Page 28 of Dragon's Code

I chuckle. “Yeah, I guess I am. I am sixth in line, though who is born first is not really how the monarchs are always decided. Usually, they’re groomed to take over but not always. Ash was being groomed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Krystana doesn’t end up taking the throne.”

“Krystana, the woman I just spent hours talking fashion with, could be a freaking queen?” She shakes her head, like she doesn’t believe it. “There are dragon politics. This is amazing.”

“You’re ridiculous. You’re taking every word of this in, aren’t you?”

“Are you kidding? It’s incredible. I want to know everything. I want to…so wait a second, what are you doing here then? Is it dragon stuff?”

“Yeah, I don’t have a human occupation. I’m basically a mediator this weekend. Mating with humans is still technically illegal, but a lot of dragons have been finding their mates with humans, and female dragons are incredibly rare. We’re trying to figure out how to broach the subject with the Elder Council. The last thing we need right now is to break out in war between those who hate humans and those who have found their human mates. We’re already fighting wars on a couple of fronts, and we don’t need to eradicate our people just because ancient laws govern when there’s really no more place for them in our world.”

Athena stands up. “Enough talk. Ask your dragon friend for a key to the roof. I want to see you as a dragon and then I want you to tell me everything.” She holds out her hand for me to take. “Come on, Kash. Show me. I feel like I’m finally starting to understand you now.”

“What do you mean?”

Athena’s warm eyes meet mine. “You’ve always been there for me, since we were ten years old. You have always been kind and listened to me and helped me. I always have so much fun with you. You’re my best friend. But there’s always been this part of you that’s been off limits. You talk in code and are as vague as you can possibly manage. I never minded, because I trust you with my life. If there was something you weren’t telling me or sharing with me…I never thought it was because of me.”

I hook my finger into her jean’s belt loop and pull her a little closer to me. “I kept that part of me a secret because I didn’t want you to ever get hurt because of what I am. There was too much risk. Plus, I know you, you would want to know everything and I had to either keep it secret or tell you everything and I made the choice I did.”

She puts her hand on my chest again. My skin is still alight with warmth from when she touched me before. I don’t like it when we’re not touching. I don’t like it when we’re not in the same room. I don’t like it that I don’t know what underwear she chose after her shower when we got back.

“Thank you for looking after me, Kashton.” She pushes up onto her tippy toes and kisses my cheek. “Now, show me your fucking dragon.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Yes, my goddess. Anything for you.”

I grab my cell phone and type out a message to Jerrick.

KASHTON: Hey, man. I told Athena. Do you mind if I use your roof to shift?

It takes a couple of minutes, while I answer more of Athena’s questions, for him to reply.

JERRICK: Go to the top floor. There’s a door at the end of the hallway. The code is 372466.

JERRICK: The roof was designed to help shield a dragon from shifting so you should be safe up there. But please exercise some caution.

KASHTON: Thank you.

JERRICK: Good luck, man.

I take her hand and we head to the roof. Athena watches me enter the code and then she busts out laughing.

“What?”

“The code is ‘dragon’.”

“What are you talking about?”

She pulls out her cell phone and shows me her keypad like she’s about to dial a number. “The numbers he chose, if you correlate them with the letters, it spells dragon.”

“It could spell anything,” I say.

She gives me a look that clearly says “oh please”. I hold my hands up in surrender. “You’re probably right. Let’s go.”

We head up another flight of stairs and then punch the code in one more time. The roof is huge. But I see what Jerrick means by its privacy. The walls are high. A dragon could lay here and never be seen unless he flies off the building.

The gibbous moon hangs in the sky with the faint glow of the stars. The lights of Vegas light up the sky more than anything.

I glance around and get my bearings. “Okay, I think you should stand over there. And be warned, shifting comes with nudity. It’s not a big deal in the shifter world, but humans are so weird about it.”

“Huh. That makes sense, I suppose.”

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