Free Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) by Lizzy Ford

before you have your magic?” Gunner asked quietly. “In case, you know. She wants to use those ropes on us.”
    “I don’t know if Gavin will unlock my magic. If I’m going to make things right – or try to – then there’s no better place to start.”
    “I’ll let you do the talking. Might give me a chance to escape.”
    Chace rolled his eyes, hearing the empty threat. Gunner would never abandon him.
    He’s a better person than I am.
    The impatient cry of a dragon informed him that him Hala was done shifting. Chace got to his feet and pushed off the space blanket, turning to see her again. The purple dragon was waiting.
    “Let’s get this over with,” Chace said, a combination of dread and hope in his gut. He approached her, followed by Gunner. “Hala, take us back to wherever it was the Protector freed you.”
    The dragon bowed its head to show it heard.
    “I hate heights, and I hate flying with dragons,” Gunner moaned. “Panthers don’t fly!”
    Chace laughed. “C’mon scaredy cat. Let’s get going.”

Chapter Eight
     
    “Caleb?” Skylar pushed the door to his house open. All of the lights appeared to be on, and the foyer was quiet. She spotted droplets of dried blood on the ground leading from somewhere in the house, down to the library where she’d been earlier then out the door.
    Approaching the intersection, her attention was compelled towards the library once more. The shifter magic was still strong, even though she thought she’d freed all the dragons she found. Had she missed some?
    Logically, she knew she should follow the blood trail into the house, but the pull of shifter magic didn’t let her. She obeyed her instincts instead and returned to the library. Like the rest of the house, it was quiet, aside from the whir of air conditioning.
    Skylar searched the case at the center of the library once more but didn’t spot any more dragons. She eased the door opened and picked up the figurine closest to her. It was a tiger. Clenching it in her hand, she counted to ten, not expecting her dragon magic to work on any other kind of shifter.
    Like the dragons, the tiger came to life in her hand.
    Startled, she almost dropped it. Skylar moved away from the collection and set the tiger down in the middle of the library. She backed away quickly, putting a table between the two of them.
    Uncertain what to think of the feline shifter, she watched it grow from tiny figurine into a white tiger with black stripes and eyes that glowed almost teal. It growled as it expanded rapidly, eclipsing the size of any wild cat she’d ever seen on television or at the zoo.
    The size of a propane tank, the powerful animal stood perfectly still in the center of the library, its skin quivering and its nose up, smelling the air.
    Skylar eyed a bookshelf nearby, wondering if she’d have a chance to climb it, if the cat spotted her and wasn’t friendly.
    She inched towards it, drawing its attention. It turned, stalking towards her with the effortless, deceptively simple walk of a predator.
    “Nice, kitty,” she said and held her hands out. “I brought you back or … uh woke you up or … whatever. From there.” She pointed to the case.
    It stopped walking to look, and she tried to remind herself there was a human somewhere inside the animal.
    “No fried chicken here, kitty,” she murmured.
    The great cat stared at the collection then switched directions. With a sudden roar, it leapt up and smashed into the glass, knocking the case over. It shattered.
    So much for being discreet. Skylar shielded her face from flying glass. When the tiger’s bellow turned to a purr, she lowered her hands.
    The tiger sat beside the shattered case and its scattered figurines, tail flicking back and forth, as if it was waiting for something. When she didn’t move, the teal eyes moved to her, and it growled.
    “Okay. Agreed. I need to free them. But you’re really not helping me here,” she told it, looking around for all the