Blood of Dragons

by Olivia Ash

  With teeth.

  And wings.

  Seconds later, Drew bursts through the flame, propelled by his incredible speed and strength. He lowers his claws, talons stretched, and snatches us as the flames quickly overtake us. His hot scales sizzle against my skin, burning slightly, but it’s a hell of a lot better than facing the inferno.

  I want to thank him, to kiss him on his great big scaly face, but we’re not out of this yet.

  The fire dragon blasts through the tunnel ahead of the inferno, soaring through the air as he carries us through the crumbling remains of the main hall. The fortress shakes around us, and he dodges the rocks falling from the ceiling before diving into the next tunnel to take us out.

  I set my hand against his leg to thank him, to ask him where the others are, to get any information at all, but he doesn’t answer. He’s entirely focused on his maneuvering.

  Yet again, I have to trust.

  I have to wait.

  In just a few minutes of nail-biting maneuvers, he soars into the daylight. A plume of pitch-black smoke erupts after us, trailing off into the blue sky as the fortress implodes.

  I expect Drew to slow and land, but he only flies faster through the air. He keeps low and bolts toward the forest.

  Toward the sound of gunfire.

  The distant crackle of Jace’s magic tears through the forest, splintering wood and setting off a series of explosions. A spiral of dark smoke rises into the sky, and I realize the fight isn’t over.

  It just relocated.

  Out here, the battle rages on. But after Zurie’s escape, I’m not in the mood to indulge any of this.

  It ends.

  Now.

  As Drew breaks through the canopy and finally lands, the pops of gunfire grow louder. Through a break in the trees, I see Levi and Tucker hunkered down beside a blown-out Humvee. A bolt of brilliant blue light obliterates a patch of trees nearby, and several men scream as Jace takes out one of the units firing on them. I’m glad the three of them are okay, and for now, that’s everything I need to know.

  I don’t waste a moment.

  The second Drew’s claws release me, I bolt into the forest. White light erupts over my skin, eager to burn off the energy I have so badly wanted to use against Zurie.

  In my fury and rage, I spare no one.

  Such is the fate of the fools who threaten the people I love.

  Irena takes cover with Tucker and Levi, while Drew flies overhead. He unleashes a bolt of fire on the unsuspecting forest below.

  As I step into the small clearing by Levi and Tucker’s hideout, they both sit a bit taller with surprise. Their eyes widen, mouths opening to speak, but I don’t pause.

  I release the greatest blast I can manage, the beam casting a blinding white glow on the forest. It obliterates the woods before me—the trees, the canopy, the underbrush.

  Everything.

  And I don’t stop.

  I release blast after blast, letting my fury take over, giving into the rage that Zurie stirs within me.

  Time blurs by, and I lose track of how long I destroy the world before me. I lose track of the number of white beams that burn the earth at my feet. I simply let loose, allowing my fury to take over for a time.

  It feels great.

  As the blinding white glow of my magic begins to fade, I stand in the middle of a charred scar in the woods. The blackened earth surrounds me for a half-mile in every direction, and only the Humvee protecting my team remains safe from my rage.

  There’s nothing else left.

  A tire rolls by, still smoking, and lands on its side at my feet. For good measure, and mostly just because I’m still mad, I blow it to ash as well.

  Behind me, Levi, Tucker, and Irena slowly stand, guns raised as they scope the obliterated landscape.

  “Wow, babe,” Tucker says with a slight chuckle. “I guess that’ll work.”

  A ripple of white light races up my arm, and I squeeze my eyes shut to hold my power at bay. In the fury of nearly losing my dragon, it was so easy to give in to the thirst for vengeance.

  I thought burning off the anger would make me feel better. Now that there’s nothing left to destroy, however, I still feel a bit empty.

  “Yeah,” I respond. “It’ll do for now.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “Dragon blood.” Irena says flatly, her tone thick with disbelief. “The bio-weapon is made of… dragon blood.”

  “Yes,” Jace says simply.

  We sit in his private war room with Tucker, Levi, and Drew. To my surprise, Jace actually invited them.

  He insists it’s just because he knew they would barge in mid-meeting, like they always do, but still. It’s progress.

  After the onslaught on the Knights fortress, we’re exhausted. Wrapped in gauze nearly from head to toe, I have to confess we all look like burn ward patients who escaped their beds.

  The full moon beams through the window behind Jace, and I know we should probably all be asleep, recovering.

  But we’re too damn stubborn.

  On average, each of us has three bullet holes in us after our ordeal, but the dragons and I are all healing remarkably well. Tucker looks a little worse for wear, but he flashes me a flirty grin as I tilt my head to check on him.

  In the silence that follows Jace’s comment about the bio-weapon, Irena and I stare at him blankly. We wait for more detail, and he apparently takes the hint.

