The Things You See In Me

Chapter 2

The new cadets are wary, but they seem happy enough that the dragon doesn't come any closer.

Cuir descends slowly and lightly down like a butterfly as she lands. She's perched on one of the lowest ridges at the foot of the mountain. Her rider won't have far to walk. But that isn't why she so helpfully landed so quickly so closely.

She feels it through her rider the moment Curl—the nickname in which she has dubbed her rider, because of her obvious curly hair and because it sounds close enough to Cuir's name, too—pauses from dismounting.

Who the hell is that? Bodhi thinks to herself with a scowl.

Whoever that is talking to Liam right now, she's fucking gorgeous. And to make matters worse, whatever she's saying to him has him smiling like a goofball.

Cuir barely hangs on to her laughter. Instead, she decides to help her rider out by letting loose a sharp roar across the fields.

At once, all cadets either gasp or shudder as the sound tears through their bones.

Cuir does laugh this time, though, she disguises the sound as a snarl as she narrows her eyes on the girl talking to her rider's boy. The girl pales considerably, though, she does shrink back behind the boy and grip his shoulder for protection. Cuir holds back a scoff, but not a growl.

"Hey, maybe warn me next time you do that. I'm right here. Are you trying to incapacitate me today?" Bodhi chirps, now feeling much better, despite her ears ringing. Well, until she glances back and sees the woman grasping onto Liam's upper arm.

Bodhi isn't a violent woman. Not really. She's good at it. But that doesn't mean she enjoys it.

Most of the time.

Right now, she isn't thinking twice about wanting to go over there and sock her right in her stupidly fucking perfect face.

Cuir snarls softly before telling her, "Time to make your entrance, dragon rider."

Bodhi cracks a tiny smile, because she can feel her dragon is trying to make her feel better. Nay, is reminding her of who she really is.

And of who this perfect fucking bitch could also be real soon...

Bodhi gulps, hesitating from moving.

Cuir begins to quickly climb the rest of the way down on her four legs, wings tucked behind she and her rider like the curves of a throne. The dragon's eyes never leave the girl's, whose own eyes widen in horror.

The girl isn't the only one to scream, but she is the loudest. At that, Cuir scoffs and snorts and sarcastically thinks, "Oh, yes, she will be a rider in no time at all." She then lets out a highly condescending laugh.

Bodhi is barely listening as she watches Liam, who hasn't noticed her on her dragon yet. He's simply standing as still as a statue, his chin held high, but his eyes turned down as Cuir hurriedly approaches.

"Hmmm. Yes." Cuir says as she finally stops just feet before the quivering masses of new cadets. All but one not quivering in the slightest. She is pleased. Much pleased. Mainly because she knew she was right.

Cuir rears her head up to show her full height, delighting in the horrified and some rather flattering gasps of awe. Still, her golden eyes stay focused on the tiny hint of blues she can see peeking out from under the boy's eyelashes. His heart is racing, but he doesn't tremble. Nor does he forget his respect. Not even when she slowly leans down until her face in mere inches from him.

Not even as the others behind him gasp in fright or shock, does the boy move or look up at her. Cuir hums and softly growls her approval before finally backing away.

"Yes," She says gleefully, "He has the right blood and bones."

Bodhi blows out a chuckle, half gleeful herself and still half nervous. "Thank you." She mutters, pressing a kiss to her open palm before pressing it to the side of her dragon's neck.

Cuir doesn't have to look back to know that the girl is now nowhere in sight. Either hiding in the crowds or hopefully run away forever.

Bodhi laughs at her dragon's thoughts just as the bejewelled scaly beast of hers turns at a half angle, now showing her rider, Bodhi, off to the crowds, the golden wings fluttering down, like some theatre curtain, to reveal her.

Bodhi's eyes find Liam's eyes this time and she swears she almost forgets how to fucking breathe. She almost forgot how fucking beautifully breathtaking he is. And Holy Amari, has he filled out even more?

He's staring back up at her in shock and surprise and something else she can't quite place. Maybe it's amazement. It kind of looks like it, but not really. Like he's holding back. Which is stupid. Because they're best friends. They never hold anything back from each other.

Well...just her tiny secret of being totally and unforgivably in love with the big loveable bear of a man.

"You're hovering." Cuir teases, flashing a grin in her rider's mind when her words earn her a scoff and a tiny slap at the shoulder.

"Ugh, you're worse than Xaden sometimes."

