The change was seamless. Four paws hit the hard, rocky ground, and without much hesitation I began to scan and scent the place. It really did look like a round wooden room. There were two doors. From the one in front I could scent something damp and decaying, like the forest; the other held the hot and smoky aromas of the desert.

There was no roof, the ceiling was a natural skylight, a glass barrier in which beams of light caromed in an array of arcs and lines. They must have been the dandelions I’d followed with my eyes.

Circling the room twice, there was no sign of what had growled before. It had to have come from outside. The monochromatic nature of my wolf vision didn’t give the variation that my Jessa eyes would have, but I was guessing there wasn’t much in the way of color in this room anyway.

The growl sounded again, louder this time, and then everything clicked into place. I knew that sound, I’d heard it many times before. It was Braxton. Dragon Braxton.

Door number one. The forest. Which was good, since I wasn’t taking the desert door. It reminded me of the scent of the jinn, and it seemed avoiding their kind was in my best interest.

Shifting back into human form, I rose from my crouch, the light reflecting off my nakedness. I gathered up my rags of clothing and managed to clothe most of myself. Luckily I’d been wearing a reasonably loose shirt. My ragged pants covered my ass, but not much else.

Striding forward, I shoved back strands of black hair which had fallen across my face. At least I seemed to be back in control of my senses and body, and the pain was gone. The jinn’s spell was dissipating and I couldn’t be more grateful.

I was going to rewrite those fucking history books. There was no way they properly prepared me for the piss-myself-fear the mere presence of a jinn had induced.

I reached for the handle on the forest door, expecting it to be locked, but it clicked open without any effort and I was hit with a blast of damp warmth and the scent of home.

The moment I opened the door, the forest started to intrude through the doorway, vines snaking inside. Okay, that wasn’t normal plant behavior, unless this vegetation was filled to the brim with magic, which, recalling the cunning in the jinn’s eyes, was a very real possibility. The general vibe from the elemental hadn’t indicated that it was sending me off for a nice, relaxing holiday.