Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(68)
Why hadn’t the Reds offered to take me in? She’d never thought about it before. Maybe because her father’s family was all dead, and she had no blood relation left to speak for her. Still, she hated to let Jaxon think he had the upper hand. “The Oranges offered to take me, so it’s not like I was desperate for the Blues to step in.”
“Fine. Run away and live with the Orange Clan. While you’re at it, take your knight with you. If both of you disappeared, my life would be vastly improved.”
Valmont’s bedroom door popped open. He strolled out with a cynical smile on his face. “I’m good with that plan.”
Hands on her hips, Bryn sighed. “While getting away from Jaxon sounds divine, I can’t abandon my grandmother.”
“She could come with us,” Valmont said.
Like that would happen. Time to come back from fantasyland to sucky reality. “I’ll try to restrain myself at the dance.” She pointed at Jaxon. “Thanks for raining on my parade. Now, go away.”
Jaxon slammed the door on his way out.
“I really want to hit him,” Valmont stated with utmost sincerity.
“Get in line.”
“What you told him, about the Blues not being your Clan, why did you say that?”
His tone was normal, but his disapproval came through loud and clear. “Seriously? Most of the Blues still hate me, and I’m pretty sure they’d do a happy dance if I fell into a rift and was crushed to death.”
“Rhianna, Lillith, and your grandmother are good to you.”
What the hell? “Why are you defending the Blue Clan and trying to make me feel like crap?”
“Family is important.” Valmont ran his hand down his face. “Maybe I’m only saying this because I miss mine.”
Rather than soothing her irritation his words fanned the flames. “To paraphrase, I’m disloyal, and it’s my fault you miss your family. Thanks for a lovely evening.” She stalked toward her bedroom.
“Bryn, wait.” Valmont jogged across the room and stood between her and the bedroom door. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound judgmental. I was stating a fact. I miss my family. You don’t have to love the Blue Clan. If you ever find a group of hybrids to run off with, I will be by your side. For now, the Blues are your dysfunctional, snotty, elitist family, and I think you have to claim them as your Clan. As your knight, it feels like my duty to protect you by recommending you acknowledge this completely irritating, yet strong and possibly protective, alliance.”
Where in the hell was this coming from? “Should I make a sign that says I’m proud to be Blue?”
He pointed his finger at her like he was about to give her a lecture, but then he stopped. “I need you to take a deep breath and listen to my words. As a knight, my job is to protect my dragon. Having my dragon aligned with an entire Clan of dragons makes sense strategically. This isn’t me telling you to act a certain way. This is me recognizing a better battle strategy.”
Her anger level went from a rolling boil to a soft simmer. “That makes sense. It still ticks me off, but it makes sense.”
“So we’re okay?” He didn’t sound sure of himself.
“Honestly, I think we’re both candidates for a psychological study on magical bonding making people a bit emotionally unstable, but other than that, we’re good.”
He hugged her to his chest. She inhaled his warm sunshine and leather smell, which allowed some of the tension to drain from her muscles. “I feel stupid worrying about the dance when we still don’t know if there is anything worth investigating under the library.”
“After what happened with Clint, and knowing Ferrin keeps an office on the top floor, I’m less inclined to go poking around,” Valmont said. “The best option would be a teacher sanctioned trip to the archives.”
“I do owe Mr. Stanton a research paper. Maybe I can talk to him about it.”
…
Friday Mr. Stanton asked Bryn to stay late after Elemental Science. Once the last student had left the room, he waved her up to his desk. “You need to pick a topic for your research paper.”
“About that. I heard there were vaults below the libraries. I’d love to see them.”
He chuckled. “Most of the information down there is dry and literally dusty.”
“Can I see for myself?”
“Given your personality, if I don’t allow you access, you’ll fantasize about sneaking in. So, here.” He grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a few lines on it. “Here is a list of topics for you to choose from which might give you an excuse to access the library archives. Talk to Miss Enid. She can arrange that for you. Don’t blame me when you see how boring the information is. I helped Miss Enid catalog some of those files years ago, and it was almost coma-inducing.”
“Thanks,” Hopefully she’d find something more useful than information for a paper. She took the list and headed for the door.
Valmont read over her shoulder as they walked to the library. “Lineage checks, Clan population, and historical taxation? None of those sound interesting.”
“Maybe Miss Enid can help us pick the least boring topic.”
When they reached the front desk of the library, Miss Enid frowned at the note. “I’m sure you are aware that you’ll need access to the vaults to research these topics.”