Read Online Marked by the Dragon King by Caroline Hale - Free Book Online Page A

embarrassment. Why is he the one in charge here?
    “I already know where the key is,” I inform them. Jax turns his bright green eyes on me and I see a flash of anger.
    “Where?” he demands.
    “How do I know I can trust you? You could be trying to get the key for yourself!” I glare at him. After Fee, I’m not sure if I can trust anyone.
    “Look at my collar if you don’t believe me. Plus, if anyone without the mark tries to activate the key they would be burnt to ashes in a matter of seconds and you could just take it then.”
    Twining his body between my legs, I reach down and twist the collar around. I can feel the power underneath my fingers, warm and tingly. A small tag dangles from the leather imprinted with the very same symbol that’s branded onto my leg. It glows red as I run my fingers across the metal.
    “Do you trust me now?” He laughs and twists free from my grasp. “Where is the key?”
    I show them the fang in the display. He shakes his head as if he’s having difficulty remembering something. “A fang you say…”
    Ruby interrupts his musing, “I’ve seen you before, you know.”
    “Oh yeah?” I ask, looking at her and trying to get a glimmer of recognition.
    “In my dreams. I’ve seen you running through the tunnels. They don’t last very long, but the last thing that I see before I wake up is your face.”
    I wonder if she’s seen anything else. “Was I doing anything other than, uh, running?”
    “No, just running and I can feel your fear,” she admits and somehow I know it’s the truth. “In my dreams, I try to use magic and I can feel it start to work. I want to help you, but just before I can release a spell, you turn towards me and I wake up. Each time I have the dream, my fingers tingle like I was actually working a spell in my sleep. In fact, I can feel something when I look at you now. Like I could maybe cast a spell if I tried.”
    “Ladies, if you’re quite done talking about your dreams, I’ve come up with a plan,” Jax interrupts with a sly look in his eyes.
    It’s a decent plan, I suppose. He’s going to run ahead and get some of the kids to break a display in one of the rooms in front of us. Once the alarms are going off, the guards should start to chase him while we’ll shatter the glass in our display, grab the fang, and get out. He says he can cast a spell to ruin the video feed from our room so no one will hunt us down, but I’m skeptical. The chaos of the kids, the already broken glass, and the cat running through the museum should be enough of a distraction for us to get out. I can’t come up with anything better and there’s no way I’m leaving without the fang, so I agree.
    “Ruby.” Jax turns towards her before setting off. “If it looks like Melinda won’t make it out of the building you will have to set up a distraction yourself.”
    “Ooo, I can do that!” She claps her hands excitedly. She looks so much like a little kid that I can’t help but laugh. Her bubbly personality is infectious. “I was in a play once in school! I played a fainting damsel in distress. I could totally pull that off again,” she says confidently, throwing her hand to her forehead and feigning dizziness. It’s actually pretty convincing.
    I smile approvingly and then mentally chastise myself. Don't get attached Melinda . Look what happened the last time you trusted someone...
    “Okay, let's do this now before the kids get too far ahead. Go do your kitty thing, Jax!” I say, trying to be humorous.
    “I am not a kitty, girl. You should remember that.” If looks could kill, the glare he gave me would knock me dead. He prances off towards the group of kids, destruction in soft fuzzy form.
    “Don't let him get to you,” Ruby says, seeing the mortified expression on my face. “I know it's weird being told off by a cat, but you get used to it.”
    Sure enough, seconds later the sound of shattered glass is followed by the screeching of the alarm. Guards