He grinned softly and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek, lips lingering. I saw Zero watching us, but when he saw he’d been caught, he quickly looked away. “Not bad,” Ryan said. “I maybe even loved it a little.”
“Sap,” I muttered, but my heart was tripping all over itself, so maybe I was too. I cleared my throat and looked back at the others. “Look. It’s getting late. It’s been a long day. Kevin, can you fly back to the other side of the cavern and get our packs? We can stay inside the dome tonight and worry about everything—”
“Wow,” Zero said. “Way to ask. Gods.”
I closed my eyes and counted to five, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “I’m sorry?”
“The dome is mine,” Zero said. “That’s where I live. You can’t just go in there without asking.”
I opened my eyes and forced a smile on my face. “Okay. That’s fair. I’m sorry. Zero. Can we please stay in the dome tonight?”
“Thank you for asking,” Zero said. “And no, you may not.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“What part of me saying it’s mine did you not understand?”
I had to remind myself it was illegal to murder dragons.
“Maybe I should handle this,” Kevin whispered to me, even though everyone could hear him. “After all, I’m also a dragon, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Fine. Just… do it.”
“You make the best decisions when you agree with what I say,” Kevin said.
I almost punched him in the eye.
Kevin turned toward the snake dragon. “Hey, buddy,” he said, thumping his tail near Zero’s. “Hey. What’s going on? What’s happening in that noggin of yours? Hmm? You can tell me. I’m like your older brother, you know? You can tell your big bro anything. You know that, right? Bros stick together, you know? You’re my brother from another mother. You know?”
“What,” I said.
Zero eyed me suspiciously before he rose up until he was right near Kevin’s ear. He started whispering. Kevin nodded. “Uh-huh. Okay. Right. No, that’s fair. You’re right. He does look like—right. Wow. That’s… uh-huh. No, I totally see your point. I wouldn’t want him there either.”
Kevin turned to glare at me. “You are a terrible person.”
“What!”
“Zero reminded me of a very important point. You suck sometimes.”
I glared at Zero, who didn’t even seem chagrined. “Okay. Fine. I’ll bite. What is it that I am supposed to have done now?”
“You have to be invited into a dragon’s lair. You can’t just enter anytime you want. You did the same to me!”
“I did not. If you’ll recall, you kidnapped me and took me back to the keep because you were going to try and have your way with me.”
“Everything tries to have sex with him,” Ryan told Ruv with a sigh. “Dragons, Darks, you.”
“I didn’t try,” Ruv said. “Believe me. You would have known if I had tried.”
“No one would feel sad if I ran you through with my sword,” Ryan muttered.
Ruv grinned.
“That’s not how I remember it happening,” Kevin said. “But I suppose your recollection would have been colored by the fact that you were awed by my masculinity. I’ll allow it.”
“Whatever,” I said. “Fine. I don’t even care anymore. I’m tired. I’m hungry. And I am sick of everyone’s shit. We’ll sleep out here. Under the stars, where I like it. And then tomorrow, we’ll—I don’t even know what we’ll do. Fuck it. Fuck this whole day. Fuck you. Fuck everyone.”
“He’s cranky,” Tiggy said.
“Yes, kitten,” Gary said. “That’s what happens when you find out that your destiny rests in the hands of a bunch of idiots and an amazing unicorn.”
“Exactly,” Tiggy said. Then he frowned. “Wait.”
“I need to break something,” I told Ryan.
“Why are you looking at me for that?” Ryan asked. “Don’t break me.”
That wasn’t what I’d been thinking at all, but now it seemed like a good idea. I turned and stalked away before I could act on it. It seemed like the better thing to do.
“HOW DID you all find each other?” Ruv asked us later that night. We sat around a fire, the sparks shooting up toward the night sky filled with what seemed like a million stars. I was actively avoiding looking up at them, though, sure I’d be cursing David’s Dragon until it fell from the heavens and I had yet another mess to deal with. I didn’t think I’d be wishing on the stars for a very long time to come.
“Sam stole me away from my keep,” Kevin said.
“Sam stole Tiggy and me from the Dark Woods,” Gary said.
“Sam stole my heart,” Ryan said.
“I did not steal you from your keep. And Tiggy and Gary all but followed me home. And Ryan, I am going to fuck you until you’re cross-eyed later. You don’t even know.”
“Ew,” Gary said, nose wrinkling. “You kiss me with that mouth.”
I snorted as I stoked the fire. “Like you have any room to talk.”
“You talk about sex a lot,” Ruv said, cocking his head. “I’ve noticed that.”
“You get used to it,” Ryan said.
“Why shouldn’t we?” I said. “Everyone does it. Why does it need to be something no one talks about?”
“Merely an observation,” Ruv said. “We are not so… free in Mashallaha. It was rather shocking to come to the City of Lockes. It was loud. Very different.”
“Had you left the desert before that?” I asked, curious.
He shook his head. “No. That was the first time.”
“I can’t imagine having to stay in one place all the time,” I said. “I would get too restless.”
“But you’re the King’s Wizard,” Ruv said with a frown.
“Apprentice,” Gary coughed.
“I am. What about it?”
“Shouldn’t you be staying in the castle at all times? As the Wolf of Bari Lavuta, my job is to be by the phuro’s side.”
“You’re not right now,” Gary pointed out.
“Well… yes. But it is because I was ordered here. I do what the phuro commands. Is it not the same for you and your King? Or Morgan of Shadows?”
I laughed. “I guess. If they ask me to do something, I will usually do it. But they give me the freedom to do what I want. To make my own mistakes.”
“There is no room for mistakes,” Ruv said seriously. “Mistakes only lead to weakness.”
“But if you don’t make mistakes, how can you possibly learn anything?”
“By listening to your elders. They impart their knowledge and wisdom and you learn from them.”
“How would this have worked?” I asked.
“What?”
“You and me. Vadoma must have been telling you for years about me. What she thought you were to me. What she thought we could be. What she wanted for you. For me. Without even taking what I would have wanted into consideration. How would it have worked had I agreed to it? To have you be my cornerstone?”