Page 73 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

I feign a sip of whiskey to hide my grimace. His reaction leaves me feeling less than optimistic.

Olive shakes her head. “Hells, no, none of us have snuck off campus…because we’re not morons! And only a moron would try.”

Nick nods. “She’s right. The chances of getting caught are like, two hundred out of ten.”

That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I get the drift. My odds of successfully sneaking off campus are basically non-existent. Great. Just the news I hoped for.

Abel cocks his head to one side, regarding me with the faintest frown. “I’ve never heard of someone eventryingto leave campus without permission.”

Dejection settles into my bones. “Not even if you somehow managed to steal a couple tokens?”

The rule book outlined the procedure for how to request a leave of absence from campus. After stressing that permission would only be granted in the case of a family emergency or other extreme, extenuating circumstances, the guidelines went on to say that any student leaving campus must make a formal request. If granted, the student would be issued two tokens, to be displayed at all times. One hangs around the mount’s neck, the other around the student’s.

What the guide didn’t specify was where to obtain those tokens.

Abel guffaws. “Steal tokens? Who’s gonna steal tokens from Thorne? If he catches you, you’re liable to lose an arm.”

My heartbeat quickens. “Thorne has them?”

“Last I heard, anyway. I guess it makes sense, since he’s in charge of the alicorns.”

Nick chortles. “Poor alicorns. I know he’s an amazing rider and all, but Thorne is one grumpy bastard.”

“He’s not grumpy all the time. And he’s super gentle and patient with animals.”

I recognize my mistake too late. All three of my wide-eyed friends swivel to gawk at me. Olive gasps, while Nick begins to sing. “Somebody has a cru-ush!”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Shit. I need to shut this down. Fast.

Before I can voice my protest, Olive claps her hands. “She does! She does have a crush. I can tell.” She points at me. “Admit it. You like him. You like our hot, cranky flight instructor.”

My face heats. “What are we, five? And please. Just because I pointed out that Thorne takes good care of the alicorns…which is literally part of his job, by the way…that doesn’t mean I have a crush on him. He’s my instructor.”

My former best friend at Flighthaven scoffs. “Oh, please. As if half the class wouldn’t climb that man like a tree if the opportunity presented itself.”

Abel raises his hand. “Sign me up.”

His comment catches me off guard. “Really? You’re into…” At the last second, I realize the incredible rudeness of my question and switch gears. “Uh, him?”

Mortified, I duck my head. Great. Abel probably thinks I’m one of those people who cares if men are attracted to other men or women love other women when nothing could be further from the truth. To me, finding someone you adore to share your life with, someone who adores you right back, sounds like the most wonderful thing there is. Man. Woman. Neither. Both. I don’t care. All I know for sure is that loneliness sucks.

I breathe a relieved sigh when Abel responds without taking offense. “Him, definitely. The grumpy bit actually kind of does it for me. And other men…or women. Depends on the person.”

I nod. “That’s cool.”

Nick groans. “Ugh. Stop. The guy sucks. Though you might be onto something. Maybe if he spent less time sleeping in the stable with the alicorns and more time getting laid, he’d remember how to smile.”

Olive winks. “Oh, please. Have you seen the way Instructor x salivates over him? I’m sure that man’s getting plenty of action.”

I hate how her statement prompts me to suck in a pained breath. I loathe the idea of Thorne and her rolling around naked in bed together even more.

Digging my nails into my palm, I force myself to focus. Thorne’s nighttime activities are none of my concern. I have more important things to worry about than who my hot flight instructor likes to play hide the sausage with. “So you think he keeps the tokens in that room?”

“Probably.” Nick frowns. “These are kind of weird questions for truth or dare. Usually it’s stuff like, ‘what’s your most embarrassing moment ever,’ or ‘who on campus do you want to bang.’”

Nope. No way in hells will I be answering that last one. I figure, until I verbally admit my attraction to Thorne, I can retain plausible deniability. “My bad. I told you I’ve never played before.”

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