by Amelia Jade
“So?”
The fierce-looking man reached out and flicked him on the forehead. “Use this and figure it out.”
He turned and moved back into the circle.
There was a swirl of yellow-green gas that abruptly expanded, and then it dissipated just as quickly to reveal the massive green dragon. Wings swept wide, over fifty feet in either direction, and with a powerful flap of his wings and a spring from his legs, Blaine leapt into the air with a grace and agility that Asher would never match.
Asher watched him go, his mind in a daze.
Had he just been recruited into Top Scale?
The world spun around him and he dropped to one knee to balance himself, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.
“Hey Asher, heard you tried to flew the coop, but that you chickened out at the end?”
Uproarious laughter followed as Sterling Muggrin went by. Asher rolled his eyes at the gryphon shifters. He wasn’t interested in fighting. Not now. Normally he would have words for the gryphon, but today everything else was secondary.
He managed to make his confused way to the nearest café, Morrte’s Delicatessen. Morrte was a good friend of his. The wolf shifter nodded in his direction as he entered. Asher threw himself into one of the carefully constructed and reinforced seats, knowing it could take it. He remained there, hunched over the table, his mind far away, until someone shoved a cup of delicious-smelling coffee in front of him.
One of the finest human inventions, that.
He took a big sip of it, feeling his mind almost instantly kick into overdrive.
“Thanks Morrte,” he muttered, then looked up in surprise when the owner sat in the chair across from him.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Ash. Something wrong?”
The dragon shifter shook his head. “No. Actually, somehow, I think it’s the exact opposite.”
“What do you mean? I thought you got busted trying to leave last night.”
“I did,” he said in amazement. “And then someone sought me out this morning.”
“Who?” The owner leaned in close, curious to know what was going on with one of his good friends, Asher figured.
“Blaine Wingstar.”
Morrte sat back in his chair, jaw wide open. “You’re joking.”
Asher shook his head. “He told me there’s a new class being formed at Top Scale. He told me the time to be there.” He looked up at last, meeting the beady brown eyes of his friend. “I think I was recruited.”
“Holy shit,” Morrte exclaimed. “That’s amazing, Ash!”
“Shhh,” he said. “Keep your voice down. I don’t actually know what he meant.” He proceeded to tell his friend about the encounter.
“Yeah, that means you get your ass there at eight, Ash. Oh, and a helpful tip?”
“What?”
“Don’t be frigging late to this, like you are for everything else.”
Asher glared at his friend, downing the rest of his coffee. “Thanks for that, Morrte. Appreciate it.”
Top Scale Academy. Him. The place where bumbling dragon shifters were transformed into the elite. Every few years, the Wing Commander took in several students, though there was no set schedule. Only when he felt it appropriate.
His attempt to leave Cadia had somehow resulted in him being recruited into the most prestigious shifter school there was. Each race had one, but Top Scale was above the rest, and it wasn’t even close. There he would learn how to fly properly. To become adept at aerial combat.
Asher would learn how to be a true dragon, and unleash his breath weapon—like Rhynne had done so the night before—for the first time with effortless ease.
Graduation from Top Scale would allow him to be free. To travel to other shifter territories, and to visit the human cities. No restrictions would apply to him.
There was even the possibility that he might be chosen to become a Guardian like Rhynne. Tasked with patrolling the borders of Cadia, to ensure untrained shifters—like his current self!—did not leave Cadia.
But more importantly, to keep the nosy humans out.
Asher snorted, and decided that at the end of the day he was going to head up to the mountains again. This time though, he was going to stop at the hot springs. A massage would be just the thing to ease his suddenly elevated stress levels.
Chapter Two
Quinn
She slithered forward with as much stealth as she could manage, easing aside another plant bush. The dampness of the earth around her was cold, leeching the heat from her body, but it was necessary. It helped keep her temperature down, and it also confused the scent. All of which would be invaluable when it came to keeping her disguised from predators.
And out here, she was up against the wiliest of them all. Coming through the mountain pass, she knew what lurked up here. Big, agile, powerful, and cunning monsters.
Snow Leopards.
Siberian Tigers.
Frost Dragons.
This was shifter territory, and she was trespassing. Although the treaty between shifters and humans laid out nonlethal punishment for humans that trespassed into Cadia or one of the other enclaves, everyone knew in practice that the shifters didn’t play games. They liked their privacy, without being watched. Ever since they had revealed themselves nearly two hundred years before and won their territory from the fledgling—at least in this part of the world—human governments, they had kept their borders closed to all but a select few humans. If she were found inside, they would do with her as they pleased, and plead ignorance. Humans weren’t supposed to enter, so what was the human government going to do? Say they were sorry and to please give her back? No, she would be on her own, and at their “tender” mercy.
Cadia was the largest of these she knew. By some estimates there were over ten thousand residents in the thousands of square miles that encompassed their territory. It was, without a doubt, the single greatest concentration of shifters on the planet.
And she was going to use that to her advantage.
