Page 44 of Dragon Unleashed

“What was that?”

She takes a big swig of Fiery Fury. “What?”

“Above the Ferris wheel. Something flying.”

“We’re at a supernatural university, chump, half the shifters fly. Me included. Straight to the bar.” She rolls her shoulders and her moth-eaten brown wings morph out of her back with a crack. She flaps unsteadily to the front of the queue. “Performer coming through. Make way, make way!”

Typical singer: high on her own performance. I stare up at the sky above her. That wasn’t a harpy, or a griffin, or anything I’ve seen before. It was massive.

“Gotta go check on the boys, chica.” Chano’s deep voice in my ear makes me jump. “You going to be okay with Naeve and Val?” The boys, of course. The gang gets rowdy on nights like this. There’s a fine line between letting loose and murder on academy grounds. Maverik versus Cuelebre gets wild on Mabon.

Nodding, I turn in his arms. Screw Farrell. Wrapping my arms around the back of Chano’s neck, I press myself to him and capture his lips. Our tongues tangle, and his hands drop lower under my butt cheeks. Finally, we break apart panting.

“Now I have to go give a rousing speech with a hard-on.” He rearranges himself. “Do that again and the boys will have to manage without me.”

I laugh and wave him off.

He’s gone only minutes when I realize someone is watching me. I shiver, glancing around. Probably just some sleazeball. I tug my skirt lower. If I bend over even an inch my ass cheeks are visible. Val is never getting to dress me again. It’s the one thing Icanagree with Farrell on.

We traipse from stall to stall, Naeve happily filling her handbag with unimaginable tat. Who the hell needs seven candles in shit-brown that smell of “wild mountain air”?

Naeve, apparently.

I see the usual love potions and short-term illusion spells…there’s even a potion to make your dick grow bigger. But no matter how many stalls we explore, I can’t shake the feeling of being watched. The news must be affecting me, subconsciously. I never used to be this twitched.

We finally collapse on the hay bales at the edge of the celebrations. The pop-up café here is serving roasted chestnuts. They’re so damn good dipped in salt that I happily burn my fingers on them. And the hot chocolate spiked with rum is to die for. Val’s on her second when I really get the chills. Narrowing my eyes, I peer into the darkness.

This has gone on too long. I know not to ignore my gut. Whipping out my phone, I message Chano.

Lorelei: Someone’s watching me. I don’t like it.

Chano: Go to the center of the party, wait near the stage. I’ll find you.

I don’t want to freak the girls out.

“Going to go meet Chano, you coming?”

“Nah, I saw the way you climbed him earlier. Go have fun.” Val cackles into her drink, spilling half of it on the hay. Naeve rolls her eyes at Val and flaps her hand at me to go.

A few steps later I realize just how far out we’ve drifted in our search for magical trinkets. I concentrate on breathing slowly and focus on the Ferris wheel. The atmospheric lightingis screwing with my head. Every shadow hides a boogeyman. I would kill for a flashlight right now.

I round the last of the stalls and the bonfire comes into view in the distance. I could walk directly through the trees, the way we came…but hell no. I’ve seen too many horror movies.

Speeding up, I take the circuitous route around the trees. The raging bonfire dips out of view briefly, hidden by the shrubbery. Crap, it’s dark. Two giant slitted eyes loom up out of the night and I hiss out a breath.

My training kicks in and I widen my stance, reaching for the handle of my knife. The eyes blink. An illusion? It has to be. Some little turd is playing a trick.

The illusion grunts and I turn and bolt back the way I came, pounding across the grass.

An iron band grasps me around the shoulders, and another around my legs. I’m hefted into the air. In the darkness I wrench sideways, trying desperately to yank myself free.

Claws.

I’m insomething’sgiant claws. I squirm, screaming my lungs out. I rip one leg loose, and freeze, realizing suddenly that I’m hundreds of feet in the air.

Cold air stings my face, and my eyes water. My teeth chatter and my breath catches in my throat. I’m going to die tonight. This is how it ends—falling from a height or torn apart by whatever the hell is carrying me.

A scream wrenches from my throat as I drop from the creature’s talons. I fall for mere seconds, but it feels like forever. I tumble several times on the hard ground before coming to a stop, face pressed up against cold stone. My head aches, and blood trickles down my forehead between my eyes.

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