Page 64 of Jace

She was looking at a before and after topographical map of her land and Bard’s in stages.

In the first stage, the mountain and forest were as they were right now.

In the second, the terraforming machine had removed all the trees and topsoil on both parcels.

In the third, the whole top of the mountain had been carved away, creating a massive plateau.

Bard Wynyx was planning to destroy the whole forest.

And when the topsoil was gone, he was clearly planning to buy her out since she wouldn’t be able to farm here.

When that was done, he would take the whole top off the mountain, leaving him a huge, flat surface to do whatever he liked with.

What she had here was enough proof to stop him, if she could get to the town and involve the law.

But it looked like this programming could be enacted at any moment. And leaving her land would probably be the best time for Bard to do it, so he could avoid hurting anyone, and also claim that he hadn’t known what it was doing and that she hadn’t been there to tell him what was happening.

If she wanted to solve this, she had to solve it herself.

She tapped on the program screen.

But before the hologram could bring up the command center, the whole screen flashed green and there was a sound like a thousand engines roaring to life at once.

“Susannah,” Jace yelled.

“It’s starting up,” she called to him, frantically tapping the screen but unable to get it to react. “It’s running the program. It’s going to take every tree off this mountain.”

She was getting ready to jump from the perch when she noticed something happening to Jace that froze her in place.

His outline was shimmering and shivering with life, as if he had blurred the lines between himself and the air around him.

As she watched, he seemed to stand up.

But that couldn’t be right. He was already standing.

Before her mind could register what was happening, the air moved around her with the flapping of massive green wings as Jace grew taller than the height of the perch.

The terraforming machine lurched forward, and she had to cling to the bar so as not to be thrown.

The dragon above lowered his mighty head and fixed her in a familiar, icy-blue gaze.

“Jace,” she breathed, knowing she should be afraid, but feeling anything but.

27

Jace

Jace closed his eyes and let the dragon surge to the foreground.

He was only supposed to shift to protect his homeland, but he was certain the Invicta would understand when he reported back.

After all, his mate was his true home. And this forest was to be their new homeland.

Though it had been a long time since his last shift, there was no hesitation. The dragon burst from him, and he could feel himself fading backward as the world slammed forward.

His senses expanded so that he could hear birds thousands of meters away, and scent the tiniest fish in the creek.

The earsplitting rumble of the vile machine starting up had the dragon moving instinctively for his mate.

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