“It’s going to be amazing,” I said.
I turned and looked out at the horizon. The ocean was inky dark, lapping against the shore peacefully in the night air. Above the water, the black sky was dotted with bright stars, which were reflected in the waves—tiny spots of shiny white light. I sucked in salty air.
And then, in the distance, I saw something flying over the water, coming fast, getting bigger and closer with every second.
I stood up.
It was a dragon.
Alastair, I thought immediately.
But Alastair was dead. And as the dragon got closer, I could see that it wasn’t Alastair. It was too dark to make out the color of the dragon’s scales, but it was clearly not him. For one thing, I was fairly sure it was a female dragon. But she was coming at us in an attack pose, claws drawn up, jaws gaping wide.
She blew out a ball of fire, straight at us.
Connor and Felicity leapt out of their chairs.
“What the hell, Penny?” said Connor.
I was tugging off my clothes, heading for the pool.
The dragon was overhead.
I dove into the pool, letting the shift flow over my body. And then I rose into the air, beating my wings to gain altitude.
The dragon was right there.
I roared, blowing out a bit of threatening flame.
The other dragon wasn’t the least bit fazed. She flew straight at me, swiping her claws at my snout in midair.
I evaded her, flapping my wings and moving higher.
She breathed a wall of fire at the hotel.
Bitch. What the fuck was her problem? Who was this person?
I dove into her, grappling with her, digging my claws into her body, my teeth into her scales.
She latched onto me too.
We were eye-to-eye now, and looking at her, I was startled and frightened. There was nothing in her eyes but madness and rage. She was empty in there somehow, like a rabid animal. I had never seen such a lack of intelligence in a dragon’s gaze.
We wrestled in the air, losing height, falling.
We landed in the ocean with a splash.
I sunk under the water, fighting to get back to the surface.
When I did, the other dragon was already in the air again, flying back for my hotel again, breathing more fire.
I rose to the air, going after her.
And then suddenly the other dragon squealed, halting in midair. She flapped her wings a few times in a frenzied attempt to get back up higher. But her attempts failed. She stopped moving. She plummeted, hitting the ground with a thud.
That was when I noticed the arrow in her body.
Shot by a slayer? Where?
I searched the area with my eyes, but it was dark. I didn’t see anyone. I hurled myself through the air for my pool, diving deep into the water to shift back to human form. I couldn’t risk being in dragon form with a slayer around. I had to protect the baby.
When I surfaced, there was a girl standing at the edge of my pool, holding a bow, a quiver of arrows on her back.
Clarke Gannon?
I swam over to her, naked, and treaded water, looking up at her. “You,” I said, venom in my voice.
“You,” she said. She arched an eyebrow. “Still don’t think rogue dragons exist?”
* * *
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