The entire campus was supposed to be warded against accidental magical destruction, but once in a while the protection spells failed. This looked to be one of those times.

"Should we go check it out?" Devin asked.

Dan shook his head. "No. We'll only get in the way. It's not like any of us are trained to handle fire."

The triplets were building a nice magical base to their talents but so far, two years into their training, they hadn't had any standout magic. Together they could pull more power than any single wizard except their friend Jaynell, but separately they were more in the medium range of abilities. Not spectacular, but not weak either. Dan suspected when they graduated they would end up teaching or doing larger spells as a trio. Only time would tell.

Their romantic partners could also affect their magic. Dan secretly suspected that was why he had a fire salamander as his avatar. Despite what his brothers said, Dan knew Farren was meant to be his.

"Let's go get pizza," Devin said after a moment of watching the fire personnel unfurl hoses. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Dan scolded. Of course the same could be said about any of them. They were still growing into their bodies, and that, coupled with performing magic, caused them to burn through thousands of calories a day-one of the reasons there were so many restaurants around campus. Hungry, growing wizards made excellent customers.

They turned towards the pizza parlour, intent on filling their bellies and recharging before they had to buckle down and study for their next day's classes.

Movement by the bushes had Dan stopping. They weren't the only people on campus by any means, but most of the students were heading towards the fire. This person was rushing away from it. Suspicion filled Dan. He gasped when he recognised the person scurrying by.

"Farren?"

Farren froze mid-step. Dan heard a sigh escape his boyfriend before Farren changed course and headed for Dan. The closer Farren came, the more anxious the knot in Dan's *

25.

stomach grew. Farren had a burn hole in the front of his shirt and he smelt of smoke, as if he'd been steeped in flame like a tea bag in hot water.

"What happened to you?" Dan asked. "Are you all right?"

He bit back the questions hovering on his tongue. Accusing Farren of starting a fire wouldn't earn him any good-boyfriend points.

Farren nodded. "Yeah." He cleared his throat. "I'm fine. Sorry I couldn't make our date tonight."

Regret flared in Farren's sherry-coloured eyes. Farren's eyes fascinated Dan. They were almost reddish brown, but when he concentrated on his magic, his pupils glowed gold as though the fire he brought forth came from deep inside Farren. Luckily, that just wasn't possible or Dan would be worried for Farren's health. Surely holding a flame inside would kill a magic user?

"Did you have anything to do with that fire?" Dean asked, nodding towards the mass of fire truck lights, smoke and people.

Unfortunately, his brothers had no problem accusing Dan's love interest of improper behaviour.

Farren didn't appear irritated by the question. He answered with no sign of discomfort.

"No. I was in a different wing. I didn't even know there was a fire until I came outside. It came awfully close, though."

"Why were you there? I didn't think they had any rooms open." Devin didn't even try to couch the question into something less accusatory.

Farren shrugged. "They have a few. I thought that wing had been closed, though." He nodded towards the fire.

Once again, Dan could sense no deception in Farren. He curled his fingers, resisting the urge to touch the exposed skin.

Dean picked up the questioning. "What happened to your shirt?"

Farren looked down at the hole and poked his finger through it. "My hands were too hot when I put it back on. Penalty of being a fire wizard."

"Stop interrogating him." Dan glared at his brothers. As interested as he was in Farren's answers, Farren didn't deserve to be picked apart. "Why don't you two go get us a table? I'll be right there."

26.

His brothers didn't move.

Farren's eyes met Dan's as if he were trying to determine Dan's thoughts. "You can go with your brothers. I'm fine. I'm sorry I had to cancel, but I'm a little stressed about tomorrow."

"Why? What's going on?" Dan knew Farren had a class he was worried about, but he didn't know if Farren had anything in particular that concerned him.

"I have to call my avatar for class. I don't think it will go very well."

Dan shrugged. "Not everyone can do it the first time. It might take a little practice."

"Really?" The complete relief in Farren's expression told Dan that Farren had really been stressing about it.

"Sure, it took Devin three tries," Dean offered.

Devin nodded at Dean's statement. "It's true."

"What do you three have as avatars?" Farren asked.

Dan pointed to each of them in turn. "I have a fire salamander, Dean has a gila monster and Devin has a gecko."

"Huh, interesting."

Dean shrugged. "We are triplets."

