Page 114 of The Bound Blood
“Oh, comeon,” she groans at the ground. “I was just getting comfortable.”
Nolan startles so hard he almost falls off the bench. I grab his sleeve to steady him as I look up—and there he is, Dorian.
Dorian Holt strolls into view from outside as though the great hall is a runway crafted for his personal enjoyment. Silver hair catching the winter light before the doors shut behind him. Coat whipping slightly in the cold breeze that trails him. The kind of presence that radiates “I belong anywhere I damn well please.”
He stops when he sees us. Or, more accurately, when he sees Tamsin kneeling. Dorian sighs, long-suffering and borderline apologetic.
“Oh,” he says, lifting a hand, “sorry. Forgot the enchantment was still active.”
He flicks two fingers, and the pressure dissipates instantly.
Tamsin pops up like a spring released. “Do you know how inconvenient that is?! I can’t control falling to my knees around you!”
Dorian’s lips twitch. “You make it sound like that’s unique to you.”
Tamsin chokes, turning as red as her hair.
I roll my eyes. “Behave.” I think his default setting is flirting.
“Behaving is so limiting,” he replies, unbothered.
“Did I interrupt something?” he asks.
“Yes,” Tamsin says flatly. “My sanity.”
Nolan coughs into his sleeve. “N-No, we were just—studying.”
I snort. “Studying?”
He hides behind his books. Dorian laughs softly—warm, amused, and far too perceptive.
“I’ll leave you to… your academic pursuits,” he says, eyes lingering on Nolan just long enough to make him fluster again.
Then he turns to me.
“I’ll see you shortly, Little Star,” he murmurs, bowing his head slightly in a gesture that feels both elegant and entirely unnecessary. “The ritual awaits.”
My stomach flips. And not only from nerves.
Dorian straightens with a flourish and continues down toward the hall, his magic whispering faintly behind him.
Tamsin watches him disappear down the path, then mutters, “I swear, that man is walking sex in tailored clothing. Do you think he’s into guysandgirls, or is that just… aggressive flirting?”
Nolan exhales shakily. “Why does he look at me like I’m an equation he wants to solve?”
“Because you probably are,” Tamsin says dryly. “Congratulations. You’ve garnered the attention of the Fae Prince.”
Nolan pales. “I’m pretty sure that’s the last thing I want.”
“He flirts with everyone,” I say quickly, squeezing his hand, trying to ease the tension curling through his shoulders.
But I saw the look Dorian gave him too. That wasn’t casual charm or idle mischief. That was interest. Which is… interesting. And unsettling. And maybe deliberate. Or maybe Dorian Holt just enjoys watching people squirm.
I don’t know which possibility I like less.
Nolan adjusts his glasses again, muttering, “I preferred it when my biggest problem was unfinished footnotes.”
Tamsin snorts. “Sorry, buddy. Welcome to the big leagues.”
