Keylon thought he knew what to expect when he finally found his dragon. The others have lost their memories, and Winter isn’t any different. He doesn’t remember anything before he was hit by Carlyle’s spell.
He doesn’t remember Keylon.
There’s a reason Winter didn’t want to investigate the people who cast a seeking spell to find him. He knew nothing good would come out of it, and he was right. He’s been told he was fully bonded to a man he doesn’t remember and doesn’t want, and now, he’s stuck. The crush he has on his best friend doesn’t help, but Winter knows what he wants, and it’s not Keylon.
When it becomes clear that Winter doesn’t want anything to do with Keylon, Keylon offers to break their bond. He doesn’t want to lose his dragon, but Winter was never really his. Unfortunately, knowing that doesn’t make it any easier.
Winter is stunned when Keylon offers to free him from their bond. He’s also confused—what if he rejected Keylon for all the wrong reasons? What if he’s making the biggest mistake of his life?
What if he can’t fix this?
Winter was trapped in a castle.
He supposed that sounded almost like a fairytale. He’d be the princess, since he couldn’t leave, but at the same time, he was a dragon, so it was a weird fairytale.
But that wasn’t his problem. No, his problem was that he was trapped in a castle.
Samuel rolled his eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”
Winter turned to glare at him. How could he be lounging on the couch, acting as if nothing was wrong? It was probably because if he wanted, he could leave. Winter, on the other hand, wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m not being dramatic. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to do this.”
Samuel leaned forward. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and his feet were bare. Winter looked at him with fondness, but at the same time, he wanted to strangle him. He wasn’t taking this seriously enough. Didn’t he understand that this would change everything? Did he want everything to change? Because that was what it sounded like, and Winter didn’t like it.
Samuel grabbed the remote control and paused the TV series he was watching.
Winter was relieved—he didn’t mind the series, but right now he could only deal with his own disastrous life. The characters in the series would have to wait.
The problem was that now that Samuel wasn’t focused on the TV, he turned his attention to Winter. He narrowed his eyes and looked at him as if he were thinking about throwing him out the window, which was a distinct possibility.
Winter took a step away from the window, just in case.
“If you don’t want to be here, then leave,” Samuel said.
“I can’t.”
“You can,” Samuel snapped. “You’re just too chicken shit to do anything about it.” He pushed his blond hair away from his face.
Winter swallowed. He wasn’t supposed to be in love with Samuel. Samuel was his best friend, almost like a brother.
Thinking of that reminded Winter of Keylon. He scowled.
Samuel looked taken aback. “What? What did I do now?”
“You didn’t do anything. You heard the mages. They need me to stay and fight this Carlyle guy.”
“They can’t force you to do it if you don’t want to. They can’t force you to do anything, so if you want to go home, go home. Of course, you’d leave the mages with one less dragon, and you’d probably break Keylon’s heart, but I’m sure they can recover. Besides, I’m staying. I want to help them fight Carlyle because they’ll need all the help they can get.”
Winter crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“Then I guess we’re both staying.”
Winter resisted the urge to stomp his foot. He wasn’t a child. In fact, he was a dragon shifter who was decades older than he looked. He couldn’t afford to act like a child, especially when he was in enemy territory.
Samuel sighed. “Look, I understand where you’re coming from. You have no memories of these guys, and you can’t remember a thing about Keylon, so it has to be weird to know that you’re his shield. No one’s forcing you to stay. You can go, and I’m sure both Keylon and Jarvis will let you leave. You know what will happen if you do, though.”
“I won’t have to worry about being anyone’s shield?”
“Carlyle will come after you.”
“Why would he do that? Why would he care?” Winter was desperate to convince himself that he could leave this mess without any consequences, but it wasn’t working. He hated it when Samuel was the voice of reason. He hated it when he couldn’t ignore that what Samuel was saying was true.
“You were one of the people who trapped him. I’d be pissed at you, too, if I were him.”
“Then maybe he shouldn’t have become a bloodthirsty bastard,” Winter grumbled.
He turned to the window again. At least the view was beautiful. Both his and Samuel’s bedrooms looked onto a lake and a forest. It was early September, and the weather was still gorgeous enough to make Winter want to throw himself into the water. Maybe he’d do that later.
“You know that kind of person,” Samuel said gently. “They think they’re always right and that the world should bow to them. We have a few of those in the clan.”
“It would have been easier if it had been one of them.”
“Well, instead, it’s one of the most powerful mages I can remember being told about. My parents used him as a cautionary tale when I was a kid. You know, I still can’t believe you’re one of the people who defeated him. You’re famous.”
Winter didn’t want Samuel to see him as famous. He wanted him to see him as his friend and possibly more.
This situation was a fucking mess, and Winter wanted out. It wasn’t that easy. It wasn’t just Carlyle, but also the fact that Winter might be fully bonded to Keylon. He couldn’t remember a thing, and he hadn’t dared ask, but the thought made him want to scream.
How could he be fully bonded to someone he didn’t remember? As far as he was concerned, he’d never met Keylon before arriving at the castle. He had no memories of him or of anyone else who lived at the castle.
But he had plenty of memories of Samuel. Samuel and his family had welcomed Winter when he’d been utterly alone, and they’d become his people over the years. Samuel was Winter’s best friend, which was why Winter wasn’t leaving without him. He already knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Samuel, though. Samuel had a stubborn streak a mile wide, and he only did what he wanted, which was never what Winter wanted.
“I’m not saying you have to like the situation,” Samuel said as he got up from the couch.