Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(36)

By Sunday morning, Bryn’s grandmother had organized a Merchant’s Fair day for the next weekend. Merchants would set up stalls in different locations on campus. Fonzoli’s would sell pizza, and the Snack Shack would bring caramel popcorn. All week there was an excited buzz on campus as students discussed what they wanted to buy.

…

“I’m going to eat my weight in caramel corn,” Clint said the morning of the Fair.

Bryn’s mouth watered. “Maybe we can buy extra bags and stash them in our rooms.”

By the time the booths were set up Saturday morning, there were lines at every stall. Valmont grinned and waved at all of the friends and acquaintances he hadn’t seen in weeks because he’d been guarding her. Great. One more thing for her to feel guilty about.

Their first stop was Fonzoli’s booth. Valmont’s family greeted him with open arms, literally. Bryn stood off to the side feeling awkward. None of his family gave her dirty looks, but they weren’t overly thrilled with her presence, either. At least his grandmother wasn’t there to give her the evil eye.

Soon, the Fonzoli’s booth was swarmed with students forcing his family back to work. “We’ll visit when the crowd dies down,” Valmont promised his mother, kissing her on the cheek.

“Come this way.” Valmont placed his hand on Bryn’s lower back and steered her toward a stall displaying jewelry. Talia, the owner of All That Sparkles, greeted him with a hug.

“Valmont, it’s been too long.”

“I’ve been otherwise occupied.” He pulled Bryn close. “I assume you two have met.”

“Yes.” Bryn had met Talia when Zavien bought her the dragon locket she used to hide her protection charm. Since she no longer needed to hide the small key-shaped charm, and she’d chucked the dragon locket in a drawer at her grandparents’ house, maybe she’d buy a new piece of jewelry. To support the economy, of course.

“What’s the prettiest piece of jewelry you brought here today?” Valmont asked.

Oh, crap. What is he doing?

Talia pointed to a display of bracelets. “These are my newest products.” She picked up a silver bracelet, which wrapped around in a circle twice, and slid the bracelet on her own wrist, spiraling it around. “There are no clasps, and it warms to body temperature, giving each person an individual fit.”

Valmont picked up a different version of the bracelet, which had silver and gold woven together. He slid the bracelet on Bryn’s wrist, twisting it around until it lay correctly. “What do you think?”

She wanted to say he didn’t need to buy her anything. Due to her grandparents’ wealth, her bank account was far healthier than his. One look at the hope on his face melted her heart. “It’s beautiful.”

“And so are you.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to her cheek.

The kiss was brief, and to anyone else it would appear innocent, but the sensation of warm lips pressing against her skin didn’t fade. The guilt and fear she’d felt since she’d become sick due to the bond faded away. “Thank you. I love it.”

“You’re wel—” His eyes narrowed, and he pointed at something in the sky. “What’s that?”

Specks flew in a V formation in the sky. Her stomach dropped. “Please tell me those are geese.” Should she panic? Other students were also staring at the sky.

“Take cover or take flight,” a male voice yelled.

Bryn shifted and whipped her tail around so Valmont could climb onto her back. Even without the saddle, he settled perfectly in place. She shot up into the air along with the other students. Pumping her wings, she climbed, trying to gain a height advantage over whoever was approaching.

The incoming dragons slowed their flight, stretching out their wings and treading air like a swimmer treads water, holding their place and not coming closer, to show they weren’t a threat.

Four of the Red guards approached the strangers and lead them to the ground. So, maybe they weren’t attacking anyone. Bryn settled to the ground and Valmont hopped off her back. She wasn’t sure if she should shift back to human form yet. At least, not until she knew who these dragons were.

The strangers shifted. Three men and two women nodded at the guards. They had the ivory skin, dark hair and dark eyes all Black dragons shared. Their leader, a man with wild eyes and leaves clinging to his hair took a step forward. “We come in peace.” He grinned. “Actually, we came to shop.”

The lead guard scowled. “Next time you want to visit the campus, you need to enter through the check point at the back gate.”

“My apologies.” The wild-eyed male gave a slight bow. “We did not mean to distress you.”

Right. That’s exactly what they meant to do. The members of the Radical Revisionists, who lived in the forest in dragon form most of the time, liked nothing better than to play with people’s minds.

“Shift back,” a voice near Bryn spoke in a commanding tone.

She shifted to human form and then realized Jaxon was the person who had issued the command. Now she wished she hadn’t done it. A smart-ass comment was on the tip of her tongue, until she noticed how stiffly Jaxon stood, like he was ready for a fight.

“Do you recognize them?” he asked.

“I know who they are.” How could she forget when it was one of their members, Alec, who had tried to kill her, along with Jaxon and his mother.