Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,21

his face again. “Trust me when I say that doesn’t happen very often.”

“Lucky me,” I mutter, looking up at him defiantly. The height difference is staggering, and I can’t help but feel a little intimidated. “Thanks, Lyle, but I’ll pass.”

“That’s a shame,” Lyle says, taking hold of my upper arm, “because people don’t usually say no to me.”

“I just did,” I snap, trying to wrench free. “You’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to be a project for someone with a hybrid fetish.”

That seems to set him off, and his eyes flash as his grip tightens. “What the hell did you just say to me?” he demands, and a wave of panic shoots through me. We’re far enough away from the main building that I doubt there’s any faculty around, and it’s not lunch yet, so the courtyard is more or less deserted. Fuck. This isn’t where I wanted this to go.

Entitled asshole, I think, still struggling against his hand, which is like a vice around my arm. I can feel my shifter magic starting to flare up again, and I struggle to stay calm in the face of what might happen; I’ve gotten into one brawl already since starting my training. I’m not looking to get into another, so instead I just say, “You heard me.”

“You’re new around here, so I’ll let you off easy,” Lyle says, his voice dangerously low, “but you’re going to learn very quickly that you don’t just get to insult me to my face.”

“Let me go.” I take a step back, but he moves with me, and my heart rate speeds up.

“You first years are all the same,” he sneers. “Someone ought to teach you some respect.”

“Get the fuck off her.” We both whip our heads around to see Hunter stalking up to us, his hair like fire in the midmorning sun.

Lyle raises his eyebrows. “I remember you. You’re that kid who can’t even grow fangs yet. Are you sure you want to get involved in this?”

“That’s funny, coming from an RA in the beginners’ class,” Hunter fires back. “They must’ve held you back longer than me.”

The anger in Lyle’s eyes is sudden and intense, and within moments he’s transforming, his vampiric strength increasing his hold on my arm as his eyes turn red and his fangs extend from his mouth. “You tell me,” he says, rounding on Hunter. “On second thought, maybe you ought to stick around, too,” he adds after a moment. “It sounds like you and your girlfriend could both use a lesson on the way things work at our school.”

He wrenches me toward him painfully, and I cry out. Hunter’s eyes flash, and he lunges for the older guy, slamming into him at full force. I’ve never seen him get this aggressive before, and it stuns me more than the pain in my arm, but Lyle just lets out a barking laugh and shoves him away. His vampire strength is enough to send Hunter flying, landing in a heap a few feet away.

“Hunter!” I yell, my eyes wide with panic. The redhead struggles to sit up, blood on his face, and a rush of anger and fear take me over. The world narrows around me, I feel my magic surge, and I summon the first form that comes to mind: in an instant, green scales are rippling up my arms, my physique becoming svelte and reptilian as I transform into a siren. That seems to throw Lyle for a loop, and his grip loosens for a brief moment, long enough for me to shove him away.

I’ve never done it before, but I’ve seen Landon and Hazel do it enough times to give it the old college try, as they say, letting out a loud, shrill shriek that’s enough to make Hunter clap his hands over his ears. Almost as soon as he hears it, Lyle’s demeanor changes, his eyes going wide and fixing on me at the first sound of my siren song.

Damn, I think, with a touch of surprise, that was cool. Then I turn back to the older student, my eyes flashing with anger. “Get out of here,” I tell him, “and leave us the hell alone.”

I’m not under any illusions that my abilities are on par with Landon’s and Hazel’s, but the scream I managed seems to be enough to get him to follow the basic command, and wordlessly, the vampire shifter turns on his heel, brushing past me and moving with unnatural, lurching steps back