roads somewhere.” Zeke shrugged.
“I think she’s in a prop plane and flying in,” Ethan said. “The lawn is freaking big enough.”
I shook my head as they continued to theorize and take bets. I simply watched the evening sky and waited.
Eventually, something caught my eye. A figure I couldn’t quite grasp. Whatever it was, it was large, had wings, and was definitely not a plane.
“Holy shit.” Ethan shifted, moving himself a little in front of me. “Uh, does anyone else see that?”
“Yeah,” the guys answered in unison.
The thing was massive. Its wingspan had to be close to a football field wide.
“That’s a dragon.” Isaac gaped as the large creature turned in the air.
“Dragons are real,” Ethan said, stunned. “Dragons are real. Dragons are real.”
I simply stared in awe.
The long serpent-like body was covered in gleaming dark scales. Only, something made the dark scales stand out in the sky. An edge of neon green lined each and every scale along the enormous body. Neon green ridges ran from the back of its head to the tip of its long tail. Long black talons shone on its four feet while large bat-like wings flapped in the fading light.
The creature moved towards the grass to land. Everyone backed up several feet, but before it even touched the grass the body went up in smoke and green flames. The scent of burning leaves filled the air. Everyone stepped back as a form dropped out of the smoke to land on the grass in a crouch.
Heart slamming, I stared as the woman got to her feet.
She was a small Asian woman in black leather pants and vest. High cheek bones highlighted her pretty, triangular face. Her jet-black hair was streaked with a bright green that matched her bright eyes. She walked toward us with a grin. “So, you’re the troublemakers.”
“You’re Jade, I take it?” Uma smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The woman eyed Uma. “You’re a witch.”
Uma smiled with patience. “Yes.”
Jade nodded as if storing the information away for later and turned to me. “You must be the necromancer.”
I nodded, still flabbergasted. “You’re a dragon.”
She grinned, showing her sharp teeth. “Good eye.” She turned to Asher. “Wolf.” Then she turned to Ethan. “You, I didn’t expect.”
My heart slammed as Ethan straightened to his full height. “You know what I am?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Of course. Don’t you?”
“He was abducted and changed,” Uma explained as she moved behind Ethan. “He’s only just started noticing differences in the last few months.”
Jade eyed Ethan with a critical eye. “Yes, I know what you are.”
“Which is?” I asked, hopeful.
Ethan’s hand found mine as Jade turned to me and seemed to size me up.
“Jade?” Uma asked.
The dragon shook her head. “Sorry, I was just wondering what you are to each other.” Jade turned to Uma. “What did you want to know?”
“What am I?” Ethan asked softly, his grip tightening on my hand.
Those piercing green eyes moved back to Ethan. “You’re a phoenix.”
She had answered!
“A phoenix?” Ethan asked.
“A rare species to encounter, even for the length of time I’ve been around, and supposedly extinct now.” She turned to Uma. “How did he change?”
“You’d have to ask his captors,” Uma said. “No one knows what they did, only the results.”
“Phoenix,” Ethan muttered under his breath, a little put out. “Couldn’t be a dragon.”
I bit back a grin as Jade turned back to him.
“Phoenixes were warriors. They were difficult to kill, so they were the perfect fighters that improved over the centuries as they gained experience throughout their lives.” She looked over our heads to the house. “Do you have any food here?”
Food?
Jade walked past us and towards the house. Everyone turned and scrambled to follow.
“So, he can never die?” Isaac asked as we tried to keep up.
“I didn’t say that,” she sent over her shoulder as she opened the back door. “Everything can die, it just takes a lot more to kill him.”
“Like what?” Ethan followed her inside and we trailed after him.
Jade began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. “Being crushed under a landslide would be a slow and painful way to do it. However, the main cause of their extinction was the centuries long hunts that witches held. Chopping the bodies of the phoenix up and keeping them separate would stop them from being able to reform.” She turned to us, a box of crackers in her hand. “Do you have any meat? I need to eat after flying such a distance.”
Asher opened the fridge. “I’ll make dinner while you answer questions.”
She