hundreds of years of life left to live … can we try for less war?"
She shook her head. "Sorry, no. We don't stop fighting because it's easy. You four have clearly been leading the supes for too long if you're falling back on that political bullshit."
"What about our kids?" Mischa said softly. "You want them to grow up in a world torn apart by a human-supernatural battle?"
Jessa threw her hands in the air looking like she wanted to scream. "What? Is that worse than them growing up in a world where we’re pawns for humans … doing their fucking bidding?" She shook her head. "I won't let that happen. I don't care who I have to go to war with."
She eyed the Compasses, anger and disappointment written across her face, before she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, the door closing on their back porch as she left the house.
There was a stunned silence in the room for many seconds, not that they seemed stunned that Jessa had lost her shit at them, but more that no one really knew what to say now. This was a shitty, sucktastic situation, and there were no good answers. But I felt the need to say my part.
"I agree with Jessa."
Every fucking eye in the room turned toward me, and the power gathered in this small space was enough to make most legs weak. Not mine though. I was made of tougher stuff than that.
Fake it till you make it. Life motto.
"Explain yourself!" Braxton snapped, and it was clear to see that he wasn’t handling his mate being upset, so I didn’t hold that tone against him.
Jacob on the other hand, was apparently very offended, as he shot Braxton out of the house in a rush of wind and water.
"Don't step foot into this fucking house until you get your shit together," Jacob said, his voice low and brimming with the sort of cold rage that was legitimately terrifying. Fire burned hot, but it also died out without fuel. Cold rage though, it could last forever.
A roar shook the side of the house, and it wasn't a roar of anything good or happy.
It was one pissed-off dragon.
In the same instant, Jacob started to vibrate, his body moving at a super-fast frequency by my side. Just as I turned toward him, someone grabbed me and attempted to wrench me backwards.
I hated being grabbed from behind, super-hated it thanks to the men in my past, so I fought by instinct. I had no enemies in this room, but instincts are beyond reason.
"Justice!" Grace hissed in my ear, and I turned to find it was her hands, and Tyson’s, on me.
Another roar ripped through the living area, and at first I thought Braxton was back inside, but then I saw the swirl of dragon surrounding Jacob.
"Hands off her," someone hissed. It sounded like Mischa, but she usually had a very sweet voice. That tone had been harsh and panicked.
"We need to get her away from Jacob," Grace replied in an equally-panicked tone. "He's about to shift into a dragon in the damn living room!"
People were still moving around me, pulling at my arm, but I'd stopped fighting. My eyes locked on the shimmery green energy that was filling the room—if Jacob shifted right here, he'd destroy the house, and probably kill us all in the process.
My ruby energy kicked to life, sending me right at the half-shifted dragon. I slammed into Jacob, hard, and he caught me.
"You have to stop," I begged, even as I resigned myself to the death that would happen if he followed through on his shift. For some reason, my power decided this was where I should be, and I couldn’t find it in myself to disagree.
"Please, Jake."
Eyes that were more animal than human met mine. His nose and face had started to lengthen, and I saw the beginnings of large jaws with razor-sharp teeth. He released another roar, throwing off heat akin to a raging forest fire.
Most of his body had not shifted yet, leaving him as a hybrid human-dragon, and honestly, it was terrifying, majestic, stunning, and … unbelievable.
“How is this possible?” I murmured.
"It's like Braxton, but more," Grace whispered from nearby.
"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice shakier than I would have liked. I mean, I was being held in the arms—very tightly held, I might add—by a hybrid dragon-human. This was a new experience for me.