Jade
She resembled a European dragon—long necked with a long tail and dark purple scales—except her legs and barrel were thicker. Some of her sharp, bone white teeth jutted past her lips, and her paws were tipped with black claws that left dents in the asphalt. She was built for strength, not speed, and was roughly the size of a truck if you excluded her tail. That made her mind-bogglinglyhugecompared to Binx or Brody.
My brain ceased to function as I realized just how much she outclassed me and the other members of the squad in this form.
Gisila turned her terrifying, plated head in my direction and opened her mouth. Flames of fire flickered on her tongue.
Considine kicked her, driving his heel into her chest with enough force that her mouth snapped shut and her body shuddered as she dug her talons into the road to stabilize herself.
“Jade!” Considine shouted. “You’ve got to run!”
“No!” I shouted. “We can’t split up!”
A deep, gravely sound boomed down the street, and I felt Gisila’s voice broadcast into my mind much the same way magic brushed my consciousness.
“What’s wrong, Considine? Have you realized just how easy it would be for me to snap your human’s neck?” She snapped her teeth at Considine and tried to smash him with her tail, but he ducked under it with his superior speed.
She can talk in her dragon form??
My ignorance made me keenly aware I should have thought to research dragon shifters more, knowing she was the enemy.
Considine pulled a dagger from his belt and dodged Gisila when she tried to grab him with her front left paw. “We’re not going to win this fight, Jade. This was planned out!”
He’s right. It’s way too convenient that Brody couldn’t smell because of the potion, which also meant Grove and I already sensed fae magic so we didn’t have any warning. And our radios? It’s like she knew just how to counter us to make us our weakest! But how could she have known our patrol route and teams?
I used up the rest of the bullets in my handgun, taking minimal time to choose the most dangerous targets.
I needed time to swap to a new magazine, but there were too many fae pressing in on us. They weren’t skilled. When four fae tried to jump Brody, he sent them flying with no difficulty, but as soon as he dislodged them more fae took their place, piling on him.
Had Gisila hired an entire Court to take us out?
Considine made it to Gisila’s side and stabbed her—thrusting up between two scales that were easily the size of my hand.
Gisila roared, and a brownie rushed forward to set off a bunch of dazzling lights in Considine’s face.
Blinded, he held onto the dagger, until Gisila shook like a dog and flung him off with little effort.
He landed on his feet, and even though he rapidly blinked his red eyes and couldn’t see very well he still fended off a dryad that tried to jump him with a kick to the face.
Considine would be more than a match for Gisila, if it weren’t for all these fae!
“We’ve got to run or they’ll keep overwhelming us.” I evaded a centaur who tried to kick me, and finally got my magazines swapped. “Clearing a path!”
My eyes found the weakest point in the wall of fae surrounding us, and I started shooting, opening up a hole.
Brody, Grove, and Orrin sprinted out through the opening, reaching a cleared space on the road.
I double checked that Tetiana and Considine were behind me before I made a break for it.
I jumped a fallen dryad, dodged a spear thrown by a naiad, and was almost free when Gisila pounced.
She stepped over the fae forces—who shrieked and stumbled to get out of her way—then whipped her tail at me.
I ducked under it, but she caught Tetiana and slammed her into the pavement.
Reversing, I sprinted back to my teammate and hauled her to her feet, pushing her in front of me and getting her out of the way since Gisila was obviously aiming for me.
Gisila lunged at me, her mouth wide open.
