Page 22

Samuel lifted his big head, possibly to look at Matthias. He cocked it, then got to his feet, stretching lazily. Thorne had work to do, but his feet wouldn’t move.

Samuel really did look like a cat, even though he was anything but. Dragons were fascinating creatures. Thorne was glad that he lived with so many, but he had questions that he felt he couldn’t ask. He didn’t know them that well yet, not the way he knew the mages.

Samuel shifted. One second, he was a dragon, and the next, he was back to his human form. That didn’t stop him from stretching. He raised his hands to the sky, exposing a stripe of skin on his stomach. It looked soft and the skin was pale, and Thorne found that he had to look away.

“You don’t need a ladder to climb me,” Samuel said. “But wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Matthias threw his hands in the air as Samuel hurried toward the closest door. “Where are you going? You said you would take me flying!”

“I will,” Samuel called back.

He was coming toward Thorne, and while Thorne knew he wouldn’t mind that Thorne had been watching, Thorne wasn’t sure he wanted to get caught in this position. He quickly looked around, needing to do something with his hands, and grabbed a vase standing on the small table nearby.

He fussed with the flowers just as the door down the hallway opened and Samuel appeared. “Hey,” he said.

Thorne looked up and smiled. “Samuel.”

“You busy right now?”

Thorne looked down at the flowers. They were perfectly fine. They didn’t need to be changed or rearranged.

He cleared his throat and put down the vase. “As you know, I’m always busy.”

Samuel snorted. “Why do you sound like that? It’s me. You can tell me to fuck off.”

Thorne shook his head. “I would never tell you to fuck off.”

“Maybe you should. I know you want to.” Samuel shrugged. “Anyway, I was about to take Matthias flying. Want to come along?”

Thorne blinked. Samuel had suggested it a few days ago when they’d been decorating for Penley’s party, but Thorne hadn’t thought he was serious. Why would he want to take Thorne flying? “Why?” The word was out before Thorne could think better of it.

“Why not? You were looking at my dragon form.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t make a mess.”

“You know I will, but we both know that’s not what you were thinking. Come on, Thorne. At least come outside into the courtyard. You can take a look at my dragon.”

Just a few weeks ago, Thorne would’ve said no. Now, though, when Samuel turned and walked away, clearly convinced that Thorne would follow him, Thorne did exactly that. He left the flowers on the table and followed Samuel outside.

He’d done the right thing when Matthias saw him and beamed. Thorne swallowed, telling himself this was okay. He could be attracted to Matthias. He could also be attracted to Samuel. It was normal to be attracted to more than one person, even if they were people he had to see every day.

He wasn’t sure when Samuel had gone from irritating to attractive, but now, he couldn’t stop thinking about that. He really wished he could. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of reaction Samuel would have if he found out. He would probably be incredibly smug. Thorne could already see it, but for some reason, instead of making him want to slap Samuel, the thought of him being smug made Thorne want to kiss him.

He was in trouble, wasn’t he? And in more ways than he could’ve expected.

“Thorne is going to fly with us,” Samuel declared.

“I didn’t say I was coming,” Thorne quickly told him.

“But you also didn’t say you weren’t, and I know you want to. Come on. I promise that I won’t let you fall. Matthias has flown with me a few times now. He knows I’m safe.”

Thorne knew that all the dragons were safe. None of them would risk the people they went flying with, not even Samuel. He might be extremely careless sometimes, but not when it counted.

And he was offering Thorne something he’d never thought he would experience.

Thorne was tempted to say yes. At the same time, he was also terrified to do so.

And he didn’t know which way he should go.