Page 190 of Red Marked

“What about you, Pearl?” Rift asks it lightly, but her eyes stay on mine a second longer than they need to.

“I’m going home.” I pick up my bag. “I’m going to see my parents.”

I wish it were true.

I burn with the need for it to happen.

“Sounds nice.” Rift gives me a look. I know she wants it for me too. “Hope you have a good time.” She winks at me and gives Flint a look he ignores.

We undress and then shift in a rush of wind and gravel. Flint takes off first. I fall in off his left wing, Rift takes his right, and Razor drops in behind us.

The air is warm, and the thermals are strong. I let one carry me up and glide back down to my place in the line.

The city comes up out of the haze. The harbor, the towers, the long white curve of beach. Rift barks once, tips a wing at us, and heads north.

My turn.

I rumble low in my chest, the sound rolling out through my throat. Razor rumbles back. Flint turns his head, and one eye finds me and holds. I drop away from his wing and bank toward the suburbs.

I’m supposed to circle wide and come back around to the rental lot, well away from the route Razor is taking to the coast. That is the plan.

My parents’ street is right there, though. I can’t help myself.

I’m not going to stop. I’m not going to land. I’m going to fly past and keep going.

I drop lower just as a car pulls into the driveway. A little hatchback with a dent in the back fender.

The driver’s door opens, and Koda gets out. I’d recognize him anywhere, even though he has completely changed.

He’s huge, just as tall as my father. His shoulders fill out his T-shirt, his arms have muscle on them, and his hair is longer than it ever was. He leans back into the car, comes out with a gym bag over one shoulder, and bumps the door shut with his hip the exact way my dad does.

He’s my little brother, and he’s full-grown. Well, almost. He might even shave.

I fed him his bottle. I walked him to school. I was on the back lawn the first time he shifted, telling him not to be scared. He couldn’t reach the top of the fridge when I left.

A vibration starts up deep in my chest, and it builds and builds, and I can’t stop it. My throat aches with it. My eyes go hot, then blurry, and I have to blink hard to see.

I descend lower still. I can’t help myself.

He looks up, and his mouth falls open. Then he lifts a hand to shade his eyes against the sun.

Stay cool.

Shit.

What am I doing?

I’m too damned low. He can see me. He knows my dragon.

Shit!

Shit!

I bank hard so he’s looking at the top of my wing and not my belly, and I veer away over the neighbor’s roof. I see him give a small shake of his head as I do.

He thinks he’s seeing things. I don’t look back again until I’ve cleared three streets.

When I do, the driveway is empty. The front door is closing.