Nobody is going to belittle me anymore! Not when I have a Natural Wildlife-winning photo to my credit. Then I’ll be able to do whatever I want.
Something stirred up ahead, and Quinn allowed herself to sink lower into the wet ground, trying to become part of it as noiselessly as she could. The sound of a big animal moving through the brush was audible over the pounding of her heart. She knew shifters had augmented hearing, but Quinn had chosen her night well. She was downwind from Cadia, and it was a strong breeze. The rustling of branches and the howl of the wind should serve to conceal the sounds of her breathing, among other things.
Hopefully.
After a moment, there was a low growl and the animal moved on. Quinn wasn’t sure if it had been a snow leopard or one of the fiercer, and rarer Siberian tigers that was going by on patrol, but this close to the border she didn’t want to risk anything. She remained still for another half an hour, just in case the animal was laying a trap.
When there were no more signs, she continued her slow crawl. This was the worst part, where the path narrowed precipitously between two steep cliffs. The mountains closed in, and it was easy for a single creature to patrol the entire area. Once she was past this section, it expanded again, as did the river, according to the few satellite images she could find.
Thunder cracked overhead and Quinn forced herself to stifle a gasp of surprise. She had seen the clouds moving in, but the forecast had not predicted any storms. Minutes later, rain began to filter down through the treetops. Goosebumps rose across her exposed skin, and down her spine, but she knew this was going to work to her advantage.
The water around her swelled even as she slid forward, turning the wet depression into the water runoff that she had expected. It rose until an inch of water was flowing past and around her, dragging her temperature down yet more. She would have to be careful about hypothermia. Only another mile, she hoped, and she would be clear enough to find a place to hunker down and sleep o
ff the night.
Hopefully.
The flow of water increased, and she began to grow nervous as one inch became two. If this kept up, her hideout was going to quickly become flooded. She was already taking enough risks trying to sneak into Cadia without papers—those had been denied to her in routine fashion—and the last thing she needed was something that might make her sick, and need to seek out attention. The plan was supposed to be to get in, get her picture, and get out, all within a day or so. Anything more was playing with fire.
She heard another noise, this time from behind her.
Oh no. The wind is still blowing that way. If they can scent me I’m screwed!
Gritting her teeth against the cold, Quinn allowed herself to slide fully into the water, spreading her limbs out.
Nothing happened.
Come on, come on!
The rain increased in frequency, beginning to hammer down through the leaves. In the sky lightning flashed. She was on her back, feet facing downstream. With her head craned behind her, Quinn got a glimpse of a bone-white form well behind her, with its head facing the other way.
The water under her rose some more.
Please. Please keep rising! Please, take me away.
The large head swung ponderously in her direction, the Siberian tiger surveying the little runoff ditch. Another few inches and it would be staring right at her. Quinn fought back her panic, trying to still her frantically beating heart as all her carefully laid plans appeared to go up in smoke. Along with possibly her life.
Just before intelligent animal eyes reached her, there was another flash of lightning. The tiger jumped, looking in the direction the flash had come from. Quinn clapped a hand quietly across her mouth, trying not to scream.
A surge of water came downstream and the tiger stepped back, shaking its paw to try and rid it of the wetness. It hit Quinn and she immediately felt herself begin to float. The increase in the flow of rain had finally reached the ground and it was swelling the stream rapidly now.
Once more the tiger’s head turned her way. Quinn held her breath, looking indirectly at the animal in hopes that it wouldn’t realize someone else was nearby. It growled and tested the air slightly. Every muscle in her body tensed, ready to try and make a run for it if she was spotted.
Shit.
Its head turned back upstream and it padded that way, trying to avoid splashing itself with too much water. She let out a slow sigh of relief.
The tiger stopped moving, head going back and forth as it tested the air. Quinn’s lungs stopped working.
It knows something is out here. It knows I’m somewhere; it just hasn’t found me. Please go back upstream.
The water underneath her had pooled enough around her body, which was acting like a dam, and suddenly Quinn felt herself move several inches downstream.
A deep growl rumbled out from the tiger, its white form easily visible in the dark. Quinn knew that in the wintertime she would never have seen it until it was too late, but in the midsummer, it stood out easily.
Not that it will matter if it spots me. I can’t outrun it.
The tiger turned back downstream at the same moment the water swelled high enough to allow her to clear whatever obstacle had blocked her progress. Now Quinn slid somewhat swiftly along the rising riverbed, until at last she disappeared around a bend, out of sight, and hopefully untraceable by scent either.
That was too close.
She almost said the words out loud, but caught herself in time. Absolute silence, as best a human could manage it, was the name of the game for the remainder of her time here. Not for the first time she gave thanks to the rain for covering her tracks and giving her an escape. As she floated, she ran through some breathing and mental exercises to try and bring herself back to a more normal state. She didn’t want to be too worked up about what had almost happened, otherwise she might make a critical mistake later on…
A cry of surprise rose from her lungs as she suddenly was swept over a waterfall into a mud pile that scattered her nice river ride all across the landscape. Quinn looked around in a panic and shoved her back against the ledge over which she’d tumbled. The water was moving fast enough that it actually created a small space behind it where she could try and hide her presence from anyone that had heard her. The rain was still lashing away at the land, and thunder rumbled almost constantly. She hoped desperately that it might have concealed her outburst, but she couldn’t take any chances.
