Praise for the Novels
of Katie MacAlister
The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons
A Novel of the Light Dragons
“Had me laughing out loud…. This book is full of humor and romance, keeping the reader entertained all the way through…a wondrous story full of magic….I cannot wait to see what happens next in the lives of the dragons.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Katie MacAlister has always been a favorite of mine and her latest series again shows me why…. If you are a lover of dragons, MacAlister’s new series will definitely keep you entertained!”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Magic, mystery, and humor abound in this novel, making it a must read…another stellar book.”
—Night Owl Reviews
“Entertaining.”
—Midwest Book Review
Love in the Time of Dragons
A Novel of the Light Dragons
“Ms. MacAlister has once again taken a crazy plot and fascinating characters and tossed them with a lot of fun and a dash of mystery to create a darned good reading adventure. Who would have thought dragons could be so sexy?! Katie MacAlister, that’s who. Hail to the powers of the creative author.”
—Fresh Fiction
“An extraordinary paranormal romance. Ms. MacAlister has created a wonderful world of dragons, demons, and other assorted characters…. The dragon men are hot and their mates know just how to stand up to these aggressive alpha males. Love in the Time of Dragons is a funny, romantic, and sexy novel. Once I started to read it, I couldn’t put it down. Katie MacAlister has another winner on her hands!”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Katie MacAlister’s books are funny to the core and this book doesn’t disappoint in that regard. The world she’s created is rich and interesting, and her plots never fail to suck the reader in…clever.”
—Examiner.com
“If I had to describe one consistent emotion I had throughout this entire book, it would be amusement. MacAlister has long held sway over my paranormal romance leanings because of her humorous they-don’t-take-themselves-seriously novels.”
—Romance Reader at Heart
“An amusing, lighthearted frolic held together by a female who has no memory of ever being a dragon in her past lives. Tully the terrific makes the tale fresh and exciting.”
—Midwest Book Review
“An intense, twisted love story.”
—The Romance Reader
“There are plot twists and turns that kept me riveted…awesome story and a definite recommend from me.”
—Long and Short Reviews
Much Ado About Vampires
A Dark Ones Novel
“Much Ado About Vampires continues the tradition of clever dialogue, juicy story, and steamy romance. If you are a fan of the series, you won’t be disappointed.”
—Romantic Times
“[A] fantastic book that I have to recommend to anyone who likes hilarious paranormal romance stories that make you just want to sigh, or laugh, or want one of these guys for yourself.”
—Night Owl Reviews
“I was sucked into the world of [the] Dark Ones right from the start…. This book is full of witty dialogue and great romance, making it one that should not be missed.”
—Fresh Fiction
In the Company of Vampires
A Dark Ones Novel
“Hysterical and surprisingly realistic, considering it includes witches, deities, vampires, and Viking ghosts, In the Company of Vampires delivers a great story and excellent characterization.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Ms. MacAlister has another winner…. Her humor is evident throughout the story and cause for more than a few dozen laughs. This book makes the perfect partner for a long winter night.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Zany [and] clever.”
—Midwest Book Review
It’s All Greek to Me
“MacAlister wins again with her signature sass and steam…. This delightful and satisfying read is low on conflict, high on humor, and stratospheric on sexy sizzle.”
—Publishers Weekly
“It’s All Greek To Me is a wonderful, lighthearted romantic romp, as a kick-butt American amazon and a hunky Greek find love.”
—Genre Go Round Reviews
“Full of sassy yet steamy characters … lots of humor, and plenty of sizzling and sexy scenes.”
