The three of us worked together to carefully remove the rest of the rocks covering Reven’s body, worried if we moved them too fast it would cause another collapse in the tunnel and possibly hurt him more. It took us a long time, and we worked solemnly, knowing we would likely find only a corpse.
When we dragged Reven’s body out, it was rock hard and bitterly cold. His clothes were torn and his side was charred, his skin burnt off where he’d been hit by the lava. He’d given his life to protect me and Kira. Gods, how was I going to break it to her that one of her mates was dead and it was all my fault?
But as I sat back, I noticed something odd. Reven’s body was encased in a layer of ice, which covered him like armor from head to toe, protecting him from the world around him. The others crouched beside us, staring at him.
Auric pressed his head to Reven’s frosty chest and listened. “He’s still alive. Barely.”
Jasin rubbed his hands together and reached for Reven. “Perfect. I’ll warm him up, while you see if you can get more air into his lungs.”
“No!” Auric said, shoving Jasin’s hands away. “The ice is the only thing keeping him alive. If we warm him up, he’ll die.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, frowning at the ice-covered body. Keeping him in such a state seemed unnatural, but what did I know?
Auric nodded. “He’s too badly injured. I’m shocked he’s still alive as it is, but he must have summoned the ice to protect himself as the cave collapsed. But now the only one who can heal him is Kira.”
I clenched my fists. “We have to rescue her.”
“Yes, you do,” a male voice said from the shadows. “But you can’t do it alone.”
We turned toward the sound, reaching for our weapons and our magic, and saw a man standing in front of us, though he stayed out of the light. Something about the way he stood was familiar, but I couldn’t see his face, only that he had longer hair.
“Stay back!” Jasin yelled, drawing his sword.
“Who are you?” Auric asked.
The man’s deep voice echoed through the cave. “I’m the Azure Dragon, and I’m here to help you rescue Kira.”
Anger leaped into my throat and the ground quaked under my feet in response. “You were the one who took her,” I growled. “Why would you help us?”
The man stepped forward and the light from the fire illuminated his face, revealing hazel eyes. Kira’s eyes. “Because I’m her father.”
32
Kira
I forced my eyes open, though my eyelids felt as if they were made of stone. My entire body ached, and when I moved I realized it was because I was crumpled on the ground on my side. My vision was blurred, but as I sat up and blinked, the world slowly came into focus again.
The first thing I noticed were the bones. They surrounded me, forming a cage around my body just large enough for me to stand inside, and I was pretty sure they were human. The gleaming white bones crisscrossed over and under me, although the sides of my new, morbid prison had large enough gaps for me to see through. Not that there was much to see—beyond the bones was an empty, dark room with a single torch to illuminate it.
I spun around, hesitant to touch the bones after the revulsion I’d felt before. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was fighting Sark and the others, and then Doran grabbing me and pressing something to my face. I’d been unable to stop him, and then I’d woken up here. Whatever he’d done must have knocked me unconscious for some time…which meant I was being held by the Dragons.
I reached out for my bond with my mates, but felt nothing from them. Something was blocking me, like a wall I couldn’t find my way around. I had no way to tell if they were injured or even still alive. And worst of all, without the bond they’d never be able to find me.
Could it be the bones preventing me from reaching them? I hesitantly wrapped a hand around one of them, part of an arm from the looks of it, and felt that same horror and repulsion as before. I quickly let go and gasped, stepping back, except there was no escape from the cage that surrounded me.
Footsteps approached from across the room and I tensed. A woman with long, luxurious red hair moved toward the bone cage with confident, deliberate steps. She wasn’t particularly tall, but she practically glowed with strength and power, and even though her skin was unwrinkled, her green eyes held the wisdom of more years than one person should ever live through. She was so beautiful it was hard to look away from her, even though I sensed a darkness within her I’d never felt before…except from the shades.
There was no doubt in my mind who this was—Nysa, the Black Dragon.
My mother.
She stopped in front of the cage and I fought the instinct to shrink back from her. The way she looked at me made my skin crawl, but I wouldn’t cower in her presence. I was the next Black Dragon, and I would stand tall and face her, even if it was the hardest thing I’d done before.
