“Now!” I yelled.
Yu Fong stepped through the ward into the clearing. His irises glowed with orange and in their depth I saw tiny spirals of flames.
The wolf spun to face him.
Magic unfurled from Yu Fong like petals of a fiery flower. It shone with scarlet and beautiful gold and shaped itself into an outline of a translucent beast. It stood on four muscular, strong legs, arms with huge claws rippling with flames. Scales covered its body. Its head belonged to a meld of Chinese dragon and lion, and long whiskers of pure red streamed on both sides of its jaws. Spikes bristled among its crimson mane and its eyes were pure molten lava. Within this beast Yu Fong smiled, a magic wind tugging at his hair.
Wow. He was a dragon.
The wolf charged, aiming for Lisa. Yu Fong stepped into its path, knocking Lisa out of the way. She fell on the grass. The dragon opened its mouth. Flame burst with a roar, like a tornado. The fire engulfed the wolf, and the shaggy beast screamed, opening its mouth, but no sound came.
The wolf lunged at Yu Fong, biting at the dragon with its enormous teeth. Yu Fong clenched his fists. A wall of towering flames shot out from the dragon and wrapped itself around the wolf.
Heat burned my skin.
The wolf writhed in the cocoon of flame, biting and clawing to get free. Yu Fong’s face was serene. He leaned back, laughed softly within the beast, and the fire exploded with pure white heat, singeing my hair.
Ashlyn hid her face in her hands.
The wolf burned, crackling and sparking. I watched it burn until nothing was left except for a pile of ashes.
The dragon melted back into Yu Fong. He stepped to the pile of flames and passed his hand over it, so elegant and beautiful, he seemed unreal. The ashes rose in a flurry of sparks, up into the sky, and rained on the courtyard beyond the wards, settling to the ground like beautiful fireflies.
“Well, that’s that,” Brook said, at the outer ward. “Ashlyn, I have this blanket here for you.”
Yu Fong stepped toward us, and Ashlyn took a step toward the tree.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you,” he said, his voice soothing. “Come, let’s get you dressed.”
Around us, the world clenched. The magic vanished, abruptly, like the flame of a candle being blown out by a sudden draft. The wards disappeared. The garden seemed suddenly mundane.
Well. How about that?
Yu Fong escorted Ashlyn away from the tree, guiding her toward Brook.
Lisa got up. Her legs shook. She shuddered and limped away, into the courtyard. I didn’t chase her. What was the point?
Brook draped the blanket over Ashlyn’s shoulders and gently led her away. I sat down on the grass and leaned against the trunk of the apple tree. I was suddenly very tired.
Yu Fong walked over and looked at me. “Happy, Julie Lennart?”
“It’s Olsen,” I told him. “I only pull Lennart out of my pocket for special occasions.”
“I see.”
“Thank you for saving Ashlyn.”
Yu Fong reached for the nearest apple branch and gently pulled it down, studying the fragile blossoms, his inhumanly beautiful face framed by the blooms. Somebody should have taken a picture. It was too pretty.
“Of course, now you owe me a favor,” he said.
Jerk. No, you know what, forget it. He wasn’t pretty. In fact, I’ve never seen an uglier guy in my whole life.
“The satisfaction of knowing you saved Ashlyn’s life should be enough.”
“But I didn’t just save her life. I saved yours, too,” Yu Fong said.
“I would’ve handled it.”
The look he gave me said loud and clear that he thought I was full of it. “I expect to collect this favor one day.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
“I imagine I’ll have plenty of opportunities, since you will be spending a lot of time here,” he said.
“What makes you think I’ll be studying here?”
“You’ve made friends,” he said. “You will be worried about them.” He let go of the branch and walked away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Julie Olsen.”
“Maybe!” I called. “I haven’t decided yet!”
He kept walking.
I sat under the apple tree. Somehow leaving Ashlyn and Brook to his tender mercy didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
I was pretty sure I could get admitted into this school. It wouldn’t be that hard.
I was right. Kate had set me up.
But then again, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing.