“Please, have a seat, Sophie. I will be right back.” I nodded and sat down on the edge of one of the chairs around the table. My hands smoothed my skirt, attempting to make sure it wasn’t wrinkled. This grand office made me feel small and alone. My shift had filled me with a nervous energy I couldn’t seem to shake. This body was suddenly confining, the room I was in was too small. I bounced my foot against the floor. My dragon was still close to the surface. She wanted out again. She wanted to feel the wind under her wings and soar as high as she could go. The urge was so strong I had to stand up and walk around the table, taking deep breaths to push her back away from the surface. As I made a second lap, I heard footsteps coming down the hall. Two sets. The door opened again.
“Dad?” I asked as my father walked into the room behind Headmistress Adiana. He smiled at me and opened his arms. I rushed into them and he picked me up in a big hug.
“Happy birthday, my girl.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, Jolene contacted me to tell me about your first shift and I knew I had to come and see you.”
“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” the headmistress said. She smiled at my father and left the room.
“But, how did you get here so quickly? I shifted not even an hour ago.” My dad laughed. “I’m glad to see you. I didn’t think I’d get to see anyone on our birthday.”
“It sounds like your first shift was amazing. I wish I could’ve been here for it.”
“It was, Dad. It felt—I don’t even know how to explain it. Like the most wonderful thing in the world. It was hard for me to change back.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty normal. The first time I shifted I didn’t change back for a week.”
“A whole week? Wow.” I sat down in the same chair as before, but my father remained standing. He was shifting his weight back and forth and even though he seemed happy in a less confident man, I would have thought he was nervous.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” I finally asked. “Are you upset that I’m the dragon? Would you rather it be Simon?”
“Oh now, honey, that’s not it at all,” he said, finally taking a seat in the chair next to me. He spun it to the side, so he was facing me. “I’m so proud of you. It takes a lot of power to be a dragon. I’m not surprised you have it in you.”
“Thanks,” I said, touched by the compliment. My dad had never said anything like that to me before. “But if that’s the case, what’s wrong? Is everything okay with Mom and Simon?”
“Yes, they’re missing you, but they’re great. Nothing is wrong, really. What I’m here to tell you isn’t easy, though.”
I was getting concerned now. “What do you need to tell me?”
“Well, honey. Unleashing the power of your dragon and coming into your powers as an animage is going to be a big catalyst for changes in your life.” He paused and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
“Like what, Dad? Just say it.”
“Well there’s too many for me to go over right now but the biggest one. The one you need to know about and get used to is this: You’re immortal.”
The ticking of the clock on the wall was the only noise in the room.
“I’m immortal?” I repeated back to my father. He nodded. I had never really thought about dying. But not dying? Not growing old? That was a different story altogether.
“That doesn't make any sense.”
“Every animage who turns into an immortal animal is immortal themselves.”
“That can't be right,” I protested. “Our family has had a dragon shifter every generation. But now you're telling me that your father and his father before him and his father before him are all alive somewhere?”
“Not exactly,” Dad said, shifting forward in his seat and putting his arms on his knees so we were eye-to-eye. “You see, there's not been dragons in each generation of our family. There's only been one dragon: me.”
I stared at my dad like I had never seen him before. The only dragon? Silence stretched out between us.
“I don't understand,” I said finally. “If you're the only dragon, how old are you?”
“Oh, I don't really hold with birthdays anymore,” my father said. “But, I think I’m closing in on 1000 soon.”
I couldn’t find my voice. “1000 years old?” I managed to squeak out. “1000 years old?” I said again after I cleared by throat. “But if you’re the only dragon, why does everyone think there has been so many? Why have I never heard about this before?”
“I’m gifted in what I like to call suggestive magic. I can suggest a scenario and people believe it.”
“You lie to people,” I said bluntly.
“It’s for the best. Immortal animages used to be hunted for their blood. Even other supernaturals would hunt them, thinking their blood would bring them strength and immortality.”
“Does it?” A shadow crossed my father’s face. “In the Dark Ages the dragons were hunted to extinction. I’m the only one left. Now, immortality is one of the animages’ best-kept secrets. Immortals aren’t allowed to tell anyone except their mates. Only other immortals know how it works. I noticed he didn’t bother to answer my question.
“The supernatural world is nothing but secrets,” I grumbled under my breath.
“What honey?” Dad asked.
“I said, does Mom know?”
“Yes, your mother knows.”
“What about Simon? If we’re both the children of the dragon and twins, shouldn’t he be immortal
