The weeks passed in a blur for Ariel, so that when the promised liberty time finally arrived, she was caught off guard—she hadn’t even realized the prerequisite three months had passed.

“I heard we get a four day weekend,” Ked said on the Tuesday before. Ariel and the other shifters who had come to the Steel Tower together continued to form a tight-knit group, and even though they had all made new friends since mixing with the other First Years, they still ate together in the dining hall.

“I heard that, too,” Tina said.

“What are you planning to do when you get to the city?” James asked her.

Tina glanced at Brian shyly, then lowered her gaze.

“Ah,” James said.

Tina’s blush was the sweetest. Brian meanwhile tried to pretend he hadn’t noticed, and he downed a slice of meat.

“I’m going to book a seat at the biggest steakhouse in town,” Ked said. “And order every steak on the menu. I’m sick of the minuscule portions of this tower meat. Not to mention the plainness: no flavor or spices of any kind.”

Despite the physical exercise, Ked had slimmed town big time in the past few months, his muscle mass dropping substantially. It had to be because of their strictly enforced diets.

“After that I’m going to find a nice, quiet cave,” Ked continued. “And then I’ll spend the time digesting until liberty is up. A mini hibernation.”

“A very mini hibernation,” James commented. “Four days, bro.”

“That should be about right,” Ked said. “I’ll emerge from my cave, eat some more steaks, and then I’ll be ready to come back here.”

“You and your steaks,” James said.

“Hey,” Ked said. “Bears have big appetites. Give me a break. So what about you? What are you going to do?”

“Me?” James replied. “I’m heading straight for the woods. It’s time to get in some quality panther time. I’ll be having a venison buffet. Be sure to let any deer shifters you know not to roam the forest around the Tower walls.”

“And you complain about me eating steaks…” Ked said.

“I’ll be hanging out with Philip,” Katelyn said. “Thanks to Ariel and her pride.”

“Philip finally got a ticket, did he?” Michelle asked.

“That, and a nice hotel room,” Katelyn said.

“An elk and a bear,” James said. “I’d sure as hell like to watch that mating.”

“They don’t mate in their animal form, you know that, right?” Tina said. “That’d be gross.”

“Oh I know,” James said. “I still want to watch.”

“Perv,” Katelyn said.

“I never said I wasn’t,” James said with a wink.

“Michelle?” Ked said. “Plans?”

“Nothing, really,” Michelle said. “Some shopping, maybe visit a few bars.”

“Oh yeah, you sure that’s all?” Brian said. “I caught you using Tinder on your phone the other day.”

Michelle shrugged. “Just checking out what the guys look like in Belgrade.”

“Oh I see,” Brian said. “And you’re telling me you don’t have any dates lined up?”

James seemed to be listening intently.

“Maybe a few,” Michelle admitted, blushing slightly.

James frowned, and returned his attention to his meat. He seemed to be attacking it a bit more aggressively than he should have.

“What about you, Ariel?” Ked asked.

“Me?” Ariel said.

“She’ll probably be studying throughout the weekend,” Brian said.

Ariel smiled. “No, I’ll be in Belgrade like the rest of you.”

“Look at her,” Katelyn said. “That dreamy expression says it all. She’s going to be meeting that dragon of hers.”

“Must have been hard, being away from him for so long,” Tina said.

Ariel could feel Michelle’s gaze on her, but she nodded anyway, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. She felt extremely guilty that she had been able to have her man every weekend while no other apprentices could be with mates. “It’s been hard, yes. It’ll be good to hold him in my arms.”

The conversation fizzled out as they finished their meals.

On Wednesday morning, after a jog around the Tower grounds, Walter had the group gather in front of him.

“So your liberty starts tomorrow,” Walter said.

“So it is a four day weekend…” Ked said.

“Yes,” Walter said. “Shuttles run to Belgrade from six to ten tonight. The return shuttles will be operating the same hours on Sunday night.”

“What about hunters?” Ariel asked. “Liberty is the perfect time for them to strike: when we’re exposed, away from the tower.”

“We have security cameras watching every approach to the main road,” Walter said. “If Orion hunters are detected, Wayfarers will be dispatched to handle them. We also have special Weaves in place to shield the outgoing road from any overhead satellites or drones that might be passing by.”

“What about in Belgrade?” Ked said. “You won’t be able to hide the vehicles there…”

“No,” Walter said. “But the hunters will have no idea any of you are apprentices. We swap out the vehicles every liberty, and change the license plates. We also drop you off in random places throughout the city, in groups of no more than three. You’ll be carrying your phone and RFID ring with you at all times. If you do find yourselves in trouble, press the emergency button on the side of the phone and it will summon the closest Wayfarers to your aid.”

