Winging It (17 page)

I drew alongside the thunderbolt maybe two hundred feet above Jared. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t reach him in time to push him aside. So, I did the only thing possible.

I threw myself into the thunderbolt’s path.

I closed my eyes against the bright yellow flash of light and bared my teeth at the burning pain. I felt it shoot through me like a jolt of electricity, and I felt myself shifting forms involuntarily.

A sign of distress in dragon physiology.

Usually impending death.

I had time to realize I was falling, to know that I had zero regrets, and then everything went black.

Say goodnight, Zoë.

It was the nausea that woke me up.

My stomach was roiling and I hurt in places I hadn’t even known I had. My back was blazing with pain, and I could feel concrete beneath my chin. The snow was freezing cold where it landed on me, but in a way, it felt good against my burning skin.

I opened my eyes. My hand was white and webbed, so I knew I had unconsciously shifted into salamander form.

I had a definite sense that I wasn’t alone and looked around without moving. The street was completely deserted, doors closed and windows black.

But there was a wolf, sitting right in front of me.

Watching me.

The wolf was shaggy, his fur a thousand shades of gray and silver. His eyes were icy blue, shining with a disconcerting intelligence. He didn’t blink. Major teeth, which made me wonder whether newts made a nice light snack.

Did I look tasty? Like a bite or two of barbecue?

In self-defense, I closed my eyes, summoned my will, and shifted to human form again. Then I was sitting with my back against the brick wall, my hands braced on either side of me. Ow ow ow.

The wolf didn’t move, or even blink.

Was it possible to think of a wolf being unsurprised?

I glanced around and didn’t recognize the street at all. How far was I from the club? There was no sign of Jared or of Kohana. How long had I been out? I winced and stretched. And how badly damaged was my back?

Suddenly there was a shimmer of pale blue light, which spooked me into getting up. I knew that light and shouldn’t have been surprised when the wolf disappeared.

A heartbeat later Derek was squatting before me. Eyes the same shade of pale blue. Same intent stare. Same scent.

I belatedly did a little bit of math.

Open your eyes
, Unktehila.

Okay, I felt stupid.

‘You okay?’ he asked. I realized that his voice was always low and deep, rough like a growl.

Duh.

‘More or less.’ I moved my fingers and toes, scanned myself. My back hurt like hell, but I couldn’t exactly see it. ‘You followed me.’

He nodded, glanced away, looked back to hold my gaze again.

‘Why?’

‘I thought you might need help.’ He shrugged. ‘I was right.’

‘But you got off two stops before me.’

‘You were suspicious. Worried. I didn’t want to throw your game.’

‘How’d you know all that?’

He touched the side of his nose.

Right. Wolves had keen senses of smell, too.

‘I couldn’t smell that you were a shifter.’

He smiled. ‘You probably can’t smell emotion, either, or sense the future before it happens.’

‘Can you?’

He nodded, but before I could get jealous, he shrugged. ‘I have a feeling when something big is going to go down, but I only see about two minutes ahead of the moment.’ He stared at me again and I realized that was the longest sentence I’d ever heard him utter. ‘Sometimes it’s too late to matter.’

‘I wouldn’t have expected anyone to stop the thunderbolt,’ I said.

‘You did.’ He stood then, and brushed off his jeans. ‘And that guy? He has no idea of what you did for him.’ He spat into the snow, his disdain clear. When he looked at me again, his eyes seemed colder.

I froze at his words. ‘What do you mean?’

‘He had his earbuds on. He didn’t hear anything. He didn’t turn around until I’d scooped you up.’

‘You what?’

‘Someone could have stepped on you. You had to get out of there. The guy might have been curious, but I growled and he backed off.’

Jared didn’t know I’d followed him. He didn’t know I’d taken that hit for him. I was disappointed by that bit of news.

‘Where did he go?’

Derek shrugged. ‘Who cares?’

‘Maybe I do.’

‘Maybe you shouldn’t.’ His eyes flashed. ‘He
left
you.’

‘There’s a situation. He’s doing his best …’

Derek waved off my explanation, fixing me with a steady look. ‘Don’t you know that dogs see in black and white?’ Then he looked down the street, his eyes narrowed. ‘Who’s going to tend your back?’

