Hurray for conversational whiplash. I thought maybe he did it on purpose. “Yes,” I said stiffly. “To Randall.”
Ryan sighed as he hooked an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “You ever gonna tell me what happened?”
Even though I knew what he meant, I played dumb. “With what?”
“Sam.”
“Ryan.”
“You know more than you’re telling me. About all of this. About Myrin and Randall. Morgan.”
“I’m still… working through it. It’s a lot. More than I thought it would be.”
“You need more time.”
I nodded.
“And you’re not withholding anything that could hurt us?”
That was tougher, but I shook my head anyway.
“Okay,” he said. “That’s fair. But you know when you’re ready, I’ll be here, right?”
I knew that. I knew that probably better than anything else. I leaned in and kissed him again, a little desperate, but his mouth opened against mine, and the press of his tongue was light and wet. His arm was still around my shoulders, his other hand cupping my face, and I allowed him to direct the kiss.
“That shit’s so hot,” Kevin said as he landed. “Oops. Didn’t mean to interrupt. Don’t mind me, though, if you want to keep going. I could even give you some pointers if you wanted. Sam, lick his—”
I sighed against Ryan’s smile. “It’s not funny.”
“If I didn’t laugh, I’d be screaming,” Ryan assured me, kissing me on the tip of the nose. He stepped away. “You first?”
I shook my head. “Gonna say goodbye to Zero.”
“Great. So I’ll just let Kevin carry me across the gigantic divide by hanging from his claws.”
“I promise I’ll try to not drop you,” Kevin said. “And I’m mostly good at keeping my promises. Though if you want, I could always just chuck you across. See how good the old arm is. Sam! Tell your side of beef I’ve got a good throwing arm. Sam knows. I play ball with my boy. Father-son time, you know.”
“Kevin, don’t throw my boyfriend across the cavern.”
“You sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
“You guys are no fun,” Kevin grumbled.
“What do you mean pretty sure?” Ryan asked me with a scowl.
“Love you,” I said sweetly before turning back toward Zero.
“There,” Kevin said as I walked away. “You’ve said your goodbyes. You’ve had a little lip action. We appreciate you flying Kevin Air, emergency exits are all around you, but I suggest you use them only if you have a death wish. Should there be a water landing, I’m sure your ego could be used as a flotation device.”
“Har, har, can we just—holy fucking gods, why are you going so fast!”
The sand and dust kicked up around me as Kevin rocketed into the air. I glanced up, lifting my hand against the sun in time to see Kevin catching an updraft and flying far higher than he should have, just to fuck with Ryan. I was going to give Ryan so much shit about the way he was screaming. It was awesome.
Zero was waiting for me, lying in the shade of a crumbling battlement. I hadn’t been lying when I told Ryan that it was better if Zero stayed here. I honestly believed that. But I couldn’t help but think that I wanted him with us, at my side, so I could keep an eye on him. I’d known him for less than a day, but I already felt protective of him. Maybe it was his mental age. Maybe it was because of his insecurities. Or maybe it was just because for all intents and purposes, he was my dragon, just like Kevin was. I didn’t know him as well as Kevin, but I could feel him like I could the other dragon, though I wasn’t sure when that had happened. I had my suspicions, but I’d have to ask Kevin about it.
Zero understood. In fact, I thought he was probably relieved that he’d be staying behind, at least for now. It was a lot to take in. And it felt… right, that we had a deadline, given that he’d only be awake for a year. Everything would be said and done by the time the year was over. It had to be. There was no other choice.