Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Drex asked Jessie to introduce her people. When she’d finished, they asked if they could get a demonstration of Cyra and Hollace. Their expressions didn’t change when the great thunderbird rolled his sonic boom across the sky and then zapped lightning down the street.
Cyra didn’t play things so safely.
The phoenix swooped down toward them and opened her beak. A thin stream of fire burned a line into the concrete, tracking straight for Fenric.
Two feet away, Jess stepped forward, her hands out, and looked up. “Take it easy,” she called up at Cyra.
The fire continued, not slowing. Fenric’s eyes tightened marginally. His fingers spasmed, the only indication of his wariness. Still the fire burned a black line toward him. A foot away now. His loose clothes and face glowed from the fire. Sweat broke out on his brow. He took a step back, giving himself more space. The fire kept coming. If she was playing chicken, she’d just won. Clearly, she wasn’t playing.
“Damn it, Cyra.” Jess went active, shoving her hands forward.
A torrent of wind raced upwards. Halfway to Cyra, wind turned to water and spread out. An angry hiss issued from the stream of fire as the water hit it. Steam so thick it looked like fog enveloped Cyra as the water washed over her.
“Wow, Jessie,” Sebastian said. “How’d you devise that?”
“On accident. I found a better way to do”—Jess sent up another spell— “elemental magic. It’s easier to control this way.”
The spell exploded by Cyra’s side. The turbulence of the air rolled her before Jessie sent up a slash of magic to slice into her wing. Cyra chirped, her signal for giving in. She haphazardly flapped her way to the ground before shifting back into her human form.
Jess flared her hands in irritation. “What are you doing? They weren’t looking to get their faces blasted off, they just wanted to see what a legendary phoenix could do.”
Cyra looked at the gash in her right arm and grinned. “They wanted proof of our power, right? I figured blasting off a toe would be good proof.”
Hollace landed farther down the street and walked up.
“Did you see how easily she backed me down this time, Hollace?” Cyra asked him. “Work smarter, not harder. Don’t I always say that?”
“No. Everyone else always says that and you nod,” he replied.
“Yeah, same thing.”
“I thought that was great proof,” Indigo said. Stepping forward, she placed a hand on Cyra’s back to start healing her. “They obviously wanted a show. A missing toe would’ve done it.”
Jess gave the alphas an apologetic shrug. “We train for battle, not for show and tell. Sometimes, they go overboard.”
Fenric stepped back into his place. He was still sweating heavily, but he had his body back under control.
Expectation filled the air. They wanted more. They got their theatrics, and now they wanted this done the shifter way. To lead them, one would need to dominate the strongest of them. That was Drex, but they hadn’t been here for that challenge. They’d need to stand witness to another.
This time, Austin wouldn’t test or bait. This time, Austin would put them down hard and fast.
Finally, Derrick stepped forward, a jaguar. He had strength and power, but his best advantages were in stealth. He was fast and ruthless, Austin had heard. It was an odd choice for the challenge.
Derrick looked straight at Jess.
Cold trickled down Austin’s spine. Drex had mentioned this might be a possibility, but Austin had discounted it. Jess could shift, but she wasn’t a shifter. She wasn’t of the culture. Yes, she could certainly be challenged because she was co-leader, but he hadn’t thought any high-level shifters would bother, just as they didn’t tend to challenge Tristan or the other gargoyles.
His blood felt like it was turning to ice as Derrick walked into the middle of the gathered shifters, his gaze rooted to hers. His challenge was clear. He’d go after Austin’s mate. He’d hurt her, nearly try to kill her.
Ice turned to an inferno as his beast rose up. Red throbbed in his vision, yanking at him to become action. To rush forward and rip that shifter apart for daring to challenge Austin’s prize. His heart. The darkness swirled and sucked at him, trying to pull him under.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Jess’s soft voice cut through the haze. Her hand touched his chest, over his heart. Her other hand flattened against his jaw, gentle. “It’s okay. We knew this day would come eventually, right? I need to prove my worth or whatever. They have every right to challenge me.”
The idea of a male challenging his mate ate at him. It smacked of encroaching on his territory. It wasn’t an unfair fight—well, actually it was because Jess could kill him easily—but it felt like it for some reason.
“Deep breath,” Jess whispered, taking her time with him. She would clearly make Derrick wait all day if she had to. “I got this. Kinda. I mean, I’m very nervous that I’ll accidentally do something terrible, like explode his head or something, but I’ll be okay. You can step in if something goes wrong. I watched you, and now you’ll watch me.”