Then, “Wait.”
I frowned, because I was feeling badass and was having a great mack sesh with my man. “For what?”
“Meridian City is on the other side of Verania.”
“I know. Do you think we have time for blow jobs?”
“Sam.”
“Right. Let’s just jack each other—aw, crap, Meridian City is on the other side of the country. How in the fuck are we going to get there in time?”
And then I had the most awesome idea in the history of ideas.
Epilogue: Taking Flight
I BURST out into the sunshine. A crowd had gathered outside. They took a step back, a look of fear on their faces when they saw me. There were probably a million different rumors being whispered about me, but I didn’t have time for that. Or them.
“Kevin!” I bellowed.
“Damn right,” the dragon said. “Screaming my name and shit. Lord Dragon is allll about that.”
I glared up at him.
He didn’t look intimidated at all, the bastard.
“Do you trust me?”
He cocked his head at me. “What’s this, then?”
“Do you trust me.”
His nostrils flared. “Yes.”
“And you know I would never hurt you.”
“Yes.”
“Sam?” Gary asked, Tiggy at his side. “What’s going on?”
I ignored him, staring up at the dragon. “I need to ride you.”
Kevin grinned. “Yeah you do, baby boy. What are your thoughts on role-play? Since I’m your stepfather, we can always go with you coming home with a bad report card and I’ll be there to help you get your grades back up. With my penis.”
“We did that once,” Gary said to Tiggy. “I went from failing to graduating with honors.”
“Ick,” Tiggy said.
“The Darks are heading toward Meridian City.”
That shut everyone up right quick.
Kevin didn’t look away.
“And I need you,” I told him. “I know you’ve been hurt in the past. I know you don’t trust most humans. I know you don’t trust most wizards. But you’re my friend. And I would never do anything to hurt you.”
The air around us began to feel electric, as if we were both leaking magic all over the place. He lowered his head until we were eye level, and I wondered if my eyes were darkening, like they’d changed colors with Zero. They’d been red, for Zero’s scales. Kevin was black as the night. There was a bond between us. I didn’t know why I’d never felt it so strongly before.
His tail twitched dangerously. He looked more animal than I’d ever seen him before.