Mathis waited an extra ten minutes over the hour, and when still the lion shifter hadn’t come to the parking lot, Mathis began to suspect he had been duped. He would report this betrayal to his superiors, and trackers would be sent out immediately. The dragon king would rue the day he crossed the witches. Jett’s own people would help hunt him down.

But then the shifter appeared at the edge of the parking lot, holding the hand of her dragon. Jett kissed her one last time and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

Mathis yearned to hear what they were saying. Yearned to know what love was again.

He shook his head. Love like that is a rare gift, known by only a precious few...

He had known love like that once, a long time ago, when Gwendoline had resided in the Steel Tower during her mandatory year of training. As first year apprentices sharing almost all of the same classes together, they had quickly become close friends. And then more than friends.

He had felt so complete with her. Like he could do anything with her at his side. But as he grew in power day by day while she remained at the same low level, he began to realize what they had wouldn’t last forever, and that she would be expelled when the year came to a close.

He made plans to run away with her before the year was out, but two weeks before their planned flight, something happened that would change things between them forever.

She left the Steel Tower without him, parting on bad terms, and he never saw her again until a few days ago.

He had never really stopped loving her. He had told himself that he no longer cared for her, that she was nothing to him, but seeing her again only revealed those thoughts for the lies they were. There was so much he wanted to know about her. Had she taken a mate? Was she married? Did she still feel anything for him? And most importantly, could she forgive him?

When I get this latest batch of Potentials delivered, I’m taking some time off. I’m going to make things right between Gwen and I. Somehow.

The shifter finally finished her tearful farewell with the dragon, and she slowly walked away from him, one hand still joined with his. When she reached the limit of her reach, she let her hand fall away, repositioned her backpack, and continued on her own. Jett scowled at Mathis the whole time.

When she reached him, she said: “So what now? I just get in the SUV and we go our merry way?”

“Something like that,” he told her. “I’m Mathis by the way.”

“I know,” the shifter replied.

“And you are?” Mathis said, realizing he hadn’t yet asked her name.

“Ariel,” she said.

He inclined his head slightly. “Pleasure to meet you, Ariel.”

“I’m not sure I can say the feeling is mutual,” Ariel said. “But I am looking forward to learning some lion magic, I admit.”

He had to smile at her naivety. “You’ll be learning a bit more than that. If the only ‘magic’ you’ve ever seen has been from that weakling you call a witch in your own pride, you’re in for a bit of a surprise.”

“Stop calling him weak,” Ariel said. “That’s not nice.”

Mathis frowned. “But he is weak.”

“Like I said, not nice,” Ariel said.

Mathis chuckled. “I can see why Jett likes you.”

He led her to the SUV and opened the sliding door. She sidled in next to one of the other Potentials.

“Everyone, this is Ariel,” Mathis said.

The girl beside Ariel gave her a welcoming smile.

Mathis shut the door and settled into the passenger seat. Jett was still glaring at him from the far side of the parking lot, but Mathis ignored the look and glanced at his driver. “Take us out of here, Hugh.”

Hugh momentarily lifted his baseball cap to sweep the loose strands of hair from his forehead, then the big man put the vehicle into reverse, turned around, and drove onto the gravel trail that led away through the woods.

It was strangely quiet in the rest of the SUV. Mathis was expecting the Potentials to introduce themselves to Ariel. He glanced in the rear view mirror and realized Ariel had opened her window and was peering outside. Watching Jett recede.

“See you soon, my dragon!” she yelled. “I love you!”

His voice boomed in reply, sounding so loud, so powerful, that it seemed to come from all directions.

“AND I LOVE YOU, MY LIONESS!”

Mathis frowned. Should the dragon be able to do that while collared?

He shrugged. It wasn’t his concern.

He had done what he had come here to do.

* * *

Ariel leaned back in her seat and shut the window.

I’m doing this. I’m actually doing this.

“Hey, I’m Michelle.” The red-haired girl beside her extended a palm.

“Nice to meet you,” Ariel said.

The older woman on the other side of Michelle offered her a hand. “Katelyn.” She had strands of gray in her hair, and pronounced crow’s feet.

