Page 15

Chapter 15

A Magic Dragon Ride

Blake

Cassius and I stood outside, the summer sun baking us, hot enough to fight back the ocean breeze. I grabbed my shirt and fanned it out, trying to get some air.

“Sorry, guys.” Xavier appeared through the front doors of the castle. “I had to feed Bambi and Lily.”

“That’s totally fine,” Cassius said. He stood on the balls of his feet. He seemed more excited than nervous, while I was the opposite. I didn’t particularly enjoy the thought of flying hundreds of feet above the ground without at least a seat belt. Xavier had assured me that it would be completely safe, but when I asked him to pull up the safety statistics about flying on dragonback, he stuttered and said touché.

“Alright, ready?” Xavier asked. “It won’t be a long flight.” He walked over to the center of the courtyard. We took a couple of steps back. The hill started to slope downward. A road behind Xavier led out through an imposing set of wrought iron gates .

A road we wouldn’t need to be taking.

I understood the shifting process, but dragons weren’t really considered shifters. They definitely didn’t enjoy being called shifters to their face. Shifters were humans who took on the essence of an animal form, imprinted into their DNA. But dragons were dragons that took on human forms. I never actually considered myself a wolf, even though that was the form I shifted into.

Not so for dragons.

A plume of golden smoke rose from his feet, growing, billowing out. Thick tendrils of smoke curled and whipped in the wind. It became so thick that I couldn’t even make out a shadow or shape from inside it.

A tail appeared first, lazily swaying back and forth. Golden scales shone like gemstones. He had silky white hair hanging from the end of his tail that had the appearance of fresh snow. It looked so soft and inviting.

The rest of the smoke disappeared and revealed Xavier’s dragon form in all his golden glory.

“Wow,” Cassius and I said in unison. I put a hand under my jaw to make sure it hadn’t fallen to the floor.

Xavier turned his long neck in our direction, his snout sniffing at the air. His lips curled into a smile. The same hair on his tail was on his head, like a mane on a horse with wings. He had horns that curled backward, his teeth each the size of my fist. He flexed his haunches and stretched out his wings. They were huge, the sunlight shining through the thin flesh and revealing a network of veins.

I was in so much awe that I momentarily forgot we were riding him. He lowered himself onto the ground and curled his head so he looked at us with one large eye.

“You first,” Cassius said and gently pushed me forward.

“Oh, now you’re scared?” I shot him a look.

Xavier let out a loud rumble. Guess that was my cue to get this going.

I went to Xavier’s side. Between his wings and his neck was a smooth groove sans any spikes. I grabbed onto him and pulled myself up, tossing a leg over his side. I leaned forward and rubbed the smooth scales of his neck. He vibrated slightly underneath me, rising and falling with his breaths.

Cassius climbed on next. He wasn’t as smooth as me, needing a hand before successfully taking his seat behind me. He wrapped his arms around my chest. Xavier slowly raised his head before getting back onto his feet. There were two large spikes that came out from his neck, which made perfect handholds. I gripped them tight as Xavier flapped his wings a couple of times.

It was his way of telling us to get ready for takeoff.

I took in a deep breath to try and settle my quickening pulse. He started with a trot that quickly escalated to a full-blown run. He went directly at the closed iron fence. For a split second, I thought we were about to crash into it before he gave one strong flap of his wings and lifted us up into the air.

My stomach lurched. I gripped the spikes tighter. My knuckles turned paper white. I tried not to think about how the ground kept getting further and further as we climbed. Cassius cheered behind me. His enthusiasm helped calm some of my nerves. It helped that I literally trusted Xavier with my life and knew he wouldn’t place me in harm’s way .

Another deep breath filled my lungs with fresh, clean air. I looked back to see the Blackthorne Castle perched on its hilltop, getting tinier and tinier. The Pacific Ocean looked beautiful from up this high. The sun painted streaks of light across the shining blue waters. Sailboats and surfers and Jet Skis dotted the horizon. It was beautiful.

And what was even more beautiful was looking down to see all the traffic we were skipping.

Yeah, I think I can get used to this.

Xavier wasn’t lying when he said it’d be a short flight. Just as I was really appreciating the beauty of it all, I felt us begin to descend. I almost wanted to tell him to keep going but something told me that this wouldn’t be the last time I’d be riding Xavier.

We landed gracefully on an empty side street. Xavier bowed down, and we jumped off his back. Cassius dropped his head back and shouted a “woohoo.” “Holy shit, that was incredible.”

Xavier’s dragon form was quickly consumed by golden smoke. It cleared to reveal a smiling Xavier, still in his black shirt and dark jeans. He wore a clean pair of black-and-white Converse, a silver bracelet glinting over the gold ring of scales. A rogue curl of dark hair fell on his forehead.

God, he was so fucking hot.

“Enjoyed the ride, boys?”

“Very much,” Cass answered.

