Fur 'n' Fang Academy: The Complete Series: A Shifter Academy Adventure

by C. S. Churton

  We walked in silence for a while, and I let my gaze drift up to the clear sky above us. Yellow stars dotted the blue-black expanse beside a waxing moon. It would be full in a few days, but where before that had meant I would lose control of myself and need to be locked in a cage while the change came over me, now a few simple meditation exercises would ensure I could stay human with only the slightest exertion. One day, Shaun said, that exertion would fade entirely, so that it took no more effort than any other night. But I didn’t mind, not anymore. It was easier to control myself with every shift, even with the remnants of the rage spell in my bloodstream. Perhaps one day that would fade entirely, too – but no-one really knew what to expect. Being unique isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.

  Only, not totally unique – Kelsey bit three others. Well, four if you counted the druid she attacked at Dragondale. But three other mundanes. Two of them were out there right now, running feral. And the third… well, no-one knew what had happened to Ryan. At least, no-one who was willing to defy Draeven by talking about it.

  I pushed the thoughts from my mind. Now wasn’t the time to be dwelling on that. I wasn’t about to ruin a perfect date by thinking about shit I couldn’t even control. Geez, it was like I was determined to sabotage my own happiness. Nope. Not tonight. I stretched up on my toes and kissed Cam. It took him less than a quarter second to get with the program and kiss me back, and everything else melted from my mind.

  My eyes were closed, but I felt the disruption ripple through the air somewhere behind me. Cam stiffened at the exact same moment, and then we broke apart, both staring at the silhouette in the darkness just a few hundred feet from us.

  “Is… Is that what I think it is?” I asked, my voice so low it barely carried above the sound of my own unsteady breath.

  “That depends,” Cam said, his voice a raspy rumble. “Do y’ think it’s a chimera?”

  “Crap. I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. Does it seem bigger than when Martin showed us that picture in class?”

  “Aye.”

  “And does it seem kinda pissed off to you?”

  “Aye.”

  The creature stood taller than any wolf I’d met at Fur ‘n’ Fang. Its body was that of a lion, layered with slabs of muscle beneath its sandy coat. Its tail moved with a life of its own, and I knew if I got close enough, I’d see that it was a snake, complete with serpent’s head at the tail’s tip.

  I had no intention of getting that close.

  It had two heads. One, the head of a goat, stared off into the treeline. But the second, the lion’s head, was staring straight at us.

  “What do we do?”

  We couldn’t shift before it got to us, and I didn’t like our chances against it even if we did. And I didn’t think we could outrun it, either.

  “Back away,” Cam said. “Slowly.”

  That seemed like a good idea. I moved with him, taking one slow step back, and then another. The chimera lashed its tail, and the lion head let out a guttural roar. It turned its leonine body to us and started stalking across the short grass.

  My hands were clammy, but I sucked in a deep breath and forced myself to keep moving slowly and deliberately. I flicked a glance over my shoulder – it was a long way to the academy. We were never going to make it before the chimera reached us.

  And then it broke into a trot.

  Its muscular legs ate up the ground with lethal efficiency.

  “Run,” Cam said, pulling his hand loose from mine. “I’ll hold it off.”

  To hell with that. I planted my feet, ignoring the way my legs trembled. The chimera let out another roar, and my breath rattled in my chest. But I wasn’t leaving Cam to face it alone. No damned way.

  “What are ye doing?” Cam demanded when he realised I wasn’t running. “Go!”

  “Not happening,” I said, setting my jaw. “We’ve got a better chance together.”

  “We’ve got nae damned chance!” He tried to push me towards the academy, but I shook him off. The movement triggered the chimera and it broke into a run, sprinting across the flat ground. The rate it was moving, it would reach us in seconds.

  Cam reached out and squeezed my hand. Fury flashed through me. I had survived every damned thing that happened to me last year – Kelsey, the change, Brad, even Draeven’s judgement – and now I was going to be eaten by a damned chimera. And I’d been worried that I was going to ruin this date.

