I stopped in front of him, far enough away that I didn’t have to crane my neck to meet his gaze. I tried to breathe shallowly and not inhale the delicious scent of his magic—or of him.

“You’re the one with the questions,” he said.

“That’s me.” I grinned, but couldn’t help the flip-flopping in my stomach. I could feel the tension between us. The attraction was so obvious—on my part, at least—that I could cut it with a knife. “And I have a few more.”

He didn’t smile, but I thought he wanted to. It would have been a devastatingly handsome twist of his lips, I was sure. “What might those be?”

“Who was your buyer for such dangerous magic? Isn’t it illegal to make spells like that? Some magic has been left in the past for a reason.”

“True enough, but I was making it for the Order of the Magica.”

I swallowed hard at the mention of the magical government. They oversaw Magica—magic users like me. The Shifter Council was in charge of all other supernaturals. Those who were magic as opposed to those who used it.

Unfortunately, the Order of the Magica didn’t like my kind very much. Dragon Gods were so powerful, we were considered dangerous. We upset the natural balance of things. I needed the backing of a powerful organization like the Undercover Protectorate if I wanted a life that didn’t involve being on the run all the time.

“And you’re the Arch Magus.”

“I am.”

“So how did they get the drop on you?”

His right brow arched. “You think that I’m running some kind of con? That they didn’t really steal the spell?”

“A lot of people want to get within these walls.” I gestured to the walls of the room, but I really meant the entire Protectorate castle. We carefully guarded our turf. “And you’re supposed to be insanely powerful, right? More magical gifts than any other supernatural?”

He nodded curtly. “Twelve gifts.”

“And you couldn’t use those to protect your spell?”

“There were twenty-five in the ambush. I took out twelve. Then they took my friend Decker hostage. I couldn’t risk his life.”

“Hmmm. One for each gift.”

“You think you could do better?”

“Maybe.” Okay, that was a big fat lie. Without the Cats of Catastrophe, six demons would have gotten me tonight.

“Where do you think the clue leads?” he asked.

My mind raced, buzzing with energy. It was a strange feeling, totally unfamiliar, and I stifled a gasp. Pain flared, making my eyes water, and unfamiliar magic flowed through me. But then the name of a city blazed in my mind.

Paris.

Follow it.

The instructions sounded in my mind, spoken by a voice not my own.

I’d asked a question, and it had answered.

Paris. I’d never been more certain of anything.

“Paris.” I choked out the word.

His gaze sharpened. “Why?”

Around us, the room emptied, people flowing out to get back to bed for a few hours. But I had eyes only for him. My mind buzzed, but he was all I could see. I couldn’t tell him that magic had told me, however. I was supposed to be a shield mage. Not a prophet or seer. New powers didn’t just develop for most supernaturals.

They did for Dragon Gods, but I certainly couldn’t tell him that.

My mind scrambled for a justification for Paris. “Lots of lights. And the Romans founded it. The most famous invaders in history.”

Hey, that was pretty good. It was even true.

“You like history?” he asked.

“Sure.” Not quite true. I liked art, and art often portrayed history. But that wasn’t why I’d chosen Paris.

“There are over three dozen cites known as the City of Lights.” He gave me an appraising look. “But you chose Paris.”

“Yep.” I shook away my nerves over the strange new magic and focused on him. “And I’m right about it, too.”

“Confident.”

“Always.” It was cocky, but a positive attitude had carried me through life. It left no time for wimping out. Sure, I had my doubts about myself and my magic, but that wouldn’t stop me from powering through. Or at least trying to.

And I was confident about this.

I felt it in my bones.

He cocked his head, staring hard at me. As if he were trying to see through me. I fidgeted, then forced myself still.

“Seen enough?” I asked.

“You’re special,” he said. “Something about your magic.”

I shrugged. “Garden variety shield mage here.”

“No one at the Protectorate is garden variety.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen me fight yet.”

The corner of his full lips quirked up in a sexy smile. “I’d like to.”

I swallowed hard. Yep, this was above my pay grade. Flirting with sexy super mages was not my usual activity. My usual was dumb movies and Cheezy Puffs. Or if I was feeling fancy, cheap champagne and my painting.

“What about you is so special?” he asked.

“Um.” Well, hell. “I can run a six-minute mile, and I’m good with cars. Like, real good.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I know. I just don’t have anything else.” Except for the fact that I’m a Dragon God. And yeah, not sharing that right now. My powers hadn’t developed, and I didn’t even know what pantheon I was. Until I knew that, saying I was a late-blooming half-developed supernatural didn’t interest me. What if I never mastered my power at all? Maybe it was my weak spot—always worrying about being behind Bree—but I wanted to keep that to myself.

“And you’re dangerous,” he said.

“Well, considering that I can kick ass in six languages, that goes without saying.”

“Not just the fighting.” He nodded his head, clearly having decided something. “We’ll work together on this.”

“Wha—” My jaw dropped open, and I looked around. “I don’t get it.”

“Everyone pairs up on this. I want to work with you. There’s something about you.”

“Not a guess. I know.”

