Chapter 17
Seventeen
Nolan
"Hey, Touya, is the headmaster in?" Zamir asked as he stuck his head around a door labeled simply 'The Office.'
Touya didn't answer, but a moment later, the door opened wider, and a Japanese human came out and closed the door behind him.
"He is, but he's napping. He's been working so hard the last few weeks, I don't want to wake him unless it's urgent," he said, and then his eyes slid to me and widened. "Oh! You must be Nolan. It's nice to meet you. Touya." He held his hand out and I shook it with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Touya. And it's okay, let him sleep."
"Yeah, he needs it," Zamir agreed as he took my hand. "Come on, let's go see the others, and I'll introduce you to the headmaster on the way out."
Nodding, I let him lead me through a door labeled Forest. I whistled as I looked around, impressed by the intricate magic that'd built this place.
This 'headmaster' was clearly a powerful sorcerer, which meant that the issues this place was having were truly serious if he couldn't handle them on his own.
"Is that him?" someone shouted, and the sound of clattering wheels preceded the young centaur that came to a stop inches from us, his blue eyes sparkling as he scanned me from head to toe.
"Keoni?" I guessed, and he grinned.
"Hey, Nolan. I see you've heard about me," he said, waggling his brows at Zamir.
"I have, yes. It's nice to meet you," I said with a smile, then sucked in a surprised breath when Keoni stepped forward and threw his arms around me.
Shooting Zamir a bewildered look, I returned the hug, and he chuckled as he took a step back, his cheeks flushed. "Sorry about that. I... Zamir told me you might be able to help Zephyr, so I'm glad you're here."
"Zephyr?"
"The headmaster," Zamir explained, and I blinked. The sorcerer's name was Zephyr?
I was reminded of my dream last night, of the sorcerer named Jeff whom I'd failed to help. Could it be... no. That would be too much of a coincidence, wouldn't it? Jeff could be a random name he'd picked, and not because it sounded similar to Zephyr.
"You okay?" Zamir checked, his eyes worried, and I nodded.
It was because I'd spent so much time thinking—and dreaming—about the kid sorcerer yesterday. That was it. I was trying to make a connection where none existed.
"Come on, I want you to meet the others. Then we'll go to the Darkness and visit Shade and Diego."
For the next few hours, Zamir dragged me from one area to another, introducing me to all the people he cared about. I spent half the time marveling at the magic that held this place together, and the other half getting to know the people Zamir loved.
Dots found us at some point, and he clawed at my pants until I picked him up. He nuzzled my cheek, and Zamir smiled as he watched us.
"Aww, he missed you," he murmured, and I smiled as I scratched Dots's side.
"I missed him too."
"Maybe you should take him back for a few days," he mused, and I, without much thought, blurted out something I'd promised myself I wouldn't mention until much later in our relationship.
"Or maybe he could live with both of us."
We stared at each other, and I couldn't decide who was more shocked. After a moment, Zamir asked, "You want to move in together?"
My lips moved without words, but then I reminded myself I was a centuries-old dragon, and a conversation like this could not take me down. "Yes."
"You, me, the cats, the dogs, the bunnies, the Murder Triplets, all of us? Together?"
"Yes."
Zamir thought about it for a moment, then asked, "Your place or mine?"
"Yes."
"Nolan!" he exclaimed with a laugh, and my cheeks flushed.
"I mean here. Your place. Zephyr needs the help, remember? And he can't afford to lose a supe."
"You're right. After lunch, we'll go see the headmaster, and tell him you're moving in.
Even if he refuses to accept your help, once you're a resident, your magic will automatically be a part of the Sanctuary, and maybe that will make everything okay.
" Zamir sounded hopeful, and I hoped for his sake that it would work out.
This was an amazing place, the kind of place I'd once dreamed of, and I wanted to help if I could.
Lunch was a lively affair, and while this wasn't the first time I'd been around so many supes at once, the atmosphere here was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.
Everyone here was friendly and unique. I met supes I'd never come across in the wild before, and most of them had never met a dragon, so I got to talk to almost all of them.
It was fun, and I realized I would enjoy living here, and not just because of Zamir. I wanted to get to know these people better, to become friends with them.
We stayed in the Dining Room for a while, but slowly everyone had to get back to their various chores, and since I needed to head to work soon, I figured it was time for me to leave as well.
Zamir knocked on the office door on our way out, and Touya waved us in. "He's in there. I told him you'd be coming by, so go on in."
Zamir smiled, murmured a soft "Thanks," then tugged me toward the door beside Touya's desk. He knocked, and a warm, deep voice called, "Come in."
"Hey, Headmaster," Zamir said as he pushed the door open. "I wanted to introduce you to my mate, Nolan."
I froze as soon as my eyes met Zephyr's blue ones, as I recognized his magic. His face had changed, but his magic... it was still the same bright, powerful thing I'd sensed all those centuries ago.
Back then, the magic had belonged to a teenager dressed in patched-up clothes, but now…
now he was a man. A man dressed in expensive clothes and a royal purple cloak, with a metal prosthetic where he'd had a left forearm the last time I saw him.
He looked older, with streaks of gray in his hair, and yet I could still see the teenager I'd met all those years ago.
"Jeff?" I murmured, my voice barely audible, as he shot to his feet, his hands curling into fists as he glared at me.
"You!"
Zamir
I stared, shocked by the anger in the headmaster's voice, the rage that poured out of him. I glanced between him and Nolan, who was staring at him as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Nolan?" I asked, my voice soft, unsure.
