Frostbite (The Dragonian, #3) - Adrienne Woods Page 0,5

felt as if the change had made me stronger and my endurance for pain had grown larger. Still, the fear of what they could do to me was overpowering my being.

I didn’t know that fire, I didn’t trust it and Momma always told me not to trust the things you didn’t know.

Momma? What had happened to her? Where is she in all of this? Why have I been asleep for so long?

The wind beneath my wings was unstable. I felt woozy as if I’d forgotten how to fly. Everything tumbled down and I couldn’t remember anything she’d taught me. Not that any of it mattered.

I heard a shrill screeching sound behind me and I turned my gaze to see who dared to follow me.

It was another dragon, brass in color, and it flew fast in my direction. It let out another shrill scream, and anger heated up the new flame that was burning my throat. I opened my mouth and breathed the pink fire again. The dragon missed it by an inch and froze in mid-air.

Keep your distance was the thought that went through my mind. I didn’t want to hurt whoever that was but I was behind enemy lines and none of this looked familiar. I was far from home.

I tried to remember what Momma told me about flying and dove forward, but I ended up in a tumble and couldn’t regain my balance.

These weren’t my wings, this wasn’t my body, this was nothing like me.

A deep sadness at the reality of not being able to remember anything crept into the core of my heart and I didn’t see the treetops. One hit me straight in the face and another connected with my entire body. I came crashing down as more trees fell, and roots and vines tangled in my talons and around my body. When I came to a stop I tried to move, but it was no use. I wanted to breathe fire again but I stopped as my instinct told me that I would burn this entire forest down with me trapped inside. I inhaled deeply and tried hard to control myself. With every breath I felt as though I could think more clearly. My heart rate decreased and the burning sensation that had coiled inside my body began to cool. An ache for someone was the only emotion that stayed with me, and then everything started to fade

.

Y EYES WERE closed and I could hear a deep, raspy breathing filling the silence around me.

My body ached and the intensity of the sounds assaulting my sensitive ears told me that I was still in my dragon form.

What the hell had happened and where I was, I didn’t know.

My memory was all a blur after Amy pushed me against the wall and I began speaking to her in that horrible voice, releasing that first bolt of purple lightning. I tried to recollect my thoughts and it slowly came back to me in flashes: I’d changed.

The picture that formed inside my mind wasn’t the Thunderlight that had been reflected back to me from the glass that lay on the floor; it was the face of another dragon, dark and dangerous.

I turned to see the colored scales on my paw and found a deep purple-red reflecting back. The Rubicon.

No, this can’t be. I tried to move but was trapped. I couldn’t turn or break free from whatever held me to the ground and that stirred more panic within me.

I froze as I heard a voice. The beast inside of me wanted to take over again, and whatever it wanted to do, it wasn’t good. I’d known that from the beginning and nobody had wanted to believe me.

I could hear three hearts beating, and even more voices spoke softly to one another.

“What the fuck?”

“Watch your language, Blake,” a man said sternly.

“Just be careful. Sir Edward says that she is a Rubicon,” a woman said, frantically.

“Oh, come on. Only one Rubicon can live at a time, Constance.”

“I’m just repeating what Sir Edward said.”

I growled as they came nearer.

“She’s here,” the one who’d sworn yelled close to my side and I growled all the more.

“Is she okay?” the woman asked. I knew I shouldn’t be afraid of them, but I was. It was such a strange feeling. This happened every time I became her. I wouldn’t remember anything and I didn’t know if they were friends or enemies. I knew that in another five minutes, give or take, everything would come back.