She gave me a smile that was so lovely it made my chest hurt. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Kira.” She reached for me through the cage, as if to stroke my hair. “You’re more beautiful than I ever imagined.”
I flinched back, my heart pounding. “Stay away from me.”
Her hand fell and her smile vanished. “I’m sorry. You must think me a monster, don’t you?”
I didn’t answer, trying to gain control of my emotions. This woman was my enemy, and I was meant to destroy her and take her place, but she was also my mother. Some primal part of me longed to hear those kind words from her and wanted to lean into her touch. Yet I couldn’t forget all the horrible things done in her name, or the misery she’d inflicted upon the world for hundreds of years.
She let out a soft sigh. “Yes, in some ways I am a monster, but there’s a reason for everything I have done, and there’s much you don’t know.” She paused and regarded me with those ancient eyes. “You see, sometimes you must become a monster to protect the world from something even worse.”
I had no idea what she was talking about, and wasn’t sure I could believe anything she said anyway. But she’d kept me alive for some reason, and that meant something.
“What do you want with me?” I asked.
“Right now, I only want you to rest.” She gripped the bone cage in front of me and gazed into my eyes. “As much as it saddens me, your fight will soon be over.”
With those words she turned and walked away, leaving me to wonder what she had in store for me. I desperately reached for my mates again through our bond, but couldn’t find them. I was truly on my own here.
But I wouldn’t give up. I would fight back. I would find a way to escape. I would be reunited with my mates again.
And then we would stop the Black Dragon and her men, once and for all.
* * *
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Hollywood Roommates - Excerpt
Three sexy actors. One curvy English teacher. An impossible rule just begging to be broken...
Chapter One: Allie
The proposal is coming, I know it.
Parker, my sweet, handsome boyfriend, sits before me in a navy blue suit, the wind teasing at his dark, silky hair. The pink roses he brought me rest on the marble table beside our plates. Any second now he’s going to pull out a ring and
pop the question. Why else would he invite me to this specific restaurant for lunch?
We’ve been dating a year. Living together for six months. It’s totally time.
“This past year has been really great, Allie,” Parker says.
I smile at him and take a sip of my wine. “Yes, it has.”
“And you’re such a great person.” He clears his throat and yanks on his tie, looking everywhere but me. He’s obviously nervous. Of course he is. A proposal is a big deal.
I reach across the table and rest a hand over his. “Moving in with you was one of the best decisions I ever made. Some people thought it was too soon, but it felt right. Don’t you think so?”
He slides his hand away. “Yeah. Um. It’s been great.”
Yes, I’m great, he’s great, we’re all great. Okay, so Parker isn’t a master of words and clearly hasn’t prepared this speech very well, but I can live with that. Everything else about him is perfect, after all. Or mostly perfect anyway. I mean, every couple has their problems, right?
Just when I start to wonder if he’s ever going to get the nerve to do it, I spot a plane behind him. One of those small ones, flitting low across the cloudless blue sky, leaving a trail of white in its wake. As the waiter clears our plates, the plane slowly spells out the words, MARRY ME.
Hope spreads throughout my chest. It’s happening. It’s really happening.
I smile even wider at Parker, who chugs his wine like it’s water and he’s on a desert island. How adorably nervous he is. I look up again, and there, below it…
Is that an A?
I sit up straighter in my chair, my heart racing. No wonder he wanted to sit outside today. I had no idea Parker was such a romantic. This skywriting stunt totally makes up for his lack of preparing a speech.
“You were saying…?” I ask, although I can’t stop looking at the letters forming behind his head. The next letter is an L, like in my name. This is it for sure. I want to kick my feet and squee.
Parker clears his throat. “Yeah. Um. Well. It’s been a year and I think it’s time we move on.”
I nod. C’mon next letter! “Exactly. Move forward. Couldn’t agree more.”
“I care about you a lot.”
“I care about you too.” The plane draws a straight line. The start of another L?
“And I want you to be happy.”
“Of course. I am. Happy, I mean.”
“I just think that—”
There it is. A second L! I can’t hold it in any longer. I jump to my feet and clasp my hands to my chest. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
He looks up at me with his mouth hanging open. “What?”
