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I walked two steps into the hut, my vision tunnelled, and I collapsed. Darkness claimed me before I hit the marble floor.

Voices filtered through the haze, but I couldn't open my eyes. They were glued together, but a calm and fluffy cloud enveloped me and carried me away. I drifted until a sea of whirling red appeared below. Beautiful warmth radiated up, filling me with power. My power. I was at my core. I grinned like a madman, drinking in the energy. Reaching your core was no easy feat. Only the most focused, most powerful dragons could manage the feat on a regular basis. And unfairly, access to your core could give you an insane boost of power.

A muffled conversation filtered in. I caught my name and focused on it, soaring into the darkness above.

"I can't believe you hit her that hard," said a familiar female voice. "She wasn't wearing any armour."

"Plus, even if she's half dragon, you know how weak humans are," said a male voice. "They break so easily."

"You would've broken too," said the female. "I saw the hit. I could feel it from ten meters away. You hit her at full power, Sasha! It's a wonder she survived."

"Mate, don't kill the summer bastard on our first day," said another male. His voice rang some bells in my fuzzy memory.

"What are you all doing in here?" asked a new female.

"Sorry, we came to check on our friend," said the original female.

"She won't wake until later this evening. We had to put her into a healing sleep. She had three shattered ribs, but she'll be fine soon enough."

"Thank you," said the original female.

The voices drifted away, and I floated down until the red sea surrounded me and filled me with warmth. My magic felt stronger than ever, but I suppose it would be at the core. Through the red, I caught sight of a yellow star pulsing. Its intensive glow made that section of my core look orange. I flew toward it and hit a wall, and realised the yellow light streamed through a pinprick.

"Will she wake soon?" The original female was back.

An irritating bright white light beamed down from above. The pinprick slipped away, and I leaped to chase after it, but hit the wall again and rebounded.

"Yes, should be any minute now," said a male.

"Out the three of you. I'm sure she doesn't want to see your faces as soon as she wakes," said the original female. "Don't worry, I'll see to her."

The light shone brighter, pulling me away from my core until white bathed me.

My eyelids squeezed, and I opened my eyes.

Angie smiled brightly. "Welcome back."

I squinted and blinked. "Hey."

Angie brushed my forehead. "How do you feel?"

I probed my ribs for any tenderness, but they felt perfect. "Better. Was someone else here?"

She glanced away. "Oh, just the healer."

I tried to smile, but my lips only twitched. I'd already known the answer, because now that my mind cleared I'd recognised their presences. Alexis, Coop, and Sasha had visited. Why was she keeping it from me?

"I see. What time is it?" There were no windows in most of the healing hut's rooms. Something about the sun's energies negating some potions and magic. There were rooms that utilised the sun's magic, but apparently I hadn't needed one.

"After ten."

My eyebrows shot up. "In the night?"

She nodded.

"Shit, I missed dinner." Gin, Sana, and Bay were probably worried, wondering if Henry had killed me during the duel. I needed to see them quickly. I swung my legs out of the bed.

"The dining hall closes?" Angie asked.

I hopped off and noticed that I was still wearing my sandy combat attire. "Yup, last food comes out at nine thirty and doors close at ten."

"Oh, then you should use the restaurant. It's open all-night."

I swung around to stare at Angie. "It's what?"

"Didn't they tell you?" she asked, smiling softly.

"We're not allowed to enter unless invited."

Her dark purple brows furrowed. "But you should be, given who your mother is."

I shrugged. It wasn't a connection I advertised, and it helped that Mother hadn't granted me her name, so people didn't make the connection automatically. I guess I wasn't pure enough to carry the last name of the summer royal family.

Angie beamed. "Well, then I invite you."

"You haven't eaten?"

"I just did, but that doesn't matter."

"It's really not—

Angie clasped my wrist. "I insist. Come, you must be starving. When did you last eat? Recess?"

"Breakfast."

She placed her hand on her chest. "That's horrendous. I'd be famished."