  With a small shrug, he gestures toward the papers he laid before us a few moments ago. “I’m just telling you what’s on the doctor’s report,” the dojo master says matter-of-factly. “It’s marked as urgent, or we wouldn’t be in this room talking about it right now.”

  “It’s urgent because it’s unprecedented,” Drew adds. “No one believed this was even possible.”

  I lift the papers, scanning the obscure medical terms that barely look like real words. “Kinsley created a bio-toxin out of her own blood?”

  “That’s the best guess.” Jace nods and gestures toward Irena. “Thus, the eyes. I don’t know anyone else with her eyes.”

  “Especially ice dragons,” Levi adds.

  I pause and study him for a moment, appreciating that he’s here with us. Inside. In the war room, finally able to join us at our meetings. I smile warmly, and he grins back.

  It would seem he’s glad to be here, too.

  Jace abruptly clears his throat, dragging me—quite purposefully, I imagine—back to the conversation at hand. “It would seem, as a result, that the antidote possessed an odd blend of concentrated formulas that left Irena with, well—how did you put it, Rory?”

  “Side effects,” Irena answers for me, rolling her eyes.

  I laugh. “Are you seriously not loving your super strength?”

  “I just want to understand it,” she says with a shrug. “And these,” she adds, pointing to her nearly glowing eyes.

  “The doctor had to get… creative,” Jace says. “You were on death’s door, and he didn’t understand the antidote well enough at first. In his initial analysis, he made a few assumptions for the sake of time—especially when he discovered it would kill any human who came into contact with it. He had to make do.”

  “What does that mean?” I prod.

  Jace sighs. “It’s complicated. The initial antidote was rushed and imperfect. He isn’t even sure how to duplicate that, to be honest. What you received, Irena, no one else can ever get.”

  I frown in confusion. “What version of the antidote is Harper giving out, then?”

  “A refined version.” Jace leans against the wall. “One that’s been carefully tested, reviewed, and studied. One that will allow anyone who takes it to return to normal.”

  Irena massages her forehead in confusion. “And I, what? Got a botched version?”

  “Kind of,” Jace admits haltingly. “The Vaer had been running tests on you, Irena, and it seemed as though they might have been experimenting with other bio-toxins while you were unconscious.”
His brows knit together in anger. “Your blood is a very unique cocktail that I don’t think can ever be replicated.”

  My grip tightens on the edge of the table, and the wood shifts slightly beneath my enhanced strength. I reluctantly let go of it, furious, not entirely sure how to channel the blossoming rage within me.

  “Those bastards,” Irena says softly. Her eyes squeeze shut, and her smooth face is perfectly stoic. Surprisingly calm. The only indication that she’s upset is the slight curve in her eyebrow. As she leans back in her seat, she takes a shaky breath to steady herself.

  I set a hand on her back, and she smiles weakly at me in gratitude.

  “However, there is good news,” Jace adds, though he casts a wary glance at Irena. “Well, I think it’s good, anyway.”

  I cock my head to the side, suddenly suspicious of the way he’s beating around the bush with this. “And that is?”

  He hesitates, his gaze shifting between me and my sister, before pointing at her. “Irena is the second human-dragon hybrid to ever exist. Next to you, of course, Rory,” he adds with a nod toward me.

  My mouth drops open as I gape at the dojo master, because surely I misheard him.

  Irena, to her credit, merely stares at him like he’s grown three heads. “I’m a hybrid?” she asks in quiet disbelief.

  “Yes.” Jace hesitates, thinking over his answer, and shakes his hand back and forth. “Ish.”

  “Ish,” she echoes skeptically, one eyebrow raised.

  “It means you have enhanced strength of a dragon,” Drew answers. “And possibly other traits, but no dragon within you.” He hesitates. “Probably.”

  I rub my eyes in frustration. “You’ve got a lot of maybes in that sentence.”

  “It’s all we know,” Drew admits.

  “So, what?” Irena asks with a bemused laugh. “I’m a knockoff dragon vessel?”

  In unison, Tucker and I burst out laughing.

  For a moment, no one else even moves. I snort at the very concept, lost in my laughter. Moments later, Irena shakes her head, unable to hide her smile anymore, and the laughter slowly bubbles through the rest of the room.

  “Oh gods,” I say, rubbing my face. “After what we just went through, I really needed a laugh like that.”

  With a big grin on her face, Irena shakes her head at me. “You’re welcome, I guess.”

  As Jace launches into more notes on the bio-toxin, I lean back in my chair and survey the room. Drew catches my eye and smirks, that devilish smile igniting a burning desire for him that stirs deep in my core. Levi and Tucker are completely focused on Jace’s words, their intense expressions endearing as they prepare for the next wave of the war with Zurie.

  The final wave.

