Page 28 of Rejected By Dragons

For a second, as I peel out into the road, I imagine I see a dragon in the distance, flying after me. Its silver shape disappears into the clouds, though. Any fantasies I might have had about Storm trying to follow me evaporate.

I know better than to think I'm truly nothing to him. He loved me as much as I loved him.

Somehow, that knowledge makes his rejection so much worse.

Blinking furiously, I hit the open road and slam my foot into the gas. I'm going too fast, but I don't care.

Wynrath Crest, the Air Kingdom, my family, Storm... They're all behind me now.

And the Gods alone know what might lie ahead.

* * *

STORM

An hour later, I alight on the stone overlooking the field of flames and transform back into my human self. The flapping of wings and snapping of bone herald the rest of my family doing likewise around me.

"Finally." Cracking his neck with a gruesome popping sound, my father gives an exaggerated sigh of relief. "A successful Emergence."

"Thank the Gods the reject wasn't here to fuck it up," Fury sneers, and I force myself not to punch him in the face.

Aria looks up at me in concern, but I refuse to react.

All around us, the festivities are reaching their apex. We did our usual bullshit, flying in with Dad and then standing around like assholes while he shifted into his human form and gave a rousing speech about the mighty Air Kingdom. The young dragon hopefuls all stepped forward, and it took every ounce of my strength not to lose it right then and there.

Even now, as they move through the magical flames, their flesh and bone giving way to scales and wings, I want to summon my own dragon back to me and rise into the skies. I want to scream and unleash hell on earth. I want to watch my father and my brother burn.

Unbearable agony rips me in two.

They sent Ember away.

It was painful enough when she was willing to face exile for another chance at calling forth her dragon. At least that would have been her choice.

This?

It's so fucking unfair. She should be up there, facing the fire and unfurling her wings. Instead, she's gone.

And there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it.

I stand there in wretched, miserable silence, glaring with barely masked rage as the last of the newborn dragons Emerge. The orange of the flames reflects off their wings as they glide upward into the moonless night. Around us, our people whoop and cheer.

One of our father's aides approaches him and whispers something in his ear. He claps his hands. "Come along, children. Our guests have arrived." A smirk curls his lips as his gaze darts to Aria. "I know you're impatient to meet your betrothed."

It's my turn to dart my gaze to my sister. She tilts her chin up, brave as ever.

This is the moment I've been scrambling to prepare for. Ever since my father whisked my sister home after years away.

Ever since he announced he'd made a match for her that would ensure our kingdom's power for ages to come.

My father leads the way down from the edge of the mountain. I take Aria's hand in mine, reminding her of what I swore to her.

We arrive at a tent set far apart from the rest of the festivities. It's a large one, with a thick tarp and a dozen of my father's best men and women guarding its perimeter. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and inside my chest, my dragon flexes its wings. I keep him firmly in check as I squeeze my sister's palm.

The guards lift the flaps of the tent. My father strides in, and we follow. I expect the interior to be brightly lit, but there's a darkness that surrounds me as I enter, a deep black even more oppressive than the night. I squint, struggling to see.

And then I realize. There's nothing to see.

Only Shadow.

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