SSS Rank Dragon summoning! Only I can summon an army of dragons Chapter 48: Starlight Line

After a few monts Drake exited the bedroom and stepped into the living room. It was much quieter than usual — Tessa was no longer there; the sounds coming from the kitchen made that clear.

From the clatter of pans and the faint hiss of oil, it sounded like she was cooking sothing elaborate.

Hearing that, Drake decided not to bother her. He had a lot of catching up to do. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he sank into the soft cushions of the couch and began to scroll through the notifications blinking on the screen.

His ssages consisted mostly of texts from Tessa, a few from Kyle, and a couple from Gary. There was nothing from Luna.

Apparently, as an assassin she kept a very low profile.

Drake couldn’t help but wonder where she might be at that very mont. Even as a Blade — a family of assassins fad for their ability to kill and to protect their supposed boss — she was still wanted by the military and probably being hunted by the Starlight Guild as well.

’If I tried to place her under the protection of my father’s guild, my identity as Unknown would be ruined, and this could spark a civil war between us and the Starlights,’ he thought. No matter what, that option had to remain off the table.

He quickly ushered those dangerous thoughts away and moved on to other notifications. One in particular made him blink.

It was a bank alert glowing on his screen:

five hundred thousand credits have been credited into your account.

Sender: Stoick...

Drake smiled. ’That old fart actually paid for the Crater hunt,’ he muttered, feeling a surge of relief.

This was more than just exciting for Drake — this was freedom. Financial freedom from his father. With that amount he could leave the mansion, rent or buy a decent place of his own, and not have to worry about bills for a long ti, as long as he didn’t spend extravagantly.

’Tessa must have gotten a similar amount,’ he pondered, glancing toward the kitchen door which had started to swing inward. Tessa erged carrying a large tray laden with food.

She set it down on the floor — there was no table in the cramped living room — and began to dig in. The tray held barbecued wings lacquered with sticky glaze, a mound of rice, and a rich egg sauce to drizzle over everything. Portions enough to feed a family of five, generous and ssy.

"Dinner is ready!" she exclaid, playful and loud in the quiet room.

Tessa took a seat on the floor across from him, her movents relaxed and casual. Drake got off the couch and sat down beside her. He eyed the plate and then asked, "Are you on a diet?"

Tessa shook her head, a greedy little grin spreading across her face. "No — I’m not. This is my sixth al of the day."

Drake’s gaze widened. ’As expected,’ he thought.

Tessa had a rare condition: her tabolism burned calories at an impossible rate. It made her perpetually hungry, but it also ca with advantages. She could expend far more strength than a normal human ever could before she awakened. Now, with her talent, she was even stronger. The Plagues had altered people in terrible ways — changing their bodies and their lives — and Tessa was living proof of that warning and blessing, both at once.

She stopped eating, then closed the small gap between them. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her hands around his torso, warm and familiar.

"Where is all this coming from?" Drake asked, confused, because this closeness was unlike her usual guarded behavior. He didn’t resist her embrace — if anything, the gesture made him feel sothing foreign in his chest.

Tessa snuggled deeper but didn’t answer imdiately. "You saved in the Crater. I’m happy you survived the crash, too." Her voice was soft, honest.

Drake’s expression grew pale for a mont; he had feared this reaction. ’She was no fool,’ he thought. ’She would have guessed.’ He forced a rueful smile. "Asking how would have been stupid of . I didn’t an to hide my identity from you."

Tessa nodded slightly, her face a portrait of restrained hurt. "I’m angry at you! For not telling . We share everything with each other."

A stillness fell over them. Drake’s eyes drifted from the food to Tessa’s face, to the clear blue of her eyes as they stared into his. Her gaze ward him in an unfamiliar way — a heat that made his chest tight and his breath shallow. It was a feeling he wasn’t used to, one he wanted to explore and feared at the sa ti.

Before anything else could happen — before the mont could tilt into sothing they might not be ready for — a saucy voice cut through the quiet.

"Are you two going to kiss or just stare like it’s a movie?"

Drake’s head snapped toward the voice. Instantly, his body tensed, hands lifting as if to defend. He prepared to spring back, in case the interruption was a prelude to an attack.

The voice belonged to Luna. She was lounging on the couch, legs crossed, wearing purple shorts and a black buttoned shirt. In one hand she held a bottle of rum; the cap was off. Her posture was too relaxed, as if she had always been there, lting into the cushions. The kind of casual presence that made her hard to spot until she wanted to be seen.

Drake glanced at Tessa, whose face betrayed no surprise — this was, after all, the only place Luna could hide. He let his hands fall and relaxed, though only a fraction.

"Boss, why so startled?" Luna asked, eyes lifting lazily in question. There was a dangerous little smile on her face, the kind that suggested she knew more than she let on.

Drake ran a hand through his hair and forced his voice to calm. He wanted to sound serious; he wanted to sound in control. "You killed Kresha, which I comnd you for," he said plainly, the words clipped and asured, "but thanks to you the Starlight family will be after us."

Luna’s expression turned dark with worry in an instant, the bottle forgotten. "I’m sorry," she said.

Drake shook his head, a grin creeping over his lips despite the gravity of the situation. It was a small, almost devious curl of amusent. "No, it’s perfect," he said, letting the amusent show. "I didn’t expect it this early, and now it’s happened. It’s ti I start working toward my goal of revenge on the Starlight lineage."