Page 44 of Feathers and Scales

“Damn it, Silas, I will beat the shit out of you. Slow down.” Daxton’s guttural voice, inhuman-sounding, prickled Izzy’s skin.

She stored Silas’s name once again. The car slowed. Nothing would keep her in the vehicle. The locks thudded closed.Silas.She faced him with murder in mind. He didn’t pay her any attention.

“Get yourself under control,”Fotios said as if sitting in the backseat.“You’re better than this.”

Fine.She sat back and closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing.

As she exhaled, the shake in her fingers grew steadier. With each inhale, she focused on the plush seat beneath her, the pressure in the car, and shoved the burning in her stomach to the back of her mind. She could handle this.

Calmer, she opened her eyes. They drove down a dirt road toward a three-story building the size of a small-town hospital. Coniferous trees on either side welcomed them like sentries.

A large shadow passed over the ground. She craned her neck to see the culprit outside the window, but the mystery object had already flown out of sight. At the idea it was a dragon, a bubbling in her chest lifted her heart, and a grin eased over her lips.

Am I in…a dragon territory?

“Sorry for the theatrics. Boss’s orders. We needed a genuine reaction to see if Illusion works on her.” Silas shrugged.

Illusion?Izzy might not have liked their methods of testing her, but Daxtonhadwarned her they’d pull a stunt.

“Your boss is studying me,” she said to Silas. “It’s practical and smart.”

Silas’s eyes widened. “You’re calmer than I expected.”

She gazed out the rear window using her spirit senses. A Fallen with indigo or higher light could have created an illusion of a cliff instead of a tunnel. She’d never been under another Fallen’s or Archfiend’s Influence. Darcy had nearly killed her because of it.

The bottom of a mountain loomed behind them, no tunnel in sight. Trying to detect any irregularities, she sensed powerful energy in the area, manipulating her world. It felt dragon in nature, but it shifted constantly, creating difficulty in her ability to pinpoint its origin. Izzy looked at Silas.

Silas seemed to have a power like a Fallen’s Influence, but had he created the illusion? Was he the reason for her memory loss? He had suspiciously scripted his questioning.I wonder what will happen if I…

She pinched him.

“Ouch! What was that for?” Silas grumbled, rubbing his arm.

“I’m evaluating you,” she said, watching the tunnel behind her. She studied the formation for any changes with the senses of her spirit.

“What do you mean?” Silas asked.

The crease between her eyebrows tightened. Even spirits had a fingerprint, and her small touch verified that Silas’s energy coated the illusion. He was a dragon but with an immense power of Influence.

“How are you able to sustain such an Influence without concentrating on it?” she asked. “My pinch should have disrupted your thought of the Influence, creating some sort of ripple. But nothing happened. It’s as if you’ve transferred your power to a solid object. I’ve seen nothing like it.”

The tires skidded to a halt. She slammed into the back of Daxton’s seat.

Silas whipped around and pinned her with lethal, icy-blue eyes that gleamed with specks of metallic silver. Before he could open his mouth, Daxton’s hand snaked around his throat, gripping tightly. “Don’t even fucking think about it.”

The air became thick, making it hard to breathe. Her ears rang. A wall-like force crashed into her. Along the link she received impressions of Daxton’s forceful power surrounding Silas, keeping Silas contained within his seat as his face turned redder.Holy hell.From the way Daxton talked about his possessiveness, she expected him to protect her, but this bloomed a heat inside of her she didn’t understand.

Silas clenched his jaw but lifted his hands in surrender. Daxton released his hand enough that Silas wheezed in air. “I just wanted to ask our friend here a question.” He flashed Daxton a placating grin, though there was menace behind it, as if he enjoyed unhinging Daxton. Though Daxton released him, the pressure in the car remained. Silas cleared his throat. “How did you know I caused the Illusion?”

Izzy swallowed. “The illusion has the same spirit imprint as you. But I don’t know how you made me forget the conversation we had before we got into the Jeep.”

Silas stiffened. She must’ve been right about him. He skimmed her from head to toe as he hummed.

Turning back around, he murmured, “You’re more dangerous than I thought. For a second there, I almost believed you were human.”

She rubbed her pounding temples. “Why do you say that?”

He pressed his foot on the gas. The pressure from the dragons lessened with a pop in her ears. She made a mental note to ask about it later as the tension in her shoulders eased. A thickness still clouded the air, but it ebbed the farther they went.