Page 1

Chapter 1

Top Who

Blake

The White House felt like a buzzing beehive today.

It was toward the end of the day, and I had already attended four different events: a teatime in the morning, a volunteer appreciation lunch, a fundraising kickball game, and a press event with my father. My schedule was the most packed it had ever been, and my energy levels were pushing the lowest toward the end of the day. This was my father’s second term as vice president, so I was pretty used to the responsibilities that came along with this life, but I felt more drained than usual.

“You good?” Cassius asked. He walked alongside me as we made our way through the West Wing. He was my best friend and my closest confidant. My only confidant if I were being honest.

“Yeah, just tired. I didn’t fall asleep until like two yesterday.”

“Chatting it up with that guy?”

I snorted at his insinuation. “Which guy?”

“That fae you told me about. The one with the freckles.”

“Oh, he’s long gone. I think he picked up on my chronic anxiety and self-esteem issues.”

“Wouldn’t that be great for a fae? He’d never go hungry again.”

“I think he didn’t want to be dating an emotional buffet like me. He also started acting weird when I mentioned I’m a virgin, which wasn’t great. Anyway, he ghosted me, so no, it wasn’t him. I was just up reading the newest Stormbringer book.”

Cassius slipped off his suit as we walked, throwing it over his arm. He had a long luncheon with his dad and had been dressed more formally than me. I had managed to get away with wearing a clean white shirt tucked into a pair of dark black slacks, my sleeves rolled up to give a little relief from the hot DC summer. “Shit, I forgot that was out already. Is it good?”

“Very. I almost decided to pull an all-nighter. Good thing I didn’t, or I would have passed out already.”

We entered a wide hallway lined with windows that looked out to the front lawn, where another event was being held. Thankfully, my dad didn’t have to make an appearance, and neither did I. Instead, we were headed to dinner, which was perfect timing with how my stomach rumbled and grumbled. My day still wasn’t over, though. My dad had me set up to meet my new bodyguard after dinner. Once that was done, I could get back to my room and continue my adventures with the Stormbringers.

We reached the dining room, where our fathers sat, discussing something in hushed tones as we entered. Cassius and I weren’t the only ones who considered ourselves best friends in the family. My father and his were also extremely close, having grown up together. That relationship only strengthened when Joshua became the secretary of transportation, working closely together during their times here at the White House. My mother sat at the table, also deeply invested in the conversation. My dad looked up and waved me over. He had the same amber eyes as me, his wolf shifter heritage proudly on display at all times. There was once a time in American politics where being any kind of supernatural would have barred him from public office, but things had changed since then. And him being one heartbeat away from the presidency helped reinforce to the people that supernaturals were as important to society as humans were.

Cassius and his family had felt some of that heat but not all of it. He was a hybrid. His father was a wolf shifter while his mother had been a human. This meant he couldn’t ever shift into his father’s animal form, but he did have a hybrid vigor that allowed him to be faster and stronger than most humans without ever needing to step into a gym.

“Tired, Blake?” my dad asked as I pulled out the heavy chair. The table was already set with clean white plates and soft, dark blue napkins. Two arched windows looked out to a garden of beautiful purple lilacs. Fresh baked bread was stacked in a basket at the center of the table, the sweet scent making my mouth water.

“Just a little,” I lied. I reached over and grabbed a roll. I pulled it open and smeared it with butter. It took a lot of self-restraint to not just inhale the buttery bread in one single breath.

“Your schedule’s going to be much lighter now that you’re leaving me to have fun in California,” my mother said. She smiled as she spoke, but her tone was definitely “I’m your mom, and I’ll never be happy about you leaving home.”

“I’m not leaving to just have fun. I’m taking a few classes too.”

“What are they?” Cassius asked. “Knitting and Making Memes 101?”

I laughed. My friend loved to tease me. “Those are on the schedule, yeah. Right in between my political science classes.”

“Why didn’t you want to stay local for school?” Cassius’ dad, Joshua, asked.

“I visited Los Angeles before and fell in love with it. I figured I can explore more of it while I take some summer classes. I’m still enrolling in Washington U for the fall semester, so I won’t be gone for long.”

My dad set his wineglass down on the table with a clink. “Speaking of, the bodyguard I hired for you should be arriving any minute now. I had one of my aides go and grab him.”

“He’s here? I thought his flight didn’t get in until late tonight?”

“He refunded the plane tickets. He said he enjoyed flying himself.” My dad shrugged. “Guess that’s fine when I hired a dragon.”

