Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(43)

He hesitated. “To be honest, no one here at the academy is going to go easy on you as Lucien. But they’ll like you even less if they think you’re close to me.”

“What did he do to piss everyone off so much?” I asked, but it was rhetorical. I already knew he didn’t have the answer. It was on me to figure it out. “And what did you do to piss everyone off?”

“So you’ll be Honor then,” he said, with an impressive ability to ignore my questions. “We trained together before. It will make the most sense.”

“But why does it make sense? Why is it so important to you to embarrass the dragon royals? And why am I apparently so useful to accomplish that goal?”

He looked briefly shocked by how quickly I’d rattled off questions, then said, “Jaik and I have a long-storied history that I’m not in the mood to even begin when it’s close to midnight. Especially when you and I have a date at five o’clock tomorrow morning.

“Five o’clock tomorrow morning,” I repeated. “That’s a bit early to want to get your ass handed to you every day, you know.”

“I know,” he said, flashing me a cheeky smile as he headed toward the door. “But I’ll show up anyway.”

I couldn’t help grinning back just before the door closed softly behind him. I’d get answers from him tomorrow; he couldn’t think he was going to see me every day without ripping like a wet sheet.

I stretched out on the bed, wondering when I’d get to be Honor again. I couldn’t pretend to be Lucien forever. And while life as Honor Hannaby wasn’t particularly easy, it was who I truly was. I didn’t want to lose her.

I thought fretting about when the Elders would release me from this ridiculous lie would keep me awake. Instead, I found myself startled awake at five o’clock in the morning. My eyes were hot with exhaustion, and I rolled over into my pillow, seeking a cooler side, only to hear the same little crick-crick that had woken me.

I tried to ignore the bug, then got up, slipped into my clothes, and made my way out to see Caldren.

“Did you put a magic cricket in my room?” I demanded. “To make sure I made it down here?”

“Who would do such a thing?” He jerked his head toward the stairs that led to the basement—and the hidden door to the deeper stairs. “Come on, we need to find some privacy.”

“I’m not a fan of the tunnels,” I said. “And I’m going to squash your cricket.”

“You’re too tender hearted for that.”

“I’m not tender hearted when you fuck with my sleep.”

He ignored me, leading me through twists and turns of the tunnels until we emerged in a shadowy pocket of forest.

“How do you know about the tunnels?” I asked.

“I used to be close to the royals,” he said shortly.

“Why do you all hate each other now?”

“I don’t hate any of them.” He nodded at me, trying to change the subject. “You can shift here. I brought you all the way out here so no one would see what you really are.”

I crossed my arms. “I’m getting very tired of people telling me what’s best for me and not answering my questions, Caldren.”

He raked his hand through his hair, then heaved a sigh. “We all grew up together. But they’re…dragons…and I’m not.”

“That seems like a terrible reason to throw away a friendship.” Before he could answer, I added, “Things between you and Jaik seem personal.”

“They are personal.” He pulled his sword from the sheath across his shoulders, murmuring a spell to blunt the blade as he ran his fingers across the steel. “He knows I’m better than him—a better leader, a better fighter. But because I’m a wolf, it means nothing.”

There was a bitter edge in his voice that made me pause, my own sword half-drawn. But he leapt toward me, and I hastily drew my sword the rest of the way. The clash of his sword shocking against mine rang through the clearing.

I kicked him in the stomach, and he stepped to one side, knocking my leg out from under me. I rolled and came up again, blocking his blade as it ducked toward my throat. “What about the others?”

“Talisyn’s a good man,” he said, surprising me, as the two of us fenced back and forth. Caldren’s voice had darkened when he spoke of Jaik, but he was back to his usual calm, level and fair self. “I mean, he’s Jaik’s bitch, so that’s a character flaw. But that’s the case for all of them.”

“What about Arren?”

“He’s dangerous, and you should be careful around him.”

“As Honor or as Lucien?”

“Both.”

“I want to understand why I have to spend so much time doing hand to hand training when it seems dragons mostly soar around setting stuff on fire.” Sometimes I had the funny feeling Caldren might just like to spar with me—although to be honest, I liked that as well.

“Well, sometimes your dragon magic can’t be accessed for one reason or another. And you should understand what you ask the other shifters to do… Face-to-face with the Scourge.”

“Why is it that the dragon shifters always lead?” I asked him.

They soared above the battles, directing them from the air; I’d heard grumblings from shifters about it before, but only furtive mumbles.