“Exactly. It’s settled.”

I frowned. “Do I still qualify for the prize?”

“Aye. And you don’t even have to split it.”

I liked the sound of that. Last thing I wanted was to get paired up with Lavender and have to split with her.

From behind him, Jude caught my eye. I shot her a holy crap, what do I do? look, trying to keep it subtle.

She approached, stopping at Lachlan’s side. “I think it’s a brilliant plan.”

“You do?”

“Indeed. It’ll give you a chance to practice your skills.”

I nodded. “Right. Of course.”

Lachlan smiled. “It’s settled, then. I’ll see you in the morning. Eight a.m, the front entry.”

I nodded dumbly, watching him turn and walk away, then I looked at Jude. “You really think this is a good idea?”

“You need to get out in the real world. Training here isn’t doing you any favors.”

“No, it’s not.”

“You’re good in the real world, Ana. Your fighting skills are off the charts. I don’t know why you’re floundering at the Academy, but clearly you need a change of scenery. If you can find this spell, it’ll go a long way toward helping you make it through the Academy.”

“So I don’t get kicked out.”

“Exactly.” She frowned. “We really don’t want that. We want you here with us. But you have to pass.”

I gulped. Fates, I wanted that, too.

“Rules are rules,” Jude said. “And Arach is serious about them. I can’t go against her.”

Arach, the dragon spirit who had built this place, rarely showed up. But when she did, it was like getting hit in the face with raw power. I needed her approval to stay here. And boy, did I want to stay here with my sisters. Stay in this amazing castle where I could have a life doing good. Where I wasn’t hunted for what I was. And since the alternative was getting kicked out on my butt, alone, I had some really good motivation.

“If it’s so important to find this spell, could we ask the FireSouls for help?” I asked.

The FireSouls were our friends from years ago. Like us, they were hunted for their magic. Each FireSoul had inherited the soul of a dragon, and it allowed them to find anything of value. Treasure, basically. Dragons loved treasure. They could find this thing. They kept their true species a secret from most, but Jude knew what they were.

“He already asked,” she said. “They’re busy with an emergency.”

“Bigger than this?”

“Apparently.”

“Whew.” That had to be something. “But he knows them? And what they are?”

“No,” Jude said. “I asked for him. As soon as he came to me, I went to them to see if we could freelance their services. But it was a no-go. At least not at the moment.”

“We’ll find it,” I said. “I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll team up with Lachlan. And I’ll find that damned spell. Then will I graduate?”

“No.” She smiled. “But it’ll help.”

“Good.”

She squeezed my arm, a friendly gesture that warmed me. She was way too young to seem like a mom, but ever since we’d lost our mother, my sisters and I seemed to seek out motherly-type affection just about anywhere we could find it.

Not that I’d tell her that. Too weird.

“Thanks, Jude.”

“Good luck, Ana.”

I had a feeling I was going to need it.

* * *

Bree, Rowan, and I walked back to our apartments without talking. The Cats of Catastrophe followed along in silence. We passed through hallways and corridors, some done up in grand style and others as ancient-looking as if they had been in the thirteenth century.

We each had a tower apartment at the back of the massive castle, and Bree and Rowan followed me through the door into mine, up the winding staircase, and into the main entry room.

“You’re going to have to spill, you know,” Bree said.

“I know, I know.” I watched the Cats of Catastrophe saunter to my couch.

Muffin and Bojangles jumped right up to make themselves comfortable, but Princess Snowflake III knocked over a large pillow then leapt onto it, settling her fluffy white butt right onto the soft surface.

“I put my face on that sometimes, you know,” I said.

She just glared at me, green eyes glinting.

“All right, all right.” I raised my hands and turned toward the kitchen. The large round space was the living room, kitchen, and dining room in one, with a bedroom up above, accessed by an iron spiral staircase.

The whole apartment was decorated in beautiful, classy neutrals. It’d been an empty space when I’d first walked into it three months ago, but magic had allowed it to see into my psyche and had somehow decorated it in a manner to suit me.

Honestly, the classy look surprised me. I’d spent most of my life as a low-level outlaw, just trying to survive, or as a desert rat driving a monster truck across Death Valley, transporting criminals to Hider’s Haven, a place where they could hide out from the law.

The fact that the magical apartment thought I was all classy and crap was a surprise to me. I liked to paint, though, putting crazy splashes of color on canvas. For the first time in my life, these last three months at the Undercover Protectorate had given me the time and safety to work, and several of my paintings livened up the space. They weren’t great, but I liked them. And seeing my easel and paints set up on the other side of the room always gave me a warm little glow.

This was a real life here. One with a real home instead of a shack, and hobbies instead of constantly hiding. Friends instead of loneliness.

I wanted to keep this.

“Getting drinks?” Bree asked.

“Yeah.” I opened the fridge. “Champagne all right with you?”

“Pink kind?” Bree asked.

“Sure.” I grabbed a glass bottle full of pale pink liquid. It was cheap champagne—all of it was—but anything with bubbles suited me, and I wasn’t picky.

