Page 53 of Radiant Shadows

“How are things with the girl...?” Arthur squeezed his eyes tight for a moment as if searching for her name. “Arya?”

My stomach lurched. Did he know I’d disobeyed orders and was now, in fact, dating her?

“Arya?” I asked, injecting an aloof tone into my voice. I wasn’t sure if it was convincing, but my father looked distracted enough by his own thoughts that I hoped it was.

“Yes.” Arthur waved a hand like he wanted the conversation to move quicker. “How are her abilities coming? Do you know if she’s been able to use her siren voice yet?”

He seemed impatient, and I wondered why I was being asked these questions and why Arthur wanted to know. It worried me more than I could let on.

“I’m not seeing her anymore,” I said, suddenly speculating if it was just a trap to find out if I had followed orders. “Remember?”

Arthur took several steps forward until we were only a foot apart. “Don’t be ridiculous, Tobias. You must knowsomething. I find it hard to believe that you haven’t seen the girl or had any interaction with her for one second.”

“Wha–why?” I stammered, wanting to step back but not wanting to show weakness.

“You don’t just cut ties like that, especially as a teenager in ashifter high school.” The words sounded like a scolding, but Arthur’s voice didn’t match it. “I know you didn’t follow ordersexactly. You must have some relationship with her.”

Heat rose up my face, and I looked down at the untouched snow near my feet in an attempt to hide it. “I don’t—”

“You don’t want to tell me, that’s fine,” Arthur interrupted, and I could feel his eyes boring into me. “But I know more than you think, Tobias.”

I swallowed and nodded, meeting his eyes again.

Arthur’s face softened as he looked at me, and I wondered what he saw.

But I didn’t really wonder. Iknewwhat Arthur saw on my face. The same expression he’d seen on my mother’s face for decades. The expression that meant I was very nearly—if not already—in love with Arya.

I didn’t affirm or deny any of it.

After an awkward moment of silence, he closed the distance between us and put a hand on my shoulder. The expression on his gruff face was no longer soft but in full general mode, and I felt small.

“Don’t be a fool,” he warned in a soft tone that was somehow even more frightening than his yell.

Then he erupted into his massive black dragon and thrust through the canopy with a mighty swoop of his wings that knocked me flat on my bare ass onto the ice.

I climbed to my feet with a tremble that had nothing to do with the cold. Arthur had done this on purpose. Brought me out here, hundreds of miles from all safety and comfort, so that I would be vulnerable to his interrogation. He knew about Arya and at least suspected my feelings for her.

But what was he going to do with that knowledge? The question scared me more deeply than the curse did.

I really didn’t have any more time to lose. Shea had to fix this ASAP.

I shot into my dragon and whizzed back toward the Dome, desperate to contact her as soon as I dragonly could. The clock was ticking, and I had to beat the cruel hand of fate.

Chapter 20

Caesar

“I can’t believe Maggie is ghosting me. We had such a great time the other night.”

Kai was slumped in the chair across the table from me in the teachers’ lounge after classes, frowning down at his phone and lamenting the lack of activity on it. I imagined he was staring at this girl’s picture on whatever dating app he found her through.

“You’ve got to stop dating non-shifters, man,” I said. “Normal human girls aren’t going to get you.”

I did understand why he resorted to online dating. The only other kitsunes anywhere around were either our students or in the military, neither of which was a viable option. And the only non-kitsune under this dome that he’d ever had his eye on was obstinately uninterested in him.

It was too bad. Objectively, he was an attractive man with his oriental features being both rugged and pretty. Yet, despite his good looks, he lacked confidence, and it showed every time he tried to talk to a member of the opposite sex. The corny dad jokes and obsession with technology didn’t help.

He looked up at me over the top of his phone. “How else am I supposed to meet anyone? I never leave this damned fish tank. And it’s not like there’s a dating app for shift—”

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