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Titus frowned at his screen. “Apparently, I’m not canceling. However, I’ll be here for tomorrow night, no matter what. Maria said she’s coming over tonight in my place.”

“Did she yell at you again?” Miles grinned as he leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees. “You know she reports to you, right? You shouldn’t be afraid of her.”

“I’m not afraid of her!” Titus’s face turned red.

“Maria’s coming over?” I asked. Perhaps I could salvage this evening.

Titus studied me. “You like her?”

Was that so odd?

“She’s nice…” I replied, noting the disbelieving looks all four of them gave me. “Why?”

“She’s nice?” Horror was rife on Miles’s face. “In what universe? ”

“We bonded,” I replied. At least, I thought so. What if she didn’t feel the same? “She’s even invited me out for a girls’ weekend.”

My phone vibrated, and I froze. Everyone who might message me was here—all except for Finn…

Would he even have the nerve after I’d rebuffed him once already?

Immediately, the atmosphere shifted into something dark. I pulled out the device with shaking hands. I hadn’t even told the others that he’d contacted me.

Why was I so afraid?

“Bianca,” Damen’s voice sounded so far away. “Give me the phone.”

I couldn’t; it was my responsibility to deal with this myself. I ignored Damen and rushed into the hallway. A number that I did not recognize caused my heart to slow slightly.

It wasn’t Finn.

I opened the message, and my footsteps stopped entirely.

“Bianca,” Damen had followed me. “Give me—”

“It’s Maria!” It was a wonder I could speak at all. Besides my mother, I had never gotten a text from a girl.

I was going to have to commemorate this occasion. Should I print and frame it?

“What?” Damen’s face masked over with surprise.

“She wants to know if I like board games!” Reality began to set in. This would be my first time hanging out with a female in a non-life-threatening situation. “Should I ask her to bring a movie?”

My dreams of a bosom buddy friendship were coming to fruition. We would be destined to be together forever—just like in the books. My heart pounded as I opened a reply and began to search through a list of emoticons .

I had to find the perfect one.

“Titus, stop this,” Miles said urgently. “She doesn’t have to be here. I don’t want her around Bianca. She’s too tempting.”

“I can’t tell her to do anything!” Titus sounded horror-struck. “She doesn’t listen to me.”

“She’s supposed to!” Julian snapped. “At least try!”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to lecture me on authority?” Titus retorted.

I ignored them, even as Damen told them to hush. Whatever they were going on about was utterly unimportant.

I’d finally done it. For the first time in my life, I had a female friend.

Titus POV

“You know her the best!” Bianca’s small form shook as she turned to face me. She held out her phone so that I might take it. “What should I say that will make her like me?”

I highly doubted she had to do much to make Maria like her. Maria had been annoyingly possessive over her since their meeting.

She’d even had the nerve to tell me to stay in my lane.

“Make it stop!” Miles elbowed me in the side. “Before it’s too late!”

“Shut up,” I growled at him and tentatively accepted Bianca’s phone. For some unknown reason, Bianca seemed to enjoy being around my crazy cousin. I didn’t have the heart to dash her dreams now.

The others moved around me—trying to see the screen. It was clear that we all had the same question: What had Maria said to make Bianca so excited?

BFF Maria

Hi babe. I’ll be there to protect you tonight. I heard that you like games. I’ll bring some along for us to play. It’s going to be so much fun.

I glared at the phone. I’d told her that in confidence, only so that I might see what she would recommend as a fellow female. How could she use such knowledge to her own advantage?

And who was Maria to call her babe ? She knew Bianca’s role in relation to ours already. Besides, Bianca wasn’t even her type. Plus, Maria never got close to the people she was trying to protect.

Unless…

My mouth went dry.

She really did want to be her friend. But she was never able to maintain friendships. She normally frightened everyone away.

This could be good.

I frowned at the phone. Dare I trust Bianca’s fragile hopes to the likes of Maria? The alliance might have a strategic advantage.

Damen stepped past me, having read the message over my shoulder, and petted Bianca on the shoulder. “That’s great, baby girl,” he said, once more using the annoying pet name that made the rest of us cringe. “I’m glad you found a friend.”

The lioness’s aggressive ways would be helpful. Bianca was a fae in the human realm, and the more she developed her abilities, the more attention she would attract.

“Tell her what you like,” I answered Bianca’s question. I handed her the phone as I tried to ignore the unfamiliar feeling in my stomach at the sight of the many heart emojis Bianca had already placed into the reply slot .

“She won’t judge you,” I told her. “So there’s no need to pretend to be someone you’re not.” For all her complaints, Maria never once made fun of me for my collections.

In fact, she also liked small, cute things. Things that needed protection. One of the marks of an Officer was their instinctual need to defend those weaker than themselves—and that included the fae.

Which was probably why she’d latched on to Bianca.

Bianca’s face was beaming with joy—and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect that smile. Besides, if Maria spent more time with Bianca, the lioness would have less time to bother me.

“Good job.” Julian, having already regained his composure, was speaking to Bianca. I glanced at him. It was clear that he, too, realized the benefits of her having such connections. He met my eyes and grimaced.

It would be extremely annoying to have Maria even more involved in our daily lives, even if her focus were elsewhere. But in the end, it would be worth it.

Bianca POV

I finished responding to Maria as we walked back into the living room. “What do you think we’ll do?” I asked, sitting back on the couch. I’d left the options for the evening entirely up to her.

