Cobalt’s eyes flashed like lightning. His body went incredibly still—even his mane stopped flowing.
He parted his jaws slowly, revealing rows of fangs. He looked like he wanted to say something.
“Muzo, I—”
Suddenly, Gaius burst into the clearing with a gaggle of camera crew members in tow. The kobolds spread around us in a semi-circle, eager to catch us on film.
“And here we find the dragon in his natural habitat,” Gaius announced, shattering the quiet. “Which is, apparently, having a one-on-one conversation with a contestant.”
Cobalt’s mane spiked into hackles. Tension rippled across his scales and his spine arched in anger.
“What are you doing here?” Cobalt growled at Gaius. The tenderness in his voice was gone.
Gaius sauntered up to the dragon without hesitation. He was lucky to be a close family friend—I got the feeling that was the only reason Cobalt didn’t bite his neon shirt clean off.
“You know the drill by now,” Gaius chided. “You do your thing, we capture footage for the show. You can’t just run off on your own. The cameras see all,” he said, wriggling his fingers.
Cobalt glared at him.
Gaius ignored the infuriated colossus behind him and summoned the cameras closer. He put his arm around me, pulling me into the shot. I grinned and waved.
“Well, folks, the Dragonfate Games are always full of surprises,” Gaius said to the camera in his best hostly voice. “I sure didn’t expect to see our bachelor go full dragon during the second challenge!” He thrust the mic into Cobalt’s snout. “What made you shift, Cobalt? Did this contestant surprise and thrill you with his contribution to Catch the Catch?”
I wondered if that was Gaius’s way of throwing him a bone. Clearly, Cobalt had no interest in the actual challenge, and Gaius must’ve realized the shift had nothing to do with it. But this way, he made them seem connected for the audience.
“Yes,” Cobalt said slowly. I think he noticed Gaius’s intervention too, because it shaved the edge off his irritation.
Gaius nodded. “What you’re saying is, you weresoimpressed by Muzo’s catch that you couldn’t contain your draconic shift.”
“That’s right,” Cobalt rumbled.
“Brilliant! There you have it, folks. If there’s one sure-fire way to decide the winner of a challenge, a spontaneous dragon emergence is it!”
By now, the rest of the contestants noticed something was up. I mean, they couldn’tnotnotice the skyscraper of a dragon in the vicinity. They crept to the edge of the clearing in various forms, still holding their buckets—although some of them had been dropped in shock at the sight of Cobalt’s massive form. For a lot of the other omegas, it was their first time seeing the real him.
Well, his body, anyway. I was pretty sure only Iknew the real him, insideandout.
Two familiar white-haired figures caught my eye. Poppy and Alaric were among the gathered contestants, both in human form now. Poppy lit up, barely containing his enthusiasm, while Alaric examined the non-existent tan on his arms.
“So, Muzo,” Gaius said with a grin. “Care to share what your big catch is? The catch that impressed our bachelorthismuch?” He gestured to Cobalt’s sweeping form.
In the chaos, I’d forgotten to show Cobalt my treasure. “Oh, yeah!”
Cobalt’s long whiskers twitched. He angled his great head curiously. “What did you find?” he asked.
All eyes—and cameras—were on me. I stuck my hand into the bottom of the bucket and pulled out my catch. The snail’s wet brown and gray shell gleamed in the reflected sunlight.
Cobalt’s liquid eyes widened.
Everybody else squinted at the snail. Their confusion was palpable. I heard some contestants mutter that there must’ve been some kind of mistake.
“Ah,” Gaius said, enthusiasm faltering. “That’s... What exactlyisthat?”
It was Cobalt’s growl-laced voice that broke in.
“That’s a Chromatimaeus brackish river snail,” he uttered. His tone was grave, yet brimming with hope. “They’re a rare species that only exists on this island. But I haven’t seen another one in over a decade. I... I thought they were extinct in the wild. Muzo, I can’t believe you actually found one.”
Hearing the excitement in Cobalt’s voice excited me, too. I broke into a huge grin. “Iknewthere was something special about this little guy!”
