Page 72 of Dragon Awakened

Rolling my eyes, I grin and brush my hands against Storm's and Malik's. As they head to the counter to order about fifteen breakfast sandwiches, I slip into the seat next to Amy's. "Don't be envious."

"Oh, believe me." She glances at Sister Grace, who's sitting at another of the half-dozen tables our gang has commandeered. "I'm not."

Brynn returns from the counter with a carefully balanced tray full of coffees, pastries and bagels. "Good morning."

She passes out orders, including an iced latte just for me, and I could kiss her. "Thanks."

"No problem." She sits down on the other side of me. "Now, come on. Spill all the details."

I pick up my latte and take a sip. Something tells me I'm going to need a lot more coffee than even this.

Amy drifts away from the conversation a bit as I fill Brynn in on everything that's happened to me since I left the Air Kingdom. I give her a vaguely sanitized version of the events, but I'm still basically permanently blushing.

"Wow," she says, her eyes wide as saucers by the time I'm done.

"Yeah. It's been...a lot."

"And it's not over," Amy chimes in, returning her attention to us.

My stomach does a rough flip-flop, and I instinctively glance down the table at my mates. My bond to them is stronger than ever, rippling with magic and life and light.

My dragon is stronger, too, her breath still hot in my chest, her wings flapping within my lungs. I can scarcely breathe, she takes up so much room.

All that time I spent, wishing I could summon her. Now, suddenly, she's ready to go, ignited by my connection with my mates. And now I'm the one jangling with nerves. Dragging my feet.

Brynn shakes her head, unwilling to move on quite yet. "I still don't understand what happened with Storm, though. I mean, A) how could you hide that from me for literal years?"

"Sorry." I cringe. "I wanted to tell you, I swear."

"No--I don't mean, like, How dare you. More, literally, How?"

A laugh escapes me. "Believe me, it wasn't easy."

"But also, B) why didn't you connect with him as your fated mate back then?"

Chewing on the inside of my lip, I fiddle with the paper straw slowly dissolving into my coffee. "I don't know, exactly."

Only that's not entirely true. My bracer tingles against my wrist, and I let go of my straw to trace a finger along the edge.

"But you suspect," Amy intuits.

"It does seem like an awful big coincidence that this thing found me." I hold up my wrist. "And then dragon princes basically started falling into my lap."

Amy taps her chin. "You're not wrong."

"Ever since I put the bracer on," I continue, "I felt something unlock inside me. When I talked to my parents' spirits, they said I would need help from my mates to access my dragon. And every time I connect with a new mate, my dragon feels closer."

An unconscious shiver travels up my spine. My dragon can hear me talking about her.

I swallow, my throat suddenly dry despite all the coffee I've been pouring down it. "I think the bracer's magic awoke the Shadow Dragon inside me. It's not the same as Emerging, but it was close enough for me to recognize my true mate."

What would have happened if I'd had the bracer from the beginning? Would Storm and I have bonded at age eighteen?

Would I have been ready for him then?

I've gone through so much in my time away. I'm stronger now. More confident. I have powers I'm still trying to understand. But everything about being with him now feels balanced in a way it didn't, back when he was a prince and I was basically dragonkind's definition of nothing.

I curl my hand around the bracer protectively. The more I learn about its magic, the more it scares me. But without it, would I still be that scared, broken, defective girl that Storm was able to throw away? The one he said was nothing?

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