Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
Despite having waited my entire lifetime for my leopard to make an appearance, there were many reasons I hadn’t allowed her to come out yet. Those reasons all boiled down to one emotion: fear.
I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to control her and that Mikaela-Leopard would take over, leaving Mikaela-Witch lost forever .
Basically, I was afraid I’d completely lose myself in the shift, and frankly, it pissed me off to be so afraid all the time.
The Mikaela from before the attack never had these kinds of fears. Even though she’d given Jasmine a hard time about signing up for this course, she would have been just as eager as these other students to touch and eventually, ride a dragon.
The Mikaela who I was now, though, knew exactly what dangers a dragon could pose and because she knew those dangers first-hand, she lived in a constant state of both rage and fear.
As it turns out, those fears were at least somewhat justified.
Mikaela-Leopard was a truly scary badass, and what she was willing to do when given her freedom was a lot, including attacking a dragon who was about a thousand times heavier than us and whose fire might actually burn us, despite our own fire powers .
The good news was that I didn’t get lost in the shift. Mikaela-Witch was still present and aware.
The bad news? I had zero control.
Mikaela-Leopard was definitely in charge.
All I could do was bear witness to the insanity and hope she wore herself out soon, without getting us killed.
I don’t know what set her off in the beginning, but I have a feeling it was the smoke Elliot blew from his nostrils. Smoke that in a weird way, mirrored how the shadows had moved when they’d attacked us.
One moment, my leopard was just background noise, the occasional growl rumbling through the undercurrents of my mind, and the next, she was an explosion of movement, literally ripping from my human body so fast, I had no chance of stopping her.
Landing on all fours, we raced through the other students and leapt for the giant freaking dragon.
I don’t actually know what she was trying to accomplish because he was huge compared to us, but whatever it was, she gave it her all.
She focused her attack on his right foreleg and used her claws to launch us higher, almost as if she was climbing a tree trunk.
Elliot let out a roar and lifted his leg, shaking it, probably in an attempt to dislodge us, but we’d already moved on, landing on his shoulder and from there, his back, right between two incredible wings.
What the hell are you doing? I shrieked in my mind, finally shaking off my shock enough to try and talk some sense into the crazy leopard who was now in charge of our body.
Elliot, to my surprise, other than that initial roar and shaking of his leg, hadn’t moved a single inch since we’d landed on his back. Maybe he was frozen in shock like I’d been.
“Ms. Mitchell, what do you think you’re doing up there?” Professor Vesely shouted, shocking me that he even knew my name.
Jasmine and Kasi were standing beside him, staring up at me with worried looks on their faces. I assumed they told him who I was and I couldn’t really blame them. Even I thought this was insane.
“Get down here right now!” Professor Vesely stared up at us, hands on hips, then gestured to the ground as if that would have any impact on my leopard.
I glared down at him through eyes that had gone slightly weird. Not entirely black and white, but the colors of the world were definitely muted. Did he really think I had any control over this situation?
Mikaela-Leopard, I tried in a cajoling voice, would you please take us back down now? I really don’t want to be on this dragon when he decides to take off.
Miki, my leopard replied.
Shit. Was that really my leopard? Or had I just gone completely mad? Was I now having mental conversations with myself? Miki?
Miki-Leopard. Not Mikaela-Leopard.
Okay, Miki-Leopard. Can we get down now, please?
Bad-Dragon. Smells different. Miki-Leopard leaned forward and sniffed first one wing, then the other.
This is Elliot. He’s a student at the Academy. He’s not our enemy. Lydrel Zowen is the Bad-Dragon who attacked us. Was this normal?
Mad-Dragon.
Yes.
I couldn’t believe I was having a conversation with my leopard. I knew that Kasi and Shadow, her shadow-kitten companion, talked all the time, but my dad had never mentioned doing the same with his leopard. He’d only ever mentioned images.
Elliot shifted restlessly under us, reminding me that we were intruders upon his back.
Bad-Dragon, Miki-Leopard repeated.
He’s not here.
She let out a low growl. Bad-Dragon.
Miki-Leopard, he’s not here. This is Elliot. Not Bad-Dragon.
That’s when things went to hell.
Elliot must have decided he was tired of hosting a leopard on his back, so he shifted and I don’t mean positions.
I mean he went from huge dragon to human, which would have meant a really bad fall for us, except Miki did something.
I’m not sure what it was, but it felt like we just sort of scattered into atoms before reassembling a few moments later on the ground.
Bad-Dragon, Miki-Leopard growled as she barreled into the naked chest of the man I assumed was Elliot.
We fell in a heap, Elliot flat on his back, the wings that had stayed with him even in human form spread across the grass in an incredible display of powerful, masculine beauty.
We landed on top of him, front paws on his shoulders, crouched over him, face-to-face.
I couldn’t help but notice how epically hot this man was, wings, horns and all—way sexier than even Professor HDB.
Miki-Leopard growled low in her throat, a menacing sound that didn’t seem to faze Elliot at all.
Well, why would it? He was a freaking dragon , after all .
Still, he didn’t respond aggressively, which was a surprise, to say the least.
