We crept from door to door. I put my ear against each door to listen in before moving on. We were descending a flight of stairs to the lower level when Drew tapped me on the shoulder.
“I was wondering,” he whispered. “Do you want to go to the dance next week with me?” I stopped so quickly both Drew and Hudson bumped into me. I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out.
“Is this really the time?” Hudson snapped.
“No time like the present, puppy.” Drew gave Hudson’s arm a playful punch. Hudson looked murderous.
“Yes,” I finally managed to get out. “Yes, I would like to go to the dance with you.”
“Great!” Drew’s words echoed in the stairwell. I clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “Let’s get back to the thief hunt.”
The sound of a splash echoed through the stairwell when we reached the bottom. The ground floor had a puddle of water everywhere. We were staring down a completely dark stone hallway.
“This doesn’t feel like the start of a horror movie at all.” Drew was squinting into the dark.
“Why don’t you go on ahead and be the first to die?”
“You don’t split up in a horror movie, puppy, everyone knows that.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes in my direction. “Where did you find this guy?”
Hudson grabbed the front of Drew’s shirt and backed him into the wall.
“Call me puppy one more time.”
Drew grabbed both of Hudson’s wrists. His biceps flexed against his shirt as he squeezed. A muscle in Hudson’s jaw twitched he was clenching his teeth so hard, but he didn’t move. The tension was so thick between them you could almost see it. I rolled my eyes and stepped in between them. They had picked a fine time to act like teenage boys.
“Stop it both of you. The thief is down here, and I can’t sense him because there’s too much testosterone in the air.”
They let go but kept glaring at each other with eyes full of angst.
“Can we get back to what we were doing, please?”
With that settled, I turned my attention back to the stone hallway. Until that moment I hadn’t known the hallway existed. My vision had adjusted to the darkness, but all I could see were stone walls and closed doors. Whoever broke in was close. His nervousness felt like a twitching in my mind. My own nerves were making sure all my senses were in overdrive. My dragon was close to the surface.
“Settle down,” I whispered. “We can’t shift in here.”
I reached out and placed my hand against the stone wall. Tingling vibrations of the building made their way up my arm. I pushed my magic through my hands and into the stone walls.
“Come on. I know where he is.” We sidled down the hallways, pausing every time the building creaked. My breath was shallow and silent. My focus tunneled to the task at hand. The feel of the students, the sounds of campus, even Drew and Hudson behind me, it all disappeared as I homed in on the threat. Sweat prickled on my brow and down the back of my shirt. One thought cut through clear as day. This was thrilling.
I threw my hand up in front of Hudson and Drew as we reached the correct door. Hudson opened and closed his fists. Copper magic pooled in both of Drew’s palms. He caught my eye and nodded. I put both hands on the door and shoved.
The door flew through the air and shattered on impact with the far wall. We ran into the room. My dragon was roaring to get out. Fire bloomed in my chest and sent waves of heat through my body. I scanned the room. No one was there. There were only bookshelves and tables full of strange artifacts.
“I swear he was—”
“Get down!” Drew grabbed both Hudson and I around the necks and pulled us to the floor. Yellow magic hit the side of the door frame where our heads had been moments before. Wood splinters rained down on us.
“Invisib—” Drew gasped. I risked standing.
“Reveal yourself!” I put the weight of command behind my words. The air shimmered straight ahead of me, revealing an iridescent snake as large as a horse. Before I had time to register what I was looking at, it hissed and struck at me. I dove underneath one of the tables. No part of me wanted to find out if those fangs were venomous.
“Shift back!” I commanded. It didn’t work. Something large and white passed by at the edge of my vision. Hudson in his wolf form barreled into the snake. The force knocked the snake back. I jumped back onto my feet, my heart in my throat. Hudson growled and tried to take a bite out of the snake, but his teeth bounced off the scales. Before Drew or I had a chance to help, the snake recovered. He slammed Hudson with his tail. Hudson flew through the air and hit the bookshelf with a crunch. My stomach twisted. Hudson stayed on the ground.
My breathing was ragged. Why did we think a group of students were going to be any match for a fully trained supernatural? I scrambled underneath the tables, trying to find something to defend myself with. A magical blast from Drew ricocheted off the snake. My whole body tingled as the magic barely missed me. It blew apart one of the tables. I grabbed a jagged piece of the table leg and stood.
“Sophie!” An explosion of yellow magic was heading for me. Everything moved in slow motion. Hudson was back in human form, his arm outstretched toward me. Drew’s eyes were full of horror. They were both on the other side of the room. I
