Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“You were about to call me handsome, weren’t you?”
“No I wasn’t.” There was still a little vodka left. I finished it off and crossed my arms. “Anyways, what should I know?”
“Well, you already know I’m verse, so we can start somewhere else.”
Again, I nearly launched myself across the cabin. He might as well have pressed an Eject button on my seat. I cleared my throat. Looked for more vodka and found only a few drops.
“I’ve been a bodyguard for five years now. I’m twenty-eight, which is pretty young for us dragons. I’m an expert at tennis, and I don’t mind getting a little sweaty. I’m also a sap for rom-coms.”
“Which one’s your favorite?” I asked, finding a common interest.
“I think I’m going with The Wedding Invite.”
“Classic choice, classic. That one’s up there for me, but the one I can constantly rewatch is Look Who Caught the Bouquet.”
Xavier nodded, appearing impressed. “That one’s not talked about enough.”
“I agree,” I said, his contagious smile making me match him. Maybe it wasn’t only his laugh I found calming. I settled back into my chair. We were the only two passengers on the plane besides the crew, which gave this an odd form of intimacy I wasn’t expecting. Xavier was hired to be my bodyguard—I had to remember that.
“I thought you were going to say you loved action movies.”
Xavier huffed. “Why, because I’m handsome and muscular?” He gave me a wink.
I rolled my eyes and started to blush again.
“I do also love them,” he said. He swirled his glass, leaned across the wide aisle. “Music?”
“Huh?” Why was he so close to me? He had a beauty mark above his left eyebrow and another one near his chin.
“What kind of music do you listen to? That wasn’t in the briefing.”
“Mostly pop, some country here and there. You?”
“Rock. I loved it growing up. I love jazz too. It sounds like magic to my ears.”
“You’re such a contradiction. A bodyguard dragon who likes rom-coms, rock ’n’ roll, and jazz.”
He shrugged, head cocked. The plane shook as we pushed through turbulence. “The rom-coms came from my mom, actually. We’d watch them every week together. And her favorite bands were all rock bands. My father took her to a concert on their first date, and she was hooked. She loved the energy from going to the shows.”
“You and your mom sound really close.”
“We were. She passed in the Dragonfall.”
My chest tightened with sympathy. The Dragonfall had been a curse that nearly changed the entire world as we knew it. A hostile takeover attempt by a rogue queen of vampires. It was the very family Xavier was a part of who were responsible for stopping it and effectively saving the world.
I hadn’t known he lost his mom in the process. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, I am too.” A slash of grief crossed his expression. He sat back in his seat. The flight attendant came by to take our meal orders, interrupting the flow of conversation. Once he finished, it took a while for me to speak up again.
“So you live in a castle in Malibu, right?” I asked. “I guess I’m staying with you. My father didn’t want me renting somewhere. I tried.”
“You will be staying with us,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll mind. We have great views. And a lot of space.”
“Does anyone else stay there?”
“All my siblings do, along with their partners. Dinner times can get a bit hectic, but I love it. Makes things fun. The vice president said he’d prefer you stay with us for an extra layer of protection.”
That was interesting. I thought I’d just be staying with Xavier, not the entire Blackthorne family. Not that I cared. The idea actually excited me. I just wondered…
“Oh, you don’t mind camping, right?” Xavier asked.
“Not really. Haven’t done it much, if I’m being honest.”
“Good. We have our family camping trip coming up in a couple of weeks out in Joshua Tree.”
“Sound like it’d be fun,” I said, a little absentmindedly. I was still hooked on that train of thought I’d had before he brought up camping. Xavier gave me another white-toothed grin before excusing himself to the bathroom. I tried to distract myself on my phone, but the thought still nagged at me. As Air Force Two continued on its way through the sky, I found myself looking out the window and wondering:
What the hell’s so bad that my dad wants me staying in a castle surrounded by dragons?
Chapter 3
Pitching A Tent
Xavier
The sun slammed down into the cracked desert ground. It reflected back up, warming the dark golden scales of my underbelly. I released a languid yawn and stretched out my wings. Sunlight enveloped them in warmth.
I laid my head back onto the warm earth. I shut my eyes contentedly.
A little over a month had passed since my brother Maddox and his boyfriend, Caleb, saved the world by stopping Niazatos, the Chaos King, from breaking free of his prison. To celebrate such an accomplishment, we realized we couldn’t bake a cake and call it a day. Dawn was the one who suggested a family outing to Joshua Tree, which was what had brought us right back to our old hatching grounds.