“WHAT?” she yelled back at the warning masculine voice.
“Lookdown.”
She glanced down and saw flames. Reeling back, she dropped the piece of paper, which instantly burnt to ash before it floated down to Graeves’s desk. She patted her arms and her front torso.
Had Graeves justattackedher? Did Ryker’s shirt have the ability to catch fire?What the hell?Nix thought in confusion.
Fear caught in her throat, but the more she tried to extinguish the flames on her, the more she realized touching them did not hurt. Her hands were completely lit with flames, yet her skin glowed healthily under the blaze.
The orange, yellow, and red, lurid flames danced over her skin, charring the uniform shirt and disintegrating the fabric.
In mere seconds, every bit of fabric she wore turned to ash and drifted down to the floor.
Until she stood, engulfed in flames.
Naked.
“Oh, shit,” Bael muttered in awe from behind her.
A loud, commanding growl broke out from the back row of desks.
Were the flames a sign in regards to what kind of shifter Nix was? The only shifter that came to mind that could survive and generate flames was…
A dragon.
“Oh shit,” someone commented. “A female dragon shifter.”
“I thought they were extinct?”
“The dragon clan is going to have to pass her around to keep their population existent.”
A loud snapping sound of metal came from the back row, and Nix looked over to see Ryker breaking his desk and walkingthroughit.
“Nix, run,” Bael told her.
“What?”
“Get to the hallway. Now.”
Nix watched Ryker slowly stride toward her. His eyes were…fully black. “But—”
“GO.”
Naked, with dying flames waning over her body, she sprinted for the classroom door.
A loud roar shook the floor, rattling each desk in the room.
“Hey buddy, how about you calm down—wait—” Bael’s voice cut off, and a loud crashing sound came from behind Nix as she ran out into the hallway.
She ran down the length of the hall, heading toward the courtyard, but Ryker caught her before that.
The second his big, strong arms encircled her waist, she forgot why she was supposed to run.
“MINE,” he growled into her ear. His large, hot palms on her bare hips guided her into position.
His front to her back, he pinned her against the glass-paned window, which stretched from the floor to the ceiling, overlooking the green courtyard.
With his hot, broad chest pushing into her upper back, she gasped against the cool, smooth glass. She palmed the glass to keep her face from pressing into it.
