Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Excerpt: The Thorn Chronicles
About the Author
Also by Kimberly Loth
From the Author
Copyright © 2016 by Kimberly Loth
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced in any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead is completely coincidental.
Cover design by Rebecca Frank
Ebook Formatting and Design by Colleen Sheehan of Write Dream Repeat Book Design
For my amazing students
All of you, from McDonald County, American International School-Egypt, and QSI Shenzhen. You’ve all inspired me and helped me write. Thank you!
NERVES SETTLED in Skye’s belly as she and Rowan flew toward the council. She’d never planned to make an entrance, and now she was about to make a big one. Something about confessing her secret to Rowan made her bolder.
She actually felt silly, like she never should’ve left Montana in the first place. She didn’t care anymore if anything was a secret. People would find out soon enough. She still hoped the answer was in the prophecy. Because it was odd that she was a king.
They flew into King’s Cave, along the sapphire studded hall, and into the council’s chambers. A full council was convened, and a few humans milled about. Skye recognized Aspen and Sid, but not the others.
Rowan slid off her back.
“Rowan!” Aspen screamed and raced for him. She flung her arms around her brother. The other young woman was behind her. He crushed both girls in a hug. Skye wondered briefly what it would’ve been like to have siblings. She was the only egg her parents ever hatched.
“You scared the hell out of me,” the young woman mumbled into his shoulder. She let go of him. “Where have you been?”
“That’s a long story,” he said with a huge grin on his face.
“Yeah, and I expect it has to do with that black dragon over there. How’d you find him when the rest of the dragons couldn’t?” Aspen asked.
Rowan snorted. “Him?” Then he turned around. “Love, I think it’s time you revealed yourself.”
Skye changed and joined Rowan.
“Skye?” Aspen looked at her with confusion.
“The one and only.” She put her arm around Rowan’s waist. “Have we got a story to tell you.”
Two weeks earlier
SKYE WAS A coward. She knew that, but she couldn’t bring herself to stay and watch Sid and Aspen commit suicide. There was no way the council would allow Aspen to become queen.
Not to mention that then Skye would have to know the exact moment when she died, because anyone who pledged loyalty to Sid would die the second he did. No, running away was better. She should have enough time to get to her parents before death came. She’d be able to say goodbye.
This was her fault. Pearl had told her to keep Aspen safe. Instead, she’d gone and made everything worse. Maybe if she’d kept Aspen at home, Sid would’ve been fine.
If she’d never given Sid that damned loyalty seal, she wouldn’t be this close to death. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking at that time. Part of her thought he’d make it. Another part didn’t care whether she lived or died. It wasn’t like she had much of a life anymore.
After Sid became king, she found Everett and begged him to remove the seal that marked how much she loved Sid. Everett did, and now she no longer had a swirl of gold on her ankle. But Everett warned her that there would be a price to pay. She gladly accepted it at the time, but she hadn’t expected to feel so empty.
For a half second she thought about heading to Everett’s instead of her parents. Maybe he could remove the loyalty seal before she died. She shook her head. How cowardly of her. The price would not be worth it. That was for sure.
She was only fooling herself though. She would make the same decision if given the choice. Aspen was the only way they could possibly survive. When Skye dropped her off at the council, there were three possible outcomes. One, she and Sid would die, and all those with loyalty seals would as well. Two, Helios, the final dragon Sid needed to secure all the loyalty seals, would get to him before the council had a chance to kill him. Or three, Aspen would convince the council that she should be queen and pass the queen’s tests. Skye hoped Aspen could do it.
Skye’s wings were tiring. This could be the beginning of her death. She hadn’t known anyone who had died because of the loyalty seal and she didn’t know how it worked. She spotted a lake below her and decided to stop and get a drink. She had to make it home. She owed her parents that much.
Skye landed a little rougher than normal. This had to be the end. She staggered over to the water and took a deep drink. The water sparkled under the full moon. Skye stretched her wings out and swiveled her neck around to scratch her nose. She froze. Her wing was no longer silver.
This must be part of her death. Or at least that was what she tried to convince herself of. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she no longer felt tired. Dragons didn’t change color before they died. In fact, dragons never changed color except when they became king. Then they turned black.
Skye spun her neck around the other direction. It was more than her wings that had changed. Her whole body was now a deep coal black.
This was impossible. There was no way she could become king. Sid was king. Unless he died. Then someone else would take his place, but that someone had to be a full royal dragon and male. Of which she was neither. There had to be some huge mistake. Maybe she was dreaming. She stuck her head in the cold water and came out again. Still black. This wasn’t possible.
Unless.
That stupid prophecy.
The one that said three kings would rise. The one that said they could come from other races. But she was still female. Something was definitely wrong. Though, she was still very much alive. She couldn’t go see her parents now, not like this. No, she had to go see the one dragon who could explain how this happened.