Huddled there, she screwed her eyes closed and rocked back and forth, not for the first time questioning whether she was being smart, or stupid. The shot she wanted would catapult her to stardom, of that she was sure. But was it worth her life?
Yes. Anything for the shot.
That had been her mantra coming in, and she was determined to stick it through now. After another half an hour of huddling under the waterfall, she took her chance and crept out once more.
She was going to see Cadia, and she was going to get that photograph.
End of story.
***
Night had fallen completely. Because of the presence of the tiger, Quinn had decided to push on through the night, putting more distance between herself and the border than initially planned. She felt her way along, moving slowly, but constantly moving.
The ground underneath her gave way without warning and she tumbled down a hill, rolling to a stop inches away from a pool of water that steamed even in the near absolute dark of night. The rainstorm had moved on, and the skies cleared up. The faintest hint of moonlight reflected off the mist, allowing her to slightly make out her surroundings.
Heat roiled off the bubbling pool, blasting her chilled body.
“That was close. Hopefully nobody else heard it,” she muttered, unimpressed with herself.
Her eyes went wide and she mashed her lips together. Idiot! You can’t speak aloud.
“Unlikely,” a deep voice rumbled from farther into the pool, its owner masked by the swirling mists. “After all, besides you and me, there is no one around us.”
Quinn froze, a tiny squeak of terror the only sound she made.
The sound of nostrils testing the air reached her through the night.
“Interesting,” the bass voice continued. “What is a human doing here? Are you lost, little one?”
“W-W-Who are you?” she stammered out, trying to contain the shaking of her limbs.
Her terror was contributing partially to the shakes. But Quinn hadn’t realized just how cold she was until the heat of the bubbling water gave her a comparison point. Now it was clear to her that she had allowed her body core temperature to drop too far.
“The real question,” the mysterious voice said, “is who are you?”
“M-My name is Quinn,” she said, pleased to have cut one stutter from her voice.
The voice hadn’t killed her outright, and unless she missed her guess, it was more intrigued than it was angry. Perhaps if she could spin a good enough tale, it wouldn’t rip her limb from limb for fun, like stories she had heard about. Quinn vowed then and there she would say or do whatever it took to get out alive.
“Hello Quinn,” the seductively smooth voice said, continuing to speak from where it was hidden among the midst. “Why are you in Cadia?”
She thought furiously, hoping that the voice would assume it was her fear that was preventing her from answering immediately.
“I’m trying to find my mother,” she said at last, trying to make it sound like she was reluctant to give him her real reason.
“And why are you looking here?” the voice quizzed, sounding intrigued.
“She had papers to come into Cadia. I don’t know why; she didn’t say. She vanished after a month, and now there are no records of her having papers, or ever having been here. I tried to get my own papers to come see her, but they’ve been denied over and over again.” That last part was true, even if the reasoning behind it was false, so it wasn’t a complete lie at least.
“I see.” There was some splashing, and she assumed whomever it was, was coming closer.
Quinn braced herself for the inevitable. She had tried, but it was too late. Her legs began to slowly back away from the edge of the pool.
“That’s enough of that,” the voice said sternly.
And the owner of it emerged from the shadows in front of her, faint white illumination allowing him to be seen.
Quinn gasped.
He was gorgeous. Tall, muscular without being too bulky, yet incredibly defined as well. She could have washed her soaking wet clothing on the abs that seemed to ripple downward forever…
Her throat constricted quickly as she realized he wasn’t wearing any clothing.
“Ah,” she stumbled, looking away.
The big man frowned. “Is there a problem?”
She looked back just enough to meet his eye, willing her own gaze not to stray lower.
“I, uh, just wasn’t expecting you to be quite so, um, ah…” She stopped speaking as words failed her.
Her words got through to him as he looked down at himself.
“My apologies,” he said politely and disappeared into the dark, reappearing a moment later with a pair of pants on.
But still no shirt, leaving his chiseled form clearly visible. The pants, she saw—unintentionally of course—were soaking wet and clung to him in…interesting ways.
Oh my.
Tearing her eyes away she looked up. His broad pecs were sprinkled with just a faint amount of hair, giving him that distinct “manly” look that made so many women—including Quinn—bite their lips.
Which is exactly what she was doing just then.
Shaking her head, she met his gaze. Blue eyes so light they were almost a snowy white looked back at her. His jaw was scraped clean of facial hair, and the brown hair on his head was soft and downy-looking, several inches in length but swept out of the way.
“Asher,” the man said, sticking his hand out.
“Quinn,” she said, repeating her name for lack of anything better to say.