“Probably the usual,” Damen mused. The boys—or at least Titus, Julian, and Damen—had seemingly gotten over their strange reaction to my budding friendship and looked at each other in weird ways instead.

But that wasn’t important.

My finger froze over the send button. “What’s the usual? ”

“I hate my life,” Miles grumbled, slumping into the seat beside me.

Titus settled in on my other side, but I was watching the witch. “What’s wrong?” I asked. Could it be this was about Maria? “Should I not talk to her?”

I would be sad, but if my friendship with her made them that uncomfortable…

“No.” Damen rubbed his temples. “It’s not a big deal, baby girl. Don’t worry about it. Maria doesn’t make friends easily. But once you’ve managed to get in, there’s no one more loyal and caring than her.”

“Is she your friend?” I prodded. I knew she was an Officer, but could they be friends too? I hadn’t even thought to ask.

“She’s my cousin,” Titus told me, although he had no way of knowing that I was already aware. “Our fathers are brothers.”

Well, I already knew Titus was a dragon. “Your dad is a lion? How does that work?”

Titus tensed and glanced down as he put his arm on the chair behind me.

“My mother was a gazelle, and my father is a lion. He’s also a Proxy Officer—my Paragon Er Bashou.

My mother was my Paragon Tongjun, but she is dead.

Normally, Shifter forms are passed on paternally.

However, the Xing’s shifter form is predefined regardless of genetics. ”

Titus was avoiding my question. Why was he so afraid?

“So…” I began.

“I’m a dragon.” He looked away from me, at the ceiling, and finally confessed. “There’s no reason to be afraid,” he said. “It doesn’t change anything.”

When on earth had he gotten so dramatic?

“Okay,” I replied. I mean, even when Maria told me, I wasn’t that surprised.

The evidence had been more than overwhelming.

First, there was my instinctual fear of him back when we first met and his overbearing, possessive mannerisms. Plus, I was pretty sure dragons liked to collect things. Cute things had to count.

Perhaps he had a secret horde of wealth somewhere. But since he was a dragon, he probably wouldn’t tell me anyway. Smaug had been testy when Bilbo stumbled upon his treasure.

I would learn so much in my research.

“That’s cool.” I smiled at him, petting his arm. How sweet, he’d been so nervous. Perhaps I’d ask him to shift later. It might be fun to compare the physiology of a dragon to other more well-known reptiles.

Sure, I’d never be able to publish my findings. But knowledge was knowledge.

Titus appeared dumbfounded. Meanwhile, the others exchanged unreadable looks. Finally, Julian and Miles nodded at Damen, who turned toward me in confusion. “You’re rather accepting of this. Aren’t you scared?”

“Should I be?” I put my finger to my lip. “You already said that Titus wasn’t going to rip out my throat and feast on my flesh.”

Miles raised an eyebrow. “No one ever said that.”

I hadn’t been frightened a second ago, but now I was beginning to be. “Oh.”

I had let my guard down. I was so stupid. I had survived my childhood by trusting my initial instincts, and yet I had fallen into this trap of seduction. And now it was too late. Titus was going to eat me.

“You asshole.” Julian frowned at Miles, shaking his head in disapproval. “Why would you say it like that?”

“I was only clarifying that no one actually said those words.” Miles shrugged, watching my face. Suddenly, realization washed over him. “Wait, you seriously thought—”

My short, pathetic life was flashing before my eyes as screaming echoed in my head. The mark on my chest pulsed in time with my heartbeat, and I was lost in memory.

The room was still—everyone, even Titus—was stone, afraid to move.

All except…

“Baby girl.” Damen sat on the coffee table and grabbed my hands. I stared at his hands holding mine. “No one in this room would ever hurt you,” he said, echoing Julian’s earlier assurance. And I knew he was right, but now that the trigger had been switched, I couldn’t escape.

“The fact that…” he began, then paused before finally commanding, “Look at me.”

My eyes snapped up at once, unable to deny his request even as my mind remained numb. When our gazes met, Damen’s mouth twisted into a scowl.

“Now this—” He furrowed his brows.”—has nothing to do with us. Who do you think is going to hurt you?”

His questions shattered through the haze. I couldn’t get away from his touch fast enough.

“Leave me alone!” I pulled away from him. But they were everywhere even though no one had moved, and the room was so small compared to their much larger frames.

“Bianca—” Damen reached for me again. “What happened?”

I stared at him as my fingers tangled in my hair. Why was he asking now?

There was a familiar swelling in my chest, a breathlessness to the air, struggling to break free.

“Let it go,” Titus interrupted Damen as he placed one of his large hands against my upper back. My breath strangled in my throat, and Damen glanced at him. “It’s okay, princess,” he said, and his gaze entrapped me as the chaos inside me quieted. “We won’t push you for any more information. ”

“It’s certainly not okay—” Damen began, but Titus ignored him.

“You’re fine now. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. His gaze was serious and determined, and I couldn’t escape it.

“I know,” I said. The longer I looked at him, the sillier I felt. “You’re a nice dragon.”

“A nice dragon?” Titus lifted his eyebrow. “Is there such a thing?”

“Yes.” I was sure of it. No matter his day-to-day activities, I could sense it in his heart. He was sweet, caring, and sensitive. He’d gone out of his way for me when I was only a stranger.

Even if the rest of the world was afraid of him—of any of them—I knew, more than I’d ever known anything else before, that these were the kindest men I’d ever met.