Once in a Dragon Moon - Ophelia Bell Page 0,50

not the rough parts. They love telling the story of how they both accidentally marked Pomona and didn’t realize it. It just goes to show how out of touch with their dragons they were, thanks to the setback. She evidently brought them back to life in a big way.”

Ksenia chuckled softly, glancing at the door. “I’d say I know what they mean if I weren’t so damn pissed at those guys right now.”

Astra snorted. “You and me both, sister.” She dropped her gaze to her thigh, running a thumb over the four puckered scars that graced her fair skin like a constellation graces the midnight sky. A small smile tugged at her lips as if some pleasant memory had crossed her mind, but it soured and she huffed again. “That fucker Simon is going to owe me big after this.”

Her gaze shifted back to Ksenia and she regarded her thoughtfully, her eyes tracking over her exposed skin. “You have me beat for scars, though. You weren’t kidding when you said you’d been fighting longer, were you? Where did you learn to fight, anyway?”

Ksenia’s stomach turned a somersault and she swallowed hard. “You might not believe me if I tell you.”

Astra’s eyebrows shot up and she leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “Oh, now you have to tell me. I’ve seen some crazy shit, so try me.”

Ksenia cleared her throat. “There are vast caverns under the Sandrekar desert—a whole network of them. Some are normal caves, others monolithic geodes that have been there since the dawn of time. And there are hundreds of thousands of creatures that live within those caverns. Rock-eaters and silt vipers are the most dangerous, but there are also the giant molebeasts that have claws like a bear’s, and sand sloths, as well as other, smaller things that aren’t as dangerous but just as big a pain in the ass to deal with.”

Astra’s eyes widened. “No shit? You went down there to learn to fight?”

Ksenia took a deep breath, shaking her head. “No. I grew up down there. I trained to fight those creatures because I had to, to defend my clan. Astra, I’m Sandrekar. My clan isn’t extinct. We’ve just been hiding.”

Astra just blinked at her, her mouth hanging open. After a couple seconds, she made an “O” with her lips and sat up straighter.

“The cloaking! No fucking way! Simina totally doctored your test results, didn’t she? You’re not just carrying traces of Sandrekar blood—you’re a pure-blood. Oh. My. Gods. Your scars are all legit battle scars, aren’t they?”

“Mostly, yes. But I need to be clear . . . you cannot share this information. I’m trusting you with it because we need to find a way to truly bond, and I think having secrets might be something hindering us. So I guess what I’m saying now is that it’s your turn.”

“You have my word. I’ll take it to my grave, if I need to. But I honestly don’t have any real deep, dark secrets. I’m kind of an open book. You know my brother was the solo champion before me, but he died when someone poisoned him with that godsforsaken toxin a few years ago. The biggest reason I agreed to team up with you is because Talon and I always planned to be a duo once I got a few solo tourneys under my belt. That fucking poison took that away from me.”

Ksenia winced. “I’m so sorry you lost him. I wish I could say I understood, but I don’t really have a family. My cousin Leo is sort of like a brother . . . more of an arrogant, annoying pest most times. But I love him.” She also hoped like hell he’d found whatever he was looking for after that sandstorm separated her from the others. He and his two cohorts deserved happiness. She was so close to finding her dream, she could taste it.

Hopefully this soul-baring exercise the guys had forced them into would help, but this particular confession of Astra’s worried her.

“I hope you aren’t expecting me to measure up to Talon. I’ll never be able to replace him.”

“I know, and I’m not expecting you to. Maybe that was part of my issue, though . . . Maybe I’m still angry that he’s gone and it isn’t him at my side in the arena. Trust me, it isn’t a reflection on you as a fighter. You seriously rock, you know.”

“I know,” she said with a smirk. “So do you.”

Astra