“Ariel.” She glanced at the other seats arranged in two rows behind her and introduced herself to the other Potentials.

There was James, a darkly handsome panther shifter who appeared to be in his early thirties. Ked, a grizzled, thickly-bearded man, was a bear. Brian, a kid who wore his hair in thick spikes, seemed about twenty, judging from the feathery stubble along his jaw and the baby fat on his cheeks. He was a wolf.

Michelle was a falcon shifter, and Katelyn was an elk.

“I was expecting you all to be lions,” Ariel said.

“There are only three other prides in the area besides Blue Hurricane,” James said. “The rest of us belong to crews of all kinds. Wolves. Bears. Panthers. You name it.”

“Your crews mix different animals in the same group?” Ariel asked.

Ked was the one who answered. “Not generally, no. But Katelyn here was in my crew. Mate to a bear named Philip.”

“A bear and an elk,” Ariel said. “Who would have thunk it? Though I guess it’s not much different than a dragon and a lioness, huh?”

No one had anything to say to that, and she felt kind of embarrassed, like she was bragging. Which she was. But she couldn’t help but be proud of who her man was. Could they blame her?

“I don’t know how Philip is going to scrape up the money to visit me,” Katelyn said.

Ariel suddenly felt terrible. It hadn’t even occurred to her that these shifters would have nowhere near the resources that her dragon had. She had gotten so used to Jett taking care of everything…

She reached across Michelle and held Katelyn’s hand. “We’ll help get him to Belgrade. I promise you. My pride will take care of it.”

“If that’s true, then thank you.” Katelyn cupped her hands around Ariel’s.

The next few days passed in a blur of traveling. During the day, Mathis had his driver bring the SUV to the different shifter crews in the vicinity so he could perform his testing. At night, he holed up the Potentials in rundown motels along the way. At these motels, Michelle the falcon shifter was Ariel’s roommate, and they got along fairly well considering they were close to the same age. Ariel kept in constant touch with Jett by text and phone of course.

Mathis only discovered one more Potential, a lioness from another pride in the area. She was a young woman, early twenties. Tina. She got along very well with Brian.

When he had finished testing the last shifter crew in the area, Mathis had his driver take them to the airport.

When they arrived, Mathis told Hugh: “Take us to the FBO terminal.”

“Already on the way,” Hugh said.

“What’s FBO?” Michelle asked.

“Fixed-base operator,” James the panther shifter replied. “Fancy term for a company allowed to operate on airport land, and provide fueling, hangaring, and maintenance to private jets. I used to work for one. Plus side is you get to skip the security lines, though they usually have a quick security check. And they look at passports on international flights.”

“They won’t be looking at passports,” Mathis said. “And there will be no security check. I’ve had you all cleared.”

Sure enough, after Hugh parked the SUV outside a large hangar, the shifter crew walked inside without issue, entering a steel-walled corridor. Mathis and Hugh led them past unmanned metal detectors toward a glass sliding door.

Beyond that door, a tiny biplane awaited.

“How the hell are we all going to fit in there?” Ked said. The bear shifter scratched at his grizzled beard.

“That’s not the plane.” Mathis continued forward, walking through the sliding door and into the hangar proper.

Ariel followed, spotting the long, sleek private jet waiting beyond.

“That is,” Mathis finished.

“What kind of plane is this?” Brian said. The young wolf shifter sounded full of awe. And a bit winded: he had the most luggage out of all of them, and despite his strength still struggled under the weight.

“Gulfstream G650,” Hugh said. “The creme de la creme of private jets. When you travel with the witches, you travel in style.”

An assistant stood by a cart near the airstairs that led up to the plane, and took their luggage. Brian seemed relieved.

Ariel climbed the stairs after Mathis. When the witch reached the top, Mathis hesitated, and looked past Ariel toward something behind her.

Ariel followed his gaze to the open hangar doors. She didn’t see anything special out there other than the tarmac and a few other private jets. In the far distance she could make out the vague outline of the mountain range that harbored Midnight.

When she turned back Mathis had already gone inside.

