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Roman stooped to find a suitable stone, his long, tattooed fingers sifting through his options.
Paxton complained, “You’re making it easy on yourself like you do in Cryptic Crypts. Pick a stone already, and throw!”
Shay laughed.
Roman eyed him with amusement as he selected a stone and stood. He braced one foot behind him, heel up. Flicked his wrist—
Six skips, and then the stone plopped into the ocean, the water calm today. This was one of the best places in Yveswich for rock-skipping.
“Impressive!” Shay called.
Roman instructed Pax again, and the next time the boy threw, he managed to skip the rock four times.
Paxton grinned up at his brother. “Did you see that?”
“See what?” Roman teased. “Must have had my eyes shut.” He mussed up Paxton’s hair.
“Nice job, Pax!” Shay shouted.
Paxton’s smile grew, and he ducked his head, trying to hide the blush Shay could see from way over here.
Roman came back, and she passed him his coffee.
“Yours is bland,” she told him.
“You tried it?” He took a swig.
“Your taste buds are a bunch of snobs. I’ll never cook for you—I’d be scared it would wind up in the garbage.”
“I’d feed it to Sayagul first.”
The dragon huffed, her words audible for Shay’s benefit. I think not!
“I’m not that much of a dick,” Roman told Shay. “If you cooked me dinner, I’d be thankful for what I got.”
“How about liver and onions?”
He fake threw-up in his mouth. “I’ll take a rain cheque.” His phone buzzed. He passed his coffee to his other hand and took out his phone. As he read the message, his face shifted into a frown.
“What is it?” Shay asked.
“Pax!” Roman’s rough voice ripped down the beach, causing several people to stare. Shay had learned that wherever Roman went, people tended to leave, the Shadowmasters more feared than the members of any other house. “Let’s go. We’re leaving.” He put his phone away. “Something’s happening,” he said to Shay as Pax hurried over, his Familiar bounding after him on clumsy legs. “We need to get to Silverway.”
Darien was about to lose his shit, which wouldn’t be good for anyone. Especially not Tanya, who was testing his last nerve.
He stood with the others in the corridor that led to Chamber Number Five. Arguing with Tanya, who didn’t want to let him in the room with Loren while she had her treatment.
But Loren, who stood closest to the chamber door, had asked him to go in with her. And she was the one person he always listened to—no matter what. She wore the Caliginous on Silverway one-piece, her gold hair loose and tumbling over her shoulders in waves.
The door to the corridor banged open, three sets of footsteps echoing against the curved walls.
About time.
“Tanya, Tanya, Tanya.” Roman’s husky, teasing drawl was amplified by the narrow space. He was heading this way, Shay and Paxton on his heels, the latter peeking around his towering brother to see better. “Are you arguing with Darien Cassel?”
Tanya’s heart skipped at the sight of Roman, the reaction giving away her crush. “This is my job,” she said, lifting her chin. “There are rules I need to follow.”
Roman stopped at Darien’s side, and tsked. “Aren’t rules more fun if you break them once in a while?”