  The chimera crouched and leapt at us. At me. I threw my hands up, and Cam jumped in front of me. A gust of wind burst from my palms, slamming into them both. They flew through the air and hit the ground hard a few feet from each other.

  “No!” Oh, my God, Cam! The chimera bounced to its feet, and Cam lay twitching in the dirt. His movement attracted its attention and it rounded on him, both heads fixed on his prone body.

  “Get away from him!” I screamed, racing toward the pair. I threw my hands up again, and another blast of air struck the creature, tossing it to the ground a dozen feet away. Not as far, this time, but it didn’t matter. It was far enough to let me get between them. I glanced back at Cam, acidic guilt clawing at me. He was hurt. I hurt him.

  I shook my head and twisted back to the beast. There’d be time enough for guilt later – if we survived. Right now, I had to focus on making that happen. I peeled my lips back in a feral snarl and pushed my hands up in front of me.

  The chimera shook itself off and matched my snarl. Only the chimera’s teeth were a lot bigger than mine. And it had two heads. And claws. And a damned snake for a tail.

  “Get out of here!” I bellowed at it, but in response it just stalked towards us again. I aimed another blast of air at the creature, hitting it square in the chest, but it only pushed the beast a few steps back. I was weakening.

  The chimera roared again, tucked its chins, and forced itself through the gale I was projecting, except gale wasn’t the right word anymore – I was barely even rustling its mane. I dropped my hand, panting with exertion. I was finished.

  “Jade!”

  The voice came from somewhere behind me, between us and the academy. The beast paused, and I took advantage of its distraction, twisting round to see the figure running towards us. Dean. What the hell was he doing out here?

  “Run!” he shouted.

  “I can’t,” I called back. “Cam’s hurt!”

  At my voice, the beast flicked its attention back to me. Shit. It crouched, and then flung itself at me. I threw up my hands, praying for one last gust of air. But it wasn’t air that erupted from my hands. It was a bright orange ball of fire. It struck the lion head square on the snout and the beast howled in pain, swiped a claw at me, then turned and ran for the treeline. My legs trembled under me, suddenly too weak to support my own weight, and I slumped to the floor next to Cam.

  “Jade, are you okay?” Dean asked.

  I twisted back round to see Dean staring at me, mouth agape. I ignored him and focused on Cam. His eyes were a little unfocused, but he was conscious and squinting up at me from the ground.

  “Jade?” he said. “What the hell was that, lass?”

  Crap. So much for not revealing my magic to anyone. But I could trust Cam and Dean, right?

  “Tell you later,” I said. “Let’s get out of here first, before that thing comes back, yeah? Dean, help me get him up.”

  “I’m fine,” Cam protested, but I ignored him and slipped an arm under one of his shoulders. Dean got the other side and we helped him to his feet. He staggered a step, and I grabbed him again before he went down. Good job Fur ‘n’ Fang were so obsessed with strength and fitness. I felt like I’d just run a marathon – twice – but I still just about had enough strength to keep Cam upright.

  “Aye,” Cam gasped. “Might be a wee bit dizzy.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, keeping my face firmly forward so I didn’t have to see the accusation in his eyes. I did this to him, using my magic. And worse, I never even told him I had that magic. I lied to him.
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br />   He stopped moving abruptly, jerking me to a halt. I forced my eyes as far as his chest, and he tucked one finger under my chin and guided it up until my eyes met his.

  “Don’t be, lass. Ye saved my life. I love you.”

  And then his eyes swam out of focus, and his legs gave out under him.

  “Dean!” I shouted, but he was already wrapping his arm around Cam and pulling him up. Between us, we half-carried, half-dragged him across the open field, until the academy’s doors came into sight. Thank God Dean had showed up. Shifter strength or no, I’d never have gotten Cam to safety before the chimera came back on my own. I frowned as we reached the doors.

  “What were you doing out there?” I blurted as Dean shoved the door open with the arm that wasn’t currently holding Cam up. He paused, not looking at me.