Instead, he raised a hand and carefully, slowly so that she could see it coming, set his fingers against her snout and gently stroked upward. He repeated that motion several times.
It took me a moment to realize exactly what was happening.
For goddess sake, he was petting her.
Worse, she was actually enjoying it, leaning into the strokes. The growling sounds she’d been making transitioned into a low, throaty rumble that I swear sounded like purring.
Did leopards purr?
As if that one thought broke through to Miki-Leopard, she nudged his hand one final time, then leapt free.
We sauntered over to where Kasi and Jasmine were standing and even allowed them to pet us, though at least Jasmine had the courtesy to ask permission first. Unlike a certain arrogant dragon. I sent him a fierce look and Miki-Leopard added a menacing growl, but he wasn’t even paying attention.
He’d already transformed back into his dragon and was staring into the distance again, once more appearing as if he wasn’t even aware of the rest of us.
After giving instructions to the students on how to approach a wild dragon, Professor Vesely left them to practice on Elliot and headed to where we were standing. “Go join the others, Jasmine. You too, Kasi,” he said sternly.
“Oh, but—” Jasmine began.
“Now.”
Great. I could feel it coming: my second lecture in two days. I was on a roll here.
Professor Vesely waited until Jasmine and Kasi had joined the other students before he spoke again. He never once glanced at me—or rather at my leopard—but instead stood at our side, watching the students while he delivered his message. “I understand your leopard only recently manifested, so I will make allowances this once. However, you need to gain control of her immediately if you wish to pass this course. Quite simply, you must learn how to ride a dragon and in order to do that, I have to be able to trust you near them. That won’t happen if you can’t control your leopard.
“Your lack of control today could have resulted in a rampaging dragon if Elliot weren’t a shifter. Many lives might have been lost as a result. That is what you need to understand about housing a beast inside you. It’s not that your lack of control could get you killed. That would be a natural consequence of your actions. It’s that it could get others killed, and that, Ms. Mitchell, is never acceptable.
“Pay attention in class. Communicate with your leopard. And learn how to maintain control at all times.”
Without waiting for a response—it’s not like we could give one anyway—Professor Vesely stepped away to begin lecturing a group of students who were gathered around Elliot. “Did you even listen to a word I said about how to approach a dragon? I said one at a time and look at the lot of you, crowding him, risking your lives if he were to get irritated. Step back, now!”
The students all moved back, shamefacedly, but I wasn’t paying attention at all because I was trying desperately to convince Miki-Leopard not to attack Elliot again.
He’s just here to help the professor teach the students how to approach a dragon.
Bad-Dragon. She sent me an image of Elliot surrounded by the women of the class, all of them touching his scales.
Not Bad-Dragon. Helpful dragon. He’s teaching them.
Bad-Dragon. She sent me another picture of him, this time of his head, which he had lifted toward the sun.
I glanced at Elliot and had to admit that even I could tell he was enjoying himself. I thought it had more to do with the feel of the sun, rather than the students’ hands, on his scales, but what did I know?
Bad-Dragon, Miki-Leopard repeated.
Not Bad-Dragon. The sun makes him happy. I sent a picture of the sun and the feeling of warmth when it hit one’s skin.
I don’t know if she believed me, but so far I was managing to keep her calm.
BAD-DRAGON. She said it loudly this time as if this would somehow convince me.
Well. Okay.
Maybe not calm .
But not raging, serial-killer status either, so we’ll call that a win.
“All right, Ms. Fontaine,” Professor Vesely said. “Approach from the side, cautiously and slow.”
Magnolia Fontaine, a witch I recognized from my charms and potions class the previous year, walked hesitantly toward Elliot. She stared up at him with wide eyes, said something I couldn’t quite hear and set her hand on Elliot’s leg.
That was when Elliot-Dragon did something so incredibly stupid, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
He tilted his head, so that his eye was looking down at Magnolia.
That was all it took.
He looked at Magnolia and Miki-Leopard lost her ever-loving mind.
With another one of her rasping roars, she hurtled toward Magnolia and Elliot.
“Ms. Mitchell!” Professor Vesely shouted, as if that was going to make a difference. What did he not understand about me not being in control here?
Magnolia took one look at the crazed leopard bearing down on her, let out a shriek and darted behind Elliot’s leg, a stupid place to hide if you asked me.
Elliot saw us coming, though, reared up and let loose a wave of fire. It wasn’t low enough to even singe our fur, but it certainly caught our attention.
Miki-Leopard jerked to a halt and I had one moment of sheer relief that she was finally coming to her senses when she hissed and roared again, this time spouting flames of her own.
Elliot-Dragon stumbled back, startled, tripped over his own feet and landed on his rump.
Luckily for Magnolia, she’d moved out from under him when he’d distracted us, so wasn’t in the danger zone when he fell.
The strangest thing about all of this was that Miki-Leopard seemed greatly satisfied with the outcome.
We’d fought fire with fire, though I had no idea how, and had startled the giant dragon, making him fall down. This, to Miki-Leopard, meant that we had won.
To ensure he got the point, she snarled one last time, Bad-Dragon . Then, projecting an air of superiority and radiating smugness, she turned her back on Elliot, twitched her tail at him and sauntered away.
