As if reading my mind, Samantha sneers, “So much for your little harem, Brix.” Then she’s teleporting across the room to me, lifting me into the air with her telekinesis. I feel the magical force squeezing around my throat, cutting off my air supply and making me see stars. Within seconds, I’ll be unconscious or dead, and with the others incapacitated, it will be easy for her to finish us off… Or worse, subject us to the same treatment that she’s using on Silas and Brody.
Darkness threatens to close in on my vision as I gasp for breath, twisting around in midair as my body goes from vampire to human again. I’m going to die, I realize with a start. She’s going to kill me. Just like Mark was going to kill me, just like those guys at the warehouse were going to kill me.
That revelation seems to wake something up in me, even as the last of my consciousness begins to ebb away, my muscles going weak from the lack of oxygen. With one final burst of desperation, I visualize a dragon: all powerful muscles and hard scales, enormous in its size and power. I think back to the times I breathed fire, to the lesson Shade gave me on transforming, and throw myself into the image. Come on, I pray as my vision goes dark. Come on, come on, come on…
And then, like magic, the hold on my throat is loosening, the invisible hand opening ever so slightly, and I draw in a shaking breath.
My eyes open again and I look down in astonishment to see that I am no longer a human, but a dragon, my golden scales iridescent in the fluorescent lights of the laboratory. Magic is no longer what’s holding me in the air; rather, it’s my wings, flapping with enough power to create gusts of wind.
Samantha looks taken aback as she stares up at me, moving backwards a step, hesitating a little…
But that second of hesitation is all I need. Embracing the second wind, I fill my lungs with air and scream out, a jet of fire lighting up the room and hitting Samantha squarely in the chest. She shrieks as the flames engulf her, frantically swatting at her clothes as she tries to put the fire out. The distraction is enough to make her form waver, and in the instant she becomes human again, Landon finds his voice once more. “Get down!” he yells at her, his voice tinged with the siren frequency. “Surrender!” There’s a moment of futile resistance, but then Samantha is dropping to the ground, her clothes and hair still on fire as she is forced to obey Landon’s command.
I flap my wings again, sending another gust of air at her, and it’s enough to extinguish the flames, leaving Samantha a trembling, scorched wreck on the floor.
I drop back to the ground, shifting back into human form, too focused on taking stock of the others to process the fact that I finally managed to transform into a dragon. Shade is groaning as he picks himself up off the ground, while Landon is advancing on Samantha, his song down to a low thrumming as he works to sustain the command. Hunter, who has been watching the fight with wide eyes, shuffles slowly forward. “Is it over?” he asks, but I don’t respond. I’m bolting across the room to the table where Silas is tied down. The dragon shifter’s eyes are closed, and although he’s breathing, he doesn’t seem to be conscious.
“Silas!” I yell, touching his face. “Wake up!” He doesn’t even stir, his complexion still ashy and sickly. Quickly I feel for a pulse; it’s there, but faint, like his heart is struggling just to keep beating. “Come on,” I say, shaking his shoulders. “Come on, wake up. I’m here--we’re here. Silas, please!”
Still nothing. I turn back to the others. Shade’s eyes are wide as he approaches. “What’s wrong with him?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I reply, and I realize that my eyes are brimming with tears. “What do we do?!”
“What are they injecting him with?” Shade asks, pointing to the needles in his arms. I follow his line of sight to the IV tubes, which are hooked up to the monitoring device; not daring to think about it any further, I reach down and yank the needles from Silas’ arms one at a time. A little blood trickles out of the puncture wounds, but otherwise, there’s no response.
A minute passes, and then two, as we all stare at the dragon shifter with bated breath.
At first I can’t tell if I’m imagining it, but it almost looks like his breaths are coming more easily now, and when I put my fingers to his neck once more, I feel his heart beating with a little more strength. Moments later, I feel a warm hand cover mine, and I look up to see Silas’s dark eyes opening. He groans, shifting a little as he stares up at me. “Silas,” I breathe, leaning in closer to him.
He gives me that tentative, crooked smile, the same one he gave me the other night, and says two words: “Hey, Boots.”
Chapter 26
“Would you stop leaning on me?” Landon says, sounding exasperated. “God, Shade. I know I’m attractive, but I have a personal bubble.”
“Don’t stress yourself,” Shade fires back, shifting away. “You’re not my type, anyway, Thyme.”
“Guys, come on,” Silas pleads. “You’re gonna crush me.”
We’re in the infirmary, all gathered around Silas’ bed. He’s being given fluids and anti-inflammatories, and his cot clearly isn’t meant for the number of people it’s currently supporting. Shade and Landon are sitting on either side, their bickering reaching nearly comical levels, while Hunter lingers next to the bedside table with Hazel by his side. I’m at the head of the bed, arms crossed over my chest as I watch the others’ antics, occasionally sharing an incredulous glance with Hazel.
It’s been a day and
