“Something you wanted to say?” her grandmother asked.
Crap. She needed to think of something else fast. “It’s just weird to be thinking about marriage and moving into a house. I’m in my last year of high school and I have at least four years of college in front of me to become a Medic.” A strange thought occurred. “No one has ever mentioned when I’m supposed to get married. I’m guessing after college.”
Her grandmother nodded. “Most dragons marry after they finish their degrees, though some marry before.”
“We’ll be going with the after plan,” Bryn said.
“That will give us plenty of time to finish your new home,” her grandmother said.
Bryn glanced around. “It’s lovely.”
“I’m so glad you like it.” Her grandmother blinked and looked away. “Your mother… she never noticed or recognized the things I tried to do to make her life easier.”
Damn. Damn. Damn. She needed to say something. “I’m sorry for the pain she caused you, but I wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t abandoned ship. And I do see all the nice things you’ve done to help me acclimate to my new life and to the idea of marrying Jaxon and I really do appreciate it.”
“Thank you,” her grandmother said. “Now why don’t we go home and look through some decorating magazines and I’ll take you back to the Institute after dinner.”
“I’d like that.”
Chapter Nineteen
Bryn had just made it back to her room and changed into her yoga pants and a sweatshirt when someone knocked on her door.
“Who is it?” Bryn asked, even though there weren’t that many people who’d be dropping by on a Sunday evening.
“It’s me.” Jaxon’s voice came through the door.
Bryn opened the door and said, “Maybe we should develop a secret knock so I’ll know it’s you.”
Jaxon walked in and headed for the library table. “When is it not me?” he asked as he pulled out a chair. “Clint and Ivy arrive by the terrace window. Who else knocks on your door?”
“Other people visit me,” Bryn protested because he made it sound like she had no friends.
“Of course they do,” he said like he didn’t believe her. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Crap. Did she really want to talk about the whole friendship situation? It might be best just to let this situation play out. If she didn’t say anything what other reason could she give for asking him to come over and talk?
“Okay. This is going to sound strange,” she said. “And you can’t mention it to anyone…especially your parents.”
Jaxon narrowed his eyes. “How scary is this confession going to be?”
“It’s not a confession.” Bryn laughed. “It’s just something that I am supposed to be keeping secret but since it directly affects you, I wanted to let you know.”
“Fine. I’ll keep whatever it is to myself.”
“Good.” She sat across from him. “My grandmother, who has excellent taste and is an amazing interior designer, may have started building us an estate.”
“Excuse me?” He leaned forward.
Not the response she’d hoped for. “If you remember correctly, your mother expected us to move in with her while our estate was being built. My grandmother loves to design things, and I have no desire to live at Westgate Estate. The good news is, nothing is definite yet as far as the interior goes, so you can still have input. Although I will veto any large W’s that you might plan on sprinkling about the house.”
Gobsmacked is the only word that fit the expression on Jaxon’s face.
“I’ll just wait until you can form coherent sentences,” she said.
“I’ve put zero thought into where we’ll live or what type of house we’ll have,” he said. “That’s years away.”
“Four years,” Bryn said. “At least that’s what my grandmother said.”
“Right. After we graduate from college…that’s when we’d marry and move in together…into a house your grandmother decided to build for us. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“Nothing about my life falls into the normal range,” Bryn said. “Telling you about this seems strange but keeping it from you seemed less than honest.”
He nodded. “I appreciate that you shared the information rather than keeping it from me, but I’m not prepared to deal with that level of reality. Your grandmother does have impeccable taste. The only W’s I’ll require are on the front gates. That is non-negotiable.”
“I can live with that.” The monogrammed silverware she would bury in a storage closet somewhere, never to be seen again.
He eyed her suspiciously. “Do you have any other disturbing news you’d like to share, or are we done?”
“We’re done.”
“I’m going to pretend we never had this conversation.” He stood and exited her room.
She locked the door behind him. Should she have mentioned the friend issue? Maybe, but it could have been so awkward. This way he wouldn’t be mad at Christmas if her grandmother did give her the house as a present. The idea made her laugh. A house, actually a ginormous estate with more rooms than any sane person would ever need, might be given to her as a gift. Her life was bizarre.
…
The dining hall was noisier than normal for breakfast on a Monday. Bryn frowned as she stirred sugar into her coffee. “Why is everyone so chatty this morning?”
“Once again,” Clint said, “you are out of the loop.”
“Of course I am.” She sipped her coffee, assuming either he or Ivy would fill her in.
“Rumors about evil Silver dragon-pires have gone mainstream,” Ivy said. “And everyone is freaking out.”
“Understandable, but how did people hear about them?” Bryn asked.
Ivy and Clint exchanged a glance. “Well…a college student was found last night after curfew. He was disoriented and feverish, so the guards took him to the Medics rather than throwing him into one of those lovely cells under the library.”
“Thank goodness,” Bryn said. “With the way things have been going around here, I’m surprised they didn’t arrest him for loitering.”
“Apparently, he’d volunteered to help track down any suspicious characters on campus,” Ivy said. “And he ran into more trouble than he could handle.”
A feeling of unease brushed across the back of Bryn’s neck like a chill breeze. “Was it Zavien?”
“How’d you guess?” Clint asked.
She didn’t want to mention that she’d known of his involvement and not shared, so she improvised. “After his involvement with Nola, it sounds like something he’d do to show whose side he’s on.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Ivy said. “But there’s more to the story. Supposedly, he was wearing a wire, but when they found him the recording equipment was gone.”
“So whoever fed on him figured it out and took the recordings,” Bryn said.
“That’s the general theory,” Clint said. “I’m surprised they didn’t order us all to stay in our dorms today.”
“The dragon-pire could be anyone or several anyones so there’s no telling where you’d be safe. I guess the moral of the story is don’t go anywhere alone,” Ivy said. “And speaking of going places, how did lunch with your mother and grandmother go?”
Bryn slumped in her seat. “About as good as it could.” She told them about her grandmother’s announcement that she’d never forgive her daughter for what she’d done. “I feel like I’m caught in the middle of this surreal argument no one can win.”
“What your parents did was incredibly brave,” Ivy said. “Abandoning their entire way of life for love.”
“Although karma does seem to be kicking you in the ass by tangling your life up with Jaxon’s,” Clint added.
“Did you talk things out with him yesterday?” Ivy asked.
“No. After lunch with my mother and grandmother it didn’t seem like such a big deal.” Plus she didn’t want to seem desperate. “I figure my relationship with Jaxon will change and evolve over time. Asking him to define it will just make the whole thing more awkward.”
“And it seems plenty awkward already,” Clint said.
“Thanks for pointing that out.”