I nodded, smiling. “It was funner than I thought it’d be. Definitely better than the Snake Way.”

Xavier winked at me. There was a flutter inside my chest, and it wasn’t from the flight.

What was happening between us? And why did it make me feel so freaking good? I hadn’t really felt these kinds of emotions in a long while. No one ever sparked my flame the way he did. At first, I thought maybe it was just me being a horny virgin having to spend so much time next to his built body, but that wasn’t entirely the case. There was more to Xavier than just his looks. I found his tastes interesting, his humor endearing, his passion inspiring.

He was beginning to give off “full package” vibes, and that scared me. It meant there were now stakes. Emotions. It meant there was a possibility of getting hurt, along with the possibility of getting healed.

“Let’s get going,” Xavier said.

Cassius pulled out his phone. “Hold up, let me just check something.” He opened up an app that showed a map on his screen, the circle moving as we did. I recognized that interface.

“You actually use that?”

“This? Yeah. Dad asked me to keep it on. He gets worried when it’s not.”

Xavier glanced at Cassius’ phone. “What is that?”

“A tracking app for government officials to use,” I explained. “It’s like the one you have on your phone to share with friends and family but way more locked down, obviously.”

“You should both use it. I can get you clearance, Xavier. I think it could come in handy if something ever happens.”

My instinct was to immediately say, “Fuck no. I don’t want anything tracking my location.”

“Are you sure? If we ever need to find one another, it’s honestly a solid way to do it. What if those shifters end up grabbing one of us?” he asked, pressing the issue a bit too hard .

“Yes, I’m sure. It reminds me too much of something my stalker would have used.”

Cassius looked apologetic as he realized. His thick brows dipped downward. “Sorry, you’re right. Forget it. Let me just let my dad know it’s on.” Cassius swiped out of the app and went to his text messages.

“Are you and your dad close?” Xavier asked.

“We are. It wasn’t always that way, though. Blake knows.” He sent the text and pocketed his phone.

I nodded, remembering some of the early blow-ups when we were teens. “But a lot of that probably had to do with you growing up and being a teenager.”

“Probably. But still, we clashed a lot. It was when my mom passed that we stopped all the dumb fighting and arguing. I realized life was way bigger than fighting my dad over the stupidest shit.”

“Sorry to hear about your mom,” Xavier said.

“Thanks. Yeah. That was dark. A really dark time. It was a car accident. One minute she was saying bye to me at the house and a few minutes later she was gone. It was sudden and so fucking hard. We made it through, but I don’t think either me or my dad are the same people.”

I reached out and gave my friend a tight hug. He leaned his head on my shoulder. It was like we were kids again, walking home from school. Life was simple back then. Before our fathers climbed the political ladder to some of the highest heights. Before I faced my stalker and mortality, before Cass lost his mom. It was simple. Nice.

It made sense why people would want to rip open a hole in time and go to any point they could choose.

Xavier glanced up at the sky before he said, “I understand what you mean. I changed, too, when my mom died, I know that for sure. It didn’t happen at once. More like slow changes day by day as the grief reshaped me. The way I view the world is different. I’m grateful for every second, and I’m more open to loving people with all I’ve got, but another part of me turned sharper, more pessimistic. I wasn’t always like that. I tended to lean toward the brighter side of life, but that was before I saw the darkest side of it.” Xavier placed a hand on Cassius’ shoulder. “It’s okay, though. Changing is just another word for growing.”

Cass smiled at that. “You’re right.”

“Come on, let’s go find this Kalen guy before dinner. We can grab food at one of the restaurants around here.”

“Let’s,” I said, the three of us starting on our way.

The street we landed on had a bodega on the corner, the sidewalk shaded by a few spaced-out palm trees. Music played from an open window above the hair salon we walked past, people still staring at us in awe as they sat with their heads in dryers. One of the hairdressers had his phone out and snapped a few pictures.

“I love this part of town,” Xavier said.

“I can see why.” I admired the smooth white buildings and the bright pops of color through various different mosaics. There were lizards and hummingbirds and snakes and flowers, all brought to life with tiny tiles. None of the buildings were taller than three stories, and as we drew closer to the main street, the sounds of casual conversations from all the cafes and restaurants got louder. A French restaurant had the best- looking steak and frites, my mouth watering as we walked past. It was lively here. I liked that.

More than the food, though, I found myself liking this feeling that walking next to Xavier gave me. He was close enough at my side that our hands brushed together. The subtle touches threw me right back to being with Xavier, climbing onto his lap, feeling how badly he wanted me. Throbbing. Kissing. Groaning.

I’d been avoiding Xavier because the thought of that happening again made me so excited it verged on anxiety. But I decided I was done with that. There was nothing to be anxious about around Xavier.

But there were a whole lot of reasons to be excited around him. And I wanted to explore those reasons later tonight.

It was time my bodyguard stopped guarding and started pleasing.