Free Where Sleeping Dragons Lie (Skeleton Key) by Cristina Rayne, Skeleton Key Page B

hand and stepped closer to the bed. “However, our Dragon
Fire is something even more magnificent.”
    This time, he held out
both hands as the blood-red fireball she had seen once before emerged from his
chest and settled onto both upturned hands. She marveled how it didn’t seem to
burn the navy blue argyle sweater he was wearing at all on its way out of his
body even though she could feel the immense heat radiating from it.
    The collective
anticipation of the guards behind them once their king’s Dragon Fire appeared
was so thick in the air that it made her skin crawl. Briana had to fist her
hands at her sides to keep from vigorously rubbing her arms. Despite that, even
she watched with baited breath as Taron placed the undulating red ball of fire
over the center of his brother’s chest and then drew his hands back. It
immediately began to sink into Dagon’s chest until its glow and heat
disappeared completely.
    For a couple of anxious seconds,
his body remained deathly still, then Dagon gasped harshly, and his chest began
to noticeably rise with breath. Briana unconsciously leaned closer in her
excitement, but the silence stretched on without so much as an eyelash
fluttering.
    “It’s done,” Taron
abruptly announced, making her jump.
    “What do you mean ‘it’s
done’?” she demanded. “He’s still unconscious!”
    He nodded. “And he’ll
continue to sleep for at least another day. Remember, he’s been in a period of
Soul Sleep for over two hundred years. It’s a bit like being in a deep coma for
many years and then slowly awakening after all the trauma finally heals. The
re-merging of the Dragon Fire with Dagon’s body is a tedious process.”
    “Makes sense. So, what
do we do now?”
    “ You are going to
sit on the edge of this bed and rest while I go talk to the captain of the
royal guard. You look a breath away from collapsing in exhaustion.” He touched
a hand to her cheek, making her wince as her abused skin still felt as
sensitive as a day-old sunburn. “I know this day has been one big jumble of
stress and confusion for you, so if you’ll just bear with me for a moment longer
while I get a better grasp of our current situation, we can then figure out how
best to move forward.”
    He tapped the pocket of
her jeans where the outline of the key was visible and then flashed her a
meaningful look. She nodded curtly. Maybe he had been paying a lot closer
attention to her earlier than she had thought.
    Even after Taron and a
guard with a sharp, almost angry expression whom Briana assumed was the aforementioned
captain began an animated discussion in the guttural language of before while
the rest of the guards resumed their guard duties with grim expressions, she
felt the occasional eyes trying to bore holes into the back of her head. She
did her best not to show just how much it bothered her by relaxing her
shoulders and not turning to look at them at all while concentrating her gaze
solely on Dagon’s peacefully sleeping face.
    She was more relieved
than she cared to admit to herself that Taron showed no desire to abandon her
at all now that she had fulfilled her role. She wondered what the other
dragon-shifters thought of her, especially when they could probably smell her Ansi heritage. Would that make them suspicious of her intentions? Her loyalties?
    Her eyes slanted briefly
over to the door that was now closed. She wondered if Cabak realized that Taron
had made it back home. What was the huge bastard doing now? More importantly, who
was the witch that had sent the stone dragon to her world, and was that witch
also hiding within Briana’s world, waiting for Cabak to succeed in capturing
Taron or building a portal back to this world even as she sat watching the
dragon king?
    Briana felt an invisible
hand squeeze her heart painfully when she thought about Carol. Her friend must
be frantic with worry. She had likely called the police. If only she would’ve
had the chance to let the older