Page 235 of The Fifth Heir

Cold air struck bare skin.

Before I could react, Torren shifted.

He landed on one knee beside me in human form and caught me against his chest. A dark academy cloak appeared from somewhere and closed around my body.

Sebastian’s shadow, I realized. He had pulled it from one of the guards without leaving his dragon form.

Torren wrapped it securely around me, then lifted me into his arms.

“I can walk,” I whispered.

“No.”

“I only fell because shifting is tiring.”

“You collapsed.”

“Temporarily.”

“You can argue after the healer examines you.”

The connection between us carried his fear beneath the firm words. It had not diminished since the Trial. He held me carefully, but his arms were locked around me as if he expected the ground to open again.

I rested my head against his shoulder.

“Fine.”

Rafe shifted behind us. “That was disappointingly easy.”

“She’s learning,” Torren said.

“I liked her better when she argued.”

“I’m conserving my strength,” I told him.

Rafe came around Torren’s other side, naked and unconcerned until a guard hurried forward with another cloak. “There she is.”

Sebastian and Leander shifted next. Once all four men were dressed enough for the increasingly crowded courtyard, the headmaster approached.

Camilla walked beside him.

Malcolm remained near the Hall entrance with six academy guards surrounding him. His torc and authority chain had been removed, but his hands were free.

He watched me from across the courtyard.

No surprise marked his face.

He had seen my dragon before.

Not me specifically, perhaps, but something like me. A picture. A description. An account hidden in the Keeper’s archive while the rest of the academy was taught that Crystal Dragons were a myth.

The headmaster stopped before Torren.

“Heir Talia, are you injured?”

“I don’t think so.”

“She collapsed after shifting,” Torren said.