She racked her brain trying to think of everything she’d learned about the prophecy. She loved history, and so she studied a lot, but this baffled her. Nothing in the prophecy said anything about a girl. She’d spent hours listening to Everett’s boring details about the prophecy, yet he hadn’t mentioned that females could become kings.
He was so in for it.
SKYE CHANGED direction, and instead of heading south for the warm waters of the gulf, she flew northwest. Her mind tried to make sense of what just happened. Her anger for Everett had turned into fear of what was to come. Everett would have the answers, but she might not like the answers he gave.
&n
bsp; She certainly didn’t like the consequences of her last visit. To never love again. That was the cost of removing the seal to Sid. She gladly gave it up, even with Everett’s warning and hesitations. But now…
Now something was missing, and she ached to love again.
After an hour, she flew over Yellowstone and marveled at the fact that she wasn’t dead. That meant Sid and Aspen were still alive as well. Perhaps Aspen had become queen. Skye hoped so. She liked her. Plus, if the prophecy was fulfilled, Sid would be the right leader for the job. Certainly better than Skye.
She flew over Sid’s house and faltered for a second. Rowan was asleep in there. Sweet Rowan. He’d become her best friend. Her heart tightened at the thought of never seeing him again. It was strange how the ache she often felt disappeared when she was around him. He made her feel human.
She didn’t know what would happen when she found Everett. But if she was a king and the prophecy was being fulfilled, she’d be too caught up in the dragon wars to even think about her human friends. She supposed it couldn’t hurt to stop and say goodbye. She owed him that. After all, he’d been there for her when no one else had.
She dove for the house before she could talk herself out of it. She wanted to feel human again, if only for a minute.
ROWAN KICKED off his blanket. The room was too hot, and he couldn’t sleep. It’d been less than a week since he found out his sister was dating a dragon and he’d made friends with Runa, a tiny dragon with serious attitude. Dragons made his anxiety soar, but since he’d been spending time in a houseful of them, he’d felt better than ever. Sid and Theo had become his friends even though he was a nerd. And Skye. Everything changed when she showed up. Beautiful girls like her never talked to him. Except she did. And he fell hard. He loved Skye with every fiber of his being. The blue mark on his ankle was proof that would never change.
But she was a dragon.
Things between them would never work. Not to mention that she didn’t love him back. Sure, she talked to him, but to her, he was only a friend. He flipped over. Insomnia was the worst. Especially when all he thought about was how he loved Skye even though she was a dragon. Not just any dragon either. A blue one.
He shivered and tried to think of something else. Maybe he should get up. He could play video games or something. It was better than tossing and turning. He fumbled around on the chair next to his bed, looking for his phone.
His overhead light flashed on. He squinted against the brightness, then sat up and reached for his glasses, cramming them onto his face. He didn’t have time for his eyes to adjust before Skye sat down on the bed with a frown. What the hell was she doing in his room? Rowan jerked the blanket up instinctively. Sure, he’d been working out, but he was still fairly scrawny and not ready for her to see him shirtless. His heart clenched as he looked down and double-checked that his ankle wasn’t visible. The blue tattoo was something he hadn’t shared with anyone but Aspen. He relaxed slightly when he saw that his feet were covered.
His stomach did a flip-flop because Skye was in his room. In the middle of the night. Her platinum hair was up in a messy knot. He liked it better when she let it down and the waves fell to her hips, but when she pulled it up, her silvery blue eyes stood out more. He loved staring into those eyes. Maybe he was dreaming. She didn’t say anything, just stared at him, like she was trying to memorize his face. It made him a little uncomfortable.
“What’s up?” he asked in what he hoped was a casual tone. Even with the frown on her face she was beautiful.
She sighed. “I don’t know. Everything. Nothing. I don’t even know what’s real anymore.”
Rowan’s thoughts raced, trying to figure out what she was talking about. He worked through things that had happened in the last couple of days, but nothing stood out. He wanted to sound confident, but he was lost.
“You’re being cryptic.” He studied her face. Her lips formed a straight line, and she clenched her jaw. Something was definitely wrong. Anxiety was such an unusual thing on Skye.
She ran a hand through her blonde locks, and her shoulders dropped. He wanted to be a real man and pull her into his arms, kiss her forehead and tell her it would be okay, but he felt the hives crawling across his skin at the thought of her possible rejection. Instead, he stayed where he was with the blanket pulled up to his shoulders. If it was anyone but Skye, he probably would’ve comforted her. But the one girl he should help, he couldn’t. Quite frankly, he was disgusted with himself.
She stood, and the moment passed. She paced up and down on the plush white carpet.
