Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,23

a shot. Especially after watching him put himself at risk for me like he did earlier.

I dig in my pocket for my cell phone as I make my way down the sidewalk and up onto the grassy hill that borders on the parking lot. I end up coming to a halt right where we stopped after transporting yesterday, squinting against the darkness to see if Hunter’s here yet. I’m halfway to sending him a text when there’s the crunching of grass behind me, and I turn around to see the ginger vampire shifter climbing the hill, his hands in his pockets. He’s wearing his classic look of slightly on-edge concern, and it’s endearing; this is clearly a guy who isn’t used to breaking the rules, and he seems as unsure of himself as I am of myself. “Hey,” he says, hunching his lanky shoulders and looking around.

“Hey,” I say, scratching the back of my neck as an awkward silence mounts. Okay, so maybe I didn’t exactly think this all the way through.

“Well,” he says at last, “I’m here, professor.” He spreads out his arms. “Work your magic.”

“Okay, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves,” I reply with a nervous laugh. “Let’s face it - I’m not the best shifter in the school.”

He returns my chuckle with a dry one of his own. “I didn’t want to say anything, but…”

“But we’re going to give this a try,” I finish for him, putting my hands determinedly on my waist.

“I swear, Boots, if this works, I’ll be shocked.”

“I know, I know.” I bite the inside of my lip, debating as to how we should proceed. The first time we worked together, Shade had me start by relaxing and getting in tune with my breath. “Okay, so… close your eyes.”

Hunter raises an incredulous eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“No offense, Boots, but I’m not totally sure how I’m supposed to get in fights if I have to close my eyes every time I transform.”

“Not every time,” I protest, crossing my arms. “Just at first! You need to focus on tuning the world out before you transform.”

He snorts. “Right. Like that’s going to happen.”

“Okay, enough with the surly broodiness,” I tell him, moving to stand in front of him. “Just trust me on this, okay? Close. Your. Eyes.”

Hunter sighs, rolling his eyes, and I raise a hand to his face to smooth his eyelids shut, leaving it there for a moment while I wait for his fidgeting to stop. He reminds me a little of myself, the first time I tried learning how to transform, and I’m struck by an odd feeling. It hasn’t even been that long since my powers first manifested, and now here I am, trying to pass what little I know on to someone else. Talk about the blind leading the blind… literally. But I push the self-doubt away and drop my hand. Hunter’s eyes are closed but still fluttering with anticipation and thought. “Boots-” he begins.

“Not a word,” I tell him, rubbing my chin as I think back to that first training lesson with Shade. “Okay, so…” I purse my lips. “Tell me about your magic. What does it feel like?”

Hunter frowns. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

The vampire shifter shrugs. “I mean… It doesn’t really feel like anything. What’s it supposed to feel like?”

I run a hand through my hair. “Shade told me it’s different for everyone. But you know it’s your magic because you feel it right in the pit of your stomach, just below your tummy button.”

Hunter scoffs. “That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous, it’s true!”

He groans. “Okay, okay, let me think for a minute.” His brow furrows and his hand drifts to his stomach, almost unthinkingly, and there’s a long pause as he struggles to articulate what he’s feeling. “It’s a bit uncomfortable,” he says at last, “like there’s something in there that’s trying to get out. My sister always told me it was probably a stress thing, like an ulcer.”

I stifle a laugh and reply, “Well, maybe that’s your problem. You’ve spent all this time thinking your magic is a medical condition.”

“If your sister was like my sister, Brix, you would understand.”

“Ha. Fair point. Okay…” I take a hesitant step toward him, and then another. Hunter has always been the most aloof and standoffish guy in our group, and as I watch him, I think I’m starting to figure out why: the feelings of inadequacy that he must feel, seeing the rest of us shapeshift with relative ease