Page 32 of Storm In The Sky

He’d grieved Alvin for years. He’d always miss him, but Alvin wouldn’t have wanted Keylon to hold a torch for him for the rest of his life. He would have wanted Keylon to move on, and in this case, he wasn’t really. It was a very odd situation, but Keylon was fine with it.

He yelped when Winter rose higher in the air, then dropped back quickly. Keylon hadn’t felt so light in a long time, and while he knew that a fight was coming and was terrified that he’d lose someone he cared about, for just a few hours, he could relax and allow himself not to think about Carlyle. He could focus on Winter and allow himself to hope that maybe things could work between them.

Chapter Eleven

Winter whooped and threw his fists in the air when Marlow hit the ground of the courtyard. Marlow glared at him, but Winter didn’t care.

“I told you I was good at fighting,” he crowed.

“Yeah, you did,” Marlow said, sounding resigned but also amused.

He held out a hand, and Winter cautiously took it. He half expected Marlow to try to pull him to the ground, but he didn’t. Instead, the other dragon allowed Winter to haul him to his feet, then brushed the dirt off his ass.

Winter told himself it was fine to look. He and Marlow were friends, and Winter had no interest in the man, but he had eyes, and Marlow was sexy.

Marlow’s lips twitched. “I’m not sure Keylon would appreciate seeing you watching me like that.”

“I’m pretty sure Keylon would watch with me.”

Marlow’s cheeks flushed. “Can we not do this?”

“You’re the one who started it.”

Penley, who was sitting on a bench close by, snickered. When Marlow looked at him and arched a brow, he turned red.

Winter loved this. These dragons and mages felt like a family, and while he was still very much an outsider, they’d opened up to him. They’d welcomed him in, even when things had been rocky between him and Keylon, and now that they could see that Winter was making an effort, they’d relaxed a lot around him.

Keylon had, too. They’d gone flying again, and Winter had loved it as much as the first time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun. Keylon had used his magic to raise water from the lake. He’d told Winter that he wasn’t as good at that as Penley, but it didn’t matter. Winter had rushed betweenthe columns of water, zigzagging and flying this way and that as Keylon tried to get them both wet.

He’d failed. Winter had been too fast, and by the time they’d landed, they were still dry. Winter had to resist the urge to kiss Keylon once they both had human feet on the ground, and he’d told himself to be patient.

He did so now, too. Keylon had already given him a lot in a very short time. Over the past week, they’d started eating breakfast together every day. They’d gone flying twice, and they were planning to do it again soon. It wasn’t the relationship Winter wanted yet, but he felt they were getting there, and that was all he cared about.

“Is that smoke?” Penley asked, distracting Winter from his thoughts of Keylon.

Winter squinted and looked in the direction Penley was pointing at. His stomach dropped when he realized that, yes, it was smoke.

A loud alarm went off. Winter pressed his hands over his ears, looking around as he tried to understand what was happening. If he had to guess, the alarm had something to do with the smoke coming from the forest. It hadn’t been raining a lot, which was a problem. If there was a fire in the forest, the mages would want to step in to protect the castle.

A door slammed, and Jarvis appeared, almost falling down the stairs as he rushed down. He looked around frantically, relaxing when he saw Marlow standing there with Winter and Penley. Unfortunately, his relief didn’t last long. He looked up, noticed the smoke, and swore.

“There’s a fire in the forest,” he explained as he ran toward a door at the back of the courtyard.

It was locked because it led out of the castle, but the mages had placed protective spells all over the area so Carlyle wouldn’tbe able to sneak in even through this kind of secondary door. It was still dangerous but necessary.

Jarvis threw his hand up, and the door flew open. Winter glanced around, relieved to see that Keylon was rushing toward him. All the dragons and the mages who hadn’t been in the courtyard had arrived, along with most of the humans who lived at the castle.

“Go back inside,” Tyne said as he turned them. “The castle is protected from fire, so you won’t have to worry. Besides, it looks like, for now, the fire is restricted to the forest.”

Matthias looked like he wanted to argue, but Thorne grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

Winter turned his attention to the mages, who were filing out the door Jarvis had opened earlier. He quickly followed Keylon, even though he had no idea what he could do in this kind of situation. Whatever the mages needed, he’d provide it.

Winter grimaced as soon as he was out of the castle and had a good view of the forest. He could see the flames from here, and he could tell it wouldn’t be an easy job to extinguish them. “I guess we’re not calling the firefighters, right?” he asked no one in particular.

“We can’t afford to have humans so close to the castle,” Jarvis explained. “But we have contingency plans. It’s not the first time there’s been a fire in the forest.”

“I’ve never seen one this bad, though,” Penley whispered. He sounded frightened, and he wasn’t the only one.

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