Page 128 of The Bond That Burns

Kage frowned as if he hadn’t understood the joke.

Hiding a grin, I stood up and crossed over to the nearby row of shelves, running a finger along the spines and wishing Jia were around to ask for help.

Kage sat down at my table, taking a seat across from mine. He stretched out his long legs and flipped open the book he’d been carrying. The sight of him, so casual and unbothered, surprised me a little. I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but the House Avari leader seemed to have grown comfortable around me. Or maybe he always had been and it had been me who’d always been the one ill at ease. I studied Kage, trying to pin down what I thought of him now.

A sudden, shrill voice broke through my reverie.

“Miss Pendragon! Where is Miss Pendragon?”

I stiffened. It was Professor Hassan’s voice. And she did not sound pleased. I had no idea why she would be looking for me at this hour. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be found.

Kage had looked up, his dark eyes were dancing with amusement. “Sounds like trouble,” he murmured.

“You can say that again,” I muttered, glancing down the row of shelves.

I could hear Hassan’s voice growing louder as she drew closer. From the sounds of it, she seemed to be going up to every table and demanding to know if anyone had seen me in the library that evening. I slouched in my seat and covered my face with my hands.

“Quick,” Kage said, suddenly standing. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, then tugged me into a shadowy alcove between two high bookshelves that I hadn’t noticed before. “In here.”

“Hide?” I whispered frantically. “This is ridiculous. I’m not a child.”

“Yet here you are,” he whispered back. “Better ridiculous than caught.”

He grinned and I couldn’t help smiling back. His amusement was infectious. We slipped into the alcove, stifling laughter. The space was narrow. My shoulder jammed against his chest. I tried to shift but my foot caught on something—a hanging curtain. I went to try to pull it shut around us and tripped.

I let out a squeak of panic.

“Careful!” Kage said, catching me as I started to keel forward.

Then his balance gave way. Before I could reach out my arms to steady myself on the wall, on anything, down we both went. I landed hard against him, sprawled across his chest. The impact forced the breath from my lungs. For a moment, we both seemed too stunned to move.

Then Kage laughed. The sound rumbled from deep inside his chest, warm and unguarded, as if it had broken free before he could stop it.

When I glanced down at him, his eyes were already on me. Dark eyes, framed by long, dusky lashes.

“Comfortable?” he asked, his voice deep, his grin lazy.

For a moment, that grin reminded me of Blake. I froze.

I opened my mouth to reply, but the words twisted up on my tongue. I knew I should move. I should absolutely move.

But I didn’t. Instead, I noticed the way his hand had settled lightly on my hip, the way his touch suddenly seemed to be burning through the very fabric. The air seemed impossibly warm.

Then, from the shadows, came a growl.

The sound was so primal, so reminiscent of Nyxaris, that my entire body went rigid. I whipped my head toward the noise, fully expecting to see the dragon standing there in the library.

Instead, Blake stepped into view, his expression thunderous.

This was bad. Very bad. And yet something went through me. Filling me from head to toe. Something that felt very much like... relief.

The moment Blake saw me sprawled on top of Kage, his composure seemed to snap.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” he snarled.

“Blake, wait—” I started, scrambling to get up, my face flaming. I felt a pang of guilt I couldn’t fully explain. I hadn’t done anything wrong and I knew it. But under Blake’s gaze, I felt as if I had been caught tearing library books to shreds or stealing candy from a baby.

But Blake didn’t wait. He lunged forward, grabbing Kage by the collar and hauling him to his feet.

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