Page 129 of Centaur Bolt

And then I blinked.

I was on my hands and knees—my usual four-point landing. The lake stretched before me, the bench to my left. The serene water was lit by the moon rising on the horizon and the lights lining the drive near the academy.

It was just getting dark here. Surely we’d already gone past sunset when I’d Jumped to Marcus at the pond? Time suddenly had no meaning.

Marcus groaned. I crawled to lean over him, and he raised dazed, gold-shot eyes to me. They flickered with amethyst—Iskar must be working hard to bring him back to normal.

But he was alive, and safe. I’d done it—I’d brought him back. But I needed my own inner Gryphon, because yellow scales chased along my arms. I swayed as a pulse of heat swept through me, and the world tilted.

The Watcher lay as if dead, but as I rose and took a shaking step toward her, I saw figures approaching us at a run from the academy entrance. Cara, followed by Bess.

My arms were now completely scaled, and my fingers had sprouted talons. With Marcus safe, my thoughts were on Havoc. I couldn’t leave him there. I didn’t think I had another Jump in me, and Cara would likely agree. I shook all over, and my skin felt as though it were on fire. She’d surely try to stop me—

My panic was real. I ripped the last packet of rolled leaves from my pocket and swallowed the dust in one gulp. And then I grabbed for imagery that wouldn’t land me right at the enemy’s feet and embraced the white noise…

Snap.

It felt as though every cell in my body was torn apart, and then stitched back together.

I face-planted on the path to the cottage, surrounded by bush. A frantic glance showed that the curvy woman and Finn stood with their backs toward me, and the other three had joined them. Their hands were raised, and they had their red power lancing into the sky.

Their focus was so absolute that my arrival went unnoticed. Their red-hued energy hit both Havoc and the Dragons he fought. Two scaled bodies, torn and bleeding, already lay on the ground. But there were too many remaining in the sky for my Dragon to fight, especially while he was being blasted by the power. And as I watched, the other Dragons were tangling him in a net…

Panic and rage overwhelmed me, and something deep inside rose in response. In an instant, I rolled on the ground, writhing in pain as my borrowed beast seized control. My arms and legs thickened with great ropes of muscle, the bones expanding as scales chased across my skin.

I’d neverhurtlike this before. It made shifting from Dire to human seem like child’s play. I gasped, trying so hard not to scream, as with a final explosion of agony, wings burst free from my shoulders.

Wings. Fuck. I hadwings.

As the last scales clothed my tail, my gaze fastened on the fighting far above me. My Dragon form wasn’t large—no way I could help in the fight. But I wasn’t helpless, either. Not anymore. I flexed talons that shone in the last light of the dying sun and spread my wings.

The first flap accomplished nothing but a dust cloud. I gritted my razor-sharp teeth, crouched, and leaped upward, focusing hard on spreading my wings. The membranes between them cupped the air, and suddenly, I was aloft.

But hardly in control. I spun and tilted and raked my hind legs through the branches, sending leaves flying everywhere. With my gaze fastened on the Dragons fighting far above, I struggled to remain airborne. How the hell did birds fly?

My frantic flapping had not gone unnoticed. A green Dragon swung toward me, evaluating me as friend or foe.

I was definitely foe, damn it. But I would be far more impressive if I wasn’t spinning in midair. So far I hadn’t crashed, but that was all that could be said for my efforts.

He soared over me, and I saw his head crank around so fast his body almost jackknifed. His nostrils flared—

And suddenly, I knew what I had to do. This wasn’t about teeth and claws. It was aboutscent.

These dudes lived in a sensory world foreign to me, but my new nose gave me insights—I caught the green Dragon’s spicy aroma, and my beast responded.

It wanted to run. To dare him to chase.

I ignored my lust-sick Dragon and swung away from him, flapping hard toward where Havoc battled. His hindquarters and one wing were entangled in the net, and it hampered his flight enough that he’d dropped lower in the sky.

I locked my gaze on him, and flapped hard. The green Dragon rolled in behind me. And one of those fighting Havoc broke away, swinging his head toward me, nostrils flaring.

That was the exact moment when Havoc spotted me.

He twisted immediately toward me, but the Dragon holding one corner of the net yanked, flipping Havoc’s hindquarters around.

Red energy came at me from the ground, tearing through my body on a wave of pure agony. I screamed and began to drop, my wings flapping without coordination.

With a shriek of pure rage, I saw Havoc rip free from the net and then tear straight through the Dragon holding it. He appeared through the resulting fountain of blood, folded his wings, and dove.

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