Page 89 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

Umara gained on Praskovya as she zipped through the smoky clouds.

The woman kept glancing back at me, her expression pinched.

I didn’t allow my fears to cloud my judgment.

This ended here and now. I took a deep breath and focused on that sliver of power that rested in my stomach. Fire crackled underneath my skin.

I opened my mouth. “Sto—”

But I was a fool. Asterius had noticed me taking off after Praskovya and appeared out of the smoke. Its green eyes glared at me. It opened its mouth, fire kindling in the base of its throat—

Umara banked left. The flames kissed the air inches from my arm. My lungs constricted. Fuck. She dodged another ball of flames. I needed to do something to end this. There had to be some sort of weakness I could exploit. My power thrummed underneath my skin, begging for me to use it.

All I needed was to get close to her to use it. I expelled a breath. I had an idea. A crazy one, but one that I was pretty sure would work. ‘Kieran, can you catch me one last time?’ I asked.

‘Don’t.’ His concern cut through my heart like a knife.

‘I can get the eggs. I know I can. But I’m not sure about the landing. Unless you can use your powers to get them than I have to do this.’

‘Fuck. Selena, I don’t have enough energy to do that. Let alone catch you.’

‘Tell me you can do it.’

‘Selena—’

‘Come on. We need you. I need you.’

‘I can slow down your fall at most.’

‘Good enough for me.’ That was all Umara needed to pull the same move Ben had done. I had plenty of practice falling, so when I unlatched myself from Umara, maybe it was crazy, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I threw my arms around the woman.

But I didn’t try to get the satchel. No, I’d seen how that had played out.

Instead, I grabbed the long cord connecting the woman to her seat and wrapped it around her throat.

The woman let out a horrible retching noise as she struggled for breath.

Her hands flew wildly, scratching at my face, but I had her.

“Stop fighting and hand me the satchel,” I ordered.

The woman choked and yanked at the rope, but I wasn’t letting go.

Not until my power took ahold of her. I could feel the moment it did.

It was like a tether had ignited between the two of us.

The woman relaxed her grip, and so did I.

I released the rope but wrapped an arm around her waist because Praskovya was still doing her best to buck me off.

The moment I had the satchel in my arms, I jumped.

It was just in time, because so did my control over the woman.

I tumbled through the air. The world spun, but I didn’t panic.

I wouldn’t die today. Kieran would save me.

He said it himself. In the field, regardless of the shit going on, we could trust each other with our lives.

Cool shadows enveloped me, stopping my crazed tumble. But the moment I breathed a sigh of relief, the shadows slipped away. That was when I screamed. Fuck. Did I make a mistake? ‘KIERAN!’ Umara wouldn’t make it to me in time. Not when Praskovya was fighting her with everything she had.

‘I got you.’

The shadows flickered around me once more.

My fall slowed. But again, the moment they arrived, they began to slip.

Bits of the darkening sky peaked through the shadows.

The shadows flickered out