At lunch the next day, Aiden spotted Tiago heading toward his side of the table and frantically shook his head. He didn’t trust himself to sit that close to Tiago. All he wanted to do was kiss him. Aiden even pictured it, pulling Tiago close, pressing their lips together right in the middle of the lunchroom.
No way. Impossible. Sharing a table with him at all was going to be hard enough.
Tiago cocked an eyebrow, and Aiden tried to signal to him as subtly as possible that he should sit next to Dylan. With a little frown, Tiago went around to the other side.
Thankfully, Dylan was focused on his cheeseburger and didn’t seem to notice.
“So how did you do on the test?” Aiden asked Dylan.
Dylan licked ketchup from the corner of his mouth. “Got a B minus.”
“That’s great!” Aiden had been tutoring both him and Tiago.
“Guess I’m not so dumb.” Dylan shrugged.
“Hey, of course not. You aren’t dumb, you just weren’t paying attention.”
“It was easier when I wasn’t.” Dylan smiled a little and took another bite.
Tiago was wiggling slightly, which Aiden had been trying to ignore. “Gonna ask what I got, Lizard Boy?” Without waiting for an answer, he said, “B.”
“Aw, damn it.”
Tiago laughed and play-punched Dylan in the arm. “Smarter than you, Lizard Boy.”
“You just got lucky.”
Aiden sighed. Well, if their competitive natures got them to try harder at school, then at least it was worth something.
“Hey, can I come over tonight?” Tiago asked Aiden. “I got some homework I need help with.” The look in his eyes said he wasn’t thinking about homework at all.
Aiden’s heart raced in both excitement and fear. Having Tiago alone in his room, after they’d kissed. Oh, that kiss…
Dylan frowned. “Something wrong?”
Stupid heightened senses. “Ah, no. Nothing. Just… remembering I have a report due soon.” God, he hated lying.
Tiago was smirking. Jerk.
“You forgetting homework?” Dylan said around a mouthful of food. “That’s hard to believe.”
“I’ve… had a lot on my mind.” Aiden poked at his barely eaten salad. He’d almost been killed in his own house less than a week ago. And his parents, and Dylan, and Tiago. The dark fae was dead, but there were more of them out there, including the one who’d called himself Uncle.
Mr. Johnson had come by each night to check and recheck the wards around Aiden’s house. He said he’d figured out how the dark fae had gotten in and closed up that vulnerability, but Aiden was still worried.
Worried, yes. And he had nightmares. But Aiden didn’t feel helpless. His powers had grown and had saved him. Aiden checked with the house each morning before he went to sleep, asking the wood and stone to alert him if anything happened. A ward of his own, in a way.
“Yeah,” Dylan said after swallowing. “How’s the cut?”
The “cut” had been a wide gash across his forearm. “It’s almost gone. I thought it might scar, but it’s healing much faster than the… the one on my chest.” Aiden still had a small mark in the center of his chest where Dylan had burned him. Only a few people knew about the injury, and only one other person besides Aiden and Dylan knew exactly how it had happened.
“Good.” Dylan picked up a fry. “You’re not too freaked out or anything?”
“I’m okay.” Relatively speaking. Aiden didn’t know if he would ever get away from the low-level anxiety after everything that had happened to him, but he could manage as long as his attacks weren’t too often or too strong.
“Yeah, we even went out last night,” Tiago said.
Aiden’s heart stopped, and he stared across the table. How could he just blurt it out like that?
“So you’re training again?” Dylan’s expression lit up.
Looking at Aiden, Tiago tilted his head with a slight nod as if to say, That’s what I meant.
“Oh, yes. Training.” Aiden picked up his fork to give his trembling hand something to do.
“Awesome.” Dylan grinned. “We need to get some serious practice in before the exhibition.”
The spring exhibition was a big event, something like Shadow Valley’s version of a homecoming game. Last year Aiden had been too afraid to participate after Dylan had burned him. “Just as long as you don’t try to show off too much.”
Dylan scoffed. “Dude, the whole point of it is to show off. After that trick you pulled with the house, I might have to be worried.”
Looking back, creating tentacles of wood from the walls and floor was really impressive. “Maybe.” A little smile tugged at Aiden’s mouth. Despite everything, he was starting to get used to having magic. Maybe even comfortable with it.
“What about you?” Dylan asked Tiago. “Gonna do something for the exhibition?”
“You mean like strip naked and shift in front of everyone?”
Okay, that had to be deliberate. Aiden stared at his plate, trying very hard not to think about Tiago with no clothes on.
“You could jump through hoops. Roll around on a ball,” Dylan said.
Aiden heard a thunk and guessed Tiago had punched the dragonkin.
“I’m not a circus animal, asshole,” Tiago said.
The rest of their argument washed over Aiden as he concentrated on finishing his lunch. He needed to talk to Tiago and make sure he understood that he absolutely could not tell Dylan they were dating. No one could know.
* * *
Dylan stepped out, and people were cheering for him. That hadn’t happened before except in Major Magical Control. Oh, and at the fight with Conner.
But this was very different.
Up until last year, people had been afraid to even let him go to school, and now a gym full of students and their families was cheering, excited to watch his magic in action. All I had to do was fight a corrupt warden and kill a dark fae. He smirked.
