As we took again to the sky, I fought not to agree with him. Because I had my own fucking problems to solve.
* * *
The gate energy danced over my skin.
I barely noticed it. My focus was on two things—get Fang back from the woman. And put realms between me, and her.
I didn’t come through alone—the assassin Dragon was with me. We’d both shifted to our human forms.
We stepped into a meadow, and I glared toward the building. Off to one side, a Watcher attended to a group of injured. The grasses nearby had been trampled flat. Four Dragons waited for us to step away from the gate before vanishing into it themselves. They gave us curious glances—mostly because of what I carried.
“Think you can lift this?” I handed the skull over to the assassin.
“No problem.” He hefted it with a grimace. “Much heavier than a Dragon skull.”
I supposed he’d have cause to know. Students lounged on the front steps and on the beach along the lake—classes must be in suspension. Didn’t surprise me, as their instructors were otherwise occupied.
Part one of my plan hit an immediate hitch when there was no sign of any green-eyed bitch woman waiting for us in the meadow. She could be anywhere in this godforsaken place.
And yet—even as I had that thought, I got the impression of a structure covered in vines. I was peering out, through them.
What the fucking hell was that about? A weird psychic thing?
“So, are you here to stay?” Talakai asked.
Bloody pushy assassin Dragon. “No. I have to find the Jumper.” When he arched a brow, I growled, “She has something of mine. Then I’m outta here.”
“I see.” His metallic indigo eyes regarded me calmly. “They’ll find you, you know. Brock has eyes and ears everywhere.”
“I’m not staying here,” I snarled.
“Whyever not?” The Dragon shrugged, juggling the skull a bit in his hands. “A place to sleep. Free food. A safety net until Isobel and Brock are stopped.”
“I’m not going to be a shardingstudent.”
He snorted a laugh. “I doubt there’s anything this place can physically throw at you that you don’t already know. And as for the theory bit—well, information is power.”
I glowered at him. “Is there a wooden structure covered in vines around here?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but then his eyes started flashing like mad. His wings sprouted free from his back.
“Gotta go, something’s up.” He thrust his chin toward the forest. “There’s an old arbor about a five-minute walk along the path—it’s part of a derelict homestead. That might be what you’re looking for.” With that, he launched into the air, shifting to Dragon as he did so. He banked toward the building, the skull dangling from his claws.
Did I want to know what was going on?No.I had my own issues, and it was high time I focused on them. Starting with retrieving the one thing I most cared about.
From another that I was determined not to.
Did this vine-covered structure actually exist? I hoped that once I found it, I would find it empty. Because if she was inside it, I was in bigger trouble than I thought.
I gritted my teeth as I embraced my beast and launched in the direction he’d indicated. As soon as I did so, it felt—right, somehow. The sensation was not unlike a tether, tugging on me.
It confirmed that there was no fucking way I could stay in this place.
My beast eyes spotted an old building, half rotten, in a clearing rapidly being consumed by forest. And behind it—a structure covered in vines.
Fucking hell.
I spotted movement outside it, and my lips peeled back in a snarl. I braked just above, folded my wings, and dropped to the ground.
