Page 30 of Heartflame

The hallway was mercifully empty as I made my way back to my dorm. Campus was still under lockdown, which meant most students were confined to their rooms. I saw a few security witches patrolling, but they barely spared me a glance. They probably assumed I was some slut heading back to my room, because that’s exactly what I was.

When I pushed open the door to my room, Lysander was sitting at his desk, apparently doing homework despite the ward breach. His usual cohorts were nowhere to be seen. He looked up at me with an expression that immediately told me he knew exactly where I’d been.

“So,” he said, leaning back in his chair with a shit-eating grin. “How was the dragon?”

“Nothing happened,” I said flatly, moving to my closet to grab a clean shirt.

“Your neck says otherwise, buddy.” He pointed at the hickey I’d forgotten about. “That’s quite the souvenir.”

I felt my face flush. “It’s not—we didn’t⁠—”

“Relax,” Lysander laughed, holding up his hands. “I’m not going to tell anyone. Though honestly, I’m a little hurt. Here I am, offering you the time of your life, and you go straight for the dragon asshole.”

“He’s not an asshole,” I found myself saying, then immediately regretted it.

Lysander’s grin widened. “Oh wow. You’ve got it bad already.”

“I don’t have anything,” I snapped, pulling off my shirt and tossing it aside. “We just... it was just a thing. A one-time thing.”

Even as I said it, I knew it was a lie. And judging by Lysander’s expression, he knew it too.

“Sure,” he said, turning back to his homework. “And I’m the King of the Faeries.”

I ignored him and headed for the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I took another quick shower to try and wash away the lingering scent of Aeron. It didn’t work. If anything, the hot water seemed to make it stronger, more embedded in my skin. I kept catching whiffs of smoke as I dressed, and each time it made my stomach flutter in a deeply annoying way.

When I finally came back out, Lysander was sitting on his bed, clearly waiting to interrogate me some more.

“So are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to guess?” Lysander asked, patting the space next to him on the bed.

I stayed where I was, leaning against the wall by the bathroom door. “There’s nothing to tell.”

“Quill,” he said, his tone shifting from teasing to something more genuine. “I saw him run into those woods after you like you were a princess in a tower that needed to be rescued. I saw the look on his face. That wasn’t just casual hookup energy.”

“Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving,” I said, but my voice lacked conviction.

Lysander studied me for a moment, and I could practically see him deciding whether to push or let it go. To my relief, he chose the latter. “Okay. But for what it’s worth, I think you two are kind of perfect for each other. He looks at you like you hung the moon.” He paused for a moment. “Is that it? Are you like super hung?”

“He looks at everyone like that,” I said, ignoring his question. “It’s called arrogance.”

“No,” Lysander shook his head. “I’ve been around enough dragons to know the difference. That one’s got it bad for you, too.”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I flopped onto my bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had happened in the last twelve hours. A ward breach from some creepy figures I couldn’t make out. Aeron rescuing me. The way his mouth felt around my cock. His grandfather’s cryptic instructions to keep quiet. And Professor Blackwood’s request to spy on him.

That last thought made my stomach twist into knots. How was I supposed to spy on him now?

“You’re thinking very loud over there,” Lysander observed.

“I’m thinking about the ward breach,” I said, which was partially true. “About what those things were trying to do.”

“Things?” Lysander asked. “What things?”

Ah shit. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.

“N-Nothing. Forget about it,” I said quickly.

“You saw what tried to breach the wards?”

“I…” I searched for a lie, anything that would work, and came up empty-handed. “I’m not supposed to talk about it. I was told to keep it quiet for now.”