Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,14
the planet in a matter of seconds. It’s truly astounding.
Suddenly, almost as soon as it begins, the sensation subsides, and a warm breeze whips my hair as I look around. The Academy lawn is a world away; gone are the stone benches and old-fashioned buildings of the boarding school, replaced by one of the most modern campuses I’ve ever seen in my life. We’re standing on the curb at the bottom of a gently sloping hill that leads up to a sleek, squat building. Paneled glass windows stretch practically from floor to ceiling, and thin yellow columns support an asymmetrical geometric roof that tilts upward at an angle. Trees line the sidewalk, and as I look around, I see that this isn’t some isolated island like the one where our school is located; in the distance, buildings break up the horizon on all sides. This area seems vaguely suburban, but farther out, I can make out the shapes of skyscrapers, clock towers, and colonial-style municipal buildings. I can only assume that’s downtown Boston, and we’re somewhere on the outskirts. It’s astonishing to me that they would put a shapeshifting academy right in the middle of human society like this, and I wonder if the unrest Hawthorne mentioned has affected the students here in any way.
Josie lets go of my hand and rubs her palm down her face. She looks tired from the exertion, but she handled the teleportation spectacularly, all the same. Her body is still red and glowing with her magic, and she turns around after composing herself for a moment to make sure everyone is here. All around us, I can see other groups beginning to manifest, the witches keeping a careful eye on their charges as more and more students appear in the lot. “I’m heading back for another round,” Josie tells me. “Stay put here until we’ve brought everyone over.”
I nod, and watch as she vanishes in an instant. Off to go collect more students. It’s only then that I realise I’m still holding Landon’s hand, and I our eyes meet briefly; he grins, giving my hand a squeeze before letting go, and I cross my arms as I turn to face the rest of my group. “This is amazing,” Hazel says, her eyes wide as she stares around at the campus. “I wasn’t expecting something so modern. I mean, don’t get me wrong, our Academy is nice and all, but…”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Shade tells her. “It’s stuffy as hell. This is much more my speed.”
“Would you mind at least waiting until we’ve settled in before you start setting things on fire, or whatever it is you do?” Silas asks, rubbing his forehead.
Shade shoots him a look. “No promises, big boy.”
My attention has already returned to the buildings in the distance. “It’s awfully bold of them to put it right in the middle of a city,” I remark. “Aren’t they worried humans will stumble across it or something?”
“Why would they be?” Hunter asks, turning to me. “This is a shifter suburb. It’s obvious—everywhere around here. I’m guessing it’s a gated neighbourhood, too.”
“How on earth do you know that?” Landon asks him.
Hunter just shrugs. “Spend enough time with the mucky mucks of the shifter community and you start to get a nose for these things.” There’s a brief pause, and then he adds, a little gruffly, “Now if I could just get a nose for actual shapeshifting, I’ll be golden.”
At that moment, the group of board members and professors appears on the grass of the hillside, with Hawthorne at the front. He says something to one of the others, and they turn around to assess the assembled students. More and more are manifesting every minute, and before long what seems like the entire student body is crowded on the sidewalk, talking excitedly and waiting for instructions.
“Hawthorne,” comes a new voice from the top of the hill. It’s honey-sweet and crystal-clear, belonging to an attractive, dark-haired woman dressed in a blue uniform, not unlike our own, that matches her ocean-blue eyes. “I’m glad to see you all made it here okay.” Her accent is distinctly American, with an unmistakable East Coast twang. She sweeps us with her gaze, clasping her hands in front of her. “I knew there would be a lot of you, but I wasn’t expecting quite this many.”
“We’ve brought along all our students,” Hawthorne replies. “If that’s going to be a problem, though…”
“No, not at all,” she replies, shaking her head. “We actually just remodeled,