Page 86 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
Conrad snorted. “See? That’s what I’ve been sayin’. Old Gally can scare the piss out of anyone except Rayna and Bailey. Even spirits don’t wanna go near him.”
“Did you just call Galadon…Old Gally?” I asked.
“Oh, uh, I said that out loud?” He cleared his throat. “Usually, that’s the name I say inside my head where it’s safe.”
“There’s nothing safe about your mind,” Aidan grumbled.
I furrowed my brows. “How do you even come up with these things?”
“Please don’t tell him,” Conrad said with his hands clasped together like he was praying. “You need me for this war, girl. You know you do.”
“I won’t, but only because I don’t want to clean up all your body parts afterward.”
Freya pretended to shiver. “Me, either.”
Allison drew a deep breath, which I didn’t think she needed to do. “Anyway, you strange people, the only thing I need to add is that you can expect the Kandoran to strike in exactly one week at this same time. Be ready.”
I noted the sun dipping below the horizon as darkness crept across the sky. Before I could reply, she was gone.
Chapter 25
Bailey
I gulped down my canteen of water, finishing it. We had just finished our second day of training at the dome—at least for slayers—and I was hot, sweaty, and covered in wounds. Aidan had made it as well, but he only participated in the last round of fighting. He stood a few feet away, discussing how it went with the other leaders. Some were in human bodies and others in their beast forms, depending on whether or not they were shifters.
My mate’s head lifted as a red dragon approached from the northwest. I could only surmise that it was one of our border guards since there was no other reason for him to come from that direction. Putting my canteen away, I moved closer to Aidan.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The coalition is coming down the interstate and should reach Tinker within the hour. The Straegud are flying overhead with them.”
A thrill ran through me. I’d spoken to my old commander on the sat phone a few days ago, and he’d said they would be arriving soon, but one never knew when traveling in a post-apocalyptic world. Some idiots might be stupid enough to attack a huge, armored convoy with a sizeable dragon escort. Even if they hadn’t, they would have to take numerous detours due to road conditions and a lot of refueling and rest stops. Never mind finding a place to sleep for the night when transporting five hundred troops. Of course, more than that would be fighting, but the rest would travel on cargo planes. They had to verify we’d repaired the runways at Tinker to their standards before letting them come.
“It shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes for us to fly there,” I said, almost bouncing with anticipation.
While we needed all the dragons we could get for the upcoming war, the coalition would provide serious firepower that would make a huge difference. I was also excited to see the Straegud pendragon again. Had it only been a little over three months since we last spoke? So much had happened since then that it felt like much longer.
I beckoned to Rayna, who had just finished bandaging a wound on her leg. A dragon had bitten her, but she got it back by stabbing extra deep into its neck.
“What’s going on?” she asked after limping over to us.
“The coalition will be at Tinker in less than an hour, along with the Straegud.”
A broad grin stretched her face. “Really? Can I come? I’ve never been around the coalition before, and I’ve missed Syrus and some of his shifters.”
Wren, the Craegud pendragon, was looking at us like we’d grown horns. “You two arefriendswith the Straegud toriq?”
Aidan had told him that Rayna met them first, but perhaps he’d forgotten that with everything else we’d thrown at him upon his arrival.
“Oh, they’re great,” I said, nodding. “Especially when there’s drinks and parties involved.”
Aidan frowned at me. “I think you’ve failed to tell me some stories.”
“Maybe a few,” I admitted, giving him a sweet smile. “But you’re welcome to grill me about it later tonight.”
Light danced in his eyes. “Oh, I plan on it.”
“Why is it my toriq only meets the murderous slayers and none of the friendly ones like them?” Wren asked, gesturing at us. He was clearly annoyed that he’d been left out.
