Dragon's Isolation - Miranda Martin Page 0,42

I thought he was getting something to help with the Invaders.”

“He was,” Rosalind says. “A bomb.”

“There’s a bomb here, in the middle of the empty desert?”

“Possibly,” Rosalind says. “Apparently there used to be a military installation there. Ladon hoped to find a functional missile that we could fire at the Invaders’ ship that is orbiting the planet.”

“Uh, wow,” I say, shaking my head.

That’s more than I knew about it, and I’m a bit shocked. We can barely keep water running in the City, but they had a bright idea to fire a missile? I’m not sure how they thought that would ever work.

“Keep that a secret,” Rosalind says. “It was a long shot, and I don’t need more rumors burning the ears of the citizens.”

“Yeah, I get it,” I say. “What protective gear do we have?”

“Nothing,” Rosalind says. “Maybe a mask or two, but I don’t think anything we have is going to be effective. You’ll be in a hotspot. You’ll have to find where Ladon was trying to breach into the facility and collect samples of the sand, the air, and anything else that you find lying around.”

“Done,” I say.

“And Amara,” she says.

“Yeah?”

“Be careful,” she says, taking her hand off the map and letting it roll up.

She picks up the roll and holds it out to me. I take it, and our fingers touch. We stare at each other until she gives me a nod, and on instinct I come to attention and salute. She returns the salute. She is the Lady General, and part of me will always be a fighter pilot under her command.

11

SHIDAN

The fog is thick in my head. Thought isn’t easy, so I’m focusing on one thing at a time. Amara. Malcolm. Family. They are my mantra. I say her name and picture her. I say my son’s name and picture him. Mentally, I’m clinging to those pictures.

The bijass is laying claim to the past. Urges hit me out of nowhere, and it’s all I can do not to act on them. I stopped myself from grabbing her and running away many times already, stopping when I regain control. Amara tightens her grip on my hand. Focusing on her helps.

The dragon shifts, swirling in my core, rumbling with pleasure. She is my treasure. The one to be protected, valued, cared for—she is mine. It pleases my dragon to have such a strong and powerful mate. She is everything I would ever have dared to dream.

Amara stares at the paper in her hand, looks across the blowing sands then back to it. Her brow furrows, creasing the gap between her eyebrows. She shakes her head then rolls the paper up and slides it into the pack on her back.

“We should be close,” she says.

I step towards her, reaching for her, then stop myself. No. I cannot steal her away. We are doing something… important.

“Close?” I ask.

Focus. Here. Be with her. She smiles. It’s dazzling. Brighter than the suns. She is mine. Must protect her.

“Yes,” she says, touching my cheek. Her fingers are soft. So soft, delicate, a light touch. A female’s touch. “Are you okay?”

Her voice is a whisper. Her eyes search mine, and I push back against the fog, grabbing onto what is me.

“Yes,” I nod. “Amara, I love you.”

Tears well in her eyes, and she wipes them away quickly, then nods.

“I love you,” she says. “So damn much.”

A thought comes. It’s too big. It’s a concept, a feeling, emotions, more. It won’t fit into words, and I don’t know how to tell her. It makes my tongue feel thick. The fog of the bijass surges, trying to steal it but the idea is too big to be lost.

“I…” How do I say this? What words will make her understand? “I’m sorry.”

She stops, standing so still it’s frightening. Her lip trembles, and more tears form in the corner of her eyes.

“Sorry?” she whispers.

I put my hands on her waist and stare into her beautiful, glistening eyes. I study every line of her face. Every line telling a story, ones we’ve shared, and now I’m doing this to her. It’s unreal, unacceptable, and for the first time in my life, I’m lost. I can’t fight what I can’t see. I’m fighting for control of my own mind, my thoughts, and I’m losing.

It’s better out there. Away from other males. When I saw Melchior, the fog took over. I reacted, and while I was near him I could barely control it. The instinct to fight him, prove