  And Irena…

  My sister briefly glances toward me and, despite the news of her newfound dragonish blood, smiles warmly. She’s part dragon, now, same as me. A knockoff, as she described it, but part dragon all the same. It’ll take time for her to really own that, but at least we can face it together.

  As a team.

  I close my eyes and sink into the blissful sensation of being home. Of being safe. Of being with the people I love.

  My family.

  Deep within me, a powerful surge of magic and life burns brighter than ever. My dragon is so close to the surface, already chomping at the bit and ready for her first fight. She’s a warrior, same as me, and I love her fire. Our ordeal ignited the thirst within her, too. She’s nearly ready, and when she breaks free, there will be no stopping us.

  In my heart, I know I’ll shift—and I know it’ll be someday soon. When I do, my dragon will be absolutely breathtaking to behold.

  The next time Zurie and I meet will be the last—because my dragon and I will kill her, once and for all.

  Together.

  Rory, Levi, Tucker, Drew, and Jace will return in Age of Dragons, coming June 2019.

  Join the exclusive, fans-only Facebook group to get release news & updates.

  Read on for a special note from the author.

  Author Note

  Hey, babe!

  Man oh freaking man was this book was a ton of fun to write. I truly hope you enjoyed it.

  I’ve loved watching Rory grow. She started out as a badass assassin hungering for freedom and autonomy—and what she found instead was confidence in herself.

  In Reign of Dragons, for the first time in her life, she defied her master.

  In Fate of Dragons, she learned how to give up a bit of control. How to compromise.

  And in Blood of Dragons, fittingly for the title, she’s learning what it means to have family. To trust, to let down her guard to her inner circle, and grow as a person.

  All while remaining her beautiful badass self, of course.

  Tucker continues to make me laugh nonstop—he’s equal parts hilarious and dangerous. No one knows their way around a gun like Tucker.

  Drew is every bit the prince he doesn’t want to be. He’s imposing, commanding, clever, and has a knack for learning things he shouldn’t know, as well as being places he shouldn’t be. As strong as he is, he really can get away with almost anything—except with Rory. And let’s be honest, here. He loves that she can keep him in line.

  Levi—oh, be still my heart. Raw, honest, and deeply in tune with the world around him, Levi is Rory’s brutally efficient protector. Who doesn’t want a Levi in their life? Good gracious. (Fans self)

  And Jace—he’ll come around. It’s fun to watch him slowly soften his bad boy exterior, if only toward Rory. He never thought he would find love, never really cared for it until he saw her, and he’s learning how to be the man she deserves. He’s just… slow about it, I guess. And he has such an all-or-nothing personality, it’s going to be interesting to see how he reacts once he and Rory finalize the mate-bond—if he can get his head out of his ass long enough to do it!

  As for the universe of the Dragon Dojo Brotherhood? Rory’s world lights me on fire.

  Pun totally intended. (Sorry, I like terrible puns.)

  This place is a dream for me. An absolute delight. I’ve loved to delve into the realm of dragons, to play in a world where there aren’t dragon kingdoms, but basically dragon mobs. I mean, how fun is that?!

  Of course, I couldn’t play in this world so much if you didn’t love reading it. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you a million times over. If I ever get to meet you in person, I’m going to give you such a big hug.

  You truly are such a gift to me!

  Okay, mushy time’s over. I just had to get that out.

  I know you’re probably chomping at the bit to learn what happens next. To figure out what those conniving Bosses have planned for our leading lady—and just how badly she intends to whoop them when they try.

  Zurie is still after Rory and Irena, as is Diesel—and we know Diesel has ulterior motives. After all, he’s not really the obedient little pet everyone thinks he is, is he?

  Let’s not forget General William Chase, leader of the Knights, has a vendetta against Rory for taking his son from him. And, you know, for being a dragon. Kinda. Close enough, for him. Did he die in the fortress implosion? Or is he still at large?

  Rory killed Ian Rixer, a wealthy dragon lord with connections. Don’t you think someone might come for a spot of revenge?

  And Kinsley Vaer—the Boss of the Vaer family—is still out there, after all. That woman doesn’t like to get her hands dirty, but when her minions continue to fail, she eventually bites the bullet. I have to tell you, it’s not a pretty sight when she gets personally involved. But, for now, she has one more trick up her sleeve—you guessed it. Guy Durand. And if he fails… well, she intends to let all hell break loose.

  My goodness, Rory has a ton of enemies.

  Lucky she and her men are such brilliant fighters. They won’t let anything come between them. Whatever lies ahead, they’re ready.

  Are you?

  The next book will be available in six short weeks. Make
sure you join the exclusive, fans-only Facebook group to get the latest release news & updates.

  Until next time, babe!

  Keep on being your beautiful, badass self.

  -Olivia

  PS. Amazon won’t tell you when the next Dragon Dojo Brotherhood book will come out, but there are several ways you can stay informed.

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