I popped the cork, poured some, and handed out the glasses.

Rowan glanced at the full couch, then at the table. “Better sit there.”

I glanced at the cats. All three of them looked up from licking their butts, and it was clear that they weren’t about to move. “Yeah, definitely.”

I sat and sipped my drink, enjoying the pop of bubbles on my tongue.

Rowan took a sip and cringed. “I don’t know how you drink this stuff.”

“Hey, hey, Miss Fancy Tastes, it’s not that bad.”

Bree sipped hers. “Yeah, I like it.”

“You only like it because it’s pink,” Rowan said.

Bree grinned widely, her teeth glinting in the light. “True enough.”

Bree was a hardcore badass, chewing up demons for breakfast and not even spitting out the bones. Which made her love of froufrou pink cocktails even funnier.

She turned to me, eyes going serious. “Now spill. I tried to listen in on your conversation with Lachlan, but he used some kind of blocking spell.”

My brows rose. “Really?”

Bree was the Valkyrie Dragon God, and as such, she’d been gifted with the powers of multiple Viking gods. One of those powers was incredible hearing, given to her by Heimdall, a Norse god.

If I ever got my act together and made my transition to Dragon God, some mysterious pantheon of ancient gods would give me their powers as well. Theoretically, at least.

“Spill,” Bree said.

I shook my head, realizing I’d drifted off a bit. “Sorry. Yeah. Well, I’m going to team up with him to solve this. He liked my theory that the spell was taken to Paris, and he thinks I’m interesting—dangerous, actually—so he wants to work with me.”

“Uh-oh,” Bree said. “I don’t like the sound of that. He looks dangerous.”

“He also looked kinda hot.” Rowan raised her brows at me, clearly waiting for me to agree.

I nodded. “Yeah. Mega hot.”

“Mega dangerous,” Bree said. “And cold. I could feel the self-control wafting off him.”

“You’re just in love with Cade, so you don’t have eyes for anyone else,” I said.

“She’s right about the self-control, though. That dude is tightly wound.”

I wouldn’t mind unwinding him.

No! Bad Ana! Down girl.

“Agreed.” I sipped, remembering the lethal strength coiled in his large body, and the dark knowing in his eyes. What he knew, I couldn’t quite pinpoint. But it made me want to shiver, and not because Bree and Rowan thought he was cold.

Far from it.

“Why Paris?” Bree asked.

“City of Lights, City of Invaders.” I explained the theory about the Romans. “But really, I just had a feeling. Something took me over and told me it was Paris.”

Rowan frowned. “Told you?”

“Yeah. It felt like magic, guys. Something I wasn’t in control of. It spoke in my mind, telling me to follow my instinct. I asked a question, and it answered.”

Bree leaned forward, eyes wide. “Is it your Dragon God powers coming to life?”

I touched the back of my neck, where a four-pointed star existed. I’d been born with the Mark of Power. All three of us had one, though we hid them with magic. If I hadn’t had the mark, I would have doubted I was a Dragon God. Was this it? Finally? “Maybe.”

Bree chewed her lip. “I bet it is. That’s how it happened with me.”

“So your new power is just knowing?” Rowan asked.

“Maybe? Prophecy or premonition or something.”

“That could be any pantheon,” Bree said.

But which one would choose me?

“You’ve got to learn to master your new power,” Bree said. “Control it. Or it will devour you. Body and mind.”

I swallowed hard, dread spreading through me.

Bree knew from experience, as it had happened to her. She’d even lost one of her powers as a result. She’d been too slow to adapt and had lost her power to throw sonic booms.

The transition was the scariest part of being a Dragon God. I wanted it to happen—it had to happen, or I’d fail the Academy and be out on my ass.

But it was going to be really freaking difficult. As new powers developed, they went out of control inside the Dragon God. If I couldn’t learn to control them, I’d end up losing all my magic. Which was like losing my soul.

Then I’d be so damned miserable I’d just want to curl up and die. I’d seen it happen before—it was a terrible fate.

“Has your magic been acting up in any other ways?” Bree asked.

“No. Not since that time last month, when the weird white light glowed from me.” We’d been in the middle of a terrible journey across a wasteland. Sickness wraiths had almost killed us, but I’d suddenly started to glow with a light that had repelled them. We’d thought it might be my Dragon God magic coming alive, but it had never happened again. “Just the one little premonition.”

“Be alert, then,” Bree said. “The change could be coming. And you’ll have to be ready.”

“Be careful.” Rowan’s eyes gleamed with worry. “We’re here for you if you need us.”

I nodded absentmindedly, getting up to go to the window. It was dark outside, but a full moon shed a bright glow over the amazing landscape.

I couldn’t believe I lived here. I loved it. This amazing place was my home. For all our life, we’d been hunted by an unknown threat that had killed our mother. We’d hidden from them for years, broke and scared. They were the ultimate bogeyman.

With the help of the Undercover Protectorate, we’d finally destroyed them. And here, we’d found a real home—a place where we were safe and could do good work. A place I loved.

I just had to make sure I didn’t lose it.