Page 31 of Centaur Bolt

Vali shot the Satyr a look.

“We think they could be the spies for the Sorceress,” Kiko added.

“Someone knew who Marcus was, and reported that he was here,” I clarified. The twins made me uneasy, but that didn’t mean they were Isobel’s moles.

The Dragona raised an eyebrow. “This place is likely full of people who would be willing to sell info.” She stared after the twins. “I suppose they are as good a candidate as any.”

Vali went back to eating and avoided Kiko’s renewed efforts to chat her up. Once she’d polished off the last dumpling, she rose to refill her tray. Every male in the place turned to watch her sway up to the food. With her platinum blonde hair and unbelievable curves, Vali reminded me of a tall Marilyn Monroe.

Kiko looked so deflated that I felt bad for her. “So I take it that because she’s female, your smelly attractants don’t work on her?”

The Satyr grimaced. “Actually, to Dragons, sex is just sex, and male or female doesn’t enter into the equation. So they should be working, at least a little. Maybe she’s just shy.”

I forced my brows down out of my hairline. This new world had surprises behind every corner.

My amazement achieved something, because Kiko grinned. “Yep. Dragon sex just addresses a need.” The Satyr waved dismissively.

Okay. I couldn’t let that one go. “Um—isn’t that your thing, too?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. We areveryemotional when we have sex. It just doesn’t last beyond the actual encounter. But Dragons aren’t emotional unless the females are on cycle.” She licked her lips, and her eyes gleamed. “Then they are like wild things. Cycle sex isreallyhot.”

A powerful, alluring scent pulsed off Kiko, and it penetrated through to my core. The Dire seated behind her straightened in his seat.

My face flushed beet red. “Hey, cut it out.”

Her eyes widened. “You sensed that?”

“Everybody sensed that. You’re an orgy waiting to happen.”

She grinned. “Yeah. It’s my superpower. Other than setting things on fire. And gathering gossip.”

It was enough to make me snort a laugh. “You gab more than almost anyone I know. And please give me a heads up if you plan to go pyro.”

One sculpted brow rose.

“Set anything on fire,” I explained.

She efficiently speared a dumpling. “Well, that is a bit of an issue. But I am getting better control over it.”

I paused with my forkful halfway to my mouth. “You can’t control it?”

She wouldn’t meet my gaze. “That’s why I’m here. I kinda set fire to a guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

My mind juggled those two facts and, oddly, focused more on the fact she hadn’t slept with the dude. Maybe this place was rubbing off on me.

“So when you set fire to Tareal’s forkful—”

“My aim is improving. I only singed the hair off the butt of the guy that wanted to sleep with me.” She shrugged. “I may crave sex, but I have standards. He was a creep.”

Standards? Not something I had, as yet, discerned about her, but good to know. I obviously needed to redefine my biases about sexual activity and words like “slut” and “whore”. Satyrs were in a category all their own, and Kiko approached sex with such lighthearted abandon that it was almost—

I hesitated to use the word “liberating”. Because it wasn’t my thing at all. But then, I wasn’t a Satyr.

But although I’d always considered such things a sign of poor personal choices among humans, Kiko’s male adventures didn’t offend me. It just seemed so natural to her.

However, getting the parameters of her flame-throwing control nailed down seemed sensible, considering she was my roomie. “Have you burned anything else without intending to?”

“Oh, I intended to.” Her expression turned fierce. “At least, I envisioned his butt on fire. Didn’t expect it to actually happen, though.” She stabbed another dumpling with unnecessary force. “But then I started a fire in the palace foyer. Some arrogant bastard wanted to see the Queen, and wouldn’t listen when we insisted he needed an appointment.” She wrinkled her nose. “Picked a slightly different target for that guy. But the healer said he’d still be able to have children.”

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