Page 6 of A Dagger of Twisted Starlight

Blake was different in a way that intrigued me. He was shy and grounded and had quite the humor. It didn’t hurt that he was also cute. Extremely so.

“What happened?” It was Robby, Damien’s partner,coming back from a hike with my other brothers, Maddox and Warrick. Robby didn’t have a single drop of sweat on him. Maddox and Warr had sweat darkening their T-shirts. “I heard yelling. Didn’t sound too serious, though.”

I winked at Blake. “It was,” I said. “Blake had a duel to the death with a spear-carrying foe.”

“Seriously?” Warrick asked. “What happened? Where’d they go?”

“I took care of them,” I answered and faked a burp.

“You ate someone? You never do that.” Maddox sounded impressed, the blue scales above his dark brow rising along with it.

Bless him.

“It was a bee,” Blake said. That made Robby laugh, his fangs shining white. “And it’s fine. It’s all fine.”

“You ate a bee?” Warrick stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “Couldn’t you have, like, I don’t know, guided it away?”

“I’m paid to protect Blake, and he wasclearlyin distress.”

Blake put a finger in the air. “I wasn’t that distressed. I could have handled it myself.”

Dawn joined the group, having shifted out of her dragon form. Her wavy brown hair was tied in two tight braids that landed right at her shoulders. The residual white scales of her true nature glittered like the world’s most expensive necklace. “Now that we’re all back, can we talk about dinner?” As our only sister, she wielded the power to shut down any silly conversation we were having and put us back on track.

“I’m thinking pizza?” Maddox said. He looked odd withoutCaleb at his side, his boyfriend arriving tomorrow morning. Those two had become inseparable since they’d become official. It was really nice. Madds never had anyone for too long. He’d been a serial dater before Caleb. Seeing my brother find someone so perfect for him gave me hope there was a chance for me.

“Hold on.” Blake looked around and scrunched his brows. He had a thinking face that made me chuckle. Never out loud, though. I’d come to realize after these last few weeks that Blake didn’t have the highest self-esteem. For being one of the most powerful and connected twenty-six-year-olds in America, he had quite the confidence issue.

Something that wasn’t exactly difficult to relate to. For anyone.

“Where are we cooking this pizza? Or are you talking about getting delivery?”

“We’ve got the ingredients to make one from scratch,” Madds said. I realized then that maybe I had missed telling Blake about one big part of this trip.

Blake scanned the campground. There were six tents circling a sitting area around the campfire. Someone had brought comfortable beanbag chairs and a small wooden table, where a stack of cards sat.

“I’m not seeing anything.”

Dawn pinned me with a glare. “Did you make him think we were really camping?”

Damien chuckled. Robby appeared to squeeze his hand. Damien winced and straightened up.

“I forgot to tell you. We own a house here. Right around that rock formation, actually.” I scratched the backof my neck. Smiled. Blake cocked his head and looked at me through narrowing amber-golden eyes.

“But, but, I had to watch a long-as-hell YouTube video on how to pitch a tent.” Blake blinked a couple of times. “I spent an hour and a half on mine! We’re not using them?”

“It’s tradition,” Warr answered with half a grin. “Our mom used to get pissed every time we’d come as kids and ask to camp out halfway through the trip. So she had us all make a camping ground first and then decide. That way, if anyone does want to camp out while we’re here, it’s all set up. Plus, it’s just a nice time to be outdoors and working together on something.”

A cold shiver down my spine battled with the gentle warmth of the setting sun.

“I guess that makes sense,” Blake said. He gave a sassy eye roll.

That was cute.

“Do you want to come in and get settled?”

Blake tipped his head in a nod before seeming to change his mind. “Actually, you know what, I think I’ll camp out the night.”

Interesting. What had caused that quick shift?

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