Page 74 of Dragon Awakened

The Sisters--aka, a group of disciples of the Grand Stone Temple, who've sought to remove dragon blood from their line in pursuit of witchly powers.

Brynn puts a hand to her chest. "But that's just...wrong."

That's how I feel, too, but a warning in Amy's gaze keeps my criticism in my throat. "Amy..."

"Look, I get it. It sounds severe, and it is." She blinks, and there's a suspicious shine to her eyes. "But not all of us half-breeds who can't seem to shift end up encountering prophetic magical artifacts and finding four hot mates to boink."

"Hey--"

Amy holds up her hand to stop me from interrupting. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. But it's just not all roses and sex and mystical powers for me. I feel the magic in my blood. If I can't shift into a dragon, shouldn't I be able to pursue a different way to let it out?"

My own guilt and hypocrisy tear at my chest. "It's not all roses and happiness for me, either."

"Oh, really?" Amy crosses her arms.

I suck in a harsh breath, glancing around. I meet Malik's gaze from across the room. Jianyu's attention is subtly directed my way as well. They can feel my agitation, but I try my best to smooth out my rough edges.

"It's great," I admit. "Ninety-five percent of it is...amazing."

Amy raises her brows. "And the other five percent?"

Huffing out a breath, I throw my hands up in the air. "I mean, I did get kidnapped and blown up a couple of times."

"Who hasn't?" Amy asks, rolling her eyes.

"And I'm...like, supposed to be some big uniter of the warring dragon kingdoms. Bringing light to shadow."

"Still not hearing a sob story here."

"It's just a lot of pressure," I blurt out, "and on top of it all, I'm a--"

"Yeah?" The subtle tilt to Amy's head is a challenge, and yes, she has a point. She knows what I'm about to say.

I put it out there anyway. "I'm a freaking Shadow Dragon. The boogeyman of all the dragon stories. My dad was one, and your mom is, too, and you and Jett, and yes, clearly none of you are evil. But I met the real Shadow Dragons." A shiver passes through me, darkness hovering just at the edges of my vision. "They're terrifying. And that blood--that evil--" My voice creeps higher in pitch, panic threatening to spiral inside of me. "What if it's in me? The magic I've been able to summon--the real nature of the dragon inside me... They scare the shit out of me."

Brynn reaches out and takes me by the hand, her voice soft and full of reassurances. "Ember. Sweetie. I've known you for almost your entire life. There is nothing evil about you."

My eyes sting, and I let out an echo of a laugh. "How can you be so sure?"

"Years of experience," she promises.

Amy takes my other hand. "I've only known you for a couple of months. But I'm with her. You're good to the core."

"I want to believe that..."

"Then do." Brynn gives my palm a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

Letting go, Amy makes a dismissive sound in her throat. "And besides, how dare you imply that the freaky dudes in the Citadel are the 'real Shadow dragons'? As far as I'm concerned, they're the power-mad, world-dominating assholes giving all the other Shadow Dragons a bad name."

I scrub at my eyes, the prickling in them receding. "Well, when you put it that way..."

"There's no other way to put it." Freya's gotten up and come over to stand behind me without my noticing.

I look up and realize basically everybody in our group is staring at me, my mates included. A hot flush rises on my cheeks. For fuck's sake, I thought I was confessing some deep-seated fears to my best friends, but apparently I was declaring them to the entire cafe.

"Hear hear," Rafe says, staring at me with eyes that burn with conviction.

Malik and Jianyu nod, and Storm agrees, "What she said."

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