Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,25

so excited before; his face is lit up like a kid’s on Christmas. “Holy shit! Boots, it worked!” And just like that, he pops back to normal, his fangs receding and his eyes going back to blue in an instant. “Damn,” he says, and I can’t help but laugh.

“You did it,” I tell him.

He’s practically glowing with pride, his eyes wide with excitement and an exuberance I’ve never seen on him before. “I thought I was a lost cause,” he says quietly, staring at me.

“Nobody’s a lost cause,” I reply, and before I even realise what’s happening, he’s leaning forward, taking me by the back of the neck and pressing a quick kiss to my lips. Heat builds up in my body, a blush rising rapidly in my cheeks, and when he pulls away, he leaves me swaying on my feet.

“I… Sorry,” he mutters, looking at the ground. “Impulse.”

“Turnabout’s fair play,” I tell him, and kiss him back. This time it’s longer, less cautious, and I can’t help but let my arms creep around him as the vampire shifter pulls me close, his lips exploring mine with both sweetness and trepidation. It feels strange, but in a good way… It feels right.

Finally, we pull away from each other, each looking sheepish, and I clear my throat. “Well, I think that’s probably good for one night, wouldn’t you say?”

“That’s more progress than I’ve made since I started school,” Hunter says earnestly, and grins at me. It lights up his face, and I’m struck by just how rare and beautiful it is when he smiles. My heart beats faster, and for a moment I forget how to use my legs.

It’s not until he begins to head back towards the school that I’m able to pull myself from my trance, feeling both exhilarated and hopelessly confused.

Chapter 10

The fact that we only had three days of classes at the American campus before our first weekend in Boston is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because, let’s face it, I’m not someone who’s used to plunging into anything headfirst. Ironic, I know, considering that I spent most of my life moving from new school to new school, but there it is. It’s a curse because that means we won’t get any downtime during our first weekend here—something I could desperately use right now. It’s not even a question of being rundown from the travel, which I am, but a question of where my head is at; in the aftermath of what’s happened with me, Lyle, and the rest of the guys, I could use some time to parse through everything before being plunged headfirst into the shifter-human conference. But that’s not going to happen, apparently, and on Saturday morning I find myself being roused bright and early by the bell, an automated sound that stands in sharp contrast to the chiming of the clock tower back home.

Groaning, I fling the sheets off myself and sit up in bed. My room is on the left-hand side of the suite next to Silas’ and Shade’s, with Landon and Hunter taking the others. As I poke my head out my door, my hair slightly mussed from sleep, I see that Shade and Landon are already dressed and seated at the kitchen table. “She rises,” Landon exclaims, grinning when he sees me. “We were wondering if you’d died in your sleep.”

“I might as well have,” I protest, running a hand through my tangled locks and stretching my arms up over my head. “What time is it? Seven?”

“Seven-thirty,” Landon replies. “We’re supposed to head straight out to the quad as soon as we’re dressed.”

“What, no breakfast?” Shade asks, crossing his arms. “This is just getting into torture territory, if you ask me.”

“Thankfully, no one did ask you, Ivis,” comes Silas’ voice from over my shoulder. I turn to see him emerging from his room, eyes still clouded with sleep. There’s good humour in his tone, though, and he gives me a very subtle wink as he heads into the kitchen alcove. “God, I need some tea.”

“You’re out of luck,” Landon tells him. “We’re in the States, remember? They don’t believe in tea.”

Silas groans, rubbing his hands over his face. “Seriously? Coffee makes me sick to my stomach.”

“Aren’t you precious,” Shade mutters dryly, leaning back in his chair. Silas just shoots him a dirty look over his shoulder as he fumbles with the coffee machine, leaving me to retreat back into my room and get dressed. The sound