Chapter 1

Ash approached the federal penitentiary that had housed Zagan for the past six months, and his smile broadened.

Today is the day I break him out! Pete's idea was brilliant.Ash patted his jeans pocket before pulling out a small vial. He placed it between his teeth before shifting into his crested gecko with leatherback markings.

Who knew Pete would become so skilled at these formulas that he could give me the strength of a leatherback but remain the size of a small gecko?It would allow him to easily sneak in and break Zagan out. I just wish the formula wasn't temporary because I kind of like this power.

Ash scaled the wall until he was on the window's ledge overlooking the warden's office area. It was a hot day, and thankfully, someone had opened the window. The building was old, with no screens, so Ash crawled in undetected. He quickly scurried up the bland grey wall and into the vent for the heating system. Smells from the kitchen wafted through, so he knew he was close.

Navigating the heating duct maze wouldn't be hard. He and Pete had been planning this for months! They'd hacked into the local zoning office for a map of the penitentiary's vent system. Now, all he had to do was follow it right to Zagan's cell.

He zipped through each turn on his light feet as if he'd run this course every day for the past six months. It would be only a matter of minutes before he'd reach his best bud, Zagan, and Ash would fill him in on his newest—and best ever—plot: stealing a retired royal's blood! It was the best idea Ash had come up with yet. So far, Zagan's attempts to steal royal shifter blood had been thwarted, but now they had an opportunity they hadn't had before. The former King Gregor was visiting a friend in Canada, so he wouldn't have as many guards as he would back home. Plus, it was so close to the Shifter Hellenic Island Talks that his security would be focused on that.

And now that Pete could make potions to give shifters a temporary added boost, they'd surely succeed.

Ash finally reached the vent above Zagan's cell and crawled through the opening. Zagan sat on his cot with his head in his hands. Ash crawled down the wall and inched up Zagan's back. Zagan hardly flinched, which alarmed Ash but not entirely since he'd added a little lightness to his footing so he'd even be unnoticed by thermal detectors. Once on Zagan's shoulders, he pulled the vial out of his mouth and whispered in Zagan's ear.

"I have something for you, my friend. You can escape with me."

"Ash, is that you?" Zagan said in a hushed tone, his hands still covering his face so he would not call attention to himself. The guards had motion cameras in each hallway of the prison. So it was best not to clue the guards in on this little breakout.

"Yes, it's me! Now, hold still! This may sting a little."

Ash popped the needle into Zagan's neck with his tiny gecko hands and injected the formula into his bloodstream. Within seconds, Zagan turned into a gecko with tiny wings and cloven feet. Features of his bull-griffon peaked through with this formula.

"Let's get out of here before they notice you're missing. The formula doesn't last that long!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

The two scaled the wall and were out of the facility and in the thick forest within a matter of a few minutes. Once they were clear of the facility, Zagan stopped for a minute to catch his breath. The formula wore off, and Zagan shifted back into his human form. Ash followed suit.

"What took you so long to spring me?"

"Pete had to get the formula right, and we only had so much of the royal Gregor's blood to spare. We wound up using a little of mine after we used the last of Gregor's on me. Now all Pete has to do is replicate the formula. I was also timing this perfectly. King Gregor is coming to visit Stan in two days. We can steal more blood from the former king so we can do more experiments."

Zagan patted Ash's broad shoulders.

"Ash, you are a genius! They won't have enough time to beef up security as usual—especially not this close to the talks! This means we have the element of surprise, and you know how much I love surprises." Zagan laughed, and Ash smiled. His friend's laugh rang through the forest and lightened Ash's normally sullen mood.

"I've missed this, my friend! I missed you!"

"I'm sure you have, but we can't waste any more time. We must plan out how we'll kidnap the former king of Skyros. His blood and yours will help us make more of these temporary potions. We'll need those to infiltrate the FUC Academy."

"Why would you want to infiltrate the FUC Academy?" Ash shook his head, confused. Their mission had always been to retrieve royal blood, and while the Furry United Coalition had gotten in their way, their Academy wasn't known to host many of royal lineage.

"I want Stan," Zagan growled. "He's the reason I was behind bars. That man trains the best FUC agents, and if we get rid of him, there will be no FUCs left to give us trouble."

"That's a suicide mission—isn't it?"

"Not if I can become a crested gecko anytime I choose," Zagan grinned.

Ash's chest puffed with pride, happy to have pleased his friend. "But what will you do with Stan?" His blood wasn't royal, and Pete couldn't do much with it. Though, if he could, it would be great because who wouldn't want the ability to shift into a grizzly bear?

"You said it yourself. Pete's got a new way of working the formula." Zagan shrugged. "And if Stan's blood still proves to be worthless, I'll think of something else. For now, I just want to devise a plan to capture him and former King Gregor. Can you hack into FUC as you did for the penitentiary?"

"They've got some pretty good firewalls, but I can try." Ash wasn't so sure he could best FUC, but it didn't matter. He had Zagan back, and seeing as he was the one to personally rescue the mad genius, Ash figured his time had finally come. "In the meantime, let's come up with a potion for me so I can help you."

"What are you talking about?" Zagan narrowed his eyes. "You are fine just being a crested gecko. You don't need to be converted into anything else."

Heat rose in Ash's usually cool body. "You can't be serious, Zagan. That's been the plan since we started stealing royal blood a few years ago. You promised!"

The last sentence came out more like a hushed whisper rather than a statement, and Ash hated the desperation in his voice. But he couldn't help it. Zagan had dangled this in front of him for so long.

"I really need your crested gecko for our plan to work," Zagan replied.

Ash opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. It didn't seem fair that after all his efforts, he was still not rewarded.

"Come on, Ash. Don't you trust me?"

Ash let out a sigh as Zagan placed his hands on Ash's shoulders once more. Zagan was more than a boss. More than a friend. Zagan had taken Ash in when his parents died, so Ash always felt he owed Zagan. Still… When was it going to be his turn to become something better than a crested gecko?

"Fine. But we are revisiting this after we kidnap Stan."

"Sounds like a plan to me."