Page 9 of Deadly Alliances

Just like Char.

As soon as our feet met the soft sand, Charlotte immediately shifted back to her human form, revealing her military smart clothing, and I followed suit without an ounce of shame for my very public nudity. But I needed to not have my smart suit for what was to come.

Her uniform somehow made her blonde hair look whiter. Her hair had been quite a bit longer when I’d last seen her. Now it barely brushed against her jaw.

But her eyes looked the same. Soft brown, and...safe. Char had always beensafe.Maybe it was because I loved her the way I loved Tamara—like a sister.

Despite suddenly feelingsafe, my heart sped again, and I braced myself for a continuation of the fight. Who would’ve guessed the grand finale of my test would be against the simulated version of a dear friend in our human form?

She laughed, her smile spreading to her eyes as she eyed my naked body, and crossed her arms over her chest casually.

My eyebrows pinched as my gaze scanned her warily. “What?Aren’t you gonna fight me?”

Char shook her head again and looked down at her toes, which were partially hidden in the sand. “They know you can fight. That’s not your final test.”

She dropped her arms and sauntered toward me. “The vampires, the hunters, the nagas…”

Even her walk was the same, that confident yet casual swagger that bordered on seductive.

“Although I thought the look-alike of Caesar was a little cruel.” Her mouth twisted in disgust as she said it in a low voice, almost like she didn’t want my father and the teachers who were watching the test to hear. “You were brilliant with that kraken—I don’t think the sim has unleashed that thing on anyone else.”

She stopped when we were only a few feet apart.

“And yet, you’re my final test?” I scoffed, falling into the familiar banter I used to have with the real Charlotte. “Who’s afraid of a tiny dragon girl?”

She laughed again, and I found myself smiling for the first time since Shea hadsupposedlylifted the curse and I thought I could begin a life with Arya. That had been the best and worst day of my life.

“And that mermaid...whew!”Sim-Char threw her hands in the air. “With that dark hair, she almost looked like...”

Actually, she had looked more like Letti than Arya, but the intent was obvious. “It didn’t matter. I beat her anyway.”

“How does it feel to know that she rejected you?” Char asked casually, at a near-whisper. “She chose to leave you…and joinhim.”

I clenched my jaw, refusing the sting her words caused. AndI finally understood why this was my final test. Arthur had accused me of being too emotionally invested to act rationally. I was here to prove exactly the opposite.

“I heard you imprinted on her, and that she actually broke your imprint,” she went on, sounding both surprised and slightly mocking. “You’re the first person in shifter history to have your imprint broken, and by your mate, no less.”

It took everything I had to keep my reactions inside. Especially with Char, the only other girl outside my direct family that I could always trust to be myself with. But this wasn’t Char, and I couldn’t let this simulation provoke me. Not with the most prominent military eyes watching.

I had one last trick up my sleeve, the trump card that would force Arthur’s hand, and end this simulation once and for all. I had been practicing all night to do it without my scales, and the stakes being what they were, there was no better time to expose the secret I’d been so closely guarding for so long..

“Yes, that is all true,” I said. “But that won’t be the only thing they say about Tobias Dracul in the history books. There is one more thing that is unique to me among shifters.”

Char narrowed her eyes in intrigue, cocking her head slightly. “Oh, and what’s that?”

I grinned and then willed my body to do what now came naturally.

Her face suddenly shifted into a confused expression before she took a few steps back.

I watched her closely, her look of complete bewilderment oddly satisfying.

“Tobias?” she asked, looking on either side of her and turning asif I was behind her. “Tobias?” She walked past me and toward the tree line. “Where the hell did you go?”

Pride and freedom welled within my chest at finally displaying my greatest and most hidden talent. I had nothing left to hide from the world. And now that those in power had witnessed my skill, I had so much more leverage.

I let out a mirthful laugh. “I haven’t moved. I have the ability to go invisible, with or without my scales.” For show, I let my flesh fade in and out of visibility.

Her mouth fell open as she watched my display of power, and I couldn’t help the smug smirk that formed on my face, especially when the scene around me began to pixelate back to white walls.

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