Page 44 of Heartflame

This time, he shifted into a human form, his clothes reappearing on his body like magic. Which, I supposed, it was. He was breathing hard, his eyes still that brilliant gold.

“How was that?” he asked, reaching out to steady me as my knees threatened to buckle.

“That was...” I couldn’t even find words. “I’ve never felt anything like that in my entire life.”

He grinned, pulling me close and pressing his forehead against mine. “Good. Because I want to do that again with you.”

The intensity in his voice made my heart skip. There was something in the way he said it, like it meant more than just flying. Like it was a promise of something bigger.

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s get that coffee I promised you.”

The coffee shop was warm and inviting, with soft lighting and the rich aroma of espresso filling the air. We ordered at the counter like normal people. I got a vanilla latte and a chocolate croissant, while Aeron ordered what looked like enough pastries to feed a small army. When the barista rang us up, she did a double-take at Aeron, before giving him a wink. I felt a spike of irritation that I tried to suppress. Of course she was hitting on him. Everyone hit on him.

We found a small table in the corner, away from the few other late-night customers scattered throughout the shop. I bit into my croissant, savoring the buttery layers, and tried to act like my hands weren’t still shaking from the flight.

“You’re quiet,” Aeron observed, watching me with those perceptive golden eyes. “Second thoughts about the flying?”

“No,” I said immediately. “The opposite, actually. I just... I don’t know how to process what just happened. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

“Most people haven’t,” he said, taking a bite of a raspberry tart. “Dragons don’t usually show anyone their wings or their true forms for that matter. It’s considered intimate, in a way.”

I looked up at him sharply. “Why did you show me then?”

He held my gaze for a long moment, and I could see him wrestling with something, like he was trying to decide how much to tell me. “Because I wanted you to see all of me,” he finally said. “Not just the human form or the half dragon form, not just the facade I show to everyone else. I wanted you to know what I really am.”

There was something in that admission that caught me off guard. This was Aeron Pyre, grandson of the Elder Council leader, the most arrogant asshole I’d ever met. And yet here he was, practically admitting that he cared what I thought of him. That he trusted me more than he did anyone else at Widdershins.

“I like what you are,” I said quietly, and I meant it. “The dragon form is... it’s incredible.”

He smiled, that soft genuine smile that made my heart skip a beat. “Good. Because I’m planning to take you flying again. Whenever you want.”

“Even if I want to go flying at three in the morning?” I teased, taking a sip of my latte.

“Especially then,” he said. “I don’t sleep much anyway. Dragons don’t need as much rest as humans do.”

We talked for a while about nothing important. He told me about growing up at his grandfather’s estate, about learning to shift for the first time at age seven, about the political dynamics within the Elder Council that I probably shouldn’t have been curious about but was. I found myself sharing things too about my parents’ potion business, about the pressure I felt to succeed at Widdershins, about how sometimes I felt like I was drowning under the weight of expectations.

And he listened. Actually listened, not just waited for his turn to talk. He asked follow-up questions and seemed genuinely interested in my answers. It was disconcerting how easy it was to talk to him when he wasn’t being deliberately annoying.

“Your parents must be proud,” he said at one point. “You’re clearly brilliant.”

“They are,” I admitted. “But they also don’t see the point of going to the academy. They think I should be helping them with the business instead of getting a fancy education. They’re old-fashioned like that.”

“Is Widdershins just a way for you to get away from them for a while?”

I considered the question seriously. “No. I think I need this. Doing business the same way my grandfather did isn’t working anymore. Every year it gets a little worse. Sure, I came here to find ways to make the business better, but also to sort of… I don’t know… find myself I guess. Does that make sense?”

“Perfect sense,” he nodded. “That’s what college is for.”

“Why did you come here?” I asked in return. “With all your private tutoring, you’d think this place would have nothing to offer you.”

“My grandfather asked me to,” he said simply. “I came here to prove to the rest of the paranormal world that there’s nothing to fear from the Purity Front. That life can’t grind to a halt because things are hard.”

“And do you believe that?” It was a blunt question, but I wanted to know. “Everyone else is terrified. They’re all throwing accusations at one another behind their backs. This isn’t just hard for them, this feels like… like war.”

Aeron shrugged. “I think the Purity Front got lucky with their attack on the council. Nobody was taking them seriously until then. And now… well, I have full faith that my grandfather will hunt down the culprits and make them pay. That’s why he’s our leader now, because he’s the only one that can do it.”

I stared at Aeron for a long moment, the sincerity in his voice still ringing in my ears. “You really love him, don’t you?”