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“It’s not for you to understand,” the old woman said. “You have no idea what true power is until you’re willing to accept who you are.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“You have no idea what true power can do until you understand how to unlock it.”
I shook my head. What was she saying?
“Who are you?” I asked again.
“The question isn’t who I am, it’s whoyouare,” she said. “And what you’re going to do with all this new magic that’s bleeding into your life.”
“New magic?”
“You’re from a strong bloodline, I can tell,” Josephine said. “And one strong bloodline deserves another. You’ve found what you need, but you’ll have to accept it for it to stick.”
I shook my head. I really had no idea what she was talking about.
I blinked, and when I did, Josephine changed again, becoming young and beautiful, becoming Danna.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
Danna shook her head. “You have so many new questions, but you’re not willing to answer the ones that have already been asked.”
She was talking crazy. Riddles weren’t my thing—be straightforward, or fuck off.
As I watched, Danna’s face changed. She didn’t shift back to the old woman. Instead, her skin became scales. They ran up her arms and onto her neck, and her green eyes glowed like emeralds lit up by an inner source of light. Her body stretched and twisted the way a shifter’s body did, and Danna’s face elongated as long, sharp teeth filled the mouth.
She shook herself when she was a strange lizard-like creature, and wings appeared.
Her scales were a strange color—I’d never seen a silver dragon before, but that was what she was. Her scales shimmered between silver and white, with colorful streaks in between depending on how the light caught it, and with her bright green eyes, the look was absolutely magnificent. And terrifying.
“Danna?” I asked.
The magic was thick, and my half-dragon form reacted to it. My body shifted and changed, growing in size until I was in my true dragon form, too. Danna’s dragon walked to me, and our animals danced around each other lithely, as if we weren’t the size we were.
Magic flowed over my skin like water—hot water, with steam that rose off our scales, and Danna pressed her snout against mine.
Suddenly, I was alone. Danna was gone, and I was wrapped in pure darkness. I couldn’t see anything.
“Hello?” I called into the void.
No response.
“Danna?” I hesitated before I added, “Josephine?”
Still nothing.
I opened my eyes and blinked. My body was on fire, my skin hotter than it had been in a long time, and when I sat up, I caught a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror opposite the bed. My eyes glowed like cerulean jewels, and scales ran up my arms and neck the same way Danna’s had in my dreams.
The room was so full of magic that I could barely breathe.
I closed my eyes and did what I’d told Emmie to do. I drew a breath through my nose for five counts, held it for seven, and slowly let it out for eight.
I had to do it a few times for the magic to slowly fade. The scales on my arm retreated, and I was just the man.
I got out of bed and rubbed my eyes. How long had I slept? The sun was still high in the sky.
Danna’s face flashed in front of me, the silver scales with their colorful flashes.