“I still can’t believe you hired a Blackthorne as my bodyguard. ”

Everyone knew who the Blackthornes were. Not only were dragons rare, with less than a city’s worth of a population spread around the globe, but the Blackthornes may have also been some of the most famous dragons around. They were the ones who’d stopped a curse from taking out their entire species while also saving us all from a very power-hungry and maniacal vampire queen. There were also rumors that they had stopped a plot from the crazed cult, the Crimson Ring, who were trying to weaken the locks that held back Niazatos, the Chaos King. Living under his reign was the last thing any sane person wanted. It would mean rivers of blood flowing through suburban streets, kids being dragged out of their beds to be tortured in ways they likely wouldn’t survive.

So yeah, they were a pretty famous family, and now one of them was going to be in charge of keeping me safe.

“Why not just send me with the Secret Service?” I asked. The waiters came around to place our Caesar salads down on the table. They worked in unison, wearing white gloves and clean-looking black uniforms.

My dad focused on his salad before answering me. “I feel as though a dragon with the ability to manipulate time would guarantee your safety.”

I narrowed my eyes. I wanted to ask what had my dad so scared in the first place, but he went back to eating his salad, shifting the conversation to a meeting he and Cassius’ dad had. Yes, I was the son of the vice president and would need protection, but he seemed extra concerned lately, which only worked to make me more anxious. Not even when I was being stalked did my dad think I needed a damn dragon to protect me.

“Excuse me, sir?” A soft voice drew our attention to the doorway. It was one of my dad’s newer aides. Curly-haired and doe-eyed, she likely still hadn’t gotten used to working under one of the most important political figures in the country. “Your guest is here.”

“You can let him in.”

She stepped aside and motioned through the doorway.

I waited, as if there were some big reveal, as if I already hadn’t searched Xavier Blackthorne online and drooled over the photos that popped up.

He came around the corner, and I nearly tipped right out of my chair.

Pictures didn’t do him justice.

He was gorgeous. Majestic. Handsome and hot and unreal and holy shit, how in the world was I supposed to speak to him, much less spend most of my day around him? My brain malfunctioned. Alarms were going off. An entire system reset was on the way. His dark, curly hair and muscular frame short-circuited my senses. My eyes went straight to his chest—my favorite part on a guy—which seemed to be deliciously filling out the dark blue T-shirt he wore. At first glance, I thought he had an overly expensive watch or bracelet on his wrist, but it wasn’t jewelry that glittered gold. It was his residual dragon scales. A subtle reminder of the immense power that bubbled underneath that calm, collected, and extremely fucking hot exterior. Another band wrapped around his muscular bicep.

My dad stood, a hand held out. Xavier walked into the room with equal parts grace and strength.

“Mr. Vice President,” Xavier said, his voice sending shivers down my spine. “Mrs. Second Lady.”

“Wonderful to meet you,” my mother said .

“Please, call me Richard.” My dad motioned to me. “And this is my son, Blake. He’s who you’ll be keeping safe.”

Xavier turned his golden gaze to me. I immediately started to blush. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but I could feel my cheeks heat, as if I had squirreled away two hot coals inside my mouth. If there was ever a time I wished I had the powers of a blue Marvel so I could make myself invisible, it was now.

“Great to meet you, Blake. I’m Xavier.”

He reached for my hand. I hadn’t even realized I was holding it out. He grabbed it, my fingers feeling so tiny inside his. And wow, was his palm smooth. Did he lotion? He must lotion. Probably his entire body. Did dragons need to lotion? Were they always naturally so perfect and smooth and attractive?

“—tomorrow?”

“Huh?” I asked, having completely zoned out.

“I asked if you were excited to take off tomorrow?”

“Oh, yeah. I, yeah, totally. I’m excited. Very.” I made an audible gulp.

My dad intervened. “Please, have a seat. I’ll make sure food is brought out for you as well.”

“Thank you. Flying cross-country does drive up an appetite.” He rubbed his stomach, which for some reason I found to be incredibly hot. “What’s on the menu?”

“A soy-glazed sirloin over a bed of seasoned rice and garlic-infused vegetables. Sound good?”

Xavier nodded, grinning. “Sounds delicious. I trust whatever your top chef decides to make.” He moved around the table and drew out the chair, sitting down directly across from me .

“You should top me sometime.” The words spilled out of me before I could control myself. I froze. Did I actually say that out loud? No, it must have been in my head. He had me so fried that I was daydreaming things I could cheekily say to him.

Cassius looked at me with a dropped jaw.

Oh fuck. Fuuuuuck.

That was said out loud. My dad chatted with Joshua, and my mother was speaking to a waiter. They hadn’t heard me. But Xavier definitely had. He cocked his head, eyes searching mine, that grin of his widening, flashing his perfect white teeth. He didn’t reply. Thank the fucking heavens he didn’t reply. He just unfolded the napkin and calmly placed it on his lap.

I stuffed my mouth with lettuce and croutons, wondering if it were feasible for the son of the vice president to run away and live off-grid. Somewhere with no people, no internet, no paralyzing embarrassment.

Why can’t I be the one with the power to turn back time? Fuck.