Page 114 of Spark of Sorcery

“You know whereabouts in the forest she goes?” Dray asks.

“Yep,” Fly says.

“Then show us,” Dray gives him a little push, “and pick up the pace.”

We sprint along the pathways, the boy struggling to keep up with us and the girl left far behind. Out on the field, we wait for him to catch us up.

“Whereabouts?” Dray asks.

“She usually goes off that way, towards the east of the forest.” The boy hunches over his knees, catching his breath. “It’s more hidden from the academy in that direction.”

Dray yanks off his sweater and toes of his sneakers, leaving them abandoned on the field. He starts sprinting out onwards the forest, his sweatpants ripping in half as his body morphs from human form to wolf, four solid paws soon hitting the ground.

In this form, he’s a hell of a lot faster than me and Thorne, disappearing into the trees before we’re halfway across the field. We chase after him and find him standing still under the trees, sniffing the air, then the ground, then the air again, then walking in a zigzag fashion, sniffing all the while before spinning in circles and retracing his steps. Then he halts. His tail flicks up straight and his ears flatten on his head. Nose to the ground he trots through the trees, his path direct at first, then once we’re deep in the forest, it becomes more meandering. Then he stops, peers up at us and growls before his nose hits the ground again and he pads through the trees.

He stops again and immediately I can see why.

There was some kind of disturbance here. It’s clear from the trampling of the dead leaves on the ground something rolled through them or kicked them about.

Dray growls again, only this time it’s sinister and deadly – making my blood run cold.

Together Thorne and I step forward to examine whatever the wolf has found.

“Fuck!” I say, dropping down to crouch. Blood – splattered across the ground and over the leaves. I reach out and touch it with my fingers. It’s not fresh, but it isn’t old either.

“She was hurt,” I say, peering up at Thorne. His eyes are fixed on the blood on my fingertips. “I can’t see a trail of blood,” I say, “which means she either patched herself up or someone moved her.”

“Can you track her from here?” Thorne asks the wolf.

He sniffs, then snarls, his nose crinkling up in disgust.

I peer at Thorne. What the hell does that mean?

But then Dray is moving through the trees again and we’re scrambling to keep up.

He leads us out of the forest, and across the field.

Her two friends are crouching on the ground, still catching their breath.

“Did you find anything?” the girl asks, adjusting her steamed-up glasses.

“Looks like it,” I say, gesturing to the wolf and then running after him as he weaves along the pathways.

It causes an inevitable commotion. Some people scream when they see the wolf bounding along the pathway, others scatter and the rest stand and stare.

“Where the hell is he going?” Thorne hisses, as a group of clueless girls giggle as we race past them.

Dray takes us right through the heart of the academy and out the other side, to a modern building that squats to the north, hidden by one of the large towers. The shadow weaver clinic. I’ve had no need to visit the clinic since my arrival and its shiny and modern appearance surprises me.

What surprises me more is that someone brought Briony here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s where I would bringher myself. Where any of us would if she were too hurt for us to heal her ourselves. But she wouldn’t be brave enough to come herself, and what other shadow weaver would bring her?

Dray transforms back into his human form. His long white hair is damp with sweat and so is his body. He’s also completely fucking naked, not that he cares. He pushes against the door, steps inside and strides straight up to the reception desk, large cock swinging between his legs.

The eyes of the young receptionist on the other side of the desk nearly pop right out of their sockets.

Dray isn’t in a flirting mood today, though. He leans over the desk and fixes the dude with a menacing glare.

“Briony Storm – is she here?”