AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I clear my throat. “Yep. I didn’t drown and I’m alive.”
“I didn’t see the test, but I heard about you,” he laughs. “You’re fucking crazy brave and I love it.”
My cheeks burn as Emrys helps me off the bed. I’m still a bit dizzy, woozy almost, and everything from my lungs to my legs hurts. Arden reaches for me, but I put my hand up. “I’m fine. Is this still part of the castle? Can I ask it to take me back to my room? I think I need a nap, and I want to check if Arty is okay. Livia too.”
“Your friends are fine, and yes, this is the castle, but there is only one exit,” Arden explains. “Come. I’ll take you back. If it makes you feel better, I promise not to stick my tongue down your throat on the way. Unless you ask me to…which I’d be highly amenable to.”
“Sleep well,” Emrys says, touching my arm, and I swear I feel his touch even as I walk away from him to Arden.
Arden whispers. “You’re blushing.” I weakly shove Arden’s thick arm, barely even making him budge a little. They both laugh, the jackasses.
When I get to the door, I turn back to Emrys. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
Arden begins to lead me down a spiral staircase, and I briefly notice three more doors next to Emrys’s room. The staircase goes down into a cushy living room. There’s even a TV in here, several games, consoles—all very expensive—and rows of DVDs. I bet they don’t get Netflix here. Arden follows my gaze. “We found a way to make fire magic into a power system for Earth technologies. The dragons in my court spend a great deal of time working out how to adapt to many parts of Earth. They are ahead of us, in my opinion. The other worlds, we can’t get to anymore, not since the sorcerer came here, so I enjoy studying Earth.”
“They don’t have magic or dragons,” I reply. There’s an expensive espresso machine in the corner. I look at it longingly. “That espresso machine looks far nicer than the one they have for us. Have I told you I’m a huge fan of coffee?”
“Do you want a coffee before we go back?” he asks. “It’s Grayson’s machine and I’m sure it would piss him off for us to use it. So we should use it.”
I grin at him. “No, but maybe another time. I’m tired.”
“So, you’ve made a friend with Emrys,” he murmurs, leading me to a wall with a white dragon painted on the stone. “Air queen. Is that what you want? Who you want?”
My lips part. “I want to go home.”
“Maybe you could make friends with me and make a new home,” he murmurs, touching my hand.
I shake my head. “You make it sound like we’re leaving this test together at the end if I don’t die. You literally just saw me kissing someone else. Doesn’t that put you off?”
He leans an arm on the wall behind me, his firewood scent wrapping around my mind and not budging. “No. If we’re being honest, it turns me on. But I don’t think you’re ready for that conversation yet.”
My cheeks burn as I just even think about what he’s implying. A door appears where his hand was, and he steps back. “You can come back anytime. Lysander might get pissy. Grayson definitely will. But you should come back. It’s good having you around.”
“Is that invite for all the girls?” I ask.
He crosses his thick arms. “No, just you, princess.”
What the hell am I getting myself into with these dragon kings?
CHAPTER 8
“I still can’t believe you saved me. I’m going to say it a hundred times over until it feels real. I still can’t believe it!”
Hope looks at Arty, rolling her eyes as she stands up off the table. “If I hear you say believe one more time, I’m going to throw you out the nearest window.”
Arty just sighs, leaning her head on her hand and smiling. “I still cannot believe it.”
“You’ve said that a hundred times since yesterday,” Livia mutters, watching Hope walk out, her black hair flowing around her back. I don’t even know why Hope decided to sit with us for breakfast this morning. After the test, she didn’t come back to our room. But I swear she almost looked at me with something akin to being thankful.
Arty’s eyes widen. “But it’s true! We would have died without her.”
Livia just shakes her head as I chuckle, sliding out of my seat. I was surprised to find a very nice coffee on my table waiting for me this morning, with a note from Arden. He made me a coffee with Grayson’s machine and left it for me. The gesture was surprisingly…sweet.
The moment I stand, my plate and coffee cup disappear like usual, and I smile at the castle. That’s one thing I’ll miss about this place when I go home to Earth—the magic washing up a castle. I underestimated how much I hated washing up until I came here.
Arty carries on, yammering on and on about how I saved her, just like she has done since I came back last night, and Livia just groans. My body is still aching, and I’m still absolutely shattered from the water test when Grayson storms into the room. Everyone goes quiet. All the girls are completely silent as he stomps in front of me, glaring down. “Come with me. Now.”
