Demonic Vampires (Supernatural Shifter Academy #3) - G. Bailey Page 0,34

a jet of flames from her mouth. I dart out of the way and gape at her for a moment, completely poleaxed. So she’s the dragon, I think. But that means…

Oh. Oh shit.

I whirl around, my hands flying to cover my ears as I search the room frantically for Caleb. The realisation has only just dawned on me, but I’m too late; he opens his mouth and lets out an ungodly screech; the soundwaves sending vibrations through the air that are nearly enough to knock me off my feet. He’s transformed already, covered in shimmering green scales. On some level, I’m aware of Jennifer transforming as well, the room palpably heating up from the power of the fire she’s unleashing, but it all seems so far away all of a sudden.

Caleb’s eyes are locked on me, his mouth twisted in what could maybe be a smirk, and blocking my ears might as well be useless. The sound pierces the space around me, digging into the core of my being and twisting up there like a burr, hopelessly tangled in me. I struggle against it for a moment, but it’s no use; he has me wrapped around his finger, and I can feel myself slipping away second by second. The fight drains out of me in an instant, and suddenly I find myself unable to pry my eyes away from him. In that instant, he’s the most handsome, alluring, captivating man I’ve ever seen, and although some part of me knows I’ve just fallen victim to his siren’s song, that part is trapped behind an impenetrable magical wall.

“Come here, Millie,” he commands. “Drop your arms, please.” His voice sounding like honey to my bewitched ears, and I’m helpless to fight it, my hands falling limply to my sides and my legs moving as if of their own accord. I’ve never been on the receiving end of a siren’s magic before; it’s brutal, like being trapped in a glass cage even as your body is manipulated by someone else, and I thrash against its confines like my life depends on it.

For all I’ve learned to harness my siren abilities, I never once thought to practise resisting them.

“Boots!” Hunter yells, sounding like he’s halfway through his own transformation, but a roar from Jennifer silences him, and there’s a thud, followed by the sound of shattering glass. My stomach drops -- did she knock him out the window? -- but then I hear him groan as a melee breaks out between him and the dragon. He’s hurt, I think in a panic.

My muscles are on fire, my brain on overdrive as I scramble to access my magic, to fire something back at him, but it’s like a barrier has gone up between myself and that by now familiar pool of power. It’s as inaccessible to me as Edith is.

Edith…

It takes everything I have just to drag my eyes away from Caleb for a moment, glancing to the left to see what’s become of her. She’s still just standing there, watching it all unfold with Jennifer’s dragon form casting a dark shadow over her. For all her abilities, she’s seemingly useless right now, like a deer in the headlights. Could she have fallen victim to Caleb’s song, too? But that wouldn’t make sense, I realise as my eyes are forcibly brought back to the siren shifter. His commands were directed at me. And if he had control of her, why would Jennifer even need to bother with her?

That’s as far as my thoughts take me before Caleb is speaking again in that ungodly, inhuman voice. “Millie, I’m waiting.”

I shuffle forward, hating how easily he bends me to his will.

“There’s a good girl,” he croons, the sound making me shudder. “Now, I want you to go to the window.”

I do an about-face like a marionette on strings, walking stiffly to the bank of glass windows overlooking the London street; it’s far below us, multiple stories down, and I realise with a sinking feeling that my theory about Hunter wasn’t so far off. There’s no way I’ll survive that fall in human form.

“Open it,” Caleb commands. I’m trapped in my own body as my trembling arms reach out and pull the window open. “That’s right,” he says. “Now, I want you to jump.”

I feel sick. Every movement feels like climbing a mountain. “Please…” I croak.

“Don’t argue with me, Millie,” Caleb tells me. “The sooner you do as I say, the sooner this can be over.”

I slowly approach