Page 67

“My mom and my grandfather.”

“All right, but we do this under one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Relax into it. Toss all your hangups and worries aside. Just while we’re in flight. I swear to you, you’ve never experienced anything so liberating and peaceful, if you can employ that aspect while you’re doing it.”

“Okay,” she said, brightly, basically bouncing on the balls of her feet with anticipation.

It was clear that this was a big moment for her, to be approaching her flying this way.

“I’ll meet you back up here in a few moments,” I told her, stepping toward the roof’s edge.

“What? Where are you going?”

“I can’t shift up here. I’ll decimate everything.”

“Oh, right. Of course.” She looked me over in my white henley and maroon leather pants. “How big are you exactly?”

I couldn’t help smirking at the unwitting innuendo she’d just thrown out there.

Screw it, I wasn’t the perfect gentleman, or unflinchingly mature in every single moment.

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

I winked. “You’ll see.”

In the very next second I had her gasping as I dropped off the rooftop without any warning.

She rushed to the edge and peered over frantically, and I laughed heartily at her cute stunned reaction, her first time witnessing a dragon shifter do their thing. Her eyes shot wide as I brought myself to a stop just before hitting the ground, my magical dragon flame glowing a vibrant red beneath my feet and enabling me to levitate there about a foot off the ground, before I swiped it away and my boots touched down on the stone path.

I lowered myself to one knee and brought my fist in front of my face and bowed my head. Then I focused and let the magic of the shift take me.

Red magical flames radiated out, encompassing me, and the sensation of the change rolled through me, infusing every part of me, the magnificent power surging in its incredible intoxicating way.

Obsidian-black scales took the place of my skin, a sleek metallic sheen to them with red runes and gold-etched patterns. My eyes took on their reptilian nature, piercing and fiery gold with an air of menace. Twisted, razor-sharp thorns formed a crown upon my head, marking me as House Titanus. I grew significantly, my shoulders exceeding the height of the second floor of the Academy building. I unfurled my wings, their span one hundred feet and covering a significant portion of courtyard. They were a striking onyx color, the webbing covered in glowing blood-red patterns. I swished my serpentine tail with the jagged spikes. My muscular legs were armored with razor-tipped talons.

A guttural rumble reverberated from my chest as the change completed and I stood there in a dominant stance in full dragon form, watching as Ariana unfurled her own wings and rose up on the rooftop, her gaze fixed on me. Her wings were stunning, rich gold feathers with the edges dipped in the silver of her power.

I pushed off the ground and soared up toward her, flapping my wings, the force of it causing a rush of violent wind all around us.

“Amazing,” she breathed as I reached her, hovering right beside her.

I cocked my head toward the sky and her eyes lit with understanding.

In the next moment, she shot up toward the crescent moon casting an eerie yet soft light through the darkened night.

I followed, giving chase.

Excitement thrummed through me.

And something more.

Something primal, as I chased her, knowing she was far from prey. That she was so beyond that.

Not an outcast or an abomination.

Not to me.