‘No one.’

He shook his head. ‘Wrong. You need help. It’s bad.’

It did hurt. And he had seen it. For a moment I couldn’t think of anyone who I could let see the wound, but then it came to me.

Isabelle. ‘I know someone at the college.’

He arched a brow. ‘Science labs?’

I smiled. ‘Arts student.’

He pointed. ‘We can catch the L over there.’

I had no chance to ask if he was going to keep me company. Apparently I now had a guard wolf.

It wasn’t such a bad thing. Derek set a good pace, striding effortlessly down the street as I tried to keep up. He scanned our surroundings constantly, his gaze sliding from side to side, and I could see him inhaling with care.

Taking the scent of everything.

I was a bit short of breath, so it took me a minute to ask what I wanted to know. ‘Couldn’t you follow his scent?’

He turned to face me, his expression chilling me. There was a challenge in those pale eyes. ‘Couldn’t you?’

I could, but I wouldn’t. ‘But you knew I’d been with him.’

‘And he left. Problem solved.’

Problem? ‘Why don’t you like Jared? You don’t even know him.’

Derek shrugged. ‘He’s human. He’s half-Mage. Neither is a great credential in my world.’

‘He turned down the Mages …’

‘Technicality.’ Black and white, just like he’d said earlier. Derek held the door to the station for me, and met my gaze once more. ‘And he led you straight into a trap.’

‘He didn’t do it on purpose!’

His gaze slid away. ‘I’m just glad I was there to help.’

We rode the L in silence, as if we were complete strangers.

But Derek was never more than half a dozen steps away. Guarding me. Truth be told, I appreciated it. I wasn’t at my best, and it was nice to have someone to rely upon.

Then I had a troubling thought. Was Derek, like Kohana, going to betray me to the Mages to save his own kind?

He inhaled sharply and glared at me across the car. I guessed that he’d caught a whiff of my suspicion. ‘Mages are liars,’ he said with low heat. ‘Only idiots trust liars.’

With that, he turned to stare out the window again.

The real question was whether I could trust a wolf.

I called Isabelle from the train and she agreed to meet me at her dorm room. Derek disappeared once we stepped onto the campus, but I knew he wasn’t far away. I could smell wolf, even though I couldn’t see him.

Isabelle was outraged and appalled by the story of the attack, but she also had some ointment for burns. I figured she would have packed it instinctively, having grown up in a
Pyr
household, and I was glad to have been right. It was some herbal stuff, cool and soothing, and I felt better within minutes.

I also scored another chocolate bar. I didn’t care if she gave it to me out of pity. It was delicious.

She gave me strict instructions not to get the injury wet, and insisted I come back the next day for another lathering since I couldn’t reach the spot. I promised to do so, and headed back to the L.

There was no sign of Derek. The train pulled in and I picked a seat. I wondered whether he’d abandoned me.

But he stepped into the car just before the doors closed, and sat down facing the other direction.

Ever vigilant.

We got back to school in time for the last class of the day, arriving separately.

And you know, it didn’t break my heart to have missed gym.

I came out of a particularly excruciating history class – excruciating mainly because my back hurt and my thoughts were spinning and I got called on four times to answer questions I hadn’t even heard, based on a reading I hadn’t even done – to find Liam leaning against my locker, watching the other students go by.

I was really glad to see him.

The girls were all checking him out and he seemed to be amused by their reactions. Every time I see Liam, he’s taller and broader. His hair has darkened to an auburn that makes it unreasonable to call him ‘Carrots’ anymore.

I still do.

I remember him having a face full of freckles and orange hair, and that counts.

‘Carrots! How’d you find my locker?’

He inhaled pointedly and I understood. We dragons don’t just smell the presence of our kind. With time and familiarity, we can recognize the scents of those dragons we know.

Apparently, though, we had nothing on wolf shifters.

‘Gotta take that gym bag home,’ I joked and gave him a hug.

He watched me intently, even though he leaned casually against the lockers. ‘You okay?’

‘
Spooked
,’ I answered him in old-speak. ‘
I went to see Jared today
.’

His eyes glittered and I knew he was going to chew me out. Before he could do that or I could explain, someone cleared her throat.

