Free Dragon Fire (Dragons of Perralt Book 1) by Sher Dillard Page A

The burning passion in his eyes had matched her own.
    She had felt herself grow ready as she licked her lips in anticipation.
    But then, he halted. A new fear had entered his eyes. The sight sent a cold chill down her spine. He looked at her with regret, as if afraid of what she would do.
    Her mind whirled with confusion. What was going on? He stopped looking at her. Instead, he searched the sky, then focused on some distant point.
    “Drake?” she said as she reached up to touch his shoulder.
    He didn’t react. He was gone. Off searching, preparing himself.
    “Drake? What is it?” she asked. Her voice hitching with concern. Her own fears were rapidly growing.
    He turned to her. His eyes flaming with something new. Something unspeakable. He was a different man.
    “Stay here, Elsbeth. Please.”
    She swallowed hard. What was it? A bear? Wolves? Had the King’s Guard found them? Suddenly, the thought of the shadow from two nights prior flashed into her mind.
    A bolt of terror traveled through her.
    He looked down at her. The fear in his eyes scared her to her very soul. He wasn’t afraid for himself, she realized. But, afraid of what she would think.
    Stepping away from her, he moved to the center of the clearing.
    She watched him as he searched the sky. He looked so strong, so big. What could frighten this man?
    Something registered within him as he stiffened. He turned back to her, his eyes begging her for forgiveness.
    “I’m sorry, Elsbeth,” he said.
    She fought to understand. Studying him, when suddenly he burst into green flames.
    Elsbeth screamed.
    Drake had disappeared into a pillar of fire. It burnt like a thousand suns. She instinctively stepped back, throwing a hand up to block the heat.
    The fire morphed and twirled. A great column of green smoke rose into the air. She fought to understand. Drake was gone. Her Drake. The man she was coming to love.
    “No,” she screamed again as she began to rush towards him.
    Before she had taken two steps though, the fire changed. Dying away to reveal a monster.
    She gasped, no, it wasn’t possible.
    Where Drake had stood, now a great green dragon came into form. Its leathery wings unfolding. The twin row of sharp spikes down his back rising to point into the air.
    The dragon shifted, its tail sweeping through the grass. It’s great horned head turning to focus on her.
    She felt her stomach roll over in fear. The monster was huge, towering over her. Its massive head twisting. Faint puffs of smoke rising from his nostrils.
    It could devour her in an instant. There was nothing stopping him. He would reach her long before she made the relative safety of the tree line.
    Was this how she was to die? Alone? consumed by a dragon? No one would ever know her fate. The sadness of the thought seeped through her.
    No child would ever call her mother. No babe would ever nuzzle at her breasts.
    The dragon turned to stare up into the sky, then back at her once more. Their eyes met. He has Drake’s eyes. She would know those eyes anywhere, they made her knees weak and her heart pound. Those were Drake’s eyes.
    She moaned in disappointment. No, it wasn’t possible. She no longer feared death. Now, she feared her broken heart.
    A sense of betrayal passed through her. How could he? Why hadn’t he told her? He couldn’t be what she thought.
    But, he was. There was no denying it. Her soul knew. Every part of her knew. Drake was a dragon.
    The anger that flashed into her at his betrayal fueled her. Kept her from running.
    He saw the anger in her eyes and she thought she might have seen a sorrow cross into those giant orbs of his.
    But how could she know? Everything about this man was a lie. It made sense now. The warmth in his chest, the way he couldn’t be hurt by fire. The speed and strength that had demolished five King’s Guardsmen, as if they were a band of shepherds.
    She should have known. Chastising herself at her innocent ignorance, she swore at herself. How could she