I thought it was pretty devious myself, but everyone in knew how to manipulate human emotions. The fact that I had kissed a human meant nothing.

The reason I’d kissed a human was something else altogether.

I reached my room and turned to close the door, but Dante stepped between the frame, stopping me. His expression hovered between suspicion and concern. “Are you all right, sis?” he asked, watching my face. “I was worried about you. You took off with Lexi right after your training session, and you turned off your phone.”

The memory of my sadistic trainer made me bristle. “Geez, you sound like Uncle Liam,” I scoffed, trying to get him off the subject.

“I’m fine, so you can dial down your neurotic twin-radar. Garret and I went surfing, that’s all.”

And I kissed him. And I want to see him again, badly, so I can do it some more. Lizard bal s, I am so screwed in the head.

“I can’t dial down my neurotic-twin radar,” Dante said, not moving from his place in the doorway. He stepped closer, putting a hand on my arm. “Not when my twin is upset. Not when I can sense something is really bothering her.”

“You know that overprotective twin-brother act? It can go a little far sometimes.”

“Hey, you and me? We’re all we have here.” Dante’s voice was completely serious. “If I don’t watch out for you, who will? So, come on, Tweedle Dee.” He gently squeezed my arm, then dropped his hand.

“What’s going on? Did that human hurt you?”

“What are you going to do if he did? Eat him?”

“I’d be tempted, but no.” My twin gave me an impatient look. “And you’re evading the question. What’s wrong, Ember? Something is bothering you, and I want to know what. Talk to me.”

I hesitated. I did want to talk to someone, someone who could empathize, another dragon who might understand these strange, new, human feelings coursing through me. Feelings that, according to what my trainer had said just this morning, had no place in the life of a dragon. Would Dante get what I was experiencing? I’d always told him everything before.

“I was…um…just thinking about something my trainer said today,” I confessed, which wasn’t a complete lie. “She told me that humans are the inferior species, that we shouldn’t get too attached to any of them, because they’re just fodder in the long run. And that they would destroy us if they knew what we really were.”

He nodded. “I know. My trainer said the same.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” I gestured vaguely down the hall, out the front door. “I mean, we’re living with two humans, all our friends are human, and we talk to humans every single day. Sure, Liam and Sarah are working for Talon, but I wouldn’t consider them fodder.

That just sounds so…heartless. You don’t think that way about Lexi and Calvin and the others, do you?”

“No.” Dante immediately shook his head, and I relaxed. “But we have to accept the fact that we’re not one of them, Ember. We’re not human. We live in their world, exist among them, but we’ll always be separate. Our trainers are right. We can’t get too attached to humans, ever.”

I pouted. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Why not?”

“Ember.” Dante gave me a strange look. “Because we’re dragons.

Humans are…well, they’re not inferior, but they are lower on the food chain. We’re stronger, smarter, and we live a thousand times longer than they do. All of our human friends—Lexi, Calvin, Kristin, everyone—they’re going to grow old and die, and our lives will barely have started. We’re just not in the same league, sis. You have to have realized that.”

My spirits sank even lower. That clinched it. I was definitely not telling him anything about me and Garret. He probably wouldn’t hunt the human down and eat him, but if I mentioned that I’d kissed a boy, he would want to know why. And I wouldn’t be able to tell him. I wasn’t even sure, myself.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I know.” Dante continued to watch me, worry and puzzlement shining from his eyes, but I had to be alone to think.

“I’m gonna crash for a couple hours,” I sighed, ducking past him into my room. “If I’m not up in time for dinner, come kick my wall or something, okay?”

“Hang on,” Dante said, putting a hand on the door as I started to close it. “Kristin’s called four or five times,” he announced as I looked back. “She wants to know if you’re coming to her party tomorrow night.”

“That’s tomorrow?” Wow, the days rushed by fast. I hadn’t even realized it was the weekend already. A small thrill coursed through me. Weekends were the only times where I didn’t have to get up and meet my instructor. For the next two days, I was free.

Dante nodded, raising an eyebrow. “We’re still planning to go, I take it.”

“Of course.”

“And I suppose you’re going to lose track of the time while we’re at this party, and I’m going to have to come up with a believable excuse as to why we’re out past midnight.”

I beamed at him. “That’s why you’re the smart twin.”

“Uh-huh. And which are you?”

“The pretty one.”

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll take care of it. As usual.” He shook his head and gave me a wry grin. “Only for you, Tweedle Dee.”