Page 105 of Ghost

He was my jiangjun, my confidant. And the last thing I needed was a murder investigation. Besides, he was a decent person.

I probably shouldn’t kill him.

“Sorry.” I released him and stalked toward the windows, glaring out over the cityscape. Now, more than ever, the need to shift itched under my skin. I wore too much clothing, I needed—

“I’m not going to say anything,” Matheus responded, returning to his bed.

I glanced over to notice he was watching me.

His head lowered slightly, enough to indicate his submission. “I’d have to be suicidal to get between a dragon and his mate.”

Whatever. So long as he wasn’t a threat to Bianca, I didn’t care.“Yes, it’s best that—”

His words processed, and I stared at him in shock. “Mate?”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Bianca

Leak

Now that we had established, and I knew what to expect, I felt so much better. After all, best friends had limits. Sure, they might be touchy, but there was that specific boundary there.

This was amazing progress.

We entered the living room, and I noticed the game had been put away in my absence. The coffee table had also been moved aside, and there was a mountain of sleeping bags in the center of the room.

Maria was nowhere to be seen.

I glanced at Miles and Julian, and it was Julian who responded, “Maria got a call from Titus. It seemed important. So she had to leave. That’s when we went upstairs to get you two.”

Well, that sucked.

“Is she coming back? Is Titus alright?” And there was the most important question of the day. My hand touched the piece in my hair as I wondered, “Who won the game?”

Damen trudged past me, close enough to brush his arm across mine. My vision snapped to him, and I could have sworn there was a grin on his face.

He seemed pleased, but I had no idea about what.

“You won, of course.” Damen stretched out on one of the chairs. “You’re wearing the crown. That makes you the princess.”

I pursed my lips, considering his words. I wasn’t certain that was how this worked.

Miles shrugged, walking to the couch. “Please put the jewelry in there.” He pointed toward a small box before he turned to fluff the pillows on the couch.

Julian spoke from behind me. “And to answer your other question, I doubt she’ll be back tonight.” He removed the necklace from my neck and tapped my shoulder, waiting for me to give him the earrings.

I warily obliged, and he continued speaking as he put the rest of my jewelry away. “She said that Titus asked her to look into something. He’ll probably tell us tomorrow.”

“It’s time to sleep,” Miles interjected, nodding his head toward the couch.

I was extremely confused now.

What were they doing? Something drastic had changed in the last hour, that much was obvious. They had been affectionate before, but this wasn’t flirting, it was something… else. Possibly bordering on something terrible. Even Damen was giving me weird looks.

Perhaps they were ill? I tried to think of a kind way to phrase my concerns.

“You have an early morning tomorrow. Don’t forget, you also have a pop quiz,” Miles told me.