Page 1 of Rescued By The Dragon

Chapter One

Amara

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Glancing over the top of my laptop screen that held my homework assignment for Journalism of Fashion, I saw my best friend Sasha flashing her cell phone screen through my window.

It was September 10th. The Dragon Reign.

Not that I had forgotten by any means. How could a human girl forget the day dragon shifters became a part of our society? The day that the royal dragon family showcased the best firework show from here to Timbuctoo?

“I’m coming,” I hissed.

I didn’t know if my stepmother and stepsisters had left to see the fireworks yet, and I couldn’t risk them knowing I was sneaking out. Or finding my laptop. If my stepmother knew I was taking college classes ... well, I didn’t even want to think about that one.

It was enough that I was forced to live at home with my stepmother because my father left it in his will that she needed to take care of me. I was unable to do it myself due to a condition that my biological mother had which caused hallucinations. I’d been on medication for so long that I couldn’t remember any hallucinations but apparently, I had them often when I was young.

In the meantime, I was to help run the restaurant, help around the house, and do my stepmother’s bidding. It was the perfect Cinderella story, one in a world where Dragon Shifters ruled the surrounding area, and we were just peons in their way.

Scurrying off my bed, I dropped to my knees, and lifted the board closest to the underside of my bed, and slid my laptop underneath the old wood. Stepmother was adamant I spent all my time keeping up the house and working in the restaurant, for the experience. Getting a degree in fashion with every grant I could find, was my dream, but no one ever asked me about that.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I popped up and glared at Sasha from over the side of my twin-size bed. “I’m coming,” I mouthed.

I grabbed my light jacket that Sasha bought me for my birthday earlier in the year because she couldn’t stand the sight of the vintage one I snagged at a local flea market, and I hopped into my boots.

Grabbing the edge of the window, I pulled it up, and a blast of cool air swept into my room. “Geesh, it’s colder than I thought,” I said.

Sasha sighed. “We’re twenty-five, Amara,” she said.

I eyed her over my shoulder as I shut the window, and started the journey along our roof to get to the wall that separated our kingdom from the outside world.

“Did I miss your birthday?” I asked, stopping to twist my blonde hair into a bun on top of my head. “It’s in December, right?”

“I meant that I’m climbing a trellis to get my adult best friend from her attic bedroom at the age of twenty-five. When are you going to say to hell with the house and restaurant and leave? Your stepmother is the Bride of Lucifer, and I’m about ready to put on my boxing gloves and knock out that shiny golden tooth of hers.”

I burst out laughing as Sasha ducked and weaved her imaginary opponent, and put her hands on her thick hips. Sasha was a curvy brunette that said everything that came into her mind. The exact opposite of me.

I cowered away like the sad pup my stepmother thought me to be.

“I can’t let her have the estate or the restaurant, Sasha. My grandpa built them both with his bare hands. It’d be a disgrace to let her have it, plus,” I said, leaping from our rooftop to the wall with a grunt, “that is what she wants. That is why she has so many rules and keeps me up doing her bidding. My father doesn’t think I can survive on my own, and if I do leave against his will, she will run the restaurant into the ground. She doesn’t care about it. She cares about his money. She won’t break me, Sasha.”

Sasha rolled her dark chocolate-colored eyes. “Okay, Ms. Dramatics. Let’s get to the bridge before the fireworks start. My feet are killing me. We had a school tour at the museum today, and I had to chase an eight-year-old around for nearly thirty minutes, the little hairy dildo laughed at me too.”

We scurried down the top of the wall, holding onto the rails, and ran as quickly as we could to get to the bridge. The bridge wasn’t meant for humans. The royal family had it installed to connect the wall to the royal palace for dragon use only.

On a normal day, there would be guards surrounding it, making sure no humans or unknowns made it into the castle. Today, they all went to help with the crowd of people in the courtyard out to watch the fireworks.

It was something Sasha and I had done since we were thirteen years old. I wasn’t one to go against the rules of the kingdom, but this was worth every second of it.

The bridge overlooked the mountains, and the moon always looked close enough to touch while the fireworks danced around it.

It was magical. As magical as it could get in a kingdom full of sexy dragons that flew around in the midnight sky.

“Hurry,” I hissed over my shoulder.

“Oh, now who is in a rush?” she asked.

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