The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,12

this bed and make some important life decisions. Come on, Shira. Get it together.

The dagger.

I had to get rid of the dagger. That was something productive I could do.

I pulled a pair of beige linen trousers from the drawer to wear under the enormous shirt I’d been sleeping in and said a silent thank you and apology to whichever one of Fi’s dead fathers whose wardrobe I was raiding.

My broken satchel was sitting untouched on the dresser where it had been for the past two days, the belt with the sheath for the dagger on top of it. I looped it around my waist and secured it, which helped keep the pants up. The weight of it was comforting. I’d be sad to let it go.

Xander was snoring lightly from the other room, probably bored with my terrible company, and I left him to it as I sheathed the dagger and let myself quietly out the front door. I paused for a moment, closing my eyes and letting the sun soak into my skin.

There was a river that ran along the back of the property, which seemed as good a place as any to ditch the blade. My skin prickled and tightened uncomfortably at the thought, pain rippling through my muscles. I rolled my shoulders back to ease the discomfort, interlinking my fingers and stretching my arms out in front of me.

Surely, this wasn't my dragon's second attempt at emerging? I figured she was thoroughly buried since she hadn't tried to emerge since that first time in Glendower's cave, and I'd been in some pretty precarious situations where the ability to shift would have come in handy as a backup option since then.

Then again, I hadn't wanted her to emerge either. I could admit to myself that I was a little afraid of my dragon.

The wave of pain subsided, and I set off for the back of the property, hoping for the best — it wasn't like it was the first time I'd had those prickling pains. Nothing had come of it before. I walked around the side of the house and through an overgrown garden, following the rushing noise of the nearby river. There was a fascinating array of plant life here — it was more humid than the other limited areas of Avalon I'd seen — but I forced myself to pay attention to my wider surroundings for once. I was a proper criminal now; I needed to be more careful.

The tightening feeling in my skin got worse as I approached the river. I thought my skin had felt tougher after my failed emergence, but the tauter it pulled, the thicker and stronger it felt. I rolled up the sleeves on the thin linen shirt, the subtle ripples on my forearms catching my eye.

Had that happened last time? At my failed emergence?

Unease slithered down my spine, this couldn’t happen now. Where was Xander? I doubted my mates would feel called to me again. The draw to each other had disappeared once we’d touched each other for the first time.

Was I going to explode into a giant golden dragon, right here on the side of the river by myself, in the heart of fae territory? Gods, don’t do this to me now.

The dagger. Get rid of the dagger.

I stumbled to the river’s edge, falling to my knees on the bank. The ground was dry and hard from lack of rain, and the river a little lower than I would have liked, but deep and fast enough to ditch a bloody dagger. I shuffled right up to the edge on my knees, close enough to run my fingers through the refreshingly cool water. Was the water cold, or was I hot? Now that I focused on it, I realized that my cheeks were flaming and sweat beaded on my forehead.

Confident I was alone since I couldn’t hear Xander, I undid my belt and borrowed trousers, pulling them off, so I wore the oversized shirt as a short dress. The breeze felt glorious on my bare legs. Maybe I should take all of my clothes off.

Maybe I should get into the river.

Focus, Shira. Get rid of the dagger.

My fingers worked clumsily to uncover the sheath and pull the dagger free. I was clutching the handle so tightly that my knuckles turned white. I really didn't want to let this knife go.

I’d never really had anything of my own, so my hoarding instincts hadn’t bothered me before. The closest I’d been to