Forbidden Embers by Tessa Adams Read Free Book Online

human to dragon or back again, but that had never been a problem for her. From the time she had first learned to change, she had been able to do it quickly. Like, a-few-seconds quickly. Like, blink-of-an-eye quickly.
    It was not a talent she had ever bragged about—or one she’d let anyone but Gage ever see—but it was a talent she now used ruthlessly to her advantage.
    Throwing every ounce of power she had behind the change, she grew talons and a tail.
    Her skin turned purple and became thick and scaly.
    Her head grew, her nose and mouth elongating.
    Her belly turned hard as her legs and arms grew in length and width.
    Her clothes split at the seams, fell to the ground in a forgotten heap.
    The entire transformation took less than fifteen seconds, and though the pain of it lashed through her like hellfire, she ignored it. Pain was a small price to pay for the freedom to be a dragon so quickly. Conscious of the men getting closer, their murmurs louder, she launched herself straight up into the sky. It was another show of dominance and power, as most dragons, including her father’s factionnaires , required a running start to fly.
    And then she was soaring through the skies, leaving the ugly meeting and the condemnation of her father’s Conseil far behind. At least for a little while. She knew running wasn’t the answer—it couldn’t be—but right then she felt so uncivilized, so raw, that the only help for it was hanging in her dragon’s skin for a while. Somehow the beast always helped her put things in perspective. Not to mention the fact that it was about a million times braver than she was, and after spending the last few minutes going head-to-head with Julian, she could use the comfort.
    She drew from that strength now, gave her beast its turn to spin and flip and somersault through the air. She cloaked herself, making herself invisible, as all dragons could, while she zoomed above the Black Hills that had made South Dakota so famous.
    Her dragon shuddered in delight, exulting in the freedom to flex its talons and exercise its wings. Before today, it had been far too long since she’d let herself shift, far too long since she’d given herself permission to do anything else but be the sweet, dutiful, and useless princess she had been raised to be.
    It felt good to shake off that persona. Really good. And as she spiraled lower, she reveled in her ability to be—even for a little while—the woman she had always wished to be. Flying low, she sped across the pine-covered mountains, soaking in the delightful smell and feel of the place she had called home for her entire life.
    The air rushed by her face, and she sucked it inside her, tasted it—and the liberty that came with its freshness—with a joy she had no desire to deny or hide. Not here and not now.
    But even as her beast delighted in the magnificence of the ride, she knew deep inside that her headlong flight couldn’t last. She had things to do, responsibilities back at home. And while part of her longed for nothing more than to fly away from the oppressive life she’d always led, another part of her, the part that had been raised royal, understood that she would never have that option. Now that her father and brother were dead, the Wyvernmoons were her people, her responsibility. And no matter how fractious they were, she couldn’t leave them to fend for themselves, especially under Julian’s obnoxious, perilous and self-serving leadership.
    It killed her that her father had really wanted her to marry that man. Julian was dark and dangerous, and while neither of those things bothered her particularly—show her a dragon who wasn’t—he also had a mean streak a mile wide. And that she just couldn’t tolerate.
    She didn’t think her father had ever seen it, though. Julian only messed with people he considered weaker than himself. Besides, she wasn’t sure Silus would have cared even if he had been aware of Julian’s proclivities. It wasn’t