—The Season for Romance
Also by Katie MacAlister
Paranormal Romances
MUCH ADO ABOUT VAMPIRES, A Dark Ones Novel
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF DRAGONS,
A Novel of the Light Dragons
IN THE COMPANY OF VAMPIRES, A Dark Ones Novel
CONFESSIONS OF A VAMPIRE’S GIRLFRIEND,
A Dark Ones Novel
LOVE IN THE TIME OF DRAGONS,
A Novel of the Light Dragons
STEAMED, A Steampunk Romance
CROUCHING VAMPIRE, HIDDEN FANG,
A Dark Ones Novel
ZEN AND THE ART OF VAMPIRES, A Dark Ones Novel
ME AND MY SHADOW, A Novel of the Silver Dragons
UP IN SMOKE, A Novel of the Silver Dragons
PLAYING WITH FIRE, A Novel of the Silver Dragons
HOLY SMOKES, An Aisling Grey, Guardian, Novel
LIGHT MY FIRE, An Aisling Grey, Guardian, Novel
FIRE ME UP, An Aisling Grey, Guardian, Novel
YOU SLAY ME, An Aisling Grey, Guardian, Novel
THE LAST OF THE RED-HOT VAMPIRES
EVEN VAMPIRES GET THE BLUES
Contemporary Romances
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME
BLOW ME DOWN
HARD DAY’S KNIGHT
THE CORSET DIARIES
MEN IN KILTS
Katie MacAlister
Sparks Fly
A Novel of the Light Dragons
SIGNET
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
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New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
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Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, May 2012
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN: 978-1-101-58521-4
Copyright © Katie MacAlister, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editi
ons.
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
Printed in the United States of America
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
To my darling agent, Michelle Grajkowski,
because she needs a Baltic book all to herself
Dear readers,
There’s nothing worse than joining a party midway through it, when everyone knows who everyone else is, and what funny things they did before you arrived, and worse, you’re too late for the really good canapés, and are left with only a Vienna sausage skewered to a sweet pickle and soggy cracker.
Because I hate being stuck with the soggy cracker as much as everyone else, I make sure that pertinent information about characters is included in each book, so that new readers should be able to pick up any book and enjoy it without having read any previous volumes in the series. This book is no different, but I know that some readers prefer to consult a concise table of who’s who, and for that reason, I’ve included a little cheat sheet of characters, locations, and other fun facts in the back of the book.
If you are a longtime reader of the dragon novels, you can nibble on your tasty roast beef and caramelized onion vol-au-vent canapé, and smile knowingly at all the latecomers to the party. If you are new, and wish to forgo the soggy cracker, you can consult the information at the back of the book as needed.
Whether you are a new reader or old, I welcome you to this, the third volume in the Light Dragons series, and hope you enjoy the latest shenanigans of all the wacky dragons, demons, Guardians, and assorted other folk who insist on being a part of the books.
Katie MacAlister
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Katie’s Guide to All Things Dragon
A Tale of Two Vampires
Chapter One
“The lady is here to see you.”
Baltic turned at the voice, obviously startled to hear it since he had been alone in the upstairs corridor. “What foolishness is this?”
The heavily varnished wooden paneling that ran the length of the upper floor of the three-hundred-year-old pub melted into a dirt yard dotted with odd wooden figures.
Baltic glared first at the wooden figures, then at the man who approached him. “Ysolde! Why have you drawn me into one of your visions of the past? And why must you include that murderous bastard in it?”
“Don’t blame me; blame my inner dragon.” I sighed to myself and folded my arms over the couple of shirts I had been about to hang up in the wardrobe, which, like the corridor outside our bedroom, had faded into the scene before us. “Although I have to say, if it’s going to make me watch episodes from your past, you might as well be here, too. Who is that? Oh, Constantine. And look, it’s Baltic version 1.0, all sexy and shirtless and hacking away at something with a sword.”
“I have better things to do than relive unimportant events,” my Baltic, the Baltic of the present day, growled, transferring his glare from Constantine, the former silver wyvern and once his friend, later his most hated enemy, to me. “Make the vision stop.”
“I would if I could, but they never do until they’re good and ready…. Hey, where are you going?”
Baltic, with a rude word, turned on his heel and marched away. “I have spent the last twelve days chasing Thala across all of Europe and half of Asia. I have work to do, mate. You may indulge yourself with this vanity, but I will not.”
“Vanity! I like that! It’s not vanity. And you can’t just leave my vision like that!” I yelled after him, watching with a growing sense of injustice as he disappeared around the side of a small hut. “They’re valuable sources of information! Kaawa says we’re supposed to learn from them, to glean facts about what is important to us now. Baltic? Well, dammit! He left! That rotter.”
I slapped my hands on my legs and spun around as the vision of Constantine approached the other man who stood in a cluster of quintains and man-sized targets.
