Page 142 of Spark of Sorcery

Fly doesn’t look happy about it, but he walks towards the tree and reaches upwards. Immediately, Blaze jumps up and sends a blast of fire Fly’s way.

Fly screeches and jumps back, but not quite in time, the flames singeing the very top of his hair. He swears, patting at his head.

“The little shit,” he mumbles.

“Blaze,” I say, wagging my finger at him, “that wasn’t very nice.”

“He could have melted my face off!” Fly protests.

“Maybe it’s safer if he does stay out in the forest,” Thorne says.

“But he’s so little and all alone.”

“He’s not so little anymore, Briony. He’s the size of a doberman. And he can clearly look after himself.”

“I don’t know,” I say. The truth is, in the month we’ve spent together, I’ve enjoyed his company more than I could have imagined. I can’t bear the thought of being parted with him.

“He seems happy out here, Cupcake. I’m not sure it’s very fair to keep him locked up in your room.”

“But someone might find him out here,” I protest, despite knowing Fly makes a very fair point.

“No one comes this far out into the forest,” Fly says.

“And you could come back and visit him every night,check he’s okay,” Thorne suggests. “As long as you bring one of us with you.”

“Not me!” Fly says glaring at the dragon.

“He didn’t mean it,” I mumble. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“You should tell Beaufort and Dray about him,” Thorne says. “Then one of us can accompany you out here each night to see him.”

“I don’t know,” I say, “what if someone found him? What if something happened to him?”

But Blaze doesn’t give me any choice because in the next moment he’s flying away.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Briony

With Blaze hanging out in the forest and not locked up in my room, there’s no reason to hurry off after dinner, so I go with Fly and Clare back to her room to hang out.

“There’s so much to talk about,” Clare says as we drop down onto her floor and I rip open the box of chocolates the Princes gave me, staring down at them in disbelief.

“They’re so beautiful,” I say. “I think they may be too pretty to eat.”

“Fuck that,” Fly says, dipping his fingers into the box, plucking out one of the carefully decorated chocolates and plopping it straight into his waiting mouth. “Oh my goodness, forget magic, these would be enough to heal you!” He closes his eyes and groans.

Clare and I look at each other, then follow suit.

The chocolate melts across my tongue immediately andFly is right. It’s one of the best things I’ve tasted in my entire life. Chocolate was a rarity back in Slate and the one time I got to try it, the chocolate was powdery and hardly very sweet. This is like a taste explosion – like a freaking orgasm – in my mouth.

“I think it may be worth nearly being beaten to death just to have a box of these,” I say, rolling down to lie on the carpet and savor the flavors dancing around my mouth. “So,” I glance up at Clare, “how’s things going with Damian?”

“Okay … I think.”

“More than okay,” Fly says, picking another chocolate from the box, “they spent yesterday evening sucking each other’s faces off.”

Clare’s face turns bright red, but she also smiles shyly. “We did. It was the best.” Her eyes go a little dreamy, then she snaps out of it. “I hope you don’t think that was really bad of me when you were recovering in a hospital bed.”