Tropical Dragons Series Box Set - Naomi Lucas Page 0,49

into my excitement. She walks up behind me, her hand taking mine from behind and squeezing it. “I know you’re preparing to go out and find one for yourself. Face me, daughter,” she urges.

Turning back around slowly, I do as she says, all while knowing what is about to come.

She lets go of my hand and cups my cheeks. Her voice lowers. My heart cracks. “I know we have hurt you, have dishonored you. I know having Leith taken away to be given to your sister is not an easy thing to accept, not when you’ve been told your whole life that he and you were destined.”

Unable to look away, I drop my eyes.

“I wish the elders could have spared you. I wish Delina had an ounce of empathy to show you, but don’t you see? Can’t you see why we decided to make Delina Leith’s mate instead of you?”

“You think she’s more fertile,” I whisper harshly, feeling a little jolt of anger rise within me.

“No, Aida,” my mother says, leaning in close to whisper in my ear. “You’re worth more to the tribe with all your strength, with your courage and tenacity. Delina… well, Delina can barely lift a spear or create an ointment for pain.” She lets out a little laugh. “Let her be weighed down in pregnancy for all the years to come, not you, my dear daughter. As I, your cousins, and the other dying families grow older, we will need your strength to survive. We will need you as you are.”

She’s trying to make me feel better, but instead, her words only make things worse. Mother was a great huntress and guardian, even while she was pregnant with me and my sister, and Delina is more capable then she’s saying.

I know Delina’s worth. As my sister, she is worth my life.

Yes, Delina lacks empathy, but she’s strong-willed, and an incredible cook. Her fingers are dexterous and she stitches the most beautiful shell jewelry and hide coverings. I love my sister and mother—even when she tries to cow me—as I love the tribe.

But this… I don’t need this, whatever this is.

Mother is focused on the tribe as a whole, and not the whims and wants of a single member, not even if that member is her own daughter. I can’t blame her.

It’s people like her that keep us alive.

“Yes, Mother,” I say, all I can say.

She smiles. “Good. Now, stop this nonsense and be the Aida I raised. The Aida your sister and Leith need, the tribe needs.” She lets go of my cheeks. “I’ll send Milaye to guard your sister and Leith while they bathe, but next time, I’m sure you will make the right choice.”

I watch Mother walk away, back toward the central bonfire where some of the other older women sit around cooking.

The clouds shift overhead, streaming red down upon the village in waves, shadowing sections in red and brightening the rest with sunlight as they move over the comet and sun above at different times. I catch the gazes of some of the tribeswomen, and they glance away at once. But I don’t feel shame knowing they heard everything my mother said.

No, there is only numbness in me right now. Numbness that allows me to think.

Instead, I look back up at the sky, out towards the ocean to my right and over the cliffs of my home. I notice darkness begins taking over the sky.

The clouds are not friendly puffs but one long miasma that shadows the usually twinkling blue ocean into a somber grey. It’s hazy in the distance, making the sky and ocean become one. It’s rain, lots and lots of rain.

I frown.

I hope Issa made it home to Shell Rock. I think of my friend who promptly left after delivering her brother here to return home. Thunder hits my ears.

And with it, an ear-splitting roar.

My muscles tense, and my palms slicken with sweat as a shiver streaks through me. Birds ascend into the sky, fleeing. Another scream assaults the air, one after another.

They’re closer.

So close, the screams vibrate my bones, my soul.

Glancing at my mother, she’s looking straight at me, her expression worried.

“Storm!” someone yells. The rest of the women get to their feet in a flash.

A drop of rain hits my cheek. Without another thought, I rush after Delina and Leith.

2

The Downpour and the Dragon

Drenched in rain, I race over the rickety wooden bridge that connects the cliff of Sand’s Hunters home to the jungle. From there, I