She entered and found herself in a roomy cabin with four couches set in a square shape—two were placed right up against the fuselage, while the other two cut across the aisle. The couches faced inward. Three shifters could fit per couch, and there were overflow couches farther down the aisle, along with closets, and a door with a shower head symbol on it. Beyond those, a corridor led to a room harboring a bed.

“You weren’t kidding when you told us we’d be traveling in luxury,” Ked said.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Mathis said. “This is the most luxury you’ll see in the next year. Enjoy it while you can.”

Ariel had chosen a couch with Michelle and Katelyn, and she sat on the rightmost side. In the sofa directly across from her were Ked, Brian and Tina, while Mathis and Hugh sat in the couch just to her right.

Ariel retrieved her sat-phone. “Is it okay if I take a few pictures?”

“Go ahead,” Mathis said. “Just none with the Potentials in them, or myself.”

She did so. “What kind of plane is this again?”

“Gulfstream G650,” James said.

She sent Jett a quick text, attaching the pictures.

We’re on the plane. Ever seen the inside of a Gulfstream G650?

Most of the other shifters were similarly on their phones. All save Ked.

“I haven’t seen you use your phone much during the trip, Ked,” Ariel said.

“That’s because he usually sits behind you,” James said. “But you’re right, I haven’t seen him use a phone either. In fact, I’m not even sure he has one.”

The grizzled man shrugged. “Don’t have much use for a phone. Already said my good-byes to my family.”

“I never asked...” Ariel said. “But do you have a mate?”

Ked shook his head. “I’m too much of a brawler for that. There’s no woman who could handle me.”

“You should see him fight,” Katelyn said. “Not even Philip could beat him.”

“You two ever fight?” James asked, gesturing at Katelyn and Ked. “Elk versus Bear?”

“Katelyn and I have been in our fair share of tussles,” Ked said.

“What he’s not telling you,” Katelyn said, “is that he always let me win.”

“I have to,” Ked said. “Otherwise I’d have to face Philip.”

“But I thought you could beat him?” Brian said.

“Yes,” Ked said. “But it’s never a pretty fight for either of us. Last time I fought Philip, it took me a few weeks to heal completely. I had to hole up like a hermit in my cave.”

Ariel thought of some of her own fights, particular the very first she ever had, after Logan turned her. She had been torn up by his lion, but she had given as good as she got, and Logan had to limp away with his belly ripped open.

“Wait, you bears live in caves?” Tina said.

“No, bears live in cabins like everyone else,” Katelyn said. “But Ked here lives in a cave.”

“Well that’s why you have no mate,” Michelle said. “Who in their right mind wants to date a bear who lives in a cave?”

Ked shrugged. “I like my peace and quiet.”

“Every day I learn something new about you people,” Michelle said.

“I have a feeling that’s going to continue for a while,” Tina said.

“Yeah,” James said. “Probably a few weeks, until we become bored silly with one another. Assuming we even see each other after we reach the Steel Tower.”

In a few moments the plane’s engines turned on and the pilot announced over the intercom: “This is your captain speaking. We have fourteen hours to Belgrade, where it’s a beautiful seventy-seven degrees Fahrenheit. Enjoy the flight, Potentials, because today is the first day of the rest of your lives.”

“Is the pilot a witch or something?” James asked.

“Let’s just say he’s in the know,” Mathis told the panther shifter.

“I kind of don’t like how everyone is building up to our time in the Steel Tower,” Tina said. “‘The first day of the rest of your lives.’ For all we know, most of us won’t be strong enough to stay for more than a year.”

Mathis glanced at Ariel, but thankfully the witch didn’t say anything to put her on the spot.

“Well even if it’s only a year, I’m not complaining,” James said. “I look at it as taking a year off to backpack across Europe.”

“Except you won’t be doing any backpacking,” Ked said. “You’ll be stuck in a tower of steel, thirty minutes away from the closest European city, studying all year and doing the bidding of witches. Some holiday.”

“We get liberty every three months, though,” Michelle said. She glanced at Mathis. “Right?”

The witch nodded.

A male flight attendant came by. “Please deactivate your phones for take off.”