Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,35
top of the academic building might as well have taken my breath away all over again, and my exhaustion is momentarily forgotten as I gape at our surroundings, my mouth dropping open. It’s well past curfew, and going on the roof is against the rules, but neither of those things has ever stopped Shade in the past, and I’m beginning to see why.
It feels like we can see everything from up here. Below us, the grassy hills and modern buildings of the American campus stretch out like a tiny city. I can see the sculpture garden and the student housing on one end, as well as the lot where our group arrived on the other side. Farther out, the suburban houses of the local shifter community surround the campus, with the outline of downtown Boston visible beyond that. The city is lit up for the night, a sea of twinkling lights and shadowy buildings - inside which, right at this moment, politicians could be deciding the fate of our entire species. The stars are more visible from this far out, and a full moon looms overhead, just above the horizon.
The perfect moon for wolf shifting, I think.
I’m snapped out of my thoughts by the feeling of something crashing into me from behind, barrelling me onto the concrete of the roof and making me let out a little yelp. I struggle to get my feet under me, confused and in a panic, until I turn around and see that it’s only Shade, already in the form of a giant timber wolf, his silver eyes now gold and glowing in the dark. “Too slow,” he says, and I could swear, even though he’s no longer a human, there’s still a teasing look on his face.
“What the hell was that for?” I demand, getting to my feet and dusting off my trousers.
“You’re going to have to do better than that, Boots,” the wolf says. “And here I was thinking you were making progress.”
I set my jaw, giving him a determined smile, and close my eyes, reaching for the magic that I’m only just beginning to get a feel for and letting it take hold of me. It takes a moment to get started, but before long I’m shifting into my wolf form, landing on all fours and staring Shade down with my newly acquired night vision. “That’s more like it,” he remarks, and moves gracefully to the left. Slowly we circle each other, two predators under the moonlight, but there’s a playfulness to it that keeps me at ease.
Shade lunges for me, and I narrowly jump out of the way, struggling to balance on my paws. Thinking fast, I feign to the right, sending him pouncing in that direction before springing the other way at the last second, leaping into him and pinning him underneath me. “Not bad,” he observes, but in the instant that my guard is down, he gets control and rolls me over so that I’m under him, our snouts so close they could touch. There’s something animalistic about it… and alluring.
Overwhelmed by the intensity of it, I find my voice and force some humour. “Okay, okay! Truce!”
“Do you surrender?”
“Okay, let’s not go that far.”
He laughs and gets off me, shifting back into human form easily. I follow suit, and we’re left as people again, sitting side by side on the roof. I turn to look out at the city in the distance, and Shade follows my gaze; for a few moments, neither of us speaks. Finally, I break the silence. “You know, I’m surprised you haven’t said anything about what happened today. With Lyle.”
Shade frowns. “What’s there to say?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Nothing, I guess. It just kind of felt like the others were walking on eggshells with me today, you know?” I turn to look at him. “Is that why you brought me up here? To take my mind off what he said about my parents?”
The wolf shifter clears his throat. “I guess I thought it might cheer you up, yeah.”
“Thank you.”
His grey eyes meet mine. “Good, old-fashioned violence always makes things better. For me, at least.”
I raise an eyebrow at him: the school criminal, ignored by everyone but seeing everything. “Should I be worried?”
He snorts. “Nah. I wouldn’t hurt you, Boots.”
“Glad to hear it,” I reply.
There’s another long moment of silence, and as I stare out at the cityscape, I can feel his eyes on me. That same nervous energy fills me up, sparks flitting up