“Well, I’m not going to be so obstinate that I don’t learn whatever it is my inner dragon is trying to tell me. Let’s see, what do we have here…obviously, we’re in some sort of a training yard, and since Baltic isn’t frothing at the mouth at the sight of Constantine, evidently this vision is from a time when they were still friends. Hello, my love. I don’t suppose you can hear me, let alone see me?”
The vision Baltic didn’t react, not that I expected him to. The people in the visions my inner dragon self, long dormant and only recently starting to wake up, had provided me were just that—visions of events in the past. I could watch and listen, but could not interact with them.
Constantine, clad in wool leggings and a tunic bearing a gold-embroidered dragon on a field of black, strode past the empty sword-fighting targets to the occupied one, his attitude cocky, while his face was arranged in an expression implying sympathy. “Did you hear me?” he asked as he stopped at the side of the man who was diligently hacking away at the straw and wood target with an extremely big sword.
“I heard. It is of no matter to me.”
I spent a few moments in admiration of the interplay of his muscles as Baltic continued to swing and thrust his sword into the target, his bare back shining with sweat.
“It always did make my knees weak to see you wield a sword,” I told the vision Baltic, moving around to see the front of him. His face was different yet familiar to me, his hair dark ebony then, his chin more blunted. “I like your hair the dark chocolate color it is now. And your chin, as well, although you certainly were incredibly sexy before Thala resurrected you. And your chest…oh my.” I fanned myself with a bit of one of the shirts I was holding.
“Alexei says you have no choice. He says it is the command of your father.” Constantine cocked one eyebrow at Baltic, moving swiftly to the side when Baltic swung wide.
“You look the same,” I informed Constantine. “Evidently being brought back as a shade didn’t affect your appearance, whereas resurrection does. Interesting. I’ll have to talk to Kaawa about that the next time I see her. Still, you were handsome then, Constantine. But you didn’t hold a candle to Baltic.”
“My father does not control my life,” Baltic snapped, his breath ragged now as he continued to swing at the vaguely human-shaped target. “Nor does Alexei.”
I settled back against one of the targets, prepared to watch and learn what I could from the vision.
“He is our wyvern. You owe him your fealty,” Constantine said, stiffening. “You must do as he says. You must meet the lady.”
“Do not lecture me, Constantine,” Baltic snarled, turning on him. Sweat beaded on his brow and matted the dark hair on his chest. Constantine took a step back when Baltic gestured toward him with the sword. “You are Alexei’s heir, not the wyvern himself, and I do not take well
to being ordered about.”
“Pax!” Constantine said, throwing his hands up in the air in a gesture of defeat. “I did not come to argue with you, old friend. I wanted simply to warn you that the lady had arrived, and Alexei is expecting you to do your duty and claim her as mate.”
I had been idly wondering to myself when exactly this moment had taken place—judging by the comments, it predated not only my own birth, but even the time when Baltic had been wyvern of the black dragon sept—but as the two men argued, I had a sudden insight.
“This is about the First Dragon’s demand I redeem you, isn’t it?” I asked the past Baltic. “This has something to do with whatever it is I’m supposed to accomplish to erase the stain on your soul. But that was due to the death of the innocent, and this…a mate?”
It took a minute before Constantine’s words sank into my brain, but when they did, the hairs on the back of my neck rose. I stalked forward to the two men, glaring at the former image of the love of my life, uncaring that this was only a vision. “You were supposed to take someone else as a mate? Who?”
“I’ve told Alexei of my decision,” Baltic said, snatching up his discarded tunic and wiping his face with it before sheathing his sword. “I have not changed my mind.”
He turned and started up the hill of what was obviously the outer bailey of an early stone castle, stopping when Constantine called after him, “And what of the First Dragon? Will you defy him, as well as Alexei? You are his only living son, Baltic.”
“I know what I am,” Baltic snarled, and continued walking.
“The lady wants you. The First Dragon is reported to desire you to take her as mate. Alexei has commanded it in order to avoid a war. Do you really think you have a choice in the matter?”
The word that Baltic uttered was archaic, but quite, quite rude, and ironically, one his present-day self had spoken just a few minutes before. I watched his tall, handsome figure as he disappeared into crowds of dragons going about their daily business, my eyes narrowing as Constantine suddenly smiled.
“Why do I have the feeling that you know something?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer, of course. He just continued to smile for a few seconds; then he, too, strolled off toward the upper bailey, leaving me alone in the practice yard.
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