The dangerous place that Baylen had led me to was a cafeteria. There were multiple tables to sit at, and there was a buffet line full of different kinds of food. It smelled delicious in here, causing my stomach to gurgle and clench.

"See," Baylen laughed. "I told you it was a dangerous place. I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times I could have slipped into a food coma here."

"Number of fingers or number of brain cells?" I joked. He turned to me, mocking a hurt expression as he walked backward away towards the buffet full of food.

"If you continue talking to me like this, I will resign as being your guard." He said this to me like it was a threat. I laughed and shook my head. It felt good to laugh with someone, to let go and feel free. I think it was in the air because in here, I felt like a different person. I felt like I could be a young girl again, instead of being that girl whose only thought was to survive. But I wouldn't let my guard down. I had to stay aware of my surroundings and of anyone who could be a potential threat.

Kayne and I followed after Baylen, who immediately piled his plate full of food. I kept watching in surprise as he continued to add more to his plate. His stomach must be a bottomless pit.

"After this, I think you should go and have a bath," Kayne said beside me as we sat at one of the many empty tables.

"Why?" I shoved a piece of roast beef into my mouth. The meat was juicy and full of flavor. I had to hold back a sound of pleasure.

Baylen sat across from us, waving his fork in my face. "Leave it. It's a good look on you. Makes you look like a warrior." His smile held dark humor that reached into his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I rubbed a hand on my cheek.

Kayne leaned closer to me, his hot breath tickling the hair around my ear. "You have demon guts all over you."

My mouth fell open. "You've let me walk around looking like this?" Apparently, the look on my face I was giving them was humorous as they started laughing at me. I glared at them. "Schlamp's." I quickly ate my food and avoided looking up as people entered the cafeteria.

Unfortunately, the group of people decided to sit at the table with us. I could feel their gazes on me as I took a bite of fried potatoes. They were buttered heavily and had lots of seasoning. My mouth watered for more, but someone decided to speak up. I felt very conscious of my face at that moment.

"So, you're the female dragon rider." His eyes were a deep shade of blue, and his hair resembled the colour of wet dirt.

I looked around at the table, feigning confusion. "Oh, you're talking about me? I thought you were referring to Baylen.

"Why, you little worm feeder." Baylen glared at me.

The other rider barked out a deeper laugh than the rest. His green eyes twinkled with humor. "We're going to get along just fine." He laughed again. "I'm Fin, and this is Tomi." He pointed to the rider with eyes the color of the ocean. Toe-me, I pronounced his name in my head. Interesting.

"Navi." I extended my hand, shaking theirs with a firm grip.

"Tell us, Navi, were you really living on that dragon island?" Tomi asked.

I felt Kayne shift in his seat. "Come on, fellas. You don't need to pry."

"It's okay." I turned to Kayne, smiling softly. Turning back to the other two, I nodded my head.

"That's pretty cool," Fin said, eating a piece of meat. "You surviving there and all. I wouldn't expect it from someone like you."

"Because I'm a female?" I squinted my eyes at him.

He shook his head, putting another fork full into his mouth. "You're just really tiny. The beasts over there could kill you just by sitting on you."

"You could kill me just by sitting on me." Tomi laughed beside me. I cracked a grin as Fin flexed his arms.

"I'm bulking up. I'm going to be the most muscular dude here."

"Fat lard." Baylen laughed, shoving his shoulder. He dodged a flying vegetable coming his way.

Fin shook his head with a smile on his face. "But seriously, though. Really cool."

"You're probably the coolest chick I know." Tomi nodded his head. "And one of the ones I wouldn't want to be on the bad side of." He stabbed a piece of food, thinking for a moment. "Besides my mam, she's got a pretty evil temper sometimes."

"She's a good-looking woman, Tomi." Fin said with a mischievous grin.

Tomi rounded on Fin with a glare in his eyes.

"I saw her last year, and boy, was she ever a looker." Baylen laughed upon seeing Tomi turn his glare to him. "Isn't there another ball coming up too? Maybe I'll talk to your mother and see how she is."

"You shites!"

Kayne chuckled from beside me. I could feel the slight brush of his arm along my back. "Before this turns into a fistfight, I'm going to show the lady where the showers are."

I was thankful for Kayne. I was very conscious of my appearance. I knew I looked like a trainwreck, and I didn't need anyone else to see me in such a messy state.

"I can help!" Baylen pipped up, standing from his seat.

"Me too. It's quite a maze around here. You might get lost." Fin quickly shoved a few more pieces of food into his mouth while standing up.

"On second thought, I think I'll find the showers on my own." I glared at the two of them. They were too eager to help me. Nasty, hormonal boys.

Kayne grabbed my shoulders and started steering me away from the table. I heard a bunch of groans come from the males. I turned my head to peak at Kayne and laughed. "What part of on my own don't you understand?"

"Do you know where the showers are?"

"Well, no, but-"

Kayne shook his head and smiled. "Yeah. Come on. They're this way."

We left the cafeteria and went down a hallway that led to the bottom of a flight of stairs. These were the same stairs I had climbed with Pete when I first came to the Academy. Spiralling higher than I could see and with the floating lanterns still in the middle, it brought back a few memories. One was how tired I was from climbing the stairs.

"Pretty cool, hey?" Kayne said as he began climbing the stairs.

"It doesn't get old."