Nolan kept his gaze on the headmaster, but his hand squeezed mine. "Zamir, could you give us a minute, please?"
That was the last thing I wanted to do, but they were stuck in a stalemate of some kind, and it seemed they'd only break free once I left.
"Okay."
I stepped out of the room, and closed the door behind me, then leaned against it, reeling. The headmaster must've used a silencing ward, because I couldn't hear anything they were saying, if they were speaking at all.
"What's wrong? You're white as a sheet," Touya demanded as he shot to his feet and walked around the desk to take my hands in his. He led me to his chair, and I sank into it as I shook my head.
"I... I don't know. It looked like they knew each other, and whatever history they shared wasn't a good one."
"Fuck."
I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly, and the two of us sat there, me in his chair, him on his desk, as we waited for the headmaster's office door to open.
Nolan had never mentioned he might know the headmaster, but then again, they'd both looked shocked. Neither of them—hell, none of us had expected this.
How small was this world, that Nolan had known not only my mother, but also the man who was the closest thing I'd had to a loving father?
The headmaster always kept a wall between himself and the residents of the Sanctuary, but he cared about us, and his actions showed us that time and again, even if he never said the words.
What had happened between Nolan and him for him to react with such anger?
It was twenty minutes before the door opened, and Nolan came out looking like he'd aged twenty years, which was strange for a human, and unthinkable for a dragon. What had the headmaster said to him?
"Nolan?" I asked, walking up to him, and he shook his head.
I followed him out of the office after exchanging a worried look with Touya, who made a beeline for the headmaster's office.
We stopped at the door to the human world, and Nolan turned to look at me. He smiled, but his heart wasn't in it.
"What happened?" I asked, confused beyond belief. "How do you know the headmaster?"
Nolan rubbed his face, frowning when he accidentally pulled at his lip ring. "It's... it's a long story. I'll tell you later. I need to get to work."
I clenched my fingers into fists, then forced myself to relax them. "Okay. Can I come over later?"
"Of course. I'll be at the Lair till two, so you can meet me there whenever."
I nodded, then leaned up to kiss him. My heart stopped twisting in on itself when Nolan kissed me back, and I clung to him as I soaked in his warmth. Whatever had happened between him and the headmaster, it wasn't going to affect us.
Once he'd left, I walked back inside, pausing when Touya called my name from the open office.
"Yeah?"
"Zephyr wants to see you," he said, his brows furrowed, his chestnut eyes full of worry.
I swallowed. I'd never been to human school, but I'd watched a lot of shows, and I imagined this was how kids felt when they were called into the 'headmaster's' office.
With a soft exhale, I walked through Touya's office and into the headmaster's. He was seated behind his desk as if nothing had happened, but I could see marks on the dark wood of his desk where he'd clutched it too hard with his metal hand.
"You wanted to see me?"
The headmaster nodded, his blue eyes flicking away a moment after they met mine. The shadows under his eyes looked deeper than they'd been the last time I saw him, and his flesh and bone hand trembled where it rested on the desk. He was exhausted. No wonder Keoni was so worried.
I took a seat in one of the visitor chairs, the one I'd imagined Nolan would sit in as I introduced the two. I clutched my hands in my lap, bit my lower lip, fidgeted in the chair.
"Congratulations on finding your mate," the headmaster said, and I blinked, then offered him a slight smile.
"Thank you."
The headmaster nodded to himself, then placed his arms on the desk, linking his fingers.
"Zamir, you've lived here for a few years now, and the Sanctuary is your home. It will always be your home. But I'm afraid I can not allow your mate to live here."
"What? Why?" I demanded, and he shook his head, his eyes on his fingers, as if he couldn't look me in the eyes as he told me this. He probably couldn't.
What had happened between them that was so bad? I couldn't imagine Nolan doing something to hurt another person, let alone the man who'd saved my life.
I opened my mouth to ask, but I knew the headmaster wouldn't tell me. If I wanted to find out what had happened, I'd have to ask Nolan.
"We were planning to move in together," I murmured. "Here. Move in here."
The headmaster stayed silent, and I sighed.
"I guess I'll move in with him, then. I can feed on him now, so I don't have to worry about being around humans."
He stayed silent. If I couldn't hear his heart beating, couldn't see the waves of guilt, frustration, remorse, and anger washing through him, I'd have thought he was a statue.
I nodded to myself, then stood up. "Thank you, Zephyr.
For saving me, for giving me a home. I don't know what happened between you and Nolan, but the man I've come to know, the man who has a journal full of people and a house full of animals he loves, he wouldn't do anything that could intentionally hurt someone, especially to someone who is as good as you are.
" It was the first time I'd called him by his name, and it was almost freeing, in a way.
He swallowed hard, but still didn't say anything, and I left, walking past a frowning Touya—clearly, the headmaster hadn't bothered with a silencing spell this time, and he'd heard bits of our conversation, at the very least—as I headed toward Forest.
I packed up a bag, took Scrappy to Haruto, and placed Dots in the carrier I'd brought him over in.
Keoni found me before I could leave, and I didn't have much to tell him, but I promised to call as soon as I got the whole story from Nolan.
Leaving like this was impulsive, but I did want to be with Nolan, and if I couldn't do that here...
I'd be back, of course. Like Zephyr had said, the Sanctuary would always be my home. It just wasn't the only home I had anymore.