‘Um, excuse me, p-p-please.’

The locker Liam was leaning against was Meagan’s.

She was beet red when he apologized and moved out of the way, so flustered that I was afraid the stutters would overtake the words. ‘Meagan, this is Liam. Liam, my best friend, Meagan.’

‘Nice to meet you.’ Liam gave her a smile as wide and honest as a thousand acres of prairie. Meagan blinked. Her mouth opened and closed. She reached for her lock and dropped all of her books.

I squatted down beside her to help pick them up.

She flicked me a resentful look, as if I’d been holding out on her. ‘How come you suddenly know all these hot guys?’ she whispered.

I blushed because I knew Liam would hear whatever we said. ‘Liam’s not hot,’ I said, as if he was my kid brother. ‘I grew up with him.’

‘Where? When? I grew up with you!’

‘He’s the son of a friend of my dad’s.’

Meagan glanced up, then looked at me again, then nodded. ‘Okay.’ She straightened up, with her books piled against her chest, and smiled at Liam. ‘Nice to m-m-meet you, too. Do you live in Chicago?’

Liam was all easy charm. ‘No. Ohio. We have a dairy farm.’

His manner reassured Meagan a bit. ‘Are you visiting for long?’

‘No, I just came to hang out with Zoë since her folks are away.’ He nudged me. ‘Hey, Zoë, maybe we should go see that movie you were talking about.’

A movie. The last thing I wanted to do was go to a movie. I was sore enough that I wanted to go to bed.

And maybe never leave it again.

‘
You can bring me up to speed
,’ Liam said, in old-speak. It was as much a threat as a promise.

‘That’s a great idea,’ I said out loud. ‘Way better than homework.’

He turned to Meagan, flashing that easy smile. ‘You want to come, too, Meagan?’

I think she nearly had a heart attack.

For once, even math homework didn’t have much appeal for Meagan. She shoved all her books in her backpack, blushed when Liam insisted on carrying it for her, and came to the movie with us.

I don’t even know what it was about. I spent the whole ninety minutes briefing Liam in old-speak. And getting shit in old-speak for taking unnecessary chances. I felt better just talking about the encounter with Kohana, and we decided that he would walk us back to Meagan’s, then keep watch over the Jamesons’ town house.

I really liked the idea of a dragon on the roof, on guard. We were going to breathe some dragonsmoke together later, mostly because it was a relaxation exercise.

We left the movie theater to find the snow a foot deep in the streets.

I wondered what had happened to Derek. Was he in the vicinity, but just out of sight? Or had he done all he was going to do? I did like the idea that he might not be smelling trouble in my immediate future and so could leave me to my own resources.

Maybe I’d been wrong to be suspicious of his motives.

Maybe I’d offended him. I felt guilty about that, as well as a bit flustered. Had I made sure Derek was cured of liking me? Had he liked me just because he had a plan like Kohana’s? Or did he like me just because I was a shifter and we had something in common?

All the possibilities made my head spin.

Plus I probably should have talked to him about our making an alliance with the wolf shifters. Did they really call themselves werewolves?

It made my palms sweat just thinking about hunting Derek down the next day and asking him questions. Maybe he would smell my intent and make the first move.

I could hope.

‘It’s so weird,’ Meagan said. ‘This theater isn’t anywhere near the L, but all I could hear was rumbling trains throughout the movie.’

‘Me, too,’ I said, deliberately avoiding Liam’s gaze. One look and I knew I’d laugh. ‘They ought to do something about that.’

I heard his snort of laughter, and then he was making snowballs. He shoved one down the back of my jacket and the fight was on.

‘You are such a liar,’ Meagan said, hours later when we were crashed in her room and I thought she was asleep.

‘What?’ I nearly sat straight up in bed.

She threw a pillow at me. ‘You are such a liar. You said Liam isn’t hot.’

I closed my eyes in relief. ‘Is he? I don’t know. I’ve known him too long, maybe.’

Meagan made a snort of skepticism. ‘I don’t care how long you’ve known him – you’d have to be blind to not see he’s hot.’ Then she laughed again. ‘Maybe you’re the one who needs glasses, Zoë. Want to borrow mine?’