Bodhi is glad her dragon doesn't argue with her as she begins to dismount. Otherwise, she knows she wouldn't have slid down and landed as gracefully as she manages while her mind is currently running a million miles an hour.

Liam's eyes never leave her as she walks over to him. They don't even flit back to her retreating dragon. Not once does he look away from Bodhi. In fact, when she's near enough, he doesn't hesitate to open his arms before throwing them around her.

"You're alive." He murmurs into her curls, no longer reaching her elbows but cut into a cute bob just touching her shoulders.

"I am." She mumbles back and nods against him, leaning her forehead at the crook of his neck, just like she always does when she hasn't seen him for a few days. Only, this time, it's been a year, yet, felt like fucking decades.

Liam refrains from reaching up to plunge his fingers into the soft silk, but shivers when he pulls back and his cheek grazes hers. Sparks in his heart, just like he remembers. Just like they'd never been apart.

Bodhi winces as the bells to signal the second passing hour of the first hurdle of Conscription Day. She doesn't know why she's so surprised when Liam slips a hand into hers and tugs her away from the nosey eyes of the other cadets.

Though, she does try to keep her swooning on the inside of her mind as he laces their fingers and gives her hand a small squeeze. It totally has nothing to do with the fact that he seemingly wants her all to himself.

"Shameless. You are shameless." Cuir's words are half broken with laughter.

"You, shush!" Bodhi hisses quickly back.

Her heart races a little when he suddenly stops just out of earshot of the other cadets' voices and turns to face her, but doesn't let her hand go. He gives it another squeeze, looks at her softly and Bodhi feels her throat tighten along with her chest. He's never looked at her like that before.

Now that I have a dragon...

Disappointment suddenly swallows her whole. Ice coating her veins.

But before her thoughts can continue down that depressing and self-loathing path, Cuir snarls her words fiercely, "Idiot! You are an idiot, Curls!"

"Wha—ugh! Rude!" Bodhi hisses out before she can even think twice about it.

Obviously, this earns an odd look from Liam. "Who—" He suddenly grins as an excited realisation takes over his bright blue eyes. "Holy shit." He mumbles, sucks in a quiet breath and forces himself to calm down before asking, "You're talking to your dragon, aren't you?"

Bodhi doesn't know why she blushes. She's never humble, not really. Definitely not with Xaden. Or Garrick. Or Imogen.

But Liam? Oh, Liam can make her want to blush, cream her panties and vomit out of nervousness all at once just by laying those perfectly perfect eyes on her or flashing her a two second smile.

It's all rather really pathetic on her part.

"Yeah." Bodhi nods, small coy smile tugging at her lips.

"Well, what're they saying?" Liam asks, all utterly innocent in his pure excitement.

Bodhi's eyes widen, just a fraction.

Thankfully, before she can panic, Liam sweetly and completely obliviously misunderstands her expression. His own eyes widen in horror and he's quick to say, "Shit. I'm sorry. That's totally a private thing. Forget I asked. Sorry. I'm just really happy for you...and excited for myself."

Bodhi relaxes and even smiles fondly as he stares wistfully up at the mountains where Cuir had disappeared over on her departure, and tells her, "You and Xaden are the only two people who ever knew about my doubts over coming here myself, even though I know we all have to, but..." He grins big at her and says, "Well, I'm glad that it was all just that; doubts and nerves. Because after seeing how fucking badass you just looked, my dragon can't find me quick enough."

"Oh, your dragon, huh?" Bodhi asks with a teasing tone and a playful smirk.

"Uh-huh. I just know they're out there waiting for me." Liam smirks back at her, but as always with this man's smirks, they always look more like a cheeky little grin. Like he just doesn't have a snide or smug bone in his...fucking perfect body.

"Mate him. He's right there. And it's only been moments. I am not dealing with you like this for the next twenty years."

If she wasn't paying attention, Bodhi might have missed the slightly begging tone in her dragon's voice.

Bodhi almost fails from holding back a look of either offence or disgust—it could have gone either way, really.

Mate him? "Ew. Humans don't talk like that. Please, shut up. I'm begging you."

She blinks away the thoughts and blocks out Cuir for the sake of both their sanity. One conversation at a time, please. She still hasn't mastered the multi thinking and speaking quite as perfectly as—surprise, surprise—Xaden. And the dick refuses to help her. Again, some cousin. He loves Liam and even Garrick more than he loves her.

OK, maybe not love. But he definitely respects them as adults as lot more.

She's a year older than Liam!

The only reason she doesn't hold it against him like she does Garrick is because...well, it's Liam.