back. “Certainly.”
Something in me calmed from Wyn’s discomfort. Wyn didn’t seem as enamored with Camden as Camden was with Wyn. Hope raced through my veins. I still had a chance, though perhaps this was ridiculous. This attraction to Wyn might passand we might be nothing more than friends in the end, which was all well and good, but I wanted more.
My tail brushed his, the scales scraping deliciously, and I yanked it back as soon as I realized what I’d done. That wasn’t appropriate. We needed to discuss permissions, though what I wanted wasn’t acceptable for a direct subordinate.
“Shall we?” I asked Wyn.
He offered me his throat, then said a quick goodbye to Camden, who gave me another smirk before reaching into his pocket to grab his touchstone, loudly pinging Noxlyn.
I needed more time with Wyn. Time when we weren’t on duty or distracted by others. But I was unsure of how we were supposed to get such time. We weren’t friends, and asking a subordinate to dinner wasn’t a good idea. Also, I was fairly positive Wyn would agree simply because I’d asked, not because he wished to spend time with me.
An idea tickled the back of my brain, and it wasn’t right… Yet I changed directions. Wyn cast me a glance but didn’t comment.