This time, she didn’t take us to Jasmine and Kasi, but rather to a tree not too far away, that she proceeded to climb. She settled on a sturdy limb, where she started to groom herself, surreptitiously watching the class, and more specifically, Elliot, from a distance.
Jasmine and Kasi both made their way over to the base of the tree, where they leaned against its trunk and watched the class with us.
I wasn’t sure how much time had already passed, or how much of class was left, but Professor Vesely continued teaching, every once in a while shooting stern glances our way. At one point, he raised his voice to practically a shout, just to ensure that we heard his message. “ Luckily, Elliot is a shifter because I guarantee if a certain leopard had attacked a real dragon, the safety of every student here might have been forfeit. ”
Though I was entirely annoyed at Miki-Leopard for picking fights with dragons, I still rolled my eyes internally. Unfortunately, mentally rolling my eyes didn’t have the same satisfaction as physically rolling them would have, but our leopard eyes wouldn’t cooperate.
If Professor Vesely was making some lame attempt at peer pressure, he was going to be disappointed in the results, for the only people whose opinions I cared about were right here with me, standing at the base of my tree.
I was still going to do my best to make peace with my leopard, of course, and to somehow calm her down so that she wasn’t such a raging lunatic all the time.
Miki-Leopard let out an emphatic chuff, blowing air through her nose in a dramatic snort. As time passed and she lost interest in what was happening during class, she closed her eyes and eventually went to sleep, in the process, shoving me back into my human form.
This was how I ended up falling out of the tree completely naked.
Shifters aren’t supposed to be bothered by nudity, but the thing is, I was a witch my entire life. Sure, I had a dad who shifted into a leopard, but we lived in a witch community because of my mom’s work, not with the other leopards in his den.
This meant I wasn’t really used to being around a lot of shifters.
And I definitely wasn’t used to sudden, unexpected nudity in public.
Trust me. It was horrifying.
That asshole Taggart got a good look, as did our professor and a lot of other students who happened to glance over when I inadvertently shrieked on account of falling out of the damn tree.
The only thing that saved me was Jasmine’s quick thinking since Miki-leopard was still sound asleep.
Jasmine managed to belt out a quick magical melody that slowed my fall and ensured I only gained some bruises and not broken limbs.
Unfortunately, she didn’t think to sing me some clothes while she was at it, so when I scrambled to my feet, I was entirely naked.
Just when I needed her the most, my leopard went to sleep on me.
Damnit.
Kasi didn’t let me down, though, and strangely enough, neither did Elliot.
The problem with Kasi’s solution, though, was that it involved shadows. She released them quickly, forming a wall between me and the rest of the class, but the sight of those shadows sent me stumbling back into the past.
“My sweet little leopard,” a voice from my nightmares crooned in my head. “Your fire calls to me. Let me have it now. So tasty.”
I whimpered and went to my knees, caught in the memory of a horror so great I couldn’t even comprehend it.
The sound of a dragon’s roar disrupted the memory and I blinked the world back into focus, just in time to see Elliot-Dragon landing in front of us. He was carrying a small bundle in one talon that he tossed to me before settling on the ground, blocking everyone’s view of us.
“I’m so sorry, Mikaela,” Kasi said, making me realize that both she and Jasmine were kneeling beside me, trying to provide comfort, an effort I appreciated, even if it wasn’t successful. “I didn’t even think. I pulled my shadows back immediately, but it was too late.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay. You were just trying to help and I need to get used to them. You have to be able to use your shadows to fight Zowen when he comes for us and I can’t be shutting down every time you do.”
I reached out and dragged closer the bundle Elliot-Dragon had tossed me. It was a small drawstring bag with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt inside.
Miki-Leopard stirred as I pulled on the shirt .
Bad-Dragon, she murmured sleeping. Smell yummy.
I froze in the process of pulling on the pants and took in a deep breath.
Shit.
They did smell of Elliot.
They were also huge on me, something I noted when I stood and the pants immediately started to fall back down.
I grabbed them and pulled the drawstring tight, trying not to think about possible reasons Miki-Leopard was currently rumbling happily (purring?) at the back of my mind.
“They’re his,” Jasmine said softly as I worked on rolling up the pant legs. “When he realized you were naked over here, he transformed just long enough to threaten our classmates. ”
“He told them he’d burn them to a crisp if they kept staring at you,” Kasi interjected.
“Then he grabbed his bag, transformed again and flew right to you,” Jasmine went on excitedly, a huge grin on her face and stars in her eyes.
I rolled mine.
She was such a romantic. She dreamed of one day finding her fated mate and of being swept away by him.
Of course, most of those dreams involved a gorgon named Vorzak, but she was delusional that way.
“I suppose we should get up and face the music,” I said glumly.
Once we were all on our feet, though, and Elliot had moved out of the way, it turned out that class was over and no one was left in the area but us .
Thus ended the first class of our third year and our very first Dragon Riding 101 class.
To say that it was a disaster was a complete understatement.
Maybe we’d all get lucky and Professor Vesely would convince Headmistress Blackthorn to let me drop the class.
It was a nice thought, but I definitely wasn’t holding my breath.