I sit back down with a giggle. “Sorry, I just got excited. I should have waited for you to ask me first.” I smooth the skirt of my dress and smile at him. “Okay, I’m ready. Go for it.”
His eyebrows pinch together, causing a deep line to form between them. “Why would you think I’m proposing?”
“This is the restaurant where we had our first date. You brought me flowers. And of course, there’s that.” I gesture to the skywriting behind him. The plane has already begun to form the next letter, which I know will be an I.
He turns in his chair to look. “Oh, shit.”
Wait a second. Is that…an E?
Parker turns back around as a sour feeling hits my stomach. “Allie, I’m not proposing.”
“You’re not?” No, that can’t be right. The pilot is clearly spelling my name wrong. Probably switching the I and the E. I stare up at the plane, hoping with everything I have that the letters will magically change.
“No. I’m trying to break up with you.”
My eyes snap to his face. “What?”
“Listen, there’s no good way to say this. I want to see other people. Well, one person. I met someone. At work.”
“You…met someone.” My head spins. The letter is definitely an E, not an I. Followed by another one that looks like it’s going to be an N. No, no, no, that can’t be right. This isn’t how this lunch is supposed to go at all.
“I was trying to break it to you easily.” Parker shakes his head. “Shit. I can’t believe you thought I was proposing.”
I stare at him, my mouth dry. Behind his head, the letters clearly spell a name that isn’t my own. Somewhere nearby, a guy named Allen is getting engaged and I’m not.
When I can speak, my voice is small. “But the restaurant. The flowers.”
“I completely forgot we went here on our first date. It’s a convenient spot near my office, that’s all. And I brought the flowers because I feel bad.” He folds his hands on the table. “Especially because I need you to move out.”
I reach for my glass of water, but his words shock me so much I knock it over. The water spreads across the table and onto Parker’s lap. Who, frankly, kind of deserves it. “You want me to move out?”
He grabs a napkin, his mouth twisting in annoyance as he wipes at the water. “Yeah. By the end of the week. So Amy can move in.”
I’m being replaced by another girl whose name starts with A. I’m not sure why that makes it even worse, but it does. First Allen got my proposal and now Amy is getting my apartment. I can’t tell if I’m about to break down into tears or go into a mindless rage and upend the table on Parker. Probably both, especially as his words sink in.
“How long have you been seeing her?” I ask.
Parker ducks his head, like he expects me to throw something at it. “About two months now.”
“Two. Months.” My whole world has turned upside down. All this time I’ve been mentally planning our wedding while he’s been banging some other woman.
“It just happened. A dumb work fling, but then it turned into more. I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” My voice is veering into screeching territory and I don’t give a single fuck. “You’ve been cheating on me for two whole months and you’re kicking me out of our apartment and you’re sorry?”
Parker glances around at the other diners, who are all staring at us. “Keep your voice down. Like I said, I never meant to hurt you, but I really need you out of my place by the end of the week.”
The absolute nerve of him. He knows how much this screws me over. I’m so upset I can’t even form words. Instead, I grab my wine and toss it in his face. For a second I savor his look of shocked horror that probably mirrors my own, and then I turn on my heel and storm out of the restaurant.
On the sidewalk two men are kissing, one in an expensive charcoal suit, the other in a beige delivery uniform. They break apart as I walk by, beaming at each other, and I catch the name Allen on the front of the uniform.
“Congrats,” I tell them, smiling through my tears. At least one of us is having a good day.
Want to see what happens next?
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About the Author
New York Times Bestselling Author Elizabeth Briggs writes unputdownable romance across genres with bold heroines and fearless heroes. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Sociology and has worked for an international law firm, mentored teens in writing, and volunteered with dog rescue groups. Now she's a full-time geek who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and a pack of fluffy dogs.
Visit Elizabeth’s website: www.elizabethbriggs.net
For all the friends who help us get through the tough times
Copyright © 2018 by Elizabeth Briggs
SHAKE THE EARTH, Her Elemental Dragons Book Three
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover Designed by
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ISBN (paperback) 9781790501649
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-948456-03-6
www.elizabethbriggs.net
Shake The Earth: Her Elemental Dragons Book Three Page 14
