Chapter 2: The Warlock His Dragon Won't Ignore

Zoran had spent most of his life learning how to divide his attention without appearing distracted.

Tonight, apparently, Theo Monroe intended to ruin that skill in under fifteen minutes.

Professor Flint stood at the center of the training hall explaining the first assessment, something about defensive control and paired regulation. Zoran listened while acknowledging two greetings, noting which students looked nervous enough to overcast, and tracking Monroe along the far side of the room.

That was the irritating part. Whenever Zoran looked elsewhere, some quieter awareness supplied Monroe’s location anyway. Near the eastern wall, speaking to no one and watching Flint with more concentration than a supposedly late-awakened warlock should have needed.

Zoran folded his arms.

His dragon remained fixed on Monroe—not restless or aggressive, simply attentive in a way Zoran did not recognize.

He knew the creature’s moods: hunger, challenge, territoriality, anger, interest. Years of discipline had taught him the difference between instinct and impulse.

This fit none of them.

Zoran could control what he understood. Hunger could be ignored, anger restrained, instinct questioned. This quiet pull toward Monroe gave him nothing to work with.

Around them, practice wards flickered to life in pale blue, violet, and gold, filling the hall with the low hum of active magic. Flint drew a glowing pattern into the air.

“You’ll work in pairs, sharing control of a single defensive ward.”

Students glanced around for partners. Zoran stayed where he was. Across the room, Monroe looked up, and their eyes met. For a second, the warlock seemed to consider pretending not to notice him. Then his mouth tightened.

Interesting. Zoran held his gaze until Monroe lifted one eyebrow, so plainly unimpressed that amusement stirred despite himself. Whatever Monroe was hiding, respect for rank was apparently not part of it.

“Partners are assigned,” Flint continued.

Good. One less decision to make.

“Ashencroft. Monroe.”

Across the room, Theo closed his eyes briefly. Zoran smiled. At least he wasn’t the only one unhappy about the pairing.

Zoran watched Theo cross the room with all the enthusiasm of a man approaching an execution. That, at least, improved his mood.

Flint directed them to opposite sides of a circle marked into the stone floor. Pale lines brightened beneath their feet while nearby pairs took their places. The first practice wards snapped into existence around them with sharp bursts of sound.

“Build the ward together,” Flint said. “Keep it standing when I put pressure on it. If one of you tries to control the whole thing alone, it will break.”

Several students looked personally attacked by that last part.

Theo glanced at Zoran. “Think you can manage?”

Zoran raised one hand. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

Heat gathered in his palm. Black-gold magic flowed into the circle, carrying the faint scent of smoke and heated stone. Theo added his own from the opposite side.

Their magic met. Zoran expected resistance. Instead, the two currents settled together so cleanly that the ward rose between them almost at once.

He stilled. That should not have been so easy. Theo did not hesitate or wait for guidance. He adjusted to the structure instinctively, shifting his magic whenever the ward changed as though the movements were already familiar.

For a late-awakened warlock, Monroe was remarkably comfortable pretending not to know what he was doing. Flint sent a wave of force against the barrier.

The ward bent inward and before Zoran could compensate, Theo strengthened the weak side and pushed it back into place.

Interesting.

Zoran altered the flow of his own magic slightly, leaving a small opening on purpose. Theo corrected it instantly.

Their eyes met over the glowing barrier and realization flickered across Monroe’s face a heartbeat too late. He knew he had reacted too quickly. Then Theo allowed his side of the ward to weaken. Zoran looked at the failing edge, then back at him.

“Problem?” Monroe asked.

So that was how they were going to do this.

Zoran reinforced the weak point. “You’re making mistakes.”

“Tragic.”

“You weren’t making them a moment ago.”

A faint crease appeared between Theo’s brows. “Are you always this controlling?”

“Only when my partner needs supervision.”

Theo’s mouth twitched. “Funny. I was about to say the same thing.”

A nearby ward shattered with a crack, and someone swore under their breath. Flint barely glanced toward them. Theo’s attention flicked away for half a second. The barrier between them shifted and without thinking, he corrected both his side and Zoran’s.

A late-awakened warlock should have needed instruction. Monroe anticipated pressure before it arrived and understood the structure well enough to hide that fact afterward.

He was not inexperienced. He was pretending to be and that should have irritated Zoran more than it did.

Instead, curiosity settled deeper. Someone who lied badly was easy to dismiss. Someone skilled enough to control the lie was not.

Flint increased the pressure without warning. The ward bowed inward hard enough that light rippled across its surface.

Theo reacted immediately. His magic surged forward and met Zoran’s dragonfire between them. For one brief second, everything aligned. One of the glowing marks beneath their feet flickered out of sequence.

Theo glanced down and Zoran saw the surprise on his face before the sigil steadied again. Then Zoran’s dragon went quiet.

He froze. The creature was never truly silent. Even at rest, it existed beneath his control as heat, instinct, pressure. Now its attention narrowed entirely onto Theo.

It wanted Monroe inside its awareness, his magic still pressed against Zoran’s, close enough to feel without touching. The rest of the training hall blurred at the edges. Zoran hated how easily he noticed.

His dragon was his responsibility. It did not get to decide that a stranger mattered simply because their magic fit together in a way it should not. Zoran tightened his control and withdrew his power. The ward dissolved into falling sparks.

Theo lowered his hands. “Was that necessary?”

“Yes.”

Technically, a lie. The barrier had still been holding. Flint stepped closer, studying the fading marks before looking at Theo.

“For someone with limited formal training, Monroe, you adjust quickly.”

Theo’s expression barely changed.

“Beginner’s luck.”

A quiet laugh escaped Zoran before he could stop it. Flint looked unconvinced but moved on. Theo turned toward him.

“You could at least pretend you weren’t trying to make me fail.”

“If I wanted you to fail, you would know.”

“That sounded almost friendly.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Good. I’d hate for us to be moving too fast.”

Before Zoran could answer, Flint dismissed the group. Theo left with the others without looking back. Zoran watched him reach the doorway and disliked how naturally his attention followed.

Distance should have ended it. Instead, his dragon remained focused on the doorway long after Monroe disappeared through it.

Zoran’s jaw tightened. Whatever Theo Monroe was hiding, his dragon had already formed an opinion.

It wanted him closer.