“I’m sure,” Sol said, making it sound like a promise.
Maybe it was.Dallin could only hope.
“I want you to talk to me if you change your mind,” Dallin told him.“We can talk things out again, and if you’re done with the bond, I can break it.It won’t be as vital to keep it once Carlyle is gone.”
Sol shook his head.“I need you to stop doing that.I won’t change my mind, Dallin.I might not be Kent, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to be your shield.You just need to give me a chance.”
How was Dallin supposed to say no to that?
Chapter Eleven
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THIS WAS THE FIRSTmeeting Sol would attend, and Dallin couldn’t help but wonder if he should.Surely, Sol should still be in bed, resting and healing from what Carlyle had done.
When he realized what he was thinking, he grimaced.He’d seen Pippa fusing over Sol, and while Sol had seemed okay with that, it would be different coming from Dallin.Sol and Pippa had been friends for years, and Sol loved her.
He didn’t love Dallin.
Dallin glanced at Sol.He was sitting at the table next to Penley, who was telling him something, gesturing so hard that he almost smacked Sol in the face.Sol laughed and gently grabbed Penley’s wrist, immobilizing his hand for a second before letting go.He looked at Bennett as he did so, almost as if he expected Bennett to be bothered by the fact that he’d touched his mage, but Bennett was smiling fondly at Penley.
Sol hadn’t found his footing yet, but he would.He was already making friends with the other dragons, and Penley seemed to have adopted him—which wasn’t surprising to anyone who knew Penley.Penley was warm and loved everyone.In return, everyone loved him.Dallin had often wished he could be more like him, but he was more quiet and hesitant.He didn’t want to bother Sol, so he hadn’t waved him over when Sol had walked into the dining room.Penley had, and Sol had ended up sitting next to him even though Dallin had wanted him to sit by him.
He was an idiot.He was behaving like a teenager with his first crush, and he needed to stop.
“Can we start?”Tyne asked.“I have things to do, and I don’t think this meeting is necessary.”
Jarvis was on the other side of the table, which was a good thing because he looked like he wanted to smack Tyne.Dallin couldn’t say he disagreed with that feeling.Tyne was still avoiding Meyer, and since Meyer was in the room right now, Tyne wanted out as soon as possible.Dallin needed to corner him and find a way to make him keep his promise.Maybe he’d tie him to a chair or lock him and Meyer in a closet.
“Welcome, Sol,” Jarvis said warmly.
Everyone turned to Sol.Dallin couldn’t look away from his dragon.They hadn’t talked for long yesterday when he’d visited him, and they hadn’t had the opportunity to talk yet today, but Dallin hoped that would change after the meeting.He’d spent so much time away from his dragon that he felt the need to be close to him.He didn’t know if Sol felt the same, but from the way he kept glancing at him, maybe he did.
“Thank you,” Sol told Jarvis.
“You already know everyone?”
“I’m pretty sure that every single person who lives here has knocked on my door to introduce themselves, so I think so.”
“We can go straight to the point, then.I think Tyne might explode if we don’t.”
Tyne scowled but didn’t say anything.He’d always been the kind of person who went straight to the point in every circumstance, and this meeting wasn’t any different.He’d be in and out as soon as he could and running away from Meyer.
Dallin really had to do something about that.
“What did he do to you?”Parker asked.
Sol leaned back in his chair.“He was trying to cast a spell.”
That was new information.“What kind of spell?”Dallin asked as he leaned forward.
“I don’t know.I didn’t even know that mages existed before he grabbed me from my apartment.I had no idea what was going on most of the time, but every time he tried casting that spell, he failed.He started taking it out on me by beating me, but luckily for me, Graham decided to help me before things could get too far.”
Dallin was once again glad that Graham had chosen to do the right thing.Sol wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.“Would he know what that spell was?”
Sol frowned.“Maybe.I didn’t get the feeling that Carlyle and Simon trusted him with important information, but he was there.He might have noticed something, or maybe he heard Carlyle talk about it.He told me that Carlyle was kind of obsessed with you guys and making you pay for what you did to him.”
Dallin looked at Jarvis.Sol couldn’t tell them anything, but maybe Graham could.
