Page 147 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
‘It was my choice.’
‘NO.’Shadows covered me, concealing me in darkness. I lost sense of time. When they slippedaway, I stared at the ground. My ears rang. I screamed as I fell the last few feet.
Pain ricocheted through my body. But I wasn’t dead. Kieran did it. He slowed my fall just enough so I wouldn’t die.‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t do that again,’Kieran’s voice cracked.
I forced myself to stand up. My lungs burned, every muscle in my body cried out. But I pushed through the pain and ripped open the satchel. The fight wouldn’t stop until we all died or one of the kings hatched the eggs. I expelled a breath.‘Andova can’t get the dragons,’I said to Kieran.
‘I’ll back you up.’He knew what I planned. There wasn’t a hint of remorse in his tone.
I grabbed the three eggs and held them in my arms. They glowed a brilliant miasma of colors. I could feel the magic radiating off them. Pure. Untainted. I didn’t want to kill them, but if I didn’t, we’d be in another war.I’m sorry.
Pure, unadulterated fear hit the bond like a tornado. The hairs on the back of my neck rose.‘SELENA!’
I looked up and—
Heat. Scorching heat.
Praskovya’s flames engulfed me.Of course.Even with Hesperos’s and Umara’s intervention, the gray dragon was slippery as fuck. I waited for the pain to kick in, to scream as my nerves melted, but the pain never came. I stood still and clutched at the eggs.
Why isn’t it hurting?
A tendril of hope rose in my chest as well as confusion. This feeling of the flames cascading over my skin—it was just like when Umara claimed me.I’m not burning. Holy shit, I’m not burning.
I opened my eyes and looked down at my arms. No burns. I was completely and utterly fine. The eggs warmed in my arms. Almost impossibly so. Did fire harm them? Distantly, I was aware of Umara screeching and biting into Praskovya’s side, but I couldn’t focus on that.
No, a tinycrackcaught my attention. My eyes widened. The flames died down, and I looked at the centermost egg. No fucking way. I studied the shell and its everchanging colors.Crack!There was no denying it. A line formed in the top of the shell.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Lines formed across all the eggs. Bits of the shells tumbled to the ground.No fucking way.The fire hadn’t harmed the eggs. Somehow, they were awakening.How the fuck—
A tiny head popped up from the center egg. It was an ugly little thing, but its scales glittered under the sunlight. I couldn’t describe its color with the way its scales seemed to reflect any and all light.
Another head popped out from the second egg on my right side. The one on the right—its feet popped out of the shell as it lazily kicked. The center baby dragon let out an odd crooning noise and jumped ontomy arm. It bumped its head against my neck, right up against my Rider’s Mark. The baby dragon was a small thing—the size of a kitten.
I couldn’t move a muscle. My whole body tingled. Something deep in my soul called to these dragons. While I stayed frozen, the other two jumped from their shells and latched themselves onto my arms. The one on the right licked my arm. Its tongue was dry like a cat’s.
My breath hitched, and the empty shells slipped from my grasp. All around me, everythingstopped.The dragons stopped their terrible in-fighting. Umara curled around me. Even Praskovya and her rider sunk to the ground. The townspeople, who had been screaming since the fight began, gathered around the rubble and watched.
This shouldn’t be possible. I should’ve burned. The eggs shouldn’t have hatched for me. Unless…
“Holy shit,” a townsperson whispered.
“I thought she was a peasant.”
“I thought she was a traitor.”
“The Siren!”
Kieran was the first to move, shoving past the crowd to stand across from me. His expression hardened, and his stormy eyes met mine. I saw a plan forming in his mind.‘Do you trust me?’he whispered.
‘I don’t.’
