Marcus POV
Wind screamed past my ears as we plummeted through the air.
Three stories. That's approximately thirty feet. Terminal velocity for a fall this height—enough to shatter bones, rupture organs, kill on impact. My human brain calculated our death even as my tiger instincts screamed in terror.
We're going to die we're going to die we're going to—
Aria's arms tightened around me. Through our bond, I felt her fear spike, then transform into something else. Determination. Cold, absolute determination.
Her power exploded outward.
The suppression seals cracked audibly inside her chest. Violet energy erupted around us like flames, slowing our fall. We hit the ground hard but not fatally—I felt the impact jar through my small body, but nothing broke.
"Run!" Aria gasped, already sprinting.
Behind us, men in black armor poured out of the dorm building. I caught glimpses of massive beasts with them—wolves with glowing red eyes, serpents as thick as tree trunks, birds with razor-sharp talons.
There's at least twenty of them! I sent through the bond. You said we had two days!
"Someone betrayed us," Aria panted, her legs pumping as she ran across the dark campus. "Kira must have told Damian about the hallway. They moved up their timeline."
Shouts erupted behind us. "There! The Winters girl!"
"Don't let her reach the Vault!"
They know about the Vault? I felt Aria's shock mirror my own through the bond.
"Impossible," she whispered. "Only my family knew—"
An arrow whistled past her head, so close I felt the wind from it.
Aria dove behind a stone fountain, pressing her back against it. Her heart hammered against my small body. Through the bond, I felt the seals inside her cracking further with each breath. Two hours, she'd said. Maybe less now after using power to save our fall.
"We can't outrun them," I said, forcing my mental voice to stay calm even though panic clawed at my throat. "You're injured and I'm useless. We need a plan."
"The plan is to reach the Vault before they kill us."
"That's not a plan, that's a desperate hope!"
Footsteps pounded closer. I heard the growls of hunting beasts, smelled their predatory excitement on the wind. They were enjoying this. To them, we were prey.
Aria's hand trembled as she pulled her father's journal from inside her jacket. She flipped through pages frantically, her eyes scanning symbols I couldn't read.
"There's a backup route," she muttered. "Through the underground tunnels. But the entrance is in the old library, and that's across the main courtyard. Completely exposed."
How far?
"Two hundred yards."
I looked around the fountain's edge. The courtyard was massive and open. Twenty armed tamers and their beasts stood between us and the library. No cover. No protection. Just empty space where we'd be perfect targets.
"We'll never make it," I said flatly.
"I know." Aria's voice cracked. "I'm sorry, Marcus. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this. You were right—I'm insane. This was a suicide mission from the start."
Through our bond, I felt her giving up. Felt her accepting death. The same way I'd accepted it in my office, alone and exhausted, believing I deserved nothing better.
And something inside me snapped.
"No," I growled.
"Marcus—"
"No!" My mental voice was sharp enough to make her flinch. "I didn't die as a corporate slave just to die as someone's victim again. And you didn't survive five years of abuse just to give up now."
"There's no way—"
"There's always a way." I pushed out of her arms and stood on the ground, my tiny tiger body barely reaching her knee. "You said these seals are breaking anyway, right? In two hours?"
"Yes, but—"
"So break them now. On purpose. Use that power to get us across the courtyard."
Aria's eyes went wide. "If I break the seals before we reach the Vault, the power will kill me. I need the artifact to channel it properly or—"
"Or you'll die. I know." I met her violet gaze steadily. "But if we stay here, we die anyway. At least this way we're choosing how we go out. Fighting. Not hiding behind a fountain waiting for arrows."
Through the bond, I felt her shock. Then something else—respect. Maybe even admiration.
"You're braver than any of my previous beasts," she whispered.
"I'm not brave. I'm just tired of being afraid." I bared my small fangs. "Now break those seals and let's show these bastards what happens when they corner desperate people."
Aria's lips curved into a smile that was absolutely feral. "Partners?"
"Partners." I felt the bond between us strengthen, solidify. "Now do it. Before I remember I'm supposed to be the smart one who doesn't suggest suicide plans."
She laughed—actually laughed—and placed both hands over her chest where the seals burned.
"This is going to hurt," she warned.
"Everything hurts lately."
Aria closed her eyes and pulled.
The suppression seals shattered.
Power detonated outward like a bomb going off. Violet energy exploded from Aria's body in waves that made the air itself scream. I felt it slam into me through our bond—raw, wild, overwhelming power that was too much too fast too strong—
My small tiger body convulsed. Pain tore through every nerve. I felt my bones stretching, my muscles tearing and rebuilding, my entire being restructuring itself to handle the massive influx of energy.
Through the agony, I heard Aria screaming. Felt her pain mixing with mine until I couldn't tell where I ended and she began. The bond between us blazed like a star, fusing us together in ways that felt permanent and terrifying.
When the light finally faded, I was no longer housecat-sized.
I stood at Aria's waist now, my white fur crackling with residual violet energy. My claws had grown to the length of knives. My fangs could tear through steel. Lightning-blue stripes glowed along my body, pulsing with power.
And I could feel Aria's power flowing through me like a river—controlled, channeled, no longer destroying her because I was absorbing it.
Holy shit, I thought. It worked.
Aria swayed on her feet, her face pale but alive. The seals were gone, but instead of dying, her power was flowing into me. The bond was acting like a pressure valve, keeping her from exploding.
"Marcus," she breathed. "You're—"
"Bigger. Yeah, I noticed." I flexed my new claws. "Now let's see what I can actually do with this."
The twenty tamers rounded the fountain, their beasts snarling.
The leader—a man with a scarred face and a massive bear—stopped dead when he saw us. His eyes went wide.
"The runt evolved? That's impossible. It's only been an hour since—"
I didn't let him finish.
I leaped.
My new body moved like lightning, closing the distance before the man could react. My claws raked across his bear's face, and violet energy exploded from the impact. The bear stumbled backward, roaring in pain and surprise.
I can fight, I realized with savage joy. I can actually fight!
"Marcus, behind you!" Aria's warning came through the bond.
I spun. A wolf lunged at my throat.
I caught it mid-air, my jaws clamping down on its neck. My tiger instincts knew exactly where to bite, how much pressure to use. The wolf went limp.
Through the bond, I felt Aria's shock and pride mixing together.
"The courtyard," I growled, dropping the unconscious wolf. "Run. I'll cover you."
"You can't fight them all—"
"Watch me."
Two more beasts charged. I met them head-on, violet lightning crackling along my claws. Behind me, I felt Aria start running toward the library. Good. My job was to buy her time.
A serpent struck from my left. I dodged, my new body faster than anything I'd ever experienced. My claws tore through its scales. A hawk dove from above. I jumped—impossibly high—and caught it in my jaws.
I was winning. Somehow, impossibly, I was actually winning.
Then I felt it through the bond.
Aria's terror. Sharp and absolute.
I turned and saw why.
She'd made it halfway across the courtyard. But standing between her and the library, blocking her path completely, was Damian Blackwood.
And his Shadow Drake.
The drake was massive—easily three times my new size—with scales black as midnight and eyes that glowed blood-red. It radiated power that made my instincts scream to run.
Damian smiled coldly. "Hello, Aria. Did you really think you could escape?"
The drake opened its mouth.
And breathed shadow fire straight at her.