Stacy gathered her strength, summoning her magic into the form of fire. She could do it when she was in human form by allowing her magic to sweep through her skin and encase her arm in flames, wreathing whatever weapon extended from her. She figured it was much the same process when in dragon form.
Victor came at her again, leaping with his eyes flashing. Stacy swung out her long neck. His claws came at her, raking across her scales. It didn’t hurt as badly as she expected, though she still felt pain where Garth had hurt her earlier.
In human form, she’d taken his claws to her thigh and side. As a dragon, those wounds seemed to pulse throughout her body. She wanted this to be over, to get out of this body, as much as it had served her so far.
The swing of her neck had Victor falling again. He thudded to the ground amid steaming grass and splintered wood. The torrent of rain continued, churning the earth into mud and putting out the flames Stacy had engulfed the trees in.
You’re finished, she whispered into Victor’s mind before opening her jaws wide. A torrent of white-hot flame, the same color as her magic when she was in her human form, gushed forth. It washed over Victor like a wave.
His howl of agony and defeat did not last long, for her dragon roar drowned it out—the last thing Victor Corbinelli heard. Stacy watched as his wolf body decomposed in the fire, leaving only flecks of flesh and white bones.
He was defeated. Stacy could hardly believe it.
The next thought that came to her was she would need time for her dragon form to wear off. Or so her father said about his own. She could not leave these grounds without being seen, and it was better for her friends to return to her estate. She had confidence that Rowan would, though he would feel pained to leave her behind.
I will be okay, she told herself. She wanted to get away from the smell of wolves burning. It turned out being a dragon enhanced her senses, and the ability to smell far better than she ever had was not preferable at the moment.
She took to the sky with a mighty heave, the stars obscured by the rising smoke and gathered clouds. She remained in mid-air, high above the trees as she watched the fire being erased by the rain. She struggled to maintain altitude, her flight becoming erratic. She had to find refuge and land before her form wore off and she hurtled toward the ground and certain death.
She soared above the trees, searching for a clearing where she could land. She didn’t see one.
Stacy was falling. She was unable to control her wings any longer. The trees quickly came up to meet her. Fuck!
The word might have been somewhere between a scream and a roar from her dragon mouth. She flapped her wings, but it did nothing. She crashed through the trees, half dragon, half human. Branches tore at her skin and scales. She bellowed and cried out, attempting to summon enough magic to form a shield. Being half in dragon form, however, she couldn’t use a shield.
The sky wheeled. Rain pelted her. Stacy fell hard to the ground. Mud slapped her body. She groaned at the pain ricocheting through. She turned over, her wings returning to arms. The scales melted away, and Stacy’s body smoldered and smoked. She wheezed but could not move. Darkness swept in, and she wondered if it was sleep or death coming to claim her. Either way, she’d won. Victor was dead, and she had killed him.
Ethan couldn’t believe the shit he’d seen tonight, could hardly process the burning hillside, the werewolves fleeing from the flames, and most of all, that great creature filling the sky.
The red dragon had spewed white-hot flames over a great werewolf. Ethan watched it take to the sky shortly after, then seemed unable to fly as it had moments ago. The dragon made it above the trees, then crashed through them.
“Holy shit,” he exclaimed, grappling with the fact that the dragon was his friend. Stacy, the witch. Part of him wanted to run for his fucking life, get back in the car, and race to the city where his shop was comfortable and safe. Then, he remembered what Khan had said. That Stacy would need help. He’d seen her crash through the trees. That hadn’t been intentional.
She might be hurt, he thought. He didn’t know how to help a dragon, but he had to do something. Summoning his courage and a shield of magic, he dove into the trees. He found a path twisting through the forest. Rain clouds hid the moonlight. The only way he could see through the forest was by his magic.
He followed a thin column of smoke rising from the trees, guessing that was where Stacy had fallen. This is fucking crazy, he thought as he zigzagged along the path, evading ruts and roots and fallen things.
Questions raced through his mind. Had Stacy ever taken this form before? He didn’t think so, based on what her father said. Who was Stacy fighting, and why had she come here? He wondered if tonight’s events had something to do with how distant she’d been for the past several days. He had assumed she was merely busy. That might have been true, but he’d never questioned with what.
Finally, he broke into a clearing, sweating despite the rain’s chill in the air. He spotted her. It wasn’t a dragon lying among moss and brambles but a human woman. Her eyes were closed, arms spread out as if the wings from moments ago had melted from them. No signs of scales or fire on her, only copious scratches, scrapes, and cuts from the fall. She might have taken other wounds in her fight, too.
Ethan noticed a patch of blood on her thigh, seeping through her clothes, and another in her side. He wondered if these wounds had come before taking dragon form or after. Regardless, he rushed to her side, sinking to his knees in the mud.
“Stacy, wake up. Come back to me.” Ethan pressed a hand to her thigh and another to her side, willing a warm rush of healing magic to pour into her. She did not respond. He imagined taking a shifter form, especially one as large as a flying serpent, would exhaust someone. She wasn’t dead, at least. He felt her pulse beneath two fingers.
“Come on, Stacy,” he urged again.
Raindrops fell on her face. She was pale enough to concern him.
I should have come sooner to protect her, he thought, then wondered how the hell he could have done such a thing. Maybe this was better. Either way, he was glad Khan had visited him tonight.
Why me, though? he wondered. Why a witch she’d known for only a few months and not her own father, who was also a dragon and surely could have helped her?
Though Ethan burned with questions, he had to focus on the task at hand. Gradually, the wound in her thigh closed. The one in her side took more time and effort. Finally, she was healed enough to stir.
“Stacy, hey. Wake up.” His voice was less urgent and more soothing,
He gathered her in his arms.
“Ro-Rowan, are you there?” her weak voice called.
Rowan was her driver. Why would she expect him here? She was delirious. Despite her murmuring, Stacy wouldn’t open her eyes. He had to get her out of here. He could carry her through the forest, though it would be tedious. He hoped to all that was divine that werewolves weren’t still prowling these woods.
He didn’t have time to peel himself and Stacy from the mud and carry her away before a figure standing among the shadows caught his eye. It was a tall figure with glowing golden eyes. Fear made his throat tighten, but then the figure stepped into the clearing.
Concern for his daughter was etched into Khan’s face. The gold in his eyes diminished to dark green. Ethan realized now that father and daughter had the same eyes, though he’d seen the gold in Stacy’s only once or twice when she was annoyed with complicated spells. Dragon eyes, he surmised. He decided he would be fine if he never saw Khan’s turn gold again.
“Why me?” Ethan croaked. “You could have come sooner and helped her.” Khan could have fought the beast and prevented Stacy from being wounded.
“She needed to defeat Victor herself. This was not my fight,” Khan answered calmly, his gaze still fastened on his daughter despite making no move to come closer.
Victor. “Fucking hell,” Ethan breathed. Corbinelli had been a werewolf? He would ask Stacy for the full story later.
“As for you coming now instead of me,” Khan continued. “Stacy needs to know she can trust and rely on you not only as a friend and an instructor but as an ally. She will call on you in future difficult times after awakening tonight and seeing you came to help her.”
Ethan realized this was Khan’s way of forcing his daughter to reveal she was a dragon. That didn’t sit right with him. He knew now, though, and there was no taking the knowledge away from him. After Stacy was well, he planned to have a long conversation about everything. He was still her friend, but if he was going to be an ally, he needed the full truth.
