Read Online Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9 by Various Authors - Free Book Online
Authors: Various Authors
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grinned. "Half-blood adaptation, jerk-off." He tapped the side of his skull. "I can control the instinct to burn everything to cinders." He ran his fingers over a still-smoldering line of charred wood in the door frame. "I used a few chilling spells."
"You mean anti-dragon—"
"I mean alternate spells. They're just as useful for preserving the food for your fancy royal feasts as they are for cooling your tempers. Though why you don't just use freezers like everyone else…." He smoothed his bare hand over the smoking wood and the coals died. The dark scar remained in the wood, but at least the magic eating into it dissipated. "Sometimes fighting fire with fire only makes a bigger fire. It helps to just not follow blind instinct once in a while."
"Freezing the meat leaves a bad taste—"
"Where is Alec?" Kreed interrupted. "Is he okay?"
"He—" Robert glanced down the hallway to the stairs at the far end. "He left. You didn't see him go by?"
"I came in by the balcony." Flexing his shoulders so his wings rustled, Kreed gave him a sneering look. "These aren't just for show, you know. The hallway was empty when I saw the plumes of smoke coming out the door."
"So where did he go?"
Kreed stared at him. "What do you mean where did he go?" He glanced around. "He was here. With you."
"He esc—left."
Kreed let out a snort. "If you didn't lock him up like a prisoner, he would never have felt the need to escape." He pushed past Robert into the room.
"I was trying to protect him!" Robert turned to follow Kreed's progress across the room, his head still scrambled from the conflicting skin- and scale-magic.
"Trying to control him, you mean." As he spoke, Kreed rifled through the papers on Alec's desk, shoving aside textbooks and snarling when the laptop required a password he didn't have.
Robert wasn't about to equate keeping Alec safely in the dorm with keeping him prisoner. Inside, Alec was safe. Out in the maelstrom of mating dragons, there was no way to make sure he didn't get mauled or worse. "At least here, the others couldn't get at him," he insisted.
"No. You had him all to yourself." Kreed snapped the computer closed with a growl and glared around the room.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to figure out where he might have gone." He stopped his search and looked up at Robert. "What are you doing?"
"We have to find him." Robert stood in the center of the room looking around, trying to follow the thread of the conversation. Letting the dragon out even a bit might have been a mistake. He was having a hard time thinking.
"Ya think?" Kreed grabbed a thick cloak from a peg on the wall and hurried for the closet. "You can fly farther, faster than I can. You can see better. Scale up, Princey. I'll take the woods. Go see what you can see from the sky."
"We should get help." Robert's feet seemed glued to the floor as he watched Kreed stuff a water bottle, a first aid kit, all the trappings of Alec's modern life that might be helpful, into a backpack and heft it onto one shoulder. If Alec had gone into the woods, if he went in there deep enough, no amount of magic could help him.
"And who would we ask? Some of the other students?" Kreed shook his head. "Alec's friends, if any of them are even around this time of year, don't believe he is a dragon, and they won't step foot outside with so many of us in the air anyway. And they'd be right not to." He glared at Robert. "Your friends won't tell you they found him until they're done with him, and much as I can't stand you, I think we can agree neither of us wants that for him."
The thought made Robert's blood drain to his toes. He shook his head. "What do we do?"
"We find him!" Kreed stepped up close and curled a lip, showing off canine teeth he deliberately allowed to manifest for effect. "Get your head out of your ass and get out there." He pointed to the window. "Find him before anyone else does, and keep him safe, or so help me, I will tear you apart myself, prince or no
"You mean anti-dragon—"
"I mean alternate spells. They're just as useful for preserving the food for your fancy royal feasts as they are for cooling your tempers. Though why you don't just use freezers like everyone else…." He smoothed his bare hand over the smoking wood and the coals died. The dark scar remained in the wood, but at least the magic eating into it dissipated. "Sometimes fighting fire with fire only makes a bigger fire. It helps to just not follow blind instinct once in a while."
"Freezing the meat leaves a bad taste—"
"Where is Alec?" Kreed interrupted. "Is he okay?"
"He—" Robert glanced down the hallway to the stairs at the far end. "He left. You didn't see him go by?"
"I came in by the balcony." Flexing his shoulders so his wings rustled, Kreed gave him a sneering look. "These aren't just for show, you know. The hallway was empty when I saw the plumes of smoke coming out the door."
"So where did he go?"
Kreed stared at him. "What do you mean where did he go?" He glanced around. "He was here. With you."
"He esc—left."
Kreed let out a snort. "If you didn't lock him up like a prisoner, he would never have felt the need to escape." He pushed past Robert into the room.
"I was trying to protect him!" Robert turned to follow Kreed's progress across the room, his head still scrambled from the conflicting skin- and scale-magic.
"Trying to control him, you mean." As he spoke, Kreed rifled through the papers on Alec's desk, shoving aside textbooks and snarling when the laptop required a password he didn't have.
Robert wasn't about to equate keeping Alec safely in the dorm with keeping him prisoner. Inside, Alec was safe. Out in the maelstrom of mating dragons, there was no way to make sure he didn't get mauled or worse. "At least here, the others couldn't get at him," he insisted.
"No. You had him all to yourself." Kreed snapped the computer closed with a growl and glared around the room.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to figure out where he might have gone." He stopped his search and looked up at Robert. "What are you doing?"
"We have to find him." Robert stood in the center of the room looking around, trying to follow the thread of the conversation. Letting the dragon out even a bit might have been a mistake. He was having a hard time thinking.
"Ya think?" Kreed grabbed a thick cloak from a peg on the wall and hurried for the closet. "You can fly farther, faster than I can. You can see better. Scale up, Princey. I'll take the woods. Go see what you can see from the sky."
"We should get help." Robert's feet seemed glued to the floor as he watched Kreed stuff a water bottle, a first aid kit, all the trappings of Alec's modern life that might be helpful, into a backpack and heft it onto one shoulder. If Alec had gone into the woods, if he went in there deep enough, no amount of magic could help him.
"And who would we ask? Some of the other students?" Kreed shook his head. "Alec's friends, if any of them are even around this time of year, don't believe he is a dragon, and they won't step foot outside with so many of us in the air anyway. And they'd be right not to." He glared at Robert. "Your friends won't tell you they found him until they're done with him, and much as I can't stand you, I think we can agree neither of us wants that for him."
The thought made Robert's blood drain to his toes. He shook his head. "What do we do?"
"We find him!" Kreed stepped up close and curled a lip, showing off canine teeth he deliberately allowed to manifest for effect. "Get your head out of your ass and get out there." He pointed to the window. "Find him before anyone else does, and keep him safe, or so help me, I will tear you apart myself, prince or no
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