We stared off at each other for a moment as I took in his appearance—very shirtless, hair wet, and blue eyes blazing with agitation.
“Uh, hi,” I said as I forced my gaze away.
He glowered at me. “I had hoped the Dean would have sent you home,” he said, his voice gruff. He stepped inside and slammed the door behind him. “I can’t even take a shower without you staring at me.”
“You’re the one half-naked,” I pointed out as I took an immense interest in the window.
“You’re one to talk,” he grumbled, making me smirk. So, perhaps I had affected him just as much as he was affecting me now.
Topaz trilled at Killian, earning an affectionate scratch under the chin from the knight. “It’s okay, boy. Are you hungry?”
“I fed him,” I said.
Killian seethed, his eyes flashing with rage, then it passed. “Thanks,” he bit out as he rummaged through his dresser. He frowned at my job of folding his clothes, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he flipped over items until he found a shirt he wanted at the bottom, ruining my work, before he put it on.
Topaz whined, shifting as if something was hurting. “Is he okay?” I asked, realizing it was a stupid question the moment it came out of my mouth.
“What do you think?” Killian bit out as he slumped onto the edge of his bed. He gathered the wyvern onto his lap and carefully ran his thumb over the creature’s snout like I’d seen Jasmine do with Jade.
I flinched at the harsh tone of his comment. “Is there anything we can do? I tried healing him… like I did before, but, I guess it didn’t work.”
Killian didn’t look up at me, but his shoulders relaxed. “It’s because our bond is weak and your magic needs time to rebuild. You aren’t strong enough, as we have both learned by now.” He glanced up at me with an accusatory stare. “Dragons need community, love, and most of all, magic to survive. Without all of those things, they don’t make it… or turn wild.”
Irritation made me bristle. He was putting far too much blame on me. “Isn’t this place full of magic? What about the Dean?” After the show she’d given me today, nobody could tell me she didn’t have some extra magic to spare.
Killian shook his head. “The riderbond is what fuels the dragon, and even if I wanted to supplement with surrogate magic, the Academy doesn’t have enough. It’s been running low on everything for a while now. We have fewer students, fewer eggs hatching, and so many dragons…” His voice faltered, turning thick before he continued. “So many of them get sick and die before they can mature, no matter if they are bonded to a rider or not.”
Neither of us matched gazes as silence ate away at my insides. Killian truly cared, as if Topaz was his entire world. It was such a different side of him than the violent killing machine I’d seen in the Tunnels.
“Topaz is strong,” I said, turning back to him with determination. “He can get through this.” I wanted so badly for that to be true. I wanted for us to be able to get through this.
Killian gave me a bitter laugh. “I forget how nauseously optimistic you humans are.”
“Hey,” I said, sitting next to him and jabbing his rib with a finger. “You’re part human too, you know.”
Killian shrugged as if he couldn’t refute that. I reached out to pet Topaz who trilled happily in response. Killian allowed it, so I stroked down the creature’s snout like I’d seen him do. He nuzzled my hand, making me giggle.
“I’m the one who isn’t strong enough,” Killian said, his voice so quiet I could barely hear him. “I can’t harvest enough magic to keep Topaz healthy, and now I am afraid it’s just a losing battle. When I found you, that was supposed to be it… That was—” He went silent as his jaw flexed, making my heart melt.
I reached out to him, unable to watch him suffer like this. The moment my fingers grazed his arms, energy surged between us and Topaz fluttered his wings. Strength made my skin heat up as if Killian and I were two parts of a wire that would ignite the room in flames.
His blue eyes met mine and I knew that he felt it too. Our bond was stronger than he gave it credit for and something else was there… something that refueled that emptiness in my chest until I breathed in and out, releasing steam from the superheated air.
“Don’t,” Killian weakly pleaded, but it was too late, we were both enraptured by the moment. I rested a hand on Topaz’s back before our lips met.
Just like before, my world turned inside out and a roar of power flooded my ears.
Killian didn’t crush his lips to mine like he had before, his touch was gentle and hesitant, as if afraid to push this too far, but he couldn’t pull away. This bond between us was real, tangible, and made me feel things I had never felt before.
Power surged through me, filling my core and warming my extremities until I was sure I would burst into flames. I took some of the energy for myself, then redirected a portion of it down my fingertips and into the dragon who keened up at us, so trusting in the lap of his rider.
The sensation of fullness told me when I was done. I pulled away from Killian, even though my body tingled and the desire to get lost in him forever was undeniably tempting.
His hard blue eyes had taken on a softer glow and I was rewarded with the glimmer of a smile before he cleared his throat and turned away.
We both stared down at Topaz who shivered off a layer of golden dust. Killian brushed away the substance, revealing healthy blue scales underneath that reflected the
