Page 4 of Cherish

“Too little, too late,” he answers. But then he’s wrapping me up in another hug, and the comforting scents of fresh water and oranges wash over me.

“The Dragon Court seems to agree with you,” Hudson comments as he joins us.

“At least something does.” Flint grins as he gives Hudson a hearty slap on the back. Because, apparently, that’s what men who used to be enemies but are now friends do.

Jaxon snorts in a way that doesn’t sound entirely teasing as he tells Flint, “I think he was talking to me.”

Flint’s grin fades as he murmurs, “I know.”

But Jaxon is too busy studying Hudson to notice. “San Diego looks pretty good on you, too, brother. Better than the Vampire Court, certainly.”

Hudson holds his gaze, and as I glance back and forth between them, it looks like they’re saying a lot more than what we’re hearing.

“Who knew vampires could tan?” Hudson finally replies as we head over to our table, where Eden and Heather are staring googly-eyed at each other across a plate of French fries. Or at least as googly-eyed as Eden gets…which, at the moment, is more than I ever expected.

“Guess that ring Remy gave you is coming in handy.” Flint nods down at the ring on Hudson’s finger that lets him drink human blood and still walk in the sun.

Lucky me.

“It is,” Hudson answers, and the glance he shoots his brother, then Flint, tells me he’s picked up on the same thing I have. That Jaxon is looking pretty tan himself even though hedoesn’thave a ring. “Now, let’s get this party started.”

As we settle down next to Heather and Eden, I can’t help wondering if Jaxon’s tan means he’s not feeding from Flint. And if he isn’t, why not?

I make a mental note to ask Flint if they’re having problems when there aren’t so many people around. I hate the idea of things being off between them, especially when they’re both trying so hard to make their budding relationship work at the Dragon Court.

Heather immediately wraps her arms around me, and I squeeze her back. We were apart for so long, it is such a relief that we’re close again. I’ll never get tired of seeing my best friend. We exchange a few comments about recent stormy weather but stiffen when Eden shrieks.

“Holy shit!” she exclaims after finally looking away from Heather long enough to notice the rest of us. She’s staring at Flint’s black eye, and I know why she’s so surprised. It’s rare to see a dragon with a bruise like that—partly because they don’t get hit hard enough to bruise very often and partly because they heal so quickly. “What happened to you?”

Jaxon answers for him. “What happened is, he refused to run when I told him to.”

“Seriously?” Flint gives him an incredulous look. “What the hell was there to run from? There were barely a dozen of them.”

“And yet, somehow, you still have a black eye,” Jaxon replies.

Flint’s brows shoot up. “Not fromthem. From you throwing that one guy at me without so much as a heads-up for me to, I guess, finish where you left off.”

“I didn’t realize you weren’t paying attention.” Jaxon leans back in his seat and crosses his arms in a move I know all too well. “And who shouts when they throw something anyway?”

“Umm, everyone,” I tell him. “It’s, like, the first thing you learn playing ball on the playground.”

He makes a disbelieving sound in his throat. “Well, that’s boring.”

We all laugh, because how can we not? But then Hudson asks, “So who were these people who made the bad life choice of attacking the two of you?”

That stops the laughter in a hurry—at least for the two dragons and the dragon-vampire sitting at the table.

“Shit’s going down at the Dragon Court,” Eden finally answers.

“What kind of shit?” I ask, my eyes going wide. “Are Nuri and Aiden okay?”

“They’re fine for now,” Flint answers. “But, to be honest, we’re not that far from full-on civil war among the dragon clans.”

“Civil war? That seems impossible. We were there only a few months ago for Wyvernhoard, and everything seemed like it was perfect.”

“Yeah, well, a lot can happen in a few months,” Jaxon says.

“There’s a lot, and then there’sa lot,” I counter. “What the hell is going on?”

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