“This is stupid.”
“It’s not stupid, it’s tradition. If they want to be one of us, then they have to prove themselves.”
“Whatever, I’m leaving.” Footsteps of someone faded away.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Pain bloomed on my lower back as a foot kicked me into the water. I thrashed again, but it was no use. Something splashed into the pond beside me. I was tied to a cement block. It tugged me under, into the dark depths of the water. I barely managed to suck in a quick breath before the water enveloped me.
I shut my eyes against the spray of silt when I hit the bottom. When I opened them, Kylee was sinking down to lay beside me. My super strength wouldn’t come, no matter how much I willed it to return. My lungs were starting to burn. They cried out for air.
Beside me, Kylee was panicking. She tried to suck in a breath and realized her mistake. Fury hot and passionate filled every inch of my body. Who did these people think they were, kidnapping students? Unbidden, my dragon roared to life as the anger shot through me. She filled my skin until she burst through with a flash of light. As I shifted, the ropes on my arms and legs broke apart.
I shot to the top of the water. My fury exploded out of me in the form of red-hot flames as I roared my rage at the black cloaks standing on the shore. They scrambled to get out of the way. One of them shifted into a pegasus and took flight. Another raised their hands and a protective bubble of blue magic surrounded a group of them. The rest ran as fast as they could out of my range. I wanted to chase them all. Hunt them down and taste their bones crushing in my teeth.
That savage thought shocked me. My humanity took over and the flames stopped. I didn’t dare shift back, though. Adrenaline was still coursing through my body. To my surprise, instead of running, my captors stepped closer and began clapping. Except the one who was still trying to put out the flame that caught the hem of his cloak on fire. The pegasus landed and shifted back into human form. It was Penelope.
“We could have done without the flames, but wow, what a dramatic entrance,” she said. “Incredible job, you get 10 out of 10 for sure.”
“Um, guys, Kylee still hasn’t come up.” I whipped my head around to find her still at the bottom of the pond. With my dragon senses restored it was easy to see her struggling against the ropes.
“She just needs to shift and she’ll be fine. She’s a Chimera.”
“She’s panicking.”
“Well then she panics. She’s not fit for the Immortal’s Club.”
“Do we save her?”
Disgusted I roared again and dove just as Kylee lost consciousness. I grabbed her in one of my taloned feet as gently as I could and rocketed back to the surface. My wings and tail worked just as well to propel me in the water as they did in the air. In seconds we were back on land again. I laid Kylee on the ground and shifted back into human form.
“Don’t just stand there, you idiots. Help her,” I yelled once I could speak with a human mouth again. No one moved. Kylee was still unconscious. As soon as I was all the way back in human form, I ran to her side and flipped her over. She wasn’t breathing. I began pumping her chest. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Her body jerked, and she began to cough up water. I helped her roll to her side and held her hair.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Someone hand me a cloak,” I demanded. Again no one moved. My dragon stirred within me again. Even my human mind wanted to roast all the cloaks where they stood. “Now!” I growled. To my surprise, fire burned in my chest. Someone pushed through the line of students in cloaks and handed me one. It was Drew.
“Congratulation, Dragon. You passed the test,” he said.
“What?”
“You saved yourself, and you saved Kylee. We’d heard about the dragon’s protective instincts, but we wanted to see them for ourselves. Color me impressed.”
I sat back on my heels. I looked down at Kylee and she was grinning. “What?” I repeated.
“I wasn’t in any danger,” Kylee said, pulling on the cloak Drew had handed her. “Penelope put a spell on me so I could breathe the whole time. This was your initiation. Mine was the night I shifted. It wasn’t nearly as fun as yours.”
Anger, fast and hot rose within me again. My dragon rose with it. I jumped to my feet and stepped away from the group until I could get it under control. I really didn’t want to get into trouble for setting fire to a group of students, even if they deserved it.
“You weren’t in any danger? Really?” I asked Kylee.
“Really.”
“Alright. I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave,” Penelope said. “This was your initiation.”
“Watch me.” When I started back to the dorms, no one followed me.
“You’ll be back,” someone called as I stalked off. “We’re your people now.”
Chapter Seven
Mrs. Winnifred was waiting for me outside the gym one morning a week after my night with the Immortal’s Club.
“Sophie, would you come with me, please?” I waved my friends on into class. I had forgotten it was the day I was supposed to have my special dragon lessons with Dad.
“Mrs. Winnifred, today is supposed to be Gracie’s first shift. Can I go after that, please? Tell Dad he can just wait a minute.”
“I will tell the dragon no such thing, come on.