They'd been mildly surprised they didn't have identical avatars, but Jaynell kept telling them they were different inside. Sometimes even Dan had problems remembering that.

Devin patted Dan on the back. "We'll go get a table and put our order in. Nice seeing you again, Farren. You're welcome to join us if you want."

Dean nodded his agreement.

Dan let out a sigh of relief when his brothers left with a friendly wave.

"They hate me," Farren said.

A startled laugh burst out of Dan. "How did you get that from a pizza invitation?"

Farren shrugged. "It's a vibe I get. They're very protective of you and they think I'm an ass for cancelling our date."

Dan couldn't exactly argue with that logic. "They're worried you're cheating on me."

"I would never do that!"

27.

Farren's appalled tone lightened the weight on Dan. Anyone who sounded that offended at the thought couldn't do the deed, or at least that's what he told himself. He'd be willing to overlook just about anything as long as he didn't lose his lover.

Dan stepped forward until he crowded Farren's personal space. "Then why don't you stop cancelling our dates and we can spend more time together?"

Taking a chance, he brushed his lips across Farren's.

A soft moan greeted him. Farren pressed closer to Dan, annihilating the tiny space remaining between them. Their tongues tangled for dominance, but neither of them cared to be in charge as they easily passed the lead from one to another. When oxygen became scarce, they broke for air.

Farren licked his lips and Dan's cock perked up to take notice. He needed that mouth on him. "I want you to suck me." Dan blushed as the words spilled from his lips without a filter.

"I want that too." A glazed look crossed Farren's face as if he was imagining the act.

Farren shook his head after a moment as if snapping out of a daze. "We can't."

"Why not?"

"Because we're standing in the middle of campus." Farren stepped back and out of Dan's reach.

Dan held back a snarl at the motion. He didn't like any space between them, but that didn't mean he had to act like an ass. He'd never been this possessive before. He glanced around and saw more people were walking around than before. The fire must be under control if the students were dispersing.

"Hmm, good point. I happen to know my dorm room is empty since my brothers are getting pizza..." He let the sentence drop at the end. Farren had to make the final agreement.

He might want Farren until his hands shook from lust, but he wouldn't pressure him into doing anything.

"Do you think they'll mind?"

Relief swept Dan, stealing his breath for a moment. "I'll send them a quick text to warn them to take their time eating." Dan pulled his phone out of his bag and frantically tapped out a message. He had to backspace a lot because his fingers were shaking with excitement. It *

28.

wouldn't be the first time one of them had used their room as a spot for romance, but it had never felt as important.

"Let's go." Farren entwined the fingers of his left hand with Dan's right. Holding hands, they crossed campus.

Dan could eat later. Right now he had more important things to do.

29.

Chapter Three.

Farren's heart rate doubled. He gripped the handle of his backpack tight to hide the trembling of his fingers. Excitement and nerves were making him antsy. He couldn't decide if he should run or jump Dan's bones. He was leaning towards pouncing.

When he'd woken up in the stadium, he'd been disoriented. But he'd told the truth. The fire in the other part of the building had nothing to do with him. His containment had held.

And although his shoulder ached and his entire body throbbed with exhaustion, Farren wasn't going to turn down the chance to have sex with Dan. He had wet dreams over touching Dan's skin.

Maybe if he were lucky, a small dragon like Betina's would appear when he called his avatar. Despite what the djinn had said, Farren did need an avatar. If he accessed his magic and transformed into a beast, they would know for sure Farren had abnormal blood inside him. Hopefully he had enough wizard blood to convince something to come be his avatar.

At this point there was little he could do to stop whatever creature planned to come.

The good news from the triplets that they hadn't been able to call their avatar right away eased some of his stress. Maybe he could put it off until the end of the quarter and smuggle in a relatively harmless beast to claim. It wasn't as if the teacher would know whether Farren had called it or not.

Dan laughed at the message on his phone. "Dean says we have an hour before they are returning and bringing pizza, and he doesn't want to see any naked man parts."

Farren smiled at the obvious love Dan had for his siblings. He only had one member of his family close to his own age, and his cousin Betina was a psychopath. The day he'd left he'd never been so happy to shed that connection, but now wasn't the time to brood about the past-it was the time for hot sex and possibly building a relationship with Dan. Maybe if he got to know the wizard well enough, Farren would be able to determine if he could be trusted with Farren's secret.

"You have a fire salamander as your avatar?"

30.