Tessa Adams - Eternal Embers: A Dragons Heat NovellaAn eSpecial from New American Library

ETERNAL EMBERS

A Dragons Heat Novella

Tessa Adams

New American Library

New American Library

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Published by New American Library,

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First E-Book Printing, September 2011

Copyright Tracy Deebs-Elkenaney, 2011

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Chapter One

Weak. Pathetic. Blind. Stupid.

Weak. Pathetic. Blind. Stupid.

Caitlyn Jacobys feet slapped the ground in rhythm to the insults screaming through her brain. Part of her wanted to say to hell with jogging, to hell with the whole PT routine as she was about to be court marshaled. Or demoted. Or whatever the hell they did to dragon sentries who had completely failed their king. Not that there was exactly a precedent for this sort of thingin the two centuries she had been alive, shed never heard of another member of her clan messing up this badly.

Nothing like being the first. Ugh.

Trying to clear her mind, to forget what waited for her in Dylans lair, she continued to run through the miles of desert that stretched before her like a mixed-up artists palette, reds and oranges and purples blending with a million different shades of gray and brown. In the distance, the sun rose slowly over the craggy mountains, setting the skyand the sand all around heron fire. It was a beautiful sight, one that rarely failed to make her grateful to be alive. But today Caitlyn only glanced at it before closing her eyes and blowing out a long, silent breath.

Normally her early morning workout was her favorite time of day, but today all it did was give her more time to think. To worry. To regret the many, many mistakes shed made.

She was a failure as a sentry, a joke. One step above the traitor who had helped land her in this position. Her beast growled at the thought, lunged against the stranglehold shed had on it since it had gone insane the night before. She tightened the noose, forced it down before it could get even more out of control. Before she could get even more out of control.

Its answer was a vicious hiss and a scrape of claws against the inside of her skin. Her dragon wasnt happy with her, but then the feeling was entirely mutual. She might have fallen prey to the blindness of friendship but surely her beast should have suspected that something wasnt right. It had failed her and in turn, she had failed her entire clan.

Weak. Pathetic. Blind. Stupid.

The words continued to beat at her even as she increased her already brutal pace. Soon she was running full out, holding nothing back, her stride long and fast as she covered huge stretches of the amber-lit desert. Maybe if she ran far enough, fast enough, she could outrun what shed done... and what she hadnt. Maybe she could figure out how she was supposed to face Dylan after everything that had gone down.

Just the thought of the Dragonstar king, of the disgust and disapproval she would see in his eyes, made Caitlyn want to weep. She had worked so hard to gain entrance to the Council, to be a sentry that Dylan and the others could be proud of. But she had screwed up, royally, and now she had to pay for it. Which was fineshe knew she deserved whatever was coming to her. She just wished shed been smarter, braver, more observant. Maybe then Michael would still be alive. And Lana. And Josh. And all the many, many others theyd been forced to build funeral pyres for too soon.

The first caverns were in sight now, the last moments of her reprieve almost over. Her stomach clenched with nervousness and shame and her dragon roared, reacting to her upset. It was trying to defend her, but right now she wanted nothing from the beast, not even its protection. So she ignored it, slowed her pace and focused on what she was going to say to Dylan. As if there was anything she could say. She was totally out ofA movement near one of the outlying caves suddenly caught her eye and she felt everything inside of her freeze. Even her beast settled down, stopped scratching and struggling against the hold she had on it. She didnt know if that was a good thing or bad.

Eyes narrowed, Caitlyn slowed her pace even more as she watched the entrance of the cave, waiting for whatever was there to reveal itself again. Maybe it was another DragonstarShawn liked to roam this same stretch of desert at dawn, after all. But her internal radar wasnt going off, wasnt alerting her that another dragon was near. And these initial caverns were pretty much deserted these days. Deeming them too easily accessible, Dylan had ordered his clan to move back to deeper, darker caves. Caves that had very limited access and entrances humans were a lot less tempted to poke around in.

So what had she seen? she wondered as she used her magic to blur the edges of her outline until she blended into the stark desert all around her. What was out there? An animal looking for food? A lost hiker looking for civilization? An enemy looking to strike another blow to the Dragonstars?

It was that thought that galvanized her, had her hurrying across the last few hundred yards between her and the caverns. If the Wyvernmoons had returned, it meant they were gunning for Dylan, trying to hit the Dragonstars while they were still reeling from the last attack.

It was her job to make sure they never got a shot at him.

Reaching inside her for the dragon that was so much a part of herand that had been right below her skin for the last forty-eight hours, aching to get outshe was shocked to realize her beast had retreated. Instead of biting and snarling in an effort to get at the intruder, it had gone completely quiet.