“I need to leave. Rowan, I don’t know if I’m going to see you again. I came to say goodbye. I was going to go, but I knew you would worry, and I didn’t want that.”
Panic bloomed in his chest, driving away the hives. “What? You can’t go. Why?” She was his whole world. She couldn’t leave. He still found it weird that she was a dragon. But moments like this made her seem so human. She was vulnerable and scared. Dragons didn’t act like that. Beautiful women didn’t act like that.
She put her head in her hands. “I’m in a lot of trouble, and I need time to figure out how to fix my problem.” She let out an ironic laugh and threw her hands up in the air. “There’s still a possibility I won’t even live to see the sunrise. This is unbelievable. How did this happen?”
He should get up. But he was still embarrassed by his skinny chest. He was such a coward. He wanted to know what she was so upset about, but one thing he’d learned about Skye was that she’d bolt if she felt cornered.
“Stay here. I’m sure we can figure it out. Whatever it is. Maybe Sid and Theo can help. You’ve got friends here who care about you. Whatever has happened, we can fix it.”
She shook her head. “No, no one else can know. I have to do this by myself. I’m leaving.”
Even though she wouldn’t tell him, he needed to keep her from leaving.
She sat down on the bed closer to him this time. He tensed. She placed a hand on his cheek, and his skin flushed. His heart fluttered, not prepared for this. Sure, he wanted it, had been dreaming about it for months, but now that the moment was here, he wasn’t ready. He leaned forward a few inches, inhaling her soft jasmine scent, but she backed away a few inches and creased her eyebrows. She kept her hand on his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. Her voice dropped to a whisper, and her eyes glistened.
“Thank you for being my friend. The last few months have turned my world upside down, and you’re the only good thing that has come from it. I’ll miss you.” She placed a light kiss on his cheek and turned and swept out of the room. His cheek burned where her lips had touched. He sat there for a second. He was an idiot. But he wasn’t letting her go.
Rowan jumped out of bed. He pulled a pair of jeans out of the drawer, nearly fell over putting them on, and then grabbed the sweatshirt he had left on the chair. He barely had it over his head before he entered her room.
She stood with her back to him but turned when she heard him. For the first time since he’d met her, she had tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were glassy, and her sadness hit him hard in the chest.
He crossed the room in two long strides and pulled her into his arms. She sobbed into his shoulder, and Rowan tried not to think of her body pressed against his. Everything about her felt warm. He never wanted to let her go. A small, selfish part of him was glad that she was sad so he could comfort her. When she finally pulled away and wiped her eyes, he snatched a few tissues off her dresser and handed them to her.
She wiped at her beautiful face and gave him a small smile. “Thanks.” She sniffed and held the tissue up to her to her nose.
“Where are you going?” he asked, figuring it was now safe. She still stood in that space where most people would be uncomfortable. But he loved having her that close. If he reached out even a few inches, he’d be holding her hand.
“I don’t know. Away. I can’t talk to anyone. I told Aspen I was going to see my parents.”
&nbs
p; “Aspen? She’s sleeping.” Rowan was lost again. Something must’ve happened while he was sleeping.
Skye shook her head. “No, she’s not. She and Sid are with the council. I’m surprised they aren’t dead yet.”
Dead? Rowan frowned, the idea of his sister dead was almost laughable. She was invincible.
Skye sank down on her bed. Rowan sat as close to her as he thought safe. He wanted to keep her in arm’s reach in case she needed comforting again. For now, though, he needed to get to the bottom of what happened while he snoozed.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m afraid I did an awful thing.” She blew her nose and wiped at her eyes again. Rowan handed her more tissues. He didn’t say anything, because he wanted to hear the story. “Aspen made me take her to Sid. The council found out that he fell in love with her. That’s not allowed. I think Aspen might be queen now. Because if she were dead, I would be too. They could still die.”
Rowan was still confused, but things were becoming a little clearer. “If Aspen wants something, no one stands in her way. If you hadn’t brought her to Sid, someone else would have. Do you really think she could die?” Rowan didn’t want to think of that. He couldn’t lose Aspen. Not now when he finally felt like he could have a decent relationship with her.
Skye shook her head, and Rowan let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding in.
“If she were dead, then I would be as well. I need to go.” She stood again, and he grabbed her hand.
“No, you don’t. Aspen will be fine. I know it.”
Skye squeezed his hand, and his heart raced. “It’s not only Aspen. I have another problem as well. One I can’t talk about.” She danced on her feet and wouldn’t meet his eyes, but she didn’t let go of his hand.
“That sounds complicated.” He didn’t want her to leave without him.
Skye let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, complicated is the story of my life.”
“It doesn’t have to be.” He squeezed her hand again. He needed to reassure her that she would always have him.
Skye: The Dragon Kings Book 4 Page 1
