Slowly, she uncovered her eyes and opened them, letting them adjust, before taking in the world around her.
Blue summer sky.
Shady forest trees.
Enormous green dragon.
So that concussion is still on the cards, then,she thought vaguely.
She was pretty sure that she wasn’t concussed, though. Her head didn’t hurt at all, and, now that she was taking in her surroundings, she could see that the enormous bough was lying on the ground several yards away, a number of other, smaller branches scattered about. Clearly it had taken the other branches with it when it fell, and if any of them had hit her, she would definitely know about it.
And Calvin had already demonstrated some pretty freaky powers to her today. So really, was adding a dragon to the list of things she’d encountered such a big deal?
But then –
Calvin!!
How could she have forgotten? Was he okay?! She’d assumed that he was far enough from the branch to be able to escape, but that thing wasmassive.
She looked around wildly, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was just her and the dragon.
The dragon that was looking at her with deep golden eyes that looked soworried.
The dragon that had made her fingers tingle with electricity when she’d touched it.
No. It can’t be. That’s too ridiculous.
And yet, she found that her mouth was opening, the word coming out in a small, wonder-filled voice.
“Ca… Calvin?”
The dragon did a double take –okay, add that to the list of things I’ve seen for the first time today– and then, before she could react, it waschanging, shrinking down, its glimmeringgreen scales fading out of existence, its wings seeming to fold back into nothingness –
And then, suddenly, it was just Calvin standing there before her.
Diana stared.
Shifter,her brain supplied helpfully.He said he was a shifter.
Right now, she didn’t carewhathe was. All she needed to know was that she was running toward him and throwing herself into his arms.
He seemed a little taken aback for a moment, but then his arms tightened around her.
“You’re safe, Diana,” he murmured into her hair.
“Thank you,” she whispered back, simply enjoying the feeling of protection that she got from him, the warmth of his skin and the steady, reassuring beat of his heart beneath her ear. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
She held him for what felt like an eternity, taking in the feel of him, realizing what it was to be held by him. She could have stayed there forever, but eventually, reluctantly, she pulled back a little. Although, thatdidmean that she could see his beautiful, concerned face.
“Well. Uh. I have to say, of all the ways I could’ve foreseen that incident going, you turning into a giant dragon and shielding me with your body probably wasn’t at the top of the list.”
Calvin winced a little, looking like he was debating with himself as to whether to say something.
Clearly the urge won out, because he said, “Wyvern.”
Diana blinked. “Sorry, what was that?”
Calvin coughed. “Wyvern. Not dragon. Two legs, instead of four. I know it doesn’t seem like a big difference, but, well, the wyvern is a bit touchy about these things.”
