Dragon Fire Academy 1 First Term an RH academy romance - Rachel Jonas Page 0,79

“Not exactly.”

That piqued Toni’s interest. “Or are you going to break my heart and drop them all?”

“Um … not exactly,” I repeated. “The dragons here do things a little differently than we do back home. Well, some of them do anyway. The warriors,” I clarified. “They, um, form these sort of hives, and the four guys sort of … share a mate. Based on the impression I got from the guys, only one true mate exists for each of the hives.”

Toni’s eyes doubled in size by the time I finished. “And, for them, that one true mate is you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“So, basically, what you’re saying is, you don’t have to choose one of them, because they all chose you?”

I nodded, although, technically, it was Spirit who had done the choosing.

Toni leaned back, resting on her palms. “Whoa.”

“Exactly.”

She was thoughtful for a moment. “Makes you wonder if you were brought here for some bigger purpose doesn’t it?”

I peered up when she asked, but didn’t have any input.

“I mean, that kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?” she continued. “What are the odds of their mate being born halfway across the world, and then somehow landing face first in their laps. No pun intended, I swear,” she paused to interject. “Just saying, I totally believe in kismet, don’t you?”

I smiled at that, but it didn’t come through as easily as it should have, because a wave of nausea hit me hard and fast, seemingly out of nowhere. Toni didn’t seem to notice.

“So, are you guys like, I don’t know, together now or something?”

I was shaking my head before she even finished. “No. I barely even understand how this all works, barely understand what I felt,” I admitted. “All I know is, when I kissed them, it was intense. And it felt right in ways I can’t explain.”

Pushing my fingers through my hair, I noticed I’d begun to sweat, which meant what was known as shifter fever had already set in. It was the main symptom of a supernatural’s first shift, and I felt it coming on all day. Only now, as the clock wore down, mine had spiked even higher.

My eyes glanced toward the time—half past ten—and my heart sank right after. Toni seemed to notice how I stared at the clock, because she reached for my hand.

“There’s still time,” she insisted. “Let’s keep talking about these boys you’ve been sneaking around with behind my back.”

I smiled, but my heart wasn’t in it. My cut-off for going to my designated spot in the forest was eleven o’clock. Deep down, I knew that was cutting it a bit close, but I wasn’t as keen on waiting alone at night since my run-in with the Darkness. Honestly, I wished there’d been another way, someplace I could shift, without having to simultaneously watch my back for the wicked entity that seemed to have it out for me.

On cue, my stomach rolled, and the pain was stifling, too deep to pretend everything was okay.

When I groaned, the grip Toni had on my hand tightened. “What is it? What can I do?” she asked in desperation.

Breathing through it, I shook my head. “Nothing. Just keep talking. About anything,” I urged.

“Uh, okay. The guys, what happens when they find a mate? Do they get married and have a bunch of babies?”

Somehow, she made me laugh despite the pain. “From what I saw, a bunch of babies is eventually one of the side-effects just by default, but if the union they form is anything like my parents’, then a traditional marriage wouldn’t even be necessary,” I shared, having had a firsthand experience.

Toni stared with stars in her eyes, loving the romantic aspect of all this, I guessed. “I wanna be like you when I grow up,” she teased.

The comment brought a grin out of me, but when I moved to rest against the headboard, a powerful jolt ripped through my head, and I cried out in agony.

“That’s it. I’m gonna go get the others, and we’re going to … wherever this secret place is you found, and we’re staying with you whether you like it or not,” Toni declared.

The next second, she was on her feet, tearing out of our room without shoes. She was a woman on a mission, but, as her friend, I couldn’t let her see it through. There was no way I’d let the ones I cared about be around while I shifted. So, for that reason, I had to leave now, while