Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(37)



“That’s a little hard to believe right now,” I said.

“Well, you might find that he grows on you in time.”

“Why are you being decent to me?” I asked.

“You know, maybe you’re right. Maybe everyone does deserve a second chance.” Talisyn said the words off-handedly, but they hit me like a fist.

I admitted, “I don’t know how I can begin to make things right. With Branok and Lynx.”

“I don’t know how you can begin to do that either,” Talisyn confessed. “But being basically competent as a dragon shifter and a Knight of the Order will certainly be a step in the right direction.”

“I never expected to be a dragon.” I leaned against the wall, hugging my chest. It had been a long day, and when it was just the two of us in the hall, the sense of overwhelm struck me hard. I had to keep him from seeing it, but I was struggling. “I have a long way to go.”

“Well, then we better start tonight,” he said.

June hustled down the hall, carrying an armful of clean pillows. Shit.

“Talisyn, I can’t right now,” I said, “I’ve got to take care of some things first.”

“What can be more important than learning how to use your new powers?” He demanded.

“I’ve only been a dragon for twenty-four hours, you’ve got to give me the chance to adjust a little bit,” I said. “I still have business to take care of.”

He gave me a strange look and I realized that I’d misstepped.

“What kind of business could you possibly have, besides being grateful to have been freed from the dungeon instead of being executed? Like we all expected?”

“Yeah, well, I’m not out of the woods yet on that whole execution thing.”

“No, you certainly aren’t. But you would never have left that dungeon, except to go to the gallows, if you didn’t have powers that our people desperately need. That you need to learn to control.”

“Well, I wasn’t trying to piss off the dragon Elders,” I shot back, thinking of how furious they had looked at my presence in the temple. “Apologies for my existence..”

He gave me a look again. Right, Lucien Finn would’ve known damn well how the Elders would feel about having someone steal from them.

It was really hard to adapt to having a different cover story when I was close to Talisyn. I’d already connected to Talisyn, in intimate, dirty ways. Now it was hard to filter everything I said through the lies that I’d already told.

That made it difficult to talk like I was a normal person instead of sounding like a faltering idiot. I had a lot of practice talking. But all of a sudden, it seemed challenging.

“I’ll be back soon,” I promised Talisyn. “Could we meet somewhere to work on flying?”

“I think maybe you should remember that I’m the one doing you a favor,” Talisyn said.

“You are,” I said, “And I deeply appreciate it. And I can tell that you’re not afraid of Damyn at all.”

He laughed. To my surprise, Talisyn seemed to have a delightful sense of humor where he didn’t take anyone too seriously, but at least that included himself.

“All right,” he said. “How long do you need?”

If Talisyn kept being so reasonable, it was going to be hard to keep my guard up around him. I had to remember that he was one of the dragon Royals, and he couldn’t be trusted. Still, I had so many questions and Talisyn was willing to talk to me. Maybe I could begin to get some answers. For now though, I had to see Calla.

Once we made plans, I headed quickly down the hallway, trying to keep my pace to a graceful saunter. I was supposed to look like a dignified nobleman now instead of myself, who had many great qualities but a surplus of dignity had never really been one of those qualities.

I took off to the bathroom and checked that there was no one in here. There were female shifters at the academy, but this was a relatively unused bathroom, and I had a little bit of privacy.

I was surprised to find a pair of feet underneath one of the stalls and I retreated back to the elaborate mirrors that hung over the long, gleaming marble counters.

Everything at the academy was not just sparkling clean, thanks to me and my friends, but also truly beautiful. At least as beautiful as any place can be when people take shits in it all the time.

I waited impatiently, until the girl in the stall let herself out. I turned hastily to the mirror to pretend like I was busy preening. She gave me a look as she moved to the sink.

“I know you’re new here,” she said. “But you do know this is a lady’s bathroom.”

“Oh,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”

But I still didn’t move. She gave me another strange look, then finally went out, shaking her head. I was going to ruin what was left of Lucien Finn’s very thin reputation.

As soon as she was gone, I locked the door behind her. Then I pulled out the trunk and rapidly changed. I grabbed my mop and bucket and ran, then stopped at the door, turned around and met Lucien’s face in the mirror.

I was getting really tired of not being myself. Even if everyone else in the world thought that it was an improvement. I returned to the mirror and did the spell. My features softened and shrank, my hair lightening and growing longer until it was myself that I faced in the mirror again.

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