Rose stammered as she tried to wrap her mind around it. "Y-yeah, He goes to school with me."
The Huntsmaster turned around to look at her. "Excellent, get close to him. As close as you can. Learn everything you can about him and his family. We'll find the easiest way to hurt him before destroying him. Go, I have nothing more to speak to you about."
Rose walked in total shock back to her room. "Jake's the dragon. It doesn't make sense. Jake's so sweet, and that dragon is an insufferable flirt. He drives me nuts. How can they be the same person." Rose dropped onto her bed in the corner of the room. She stared at the birthmark that had been the mark of the Huntsclan. "That's why he's become so distant. He knew, he found out and he tried to cut himself off from me. That's why he saved me from that avalanche. He didn't want to see me hurt. Now I understand why those two jumped me from the ski life. How can I do anything to him. He's the first decent guy I've met."
Rose's mind went in circles the entire night. What would she do when she saw him. Her alarm clock rang when it was time for her to wake up.
Unfortunately, she was still awake.
Almost mechanically she got ready for school. She walked to school without noticing anything around her. Her body stopped as she saw Jake lounging against the outside of the school. She watched the person who had saved her life three times without asking anything of her. The person who she had fallen for several months ago.
Then she saw the dragon.
She saw his familiar traits in Jake. His cocky attitude, his unusual shade of hair. His stance. Everything that had become a picture of an enemy, and a friend.
Rose knew she had no choice. She cared for both sides of him now. There was no way she could continue to fight him, or even lie to him. She was lost to the duties of the Huntsgirl. But her heart knew what was right.
She had to take up the duties of a dragon.
"Jake!" She watched as he fell from the awful fright she'd given him. She rushed over to his side. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare you. I know this is sudden, but I need to talk to you. I'm gonna skip and I need you to come with me."
"Hey Rose, I like you and all, but if I skip my parents are gonna kill me."
"Jake please, I can't explain here, but I need you to come with me. It's important."
Jake stared hard into her eyes. That pleading look was something he'd never seen before. He'd seen kindness and fire behind those eyes, but never the kind of sorrow he now saw. "Fine, let's hurry before we get caught."
Jake and Rose hurried away from the school and the people within. Their quick pace had them more than a mile from the school when the bell rang.
"Okay, so what's this all about? I've risked a lot for this."
Rose stared at him for a second before pulling him into a hug. "Jake, it's horrible, I can't believe I was ever a part of this. I can't believe I could have done those things to you."
Jake's mind flashed back to the ski trip. "Hey, I told you it was okay. You were busy, it happens. Don't worry about it."
"No Jake, you don't understand. You're in real danger. We know, I mean, they know."
Jake started to sweat. "Who know what?"
"The Huntsclan knows you're a dragon."
"What? What the heck is the Huntsclan?"
"Jake, the Huntsmaster was still there when you changed back. He knows. He has a picture of it."
His attitude abruptly altered. "Change now, we have to hurry to my Gramp's shop. We have to fly as fast as we can."
"Right."
The two teenagers ran into an alley and dual auras of magic changed them into the red and gold dragons.
They rose into the air and pumped their wings as hard as they could. They flew swiftly through the city and landed in the back alley behind the shop. The two ran to the front and pushed the door inward. "Gramps! Where are you?"
"In the back!"
Jake and Rose moved into the back of the small shop. "We got a big problem yo."
"And what is it young" Lao Shi's voice halted as he turned and caught sight of Rose. "Jake, who is this you bring with you?"
"This is Rose, the other dragon."
Lao Shi looked at him sternly. "We agreed we would be cautious about revealing our identities. I am very disappointed Jake."
"Look she came to me, and we don't have time for this. The Huntsclan know who I am."
"What? How do you know this young dragon?"
Rose stepped toward the stooped old man. "I told him sir."
"Are you sure? If so, our family is in danger. You must be absolutely sure."
Rose leveled her gaze into his. "I know it beyond the shadow of a doubt. They're going to try and hurt Jake through his family before killing him."
Lao Shi started to pace. "We must move quickly, I was hoping we'd never have to do this, at least not this way. We have to get you out of the city, you and your parents. We have to make it look like a regular move. It's time we told your father."
Jake nodded, he'd known for a long time that this might happen some day. He'd just hoped it wouldn't.
Lao Shi once again turned toward Rose. "You should go quickly. Return home. You're in too much danger if they see you with us. Thank you for warning us."
"I can't, I can't go home."
"Why not, young dragon?"
"They'll kill me."
Lao Shi blinked in surprise. "Why would your family do such a thing?"
Jake stepped toward him. "Because she helped us. Rose isn't just a dragon."
"I'm the Huntsgirl."