Aiden stepped out, and the cheering got louder. Dylan tried not to feel jealous. If anyone deserved to be treated like a hero, it was Aiden. His friend looked a little nervous, and Dylan selfishly hoped he wouldn’t back out. This was Dylan’s first chance to show off in front of a crowd.
The gym looked very different with the bleachers rolled out and what seemed to be most of the town crammed onto them. It felt different too. The wards along the perimeter had been reinforced, but Ms. Yang had deactivated the ones on the floor, and they’d also removed a large section, exposing the ground beneath. That was for Aiden’s sake, so he could better use his nature magic.
It also meant that Dylan could and probably would set the floor on fire, but it wouldn’t spread outside the wards. The floor had scorch marks from their last practice session the day before, when they’d had a chance to try out the different setup.
Dylan waved to the crowd, unable to stop his smile. The cheering rose, and he spotted his parents beaming at him from the front row. He stepped into the middle of the gym and reached out to shake Aiden’s hand. His friend’s smile was tentative, his palm a little sweaty.
“You okay?” Dylan asked.
Aiden nodded. “It’s just a lot of people.” Dylan could barely hear him above the crowd. “And you won’t… be too aggressive?”
“It’s a show, not a match.” There was a reason it was called an exhibition and not a competition. It was about showing off what you’d learned, not beating your opponent.
Ms. Yang came up to them. “Ready?” She waited until they both nodded. “I’m proud of you. Both of you.” She smiled and stepped back. “One, two, three… Go!”
Dylan called up his fire and sent it swirling around him to the oohs and ahhs of the crowd. Aiden put up a simple shield but the look of concentration on his face said he was working on something else. Either pulling vines out of the earth or using the floorboards themselves. Aiden had proven he could do both.
Aiden had wanted to plan out their match, but Dylan wanted the excitement of not knowing what would happen. They’d made a compromise, telling each other what powers and spells they wanted to show off.
Dylan tossed a few small fireballs at Aiden’s shield to keep things interesting. Then four thin vines shot out of the ground and streaked toward him. Dylan sent little streams of fire to wrap around them, and the vines blazed as they caught on fire. A campfire smell filled the air as they blackened and crumbled.
Spells streaked across the gym as they attacked and defended. Dylan looked for signs of panic in his friend, but Aiden seemed fine—some sweat on his face and a wrinkle between his brows, but that was focus, not fear. Time for something showier then.
Using his sharp claws, Dylan tore his shirt off. The tatters fell to the floor as a few people hooted in appreciation. This was the part he was most nervous about, but his adrenaline was running high and he didn’t give himself time to think about it. Magic flowed through him, and the tingling itch began in his shoulder blades.
Yes. He could do this so much faster than he’d been able to last year, but it still took a moment. Aiden’s blast of magic hit the wall of fire, sending gold and green sparks into the air. He knew what Dylan was doing and was giving him time.
The tingle became almost painful, and then wings burst out of Dylan’s back. The crowd gasped. With a few running steps, Dylan launched himself into the air. He was so tempted to fly past the wards and right over the people in the stands, but Ms. Yang had repeatedly said they absolutely had to stay within bounds.
So he swooped over Aiden, dodging more blasts of magic. Dylan hurled a fireball. Instead of blocking it, Aiden stopped it midair and sent it back at Dylan.
“Yeah!” Dylan laughed and caught it in a clawed hand. Doubling the fireball in size, he tossed it at Aiden. This time it splashed against a shield, disintegrating.
As the last of the flames disappeared, the floor on either side of Aiden burst apart, the laminated wood linking together into two long tentacles. They shot toward Dylan, and he flew higher to avoid them. His wings scraped the ceiling, and there was nowhere else to go.
Dylan kicked at one tentacle and dodged away, only to have his arm caught in the other one. The competitive voice in his head shouted at him that he couldn’t let Aiden win. But this wasn’t a real match. It was for both of them to show off and look good.
Should I give in and let him look better than me?
But the whole town is watching.
And wouldn’t that make Aiden look awesome, to look stronger than me?
Argh, but I don’t want anyone to look better than me!
The wood was oddly flexible, coiling up his arm. It was warm too, and smelled strongly of fae magic—earth and the fresh plants of spring.
Below, Aiden frowned in concentration, but there was a hint of a smile on his face.
I killed a dark fae. Everyone already knows I’m a badass.
The other tentacle snatched at his leg and this time Dylan didn’t fight it. He struggled enough to look convincing. Within seconds he was wrapped up in wooden tentacles, and it wasn’t a matter of giving in. He tried harder, and he really couldn’t escape.
Aiden pulled him toward the ground. Pride kicked in again, and Dylan gathered his magic. He wasn’t out to beat Aiden, but he couldn’t end the match looking helpless. Just before Aiden set him down, Dylan sent out a burst of fire. It shattered the tentacles, sending them hurling toward the wards. The crowd gasped, but the pieces bounced against the invisible barriers.
Aiden’s personal barrier protected him, though on instinct he brought up his arms to cover his face. His eyes were wide when he lowered them, but Dylan smiled and held up his hands.
“Good match.”
“Excellent!” Ms. Yang came over. “Wonderful match.”
Aiden let out a deep breath and a smile spread across his face. They shook hands again as the crowd clapped and cheered, some of them getting to their feet. Dylan lifted both his arms, taking Aiden’s hand with him.
Ha! Let the seniors try to beat that!