Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(41)

He let the door close behind him. I was alone in the bracing night air, my mind racing.

The world still felt like a puzzle I had to put together, but at least Talisyn had handed me a few pieces.





Honor



The next day of classes seemed to go a little better, and by a little better, I mean, at least I didn’t break my nose. I had a pretty low bar for happy days at the academy at this point.

I focused on my training and my classes, kept my head down, and tried to ignore my almost roommates. Even though it turned out they really were allergic to wearing shirts. But I knew they were expecting to see Honor again.

I’d have to find a way to change jobs, perhaps to some kind of night position. If I didn’t have to be in two places at once, it wouldn’t be such a problem that I had two very different jobs at one time. I mean, except for my sleep and mental wellbeing and whatnot. Little things like that, which didn’t matter to anyone.

I could make anything work. I might not have a lot of positive qualities, but I had grit.

The next night, exhausted by the day, and by the lies, I slipped into the library. I stopped at the door, touching my hair, reminding myself I wore Honor’s face. My own face.

When I was Honor, I wasn’t supposed to be here, but I couldn’t resist. The library had always been a place of peace for me.

Although after meeting the royals, my library memories were a lot more lively.

Lynx was already seated at one of the tables, his chin propped in his hand, slowly turning the pages of an enormous book. I hesitated in the doorway, surprised to see him. For some reason I hadn’t expected there to be anyone else here, even though it wasn’t like the night of the party when of course, no one else had been in the library except for my depraved new dragon friends.

“You can come in,” Lynx said without looking up. “You’re not scared of me, are you?”

I scoffed, my mind made up now. “Certainly not.”

He finally looked up from his book, those bright golden eyes pinning me. “No, you certainly don’t seem to be afraid of me nor my friends.”

Lynx’s gaze might’ve intimidated anyone else—there was something about those bright golden-amber eyes that reminded me of his dragon form—but it just amused me. “Did Jaik miss me today?” I asked, my voice teasing. After all, I’d already heard part of the answer at dinner tonight.

“Why are you so comfortable with all of us?” He was back to flipping pages.

“You are just men, despite what you tell yourselves,” I answered. “And you’re entertaining. Life is cruel, you might as well indulge in dessert.”

“Or dragon princes?”

“I don’t know about that, sir. We just met,” I said, mock-haughty.

He colored slightly and the sudden blush spreading across his high cheekbones surprised me immensely.

“Which one are you?” I asked, even though I had a pretty good idea. Lynx was the bookish twin and I imagined he was also the only blushing twin. Branok was a touch more homicidal.

He studied his book as if that might convince me to go away. It would not. With his forehead propped on his hand, he finally muttered, “Lynx.”

“How can I tell you apart from your twin?”

“You don’t need to worry about telling me and Branok apart. I’m not like Talisyn or Jaik or Arren.”

“What do you mean, you’re not like Talisyn or Jaik or Arren?”

Something smoldered between Talisyn and me, between Jaik and me. When we were close, I could feel the promise of it, could feel the rising burn like I’d get hurt but I couldn’t stop myself. But Arren was a different story. The only heat he seemed to feel was a raging distaste.

“I’m immune to your charms,” he answered. “And I don’t know what you’re playing at, trying to get the attention of all five of us.”

“Okay, first of all, I am not trying to get your attention. It’s not my fault that you’re obsessed,” I shot back.

“You don’t have my attention,” he corrected a little too quickly.

“I don’t know how I earned the honor of capturing Jaik’s attention.” I said, although when I thought back, jumping off his balcony, after deliberately pissing him off, I suppose that had been kind of an attention-getting maneuver. I hadn’t realized how bored the royals were with girls eager to laugh at their jokes and hang on their arms.

It had been fun flirting with and baiting the royals. It was still fun. I just had regrets about it now when I was also facing the challenge of being Lucien.

Still, it was fascinating to see both sides of the dragon royals—the way they were with a woman and the way they were with the fellow dragon shifter they didn’t think very highly of. I wondered about their true selves, which I had a feeling they hid from everyone but each other.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” I asked Lynx, because some devilish impulse had just come over me.

I wanted to know more about him, and I’d had a very long day. I wasn’t in the mood for self -denial.

To be fair, I was never in the mood for self-denial.

“If you must,” he said.

I wandered the shelves, picked out a book, then clutched it to my chest as I carried it across the rug. I could’ve sworn I still smelt the faintest citrus tang of sex in the air, blending with the notes of old leather and pages and wood.