  “I, uh… Me and Madison had a fight. I was getting some air and I heard the chimera.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. About you and Madison, I mean.”

  “Yeah. Thanks. Let’s get Cam inside.”

  Cam stirred at the sound of his name, and a throaty groan slipped from his lips. We bundled him into the entrance hall and over to the wall.

  “I’ll get help,” Dean said, lowering Cam to the floor. “You wait here with him.”

  I nodded, and slid to the ground next to Cam. Dean took off at a run, the sounds of his trainers slapping against the flagstones echoing around the corridor. I leaned my head back against the wall and exhaled a sigh that seemed to come right up from my toes. I didn’t think I’d ever felt this exhausted – not even at the end of Underwood’s gruelling training sessions.

  “Jade?”

  I cranked my neck to the left. Cam was watching me, his eyes still a little unfocused.

  “You’re going to be okay,” I said. “Dean’s gone for help.”

  “I’m a shifter, lass. O’ course I’m going tae be okay.”

  He cracked a smile and then winced. I gnawed at my lip, willing Dean to hurry the hell up. Sure, Cam might be fine in a day or two once he’d had time to recover, but he was hurting right now. Because of me.

  “When were y’ planning on tell me about yer magic?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He took my hand in his and squeezed it.

  “Would yer stop apologising already, lass?”

  I bit down on my lip, worrying at it with my teeth. Cam raised a hand to my face and gently teased my lip loose.

  “Shaun told me to keep it quiet. The other Bittens, they have magic, too. From Kelsey. But I should have told you. I’m s–”

  He pressed his finger to my lip before I could get out another apology.

  “Yer’ve been dealing with this e’er since the halfbreed bit you?”

  I nodded.

  “Then I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have seen it.”

  “You’re not angry I didn’t tell you?”

  “Yer must be joking. I’m dating the most badass lass in Fur ‘n’ Fang.”

  “You can’t tell anyone,” I said, my eyes widening and my heart finding the energy to hammer harder in my chest. I was so screwed if this got out. Not least, Shaun would probably give me a dozen extra assignments on the meaning of discretion.

  “Relax, lass,” Cam said, trailing his fingers across my cheek. “I would nae do a thing to put yer in danger.”

  I leaned my head against his chest, listening to the sound of his steady heartbeat. The rest of my life might be going to shit, but at least I didn’t have to lie to Cam anymore. And for some reason, he still wanted to be with me. The rest of it I could handle.

  Which didn’t stop me from wondering what the hell was going on at Fur ‘n’ Fang right now, and whether it had anything to do with those guys at The Sheep and Wolf, and the weird questions they were asking.

  Chapter Fourteen

  By the following morning, Cam’s wound was pretty much healed. I tried to stay with him overnight, but Healer Fenwick had chased me unceremoniously from the med wing and threatened to have Blake chuck me in the dungeon if I didn’t get out from under his feet. I’d been prepared to chance it, but there was a chimera on the loose, and Dean dragged me off to warn the instructors before it chowed down on anyone. That done, I’d sloped off, slept like the dead for eight hours straight, and didn’t wake until Mei had prodded me and informed me the sound of my stomach rumbling was enough to rouse the dead.

  We swung by the med wing, sprung Cam, and made for the main hall before we could find out if my stomach was half as dangerous as it sounded. We were just in time to catch the end of breakfast, which meant no queue, and we had our choice of tables.

  I spotted a lone figure sitting near the back of the hall, and after a moment’s hesitation, I headed over, with Cam and Mei following. Dean made his way over to Madison’s table – presumably to make up for their fight last night.

  “Hey, Leo,” I said, setting my tray down. He started and jerked his head up.

  “Jade, hi.”

  “Mind if we join you? I thought we could go over the case today.”

  And I wanted to see if he’d slip up about where he’d been last night. His frustration at being stuck here had been pretty apparent when he spoke to Underwood yesterday – but could he have been responsible for setting the chimera loose? I wasn’t sure – but I intended to find out. Carefully. Because I didn’t want to get chewed up if he was hiding any other mythological beasts around here.

