Page 121 of Balance

He was lying.

“No, she doesn’t.” Why in the world would she like that thing? “It’s not appealing at all. You look like a lumberjack nerd. I told you to get rid of that thing ages ago.”

Titus almost growled, a dark look entering his eyes. “Trust me, shelikesit.” He almost purred as he set the shirt on top of his backpack.

“You’re ridiculous.” Julian crossed his arms. “Bianca has far more refined tastes.”

“I know what I smell,” Titus said. “We need to be ready to fight.”

“What makes you think she likes it?” I raised my eyebrow, unconcerned. After all—we had a real dragon with us. There really wasn’t much in the world that could beat us, and especially not an imitation—and that was if our stalker was even the Snallygaster.

It was unlikely, but Bianca’s panic over it had gotten the beast stuck in my head.

But we would be just fine. I cared more about Titus’s preposterous delusion that Bianca wasturned onby his dorky clothes. Titus knew nothing about arousal.

“It’s none of your business.” Titus straightened, his glare snapped past us and he held up his hand. “It’s coming—”

“Just wait a minute!” How dare he change the subject. “Tell me—”

He growled again, this time the sound radiated from deep within his chest as his gaze moved past us. I sighed.

I wasn’t finished with this conversation, but it seemed as though our stalker was done keeping its distance. The lumbering sounds had grown exponentially.

Julian moved behind me, his back pressed against my own. He threw open his arms, twin obsidian blades in his hands. These were his go-to weapons, wielded throughout his many lifetimes. Where he hid those things in between our lives, I had no idea—he didn’t have the same abilities as Bianca and me.

Yet somehow, he always managed to find them.

“Seriously?” I asked. Why did he have to bring themcamping?

“Mind your business,” he challenged. “We can’t all summon our weapons from the otherworld.”

I nodded, as that was a fair point, and furrowed my brow in concentration. I imagined the solid, lightweight of my katana, and, not even a moment later, I felt the hilt’s smooth leather snugly in my grip.

It’d given up all pretenses of secrecy, stomping through the forest and causing the treetops to shake.

Titus remained unmoved, while Julian tensed, holding his blades defensively in front of him. And I had to admit, my ears perked, and my heartbeat accelerated in the excitement—it had been ages since we’d had a challenging battle, or really had a chance to fight any sort of beast at all.

Most of the interesting beasts had died out a long time ago. It was one of the downfalls of the modern era.

Julian sensed my excitement through our contact. “This isn’t a game. Titus looks worried,” he pointed out.

That was true. The dragon’s aura had pulled in tightly around him, and his stance was braced to move. His knees bent, and all of his attention was spoken for.

So, itwasdangerous after all. My lips curled into a smile.

Perfect.

It had been a stressful few weeks, and I needed something to kill.

The noise growing louder, the creature was finally almost upon us, so close that we could almost see it. A dark shape moved behind the shadows of the forest.

“What the hell is it?” Julian hissed; his voice soft.

I had no answer, because, like Julian, I also couldn’t tell what the creature was. Titus, though, had deepened into his defensive position. He saw something we couldn’t.

“Titus, what is it?” I asked, wariness causing me to hold my weapon at the ready. I hadn’t seen him this disturbed in ages. “Don’t tell me it’s actuallya dragon.”

I was half-joking, because despite what the local legends might say, there was no way a dragon was—