Now, though, it was staring me in the face, impossible to ignore. Ember was a dragon. A huge lizard, with scales and wings and claws and a tail. All my memories from Crescent Beach, from the summer that had disappeared too quickly, were of the girl. Surfing with her. Slow dancing at a party. Kissing her in the ocean, feeling my blood sizzle and my breath catch. The green-eyed girl with an infectious smile and a fierce love for life. But Ember wasn’t a girl. Ember wasn’t human. Ember was…this.

A car pulled off the highway and cruised to a stop at the pump next to ours. The doors opened, and a family of four piled out, making me tense. But after a short squabble between two small boys and their mother, she managed to herd them toward the mini-mart. The father remained behind long enough to fill the tank and make me nervous, before he finally meandered into the store. I drummed my fingers on the armrest, wondering where Riley and Wes were.

A scraping sound jerked my attention to the back. The canvas lump was moving, shifting from side to side with confused growls. Ember tossed her head, flinging the cloth away and exposing a bright red dragon to the open air. She tried staggering upright, but lurched to one side and collapsed against the door with a loud thump, making the vehicle rock. Her tail lashed the sides of the van with metallic clanking sounds as she growled and clawed herself up again, the sunlight gleaming along her metallic crimson scales.

“Ember.” Swiftly, I moved to the back, barely dodging a wingtip as it flapped against the wall. “Hey, stop. Calm down.” Her head whipped toward me, and I instinctively threw up my hand, catching a horn as it smacked into my palm. “Stop!”

She froze at my touch, and I was suddenly holding the head of a groggy red dragon, her muzzle right at eye level. Her fangs gleamed as she stared at me, nostrils flaring, and for a second, I felt a jolt of fear, realizing how close she was. If she lunged or snapped or spit fire at me, I’d catch it right in the face.

Quickly, I released her. She didn’t pull away but continued to stare at me, a puzzled expression in her reptilian green eyes.

“Garret?”

My muscles unclenched at the sound of her voice. It was weak, confused and in pain, but it was her voice, Ember’s voice. Though I didn’t know what I’d expected. Those slitted eyes blinked again before she sagged weakly, struggling to stay upright. “Where am I?” she asked, her words slurred. “What’s going on?”