Read Online Soul of the Dragon by Natalie J. Damschroder - Free Book Online Page B

their mother had died—Alexa had been twelve, Peter six—her personal fortune had gone into a trust for each of her kids. Alexa hadn’t needed hers. By the time she turned twenty-five, the year she could access it, she had enough money to live on and a job she loved. She’d folded most of her trust into Peter’s—against her father’s wishes, of course. Peter had understood why she did it but insisted she have access to the interest if she needed it.  
    “Have they set a date yet?” she asked.  
    “Not until next year,” he mumbled.  
    “What was that?”  
    “They picked a date next year. May.”  
    “Dad, I’m exhausted. It’s three in the morning here. I don’t know why you felt it necessary to call in the middle of the night, but I can’t do anything about it now, and there’s plenty of time to do something if something needs to be done.”  
    “They just left,” Paul explained, his voice wheedling now. “I didn’t even think about the time.”  
    “Obviously.” She didn’t bother to stifle her yawn. “I’ll call you when my job is done.”  
    “Alexa—”  
    “Good night, Dad. I love you.” She felt for the “end” button and disconnected the call. Within seconds, she was back to sleep.  
    * * *  
    Cyrgyn hadn’t returned when she woke two hours later. She went for her run and fell into the zone so sweetly she went an extra mile. The sun was just peeking above the horizon when she returned. Exhilarated, she lengthened her stride, stretching into the morning. She hit the tarmac outside the hangar just as a downblast of wind signaled Cyrgyn’s arrival.  
    “Inside,” he urged when she stood still, absorbed in watching his slow fade into view. “I am uncloaking.”  
    She rushed to open the hangar door, then closed it behind him when he slid through. He moved to the far end where his mattresses awaited. “Long run this morning,” he said.  
    “Were you watching me?”  
    A shrug. With the rippling of muscles from shoulder to flank to tail, it was less of a casual move than it should have been.  
    Alexa tossed her keys on the nearby table and began stretching before her muscles cooled too much. “How long are you going to be mad at me?”  
    “As long as you keep underestimating your enemy.”  
    A flash of heat in her chest warned her to concentrate. There was enough tension between them now. She didn’t need to lose her temper.  
    “I don’t underestimate my enemy.”  
    “As long as you think you can fool him, trick him, you underestimate him.” The dragon settled into a coil and sighed with the weariness of his age.  
    “I’m not foolish,” she snapped, stretching her right hamstring. “I know the risk. I don’t know if it’s worth it. I want to discuss it. Rationally. Not be ordered like a five-year-old.” Oh, lord. She’d degenerated quite a bit since yesterday. “Sorry. I got a call from my father this morning. He sometimes makes me act like a child.”  
    “I know.” His smile seemed fond, if that was possible on his beastly face. “He has been quite protective since your mother…” He trailed off less abruptly than her father had.  
    “What about my mother?” Alexa straightened and strode toward her friend. The friend she’d had since childhood. Who’d “known” her family as well as she had. Better, because he had the perspective of an adult, while her perspective had changed. “Since my mother what?”  
    “Since she died,” he said softly, as if that was all he meant. But Alexa’s instincts were telling her there was more.  
    “Do you remember her death?” she asked.  
    He turned his head away, as if avoiding her gaze. “I was not there.”  
    He hadn’t answered her question.  
    “I was.”  
    He didn’t respond. Alexa knew when to back off, and how to eventually get answers. There was something important about her mother’s death. Something that made her scalp prickle. Suddenly, she didn’t want to know