Page 1 of The Soul of the Dragon

Prologue

Isaac

Scotland, 1910

“Stop glaring at me, son, and do what needs to be done. It’s the only way.” My father pressed his knife into my hand and took another step closer.

How the hell had the world come to this?

Standing on the edge of a cliff with my father demanding I plunge a knife into his heart. All because of a curse we'd been unable to break since that fateful day of my twin brother’s wedding.

Honestly, it still seemed like only yesterday.

One minute, I was watching my brother Ian marry the woman meant for me, and the next, I was engulfed in a flash of unbearable heat and my body turning to ash. I'd been lucky enough to not only be in my dragon form at the time, but I also landed in the ocean when I came through whatever magical portal I'd been forced into.

I'd quickly recovered and taken to the skies to search for the rest of my family.

With every beat of my wings, my fear had grown until I had spotted Ian on the beach. My twin had not fared well. His human bones had shattered into so many pieces he couldn’t shift to start the necessary healing process. It had taken hours, and every ounce of magic I possessed to heal him enough so his body would take over.

Now, with several years past, I faced my father in an argument over his life. “This is bullshit,” I argued. “There has to be another way.”

“There’s not. There aren’t many ways to kill a dragon, but this will do the trick. If you make it clean and quick, there won't be much pain either.”

I scoffed. “That’s not what I goddamned meant and you know it. I’ve done a lot of shit I’m not proud of in my life, but I draw the line at killing my own father.”

“It’s not killing me if I tell you to do it.”

I shook my head. “No!” I roared, letting my frustration seep into my voice. I was tired of taking orders, and sick of this fight. “I’m not doing this with you anymore. I think it’s time we faced the truth. We’re stuck. We can't go back to our old life.”

“No!” he roared back at me twice as loud, spit flying from his mouth, and a hint of fire aimed in my direction. “This isn’t over until I say it’s over. Besides, I didn’t raise you to quit.” He shoved me backwards, advancing as I fell. “I raised you to be a king. To take what you wanted, when you wanted, and now it’s time for you to stand up, take your duty seriously, and do the right thing. This isn't about you. Now, take the knife.”

He shoved it into my hand again, and without thinking, I wrapped my fingers around the bejeweled hilt. The power buried within shot through my arm and raced into my blood, flooding my system with an infusion of intense magic.

“Holy shit.”

My father laughed. “Dragon blade. There’s nothing like it. The power it contains will aid you in ways that you’ll never expect. It’s yours now, and where you're going, you'll need it.”

Shaking my head, I thrust it back in his direction. “I don’t want it. This is the king’s blade.”

“Exactly.” He pushed my hand away. “It’s time, son. Stop denying what we both know. Neither one of us had a set-in-stone plan for when this would happen, but as fate would have it, the time has come, whether you like it or not.”

“This isn’t fate. This is an excuse.”

My father glowered. “An excuse for what?”

“You’ve given up. Life got too hard, and you’d rather check out than see this through.”

“You are skirting dangerously close to the edge, son. Are you sure this is the conversation you want to be our last? One of anger and resentment? With words spoken that cannot be taken back? You're not a child, and I'm afraid our world is done putting up with your immature actions. If I just wanted to kill myself, I wouldn't need you to get the job done. But this is far more complicated, and suicide won’t make the spell work.

“What of mother? If I manage to break that curse, what shall I tell her?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face. “The truth. That her king made the ultimate sacrifice for her sons. Trust me. She would expect nothing less and would make the same choice in my stead.”

“And the mate bond? What happens to her without you?”

“She is already without me, son. We had a long and happy life together. Once this hardship is over, she’ll have her sons back. Itwillbe enough.”

“She won’t forgive me.”

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