I looked down at my clothes. "I'm sure they have a dress code—"

"I won't take no for an answer." She grabbed my hand. "Come on."

"I should really let my friends know I'm okay."

She pulled me into the reception. "We'll swing by on the way."

I let out a soft sigh. It looked like I couldn't get out of this unless I was purposely rude, and while I didn't trust her, she had done nothing yet to warrant hostility. The healer at the front desk inclined his head as we passed. I waved as Angie dragged me out of the hut.

A chilly spring wind whispered through the trees. The Academy had a few lamps around, but all the supernaturals in residence had superior night vision. So there wasn't a need to light the whole place up like a Christmas tree.

Lights from the new pureblood restaurant spilled out through the floor to ceiling windows. This was silly. We were going to walk right by it to get to the dorms, and I was about to say so when a group exited. I didn't even need to look to know who was there. His power had hit me as soon as he stepped out of the building. It was extremely annoying that my body was so hyperaware of him.

"Ang, we were just coming to check on you." Alexis jogged over.

"I'm taking Briana to freshen up, then we're going for supper."

"Oh, we should go back in and get a table for you."

I tensed. There was no way I wanted to sit down and eat with these three.

Angie's gaze flickered toward me. "No, I don't want you ruining our girl talk."

Sahsa's power closed in from behind, brushing up against my back. "Are you better?"

I turned my head slightly. "Yes, thanks."

Sasha shifted. "I'm—"

A high-pitched shriek echoed through the grounds. Followed by a low growl. I recognised both of them. I ripped my arm out of Angie's and sped toward a familiar cinnamon scent wafting in the breeze from the arena. A mix of powers hit me, but it was predominately summer fire. I pushed faster, zipping past the dining hall.

Then I spotted them, a group of five pure-blood dragons surrounding Gin and a half-transformed Bay.

"He's transforming to attack," said one boy.

Mini fire balls exploded forth from three of the boys. With one extra burst of speed, I slid to a stop in front of my friends and raised my hands, drawing the flames to me. They zoomed to my palms, and I absorbed them. All five summers gaped. The boost of magic surged through me and a wave of heat pulsed off me. The boys stepped back, their golden eyes widening.

Gin yipped. I remembered myself and reined in the power.

"What are you doing here, bastard?" asked a pointy nosed summer.

A low snarl rumbled behind me. They needed to stop pissing Bay off. I could sense his mood. He was seconds away from losing control. And while dragons were stronger, an enraged werewolf was no joke.

Angie and the boys appeared.

"What in hell is going on?" Coop asked.

The summer boys, whose faces seemed familiar, no doubt distant cousins, balked and retreated further. They all wore class one pins, which meant they were from lower years. Probably year five and six. Had Henry sent them to get revenge?

"Are you attacking a year seven class one student?" Coop laughed. "Are you stupid?"

"No, sorry. Just a misunderstanding." The boys turned and fled.

I whirled around to my friends. "Are you guys—"

"Have you been with them this whole time?" Gin's eyes glowed lime green as she pointed to Angie. "Do you know how worried we've been! Couldn't you have let us know you were alright!"

"No, I—"

"Not cool Bri," said Bay, coming out of the transformation.

"I can't believe you! I thought you hated the nobles. Shit, I don't even know you at all." She wiped away a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Wait, Gin. You don't understand. I was—"

"I can't right now. Just..." Gin whirled around and sped away.

I moved to chase, but Bay cut me off.

"Bri, I think it's better you let her cool down. She was really worried when you didn't show up at lunch and then at dinner, she worked herself into a frenzy. We're glad you're okay, but let's talk tomorrow. Okay?"

My chest felt so hollow, I could only nod. I really missed Raven. She would listen.

Bay blurred away to catch Gin and left me. 

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My apologies for the delay... I've been bogged down under edits for book 2 of the Sky Saga: The Scarlet Sphere. But to make it up, I'm doing a double release today. I hope you enjoy it.

Please remember to press that ☆ 

And I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Could you empathize with Gin's reaction or would you have stayed and listened?