He gave me a confusing glance from ahead. "This isn't my first time being here, you know." I kept pace with Kayne as we climbed higher. "The first time I was here, I met up with the council, and then they kicked me out."

"I can see now why you'd be hesitant to come back."

I nodded my head. "I have to meet up with them again, but I have a feeling that this time they won't try to kick me out."

Kaye turned to look at me. His eyes glowing with the lantern's light. "I sure hope not. Or else I'll have to kick their arses."

We passed different floors until we reached the top of the stairs. "The showers are all the way up here?" I was panting slightly, trying to catch my breath.

"This floor isn't being occupied right now, so you can have the showers all to yourself." He turned left. "Unless you want some company."

I held up my hand. "No, thank you."

"Fine, have it your way. I'll be outside, though, in case someone does stumble their way up here." Kayne made his point by planting his feet in front of the door.

I mumbled my thanks and squeezed past him into the shower chambers. As I stepped into the room, it was dark. How was I supposed to see where I was going? As if someone heard my thoughts, lanterns started to light on their own, illuminating the room. The walls and floors were made of tile, and there were multiple cubicles where showers were slightly privatized. In one corner, there was a bathtub. I decided to go to the showers. I didn't know what kind of substances were growing in that bathtub. One day, I would clean it and then take a relaxing bath.

Walking up to the counter where mirrors hung on the walls, I noticed how awful my appearance was. My face was splattered in black, and my hair was in tangles. I stripped from my dirty clothing and placed them on the counter, making my way to the showers. I studied them for a second, trying to figure out how I would turn them on. I've heard of showers before, but I've never used one. In my town, we had wooden crates that we filled with water from the nearby river or our water wells. Only the bigger cities have showers. We weren't with the times yet. I stared at it for a moment longer and finally decided I would ask for help.

I wrapped a towel around my body before moving the door to look for Kayne. "I need some help," I whispered to him.

"Would you like me to scrub your back?" He produced a maddening grin on his face.

"I've never operated a shower before," I said while looking down, my skin flaring as my insides turned with red hot emotions.

"Twoleg," Naxan growled. "We speak about this before. Close bond if going to mate."

"Oh hush, Nax. We're not going to do anything."

He huffed. "Emotions say otherwise."

Kayne moved past me and pulled one of the levers while moving another. "This is how you turn it on, and these levers are to control the temperature."

I nodded my head as I watched him.

"Are you sure you don't want help with anything else?" His eyes twinkled with hot wickedness.

I shook my head. "I'm okay." I looked away from the heat in his eyes, feeling my emotions stir at the thought of him in the shower with me.

"Twoleg!" Naxan snapped before closing the bond. I winced slightly, which Kayne saw.

"Are you okay?"

Blinking, I nodded. "Naxan is just being a pain."

"Did your dragon close the bond on you too?" Kayne laughed.

My eyes widened. Oh no, now he knew that I was definitely thinking dirty thoughts.

Kayne brushed past me while laughing. If my face wasn't red before, it was now. I heard him close the door behind me, but I checked to make sure that he was actually gone. I placed my towel down and hopped into the shower, enjoying the feel of hot water. It had been far too long. I normally bathed in a stream or lake, and the water was fairly cold, especially in the winter months.

As the water cascaded over my head, the water below me turned black with the dirt and grime that clung to my body. I used the soap that was provided in the shower, but I made a mental note to find some other soap for myself. This stuff was pretty horrendous. It felt like my hair developed even more knots when I used it.

My shower was over, and as I stepped out to dry myself, I realized I didn't have clean clothes to change back into. The dirty clothes were sitting there, taunting me with the dirt that clung to them. I couldn't walk around this place with a towel on, but I also didn't want to put those filthy rags back on my clean body.

A knock at the door sounded. Making sure my towel was secured, I went to open the door, expecting to see Kayne. I was met with an unfamiliar face. I wrapped my arms around myself tighter as his eyes wandered over me.

"Hello there, dragon rider." His voice sounded like it was forced, gurgling in his throat.

"Who are you?" I asked, my heartbeat hammering in my chest.

He looked down at his body. Cracking bones sounded as he did so. "I don't know who this is." His eyes met mine, and the once brown eyes were all black, even the white around his eyes. "And you wouldn't know me."

I tried closing the door on the person, but he stuck his hand out to hold it open. He pushed the door and walked into the chambers as I backed up. His body cracked and popped with every movement.

"The King wants you, pretty." He took another step toward me. I backed up as far as I could. If I had to fight him, I would, but there was no guarantee my towel would stay up. That's my biggest worry right now?

"Twoleg? Okay?" Naxan's voice seeped through the bond as he felt my worry.

"There's someone here, Nax. It looks like they're possessed by something."

I heard it. His cry of anger. It vibrated the Academy, shaking everything into silence. The person stopped making advances toward me. I took this as my opportunity and pulled the shadows into the room and threw them at him. He was swarmed by a ball of darkness, and I ran out of the room into the hall. My chest was heaving from my nerves as I ran into Kayne.

"There's someone in there!"

He dropped whatever he was holding and barged through the door. The man that was once standing was lying on the ground, blood pooling out of his nose.

"Looks like you already got it covered."

I shook my head. "No. He was possessed by something. It looks like whatever it was, is gone now." I tried calming my nerves and gasping breath. "He said the King wanted me."

He looked at me, his face turning hard. "We might have a big problem here."