  “Actually,” he said, getting up and grabbing his plate of half-eaten food, “I was just leaving. Maybe later?”

  He left before I could answer, and I frowned at his retreating back.

  “Something yer said?” Cam asked, scratching his head. I slapped his hand away.

  “Would you leave that alone? If you mess with the healing spell, Fenwick’s going to lock you back up in the med wing. Bad enough our defence team is down one member. And no. I think it was something he said.”

  Telling him what I’d overheard meant telling him about my lessons, but I figured he already knew about my powers, so what was the harm? Mei didn’t, but I was done keeping secrets from my closest friends.

  “There are things I need to tell you both.” I glanced around, but the closest table to us – the one where Dean and Madison were cuddling up like nothing had happened last night – was out of earshot, and everyone was busy with their own conversations. I fixed my eyes on Mei. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

  And then I took the coward’s way out, and stared down at the table, picking up my fork and using it to push some food around my plate.

  “Is this where you’re going to tell us about your magic lessons?”

  I jerked my gaze up to meet her face and took in her vaguely amused expression. I looked to Cam, and his expression was a mirror of my own shock. Mei giggled.

  “You’re not nearly as discrete as you think you are. Did you think no-one would notice you disappearing off every day after dinner?”

  I frowned, because I kinda had. I turned my frown on Cam.

  “Did you notice?”

  “I thought you were going tae yer sessions with Shaun. Were ye not?”

  “Not unless her sessions were in the dungeon,” Mei said, and shrugged. “What? I was curious, so I followed you.”

  I laughed. Of course she had. I should have known better than to underestimate her natural curiosity – and the fact that she was sneaky as all hell.

  “But you know?” I said. “About my powers? And you’re still here?”

  “Us outcasts have to stick together, right? Besides, you’re already a Bitten. I figure this can’t make your status any worse.”

  Well, she had me there. My smile faded. I glanced around again and lowered my voice.

  “I got there early yesterday. I wanted to cry off – but Leo was already there, talking to Underwood.”

  “Underwood?” Cam asked.

  “My instructor. He’s from Dragondale, and he’s a hybrid.”

  Cam let out a low whistle.
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  “Yer don’t do things by halves.”

  “What was Leo talking to him about?” Mei asked.

  “He was pissed off about being here. Running down Draeven. Saying he thought the first year getting loose would be enough to get this place closed down.” I locked eyes with the pair of them. “And then a few hours later, a chimera gets in here.”

  There was absolute silence for a long moment.

  “Does he have enough magic to do that?” Mei asked.

  “I don’t know. But he spent last year at a druid academy, and there’s a druid right here in Fur ‘n’ Fang.”

  “Him and Underwood?” Cam said.

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Because it’s crazy,” Mei said. “A druid instructor walking right in here and trying to bring the place down?”

  “He’d need a massive pair of brass ones,” Cam said.

  “Both him and Leo have plenty of reason to hate Draeven. And you heard what those guys at The Sheep and Wolf said last night. Think about it. If it looks like Blake is losing control of Fur ‘n’ Fang, then it reflects badly on Draeven. Blake answers directly to him. Draeven’s position is already precarious. If someone had been killed last night, it could have provoked enough of the packs to move against him.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “Take it to Shaun,” I said. “We’ve got to. This is too big for us.”

  “Not without any proof,” Mei said. “You know how tense things are between us and the druids right now. If we’re wrong about this, and Blake takes it to the alpha packs, it could start a war.”

  “Shit. You’re right.” I leaned back in my seat. “But Underwood’s going to know something is up when I stop going to his lessons.”

  “So, keep going. What better way to gather evidence?”

  I glared at her. “You want me to lock myself in a room with a man who might want to bring down the academy? Gee, and I thought we were friends.”

  She rolled her eyes at me and took a bite of her food.

  “He’s hardly going to make a move against you when Blake knows he’s alone with you. Besides, what does he have to gain?”

  “Other than removing a potential threat?” Cam growled. “Bad idea.”