Read Online Phoenix by Finley Aaron - Free Book Online Page A

offense prompt her into reactionary behavior? Or will she rise above?
    In some ways, this is my test. Will she respect that I am human, or will she take advantage of it? Eudora would have destroyed me by now. Nia has been working for Eudora, but I like to believe she’s a very different dragon.
    Her gaze doesn’t leave mine as she slowly rises to standing. And then she turns into a human, too, and instantly begins lecturing me.
    “You have no idea what you’re doing. Go back. Go back, now, while you still can.”
    “Go back, where?”
    “Anywhere,” she gestures widely as though to shoo me away. “Just get away from me. And hurry. Or let me go on my way, and you stay. I don’t care which.”
    “I’m not letting you run.” I take a step closer to her. “It was working. Our escape plan was working. You just have to trust—”
    “For how long will it work?” Nia cuts me off. “The mamluki will not stop hunting me. They will come in ever-greater numbers. We will have to run from them forever.”
    “Not forever. There has to be a way to defeat them. We’re dragons. We’re stronger. We’re smarter.”
    “You’re not smarter than the white witch who made them. She is consumed with her plans, always working, night and day—”
    “We’ve defeated her before.”
    “You have?” Nia looked sincerely surprised, then doubtful. But at least she’s willing to listen. For this moment, at least, she’s no longer running. “Then why is she still alive?”
    “She used to be a dragon. Did she tell you that? My mother changed her into a human, only human.”
    “How?”
    “By turning her evil plan against her. We can do that, too—we can turn these mamluki against themselves—” Can I, the kid who usually breaks things, defeat the yagi? First things first, I have to keep Nia from handing herself over to them.
    “How?”
    “I don’t know yet. But we’ll think of something. We just have to stay ahead of them long enough to think of something.” I try to look confident, even if I have my own doubts. Can we really outrun the yagi and defeat Eudora? It might be nearly impossible, but Nia won’t have any shot at all if she doesn’t survive the night.
    “Sorry, but that’s not enough.” Nia hardly has the words out when she leaps upward, changing into a dragon.
    Instantly, I realize she let me get my guard down, let me think she was actually listening to me. She did that on purpose, didn’t she? I’d love her for her wiliness if it didn’t endanger her life.
    Just as instantly, I leap into dragon form after her. We no more than clear the treetops when I tackle her again.
    I simply cannot let her get any closer to the path on the oncoming yagi. They could be upon us any moment—we’ll encounter them even sooner if Nia rushes headlong into their midst.
    This time, she’s expecting my tackle, anticipating the fight.
    She’s ready and ruthless, and a lot harder to bring down.
    Which is probably why, after struggling futilely for several minutes, we’re still in the air, glowing brightly and spouting fire, when Ram barrels into us and joins the fray.
    My relief at his arrival is quickly replaced by the realization that he’s not necessarily on my side. True, he’s trying to bring us both down to the ground. That much is helpful. But judging from his scraping claws and searing fire blasts that leave my delicate underbelly smarting, he’s mad at me for some reason.
    Why? If I hadn’t gone after Nia, she’d be dead by now, or on her way back to Eudora’s prison.
    Once it’s apparent Ram has a firm enough hold on Nia that she’s not going to get away, I drop to the ground, stand back from the range of their fire and Ram’s talons, and I turn into a human again.
    Ram hauls Nia to the ground in a tussle, turning human only after she does.
    I run to his side to assist him should Nia once again attempt to escape.
    “What were you thinking?” He yells at me, his expression livid. “You thought you could