Page 4 of Dragon Awakened

Pushing both aside, I stare my father straight in the eye. I tell him the truth, as much as it pains me. "I've had no contact with the hostile since her expulsion from the kingdom."

Fury lets out a snarl of frustration. "But you knew her. You know what she would do in this sort of situation. Where she might go."

The laugh that escapes me is ugly and raw. I shift my gaze to the frozen image of the Shadow Citadel sinking into the sea. If I squint, I can just make out the silhouette of a figure falling through the sky.

In my ears, I hear her final words to me. The way she called my name. The pleading in her voice as she begged me to help her. To save her.

I remember the way the hope died in her eyes.

"The only thing I know for sure about Ember is that--if she were in trouble..." I swallow hard, tasting bile. "The last place on earth she would go is here."

Chapter

Two

EMBER

Iwake up to the sound of hushed voices. Groaning, I roll over onto my side. The dull ache in the back of my head makes me wince. I'm sore all over, but not in a good way.

Then it all comes back to me. Being kidnapped by the Shadow King's forces. Escaping the Citadel and bringing the black stone tower down around me. Crashing into the sea, hopeless.

Only to be rescued by my mates.

My mates.

My eyes sting, and my heart leaps out of my chest. Those voices outside--they're the voices of my mates. My incredible, amazing, brave, downright heroic mates.

Prince Malik of the Water Dragon Kingdom. Prince Rafe of the Fire Kingdom and Prince Jianyu of the Great Dragon Kingdom of Stone.

My bond to each one of them flares to life within my veins. An invisible string reaches into the tender space between my ribs and tugs, and I force myself to blink my eyes open and sit up.

The bedroom I find myself in is only vaguely familiar. I rub my temples as more of the previous night comes back to me. After sinking into the icy waters beneath the Citadel, I blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was waking up on a beach, surrounded by my mates, their worry and terror and love flooding our bond.

I had something important to tell them.

The truth.

About me, my parents, my magic. My destiny.

And about my plans.

I know where I need to go next--and what I have to do.

Before I could tell them any of that, though, I faltered, my strength flagging. My mates leapt into action, basically shushing me. I tried to protest, but they refused to hear any of it. They had a safe place where we could go.

I hug my knees into my chest. It was so pathetic. I've never been able to shift into my dragon form, but it was still mortifying to have to allow Malik's dragon to scoop my frail, injured, traumatized body into his enormous talons. He set me atop Rafe's back. I barely had the strength to hold on to his sleek, crimson scales, but I managed. Jianyu hovered by Rafe's side the entire time, poised as if waiting for me to fall.

That was probably a good thing. We flew for what felt like forever. By the time we arrived on a windswept, gray, rocky coast, my fingers were ice, my vision blurring around the edges. Malik almost had to pry my grip free from Rafe's scales. Returned to his human form, Jianyu carried me into a little cottage overlooking the shore. He tucked me in and left a soft, lingering kiss on my brow.

Between one blink and the next, I was out.

And now I'm here.

Sitting up straighter, I rub my hand over the sheets. They're nice but basic--nothing like the bazillion-thread-count luxury bedding from my mates' homes. The rest of the room is simple, too, with plain cream walls and understated, dark wood furniture. Thick curtains cover the windows. I rise and peek out around the edges.

Outside, there's nothing to see but gray sand and gray ocean and an overcast, gray sky.

I let the curtains fall back into place.

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