“How about pick up?” Michelle asked. “How do we know which vehicles will take us home?”

“You’ll be texted a time and location to your student-issue smartphones half an hour before pickup,” Walter said.

“We’re sure this texting is secure?” Michelle said. “That hunters won’t trick us into getting into their vehicles?”

Walter smiled patronizingly. “If you don’t want to go on liberty, you’re welcome to stay here.”

“Wait a second,” Brian said. “If we bring our RFID rings, won’t the hunters be able to use that to detect us if they get close enough?”

“You’ll recall that your rings came in special metal containers,” Walter said. “When you’re in public, remove the ring and place it in its container. The shielding will prevent any hunters from skimming your information and picking you out in a crowd. Take it out of the container when you return to your hotel, or when a Wayfarer asks you to prove your identity.”

“Hunters are big deal in Belgrade, aren’t they?” Ked said. “Makes some sense. Like Ariel said, apprentices are easy pickings when they’re on leave.”

“That’s why we have so many Wayfarers from our warrior class on patrol in the city and outlying areas during liberty,” Walter said. “Even so, I recommend you keep a low profile when you’re out there. As shifters, you are all especially at risk. Orions capture human Wayfarers. But they kill shifter witches on sight. As I said, if you don’t want to go on liberty, you’re welcome to stay here.”

Ariel didn’t think she had to worry about the Orions, not when she had a former dragon king protecting her.

She exchanged texts with Jett between classes that day, and explained she didn’t know where the shuttle would be dropping her off. Jett told her to call him as soon as she was in town, and he’d shadow her position using the GPS in her sat-phone, that way he could pick her up as soon as she was let off.

You can do that? she asked.

Of course.

You never told me you’ve been tracking me all this time…

I thought you knew, lioness.

No I didn’t! And don’t you lioness me. Stalker.

Listen, if you don’t like it, I can show you how to turn it off. Just activate the tracking again when you reach the city.

Fine, show me.

He called her and walked her through the instructions.

When it was done, she said: “I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were tracking me all this time. Though I guess there isn’t really much to track while I’m here, is there?”

“Honestly, I haven’t been paying much attention,” Jett said over the line. “I just check it once or twice a day to make sure you’re still safe in the tower.”

“You can be a bit overprotective at times,” Ariel said.

“I know,” Jett said. “But I have to be… you’re my most valuable treasure. See you tonight.”

“See you,” Ariel said. “Love you.”

“Love you.”

Ariel hung up. She couldn’t be mad, of course. Jett was far too sweet for that. And his intentions were good. Still, she did feel a little violated. Then again, the Wayfarers were no doubt tracking her with her Tower-issued phone, too. But at least she knew about that.

When the last class of the day ended, Ariel went to her room to change out of her robes. Her old clothing was in the locker, and she put on the jeans and T shirt. It felt weird wearing normal clothes after dressing in what was essentially a bathrobe for the past three months.

She grabbed her knapsack and emptied it out, intending to fill it with a few souvenirs in Belgrade. Then she and Michelle joined up with the rest of their crew and headed down to the parking garage to stand in line for a shuttle.

While they were waiting, a Wayfarer Ariel had never seen before—a man dressed in a crisp suit and tie—walked down the line. He was scanning the apprentices with a handheld digital reader, similar to the kind she had seen some of the guards carrying. The glasses he wore had a small metal attachment on the right lens, also like the guards: probably feeding him whatever data the handheld device scanned.

Ariel fiddled with the RFID ring she wore, wondering what information was stored on it.

The suit-wearing Wayfarer reached her group, and when he passed Ariel, he lowered the reader.

“You and you,” he pointed out Ariel and Michelle. “Come with me.”

Ariel and Michelle exchanged a confused glance, then Ariel shrugged and followed after the man. She glanced over her shoulder at her friends. “Don’t wait for us!”

“Hell with that.” Ked stepped from the line, turning back as he did so to address the others. “The rest of you go on ahead. If you get a shuttle, take it. We’ll meet up with you in the city.”

Ked followed Ariel and Michelle at a discreet distance. When the suit-clad Wayfarer reached the elevator concourse, Ariel and Michelle entered one of the elevators with the witch and Ked was shut out.

The Wayfarer had pressed the topmost button. Ariel had never been to that floor.

“What’s this about?” Ariel asked the Wayfarer as the elevator ascended.

He didn’t answer.

Ariel glanced at Michelle and noticed her friend was very pale. What does she know?

“What’s wrong?” Ariel asked her quietly.

“The top floor,” Michelle said. “That’s the office of the dragon witch.”

“The dragon witch?” Ariel said.

“Yes,” Michelle told her. “The Wayfarer is taking us to see the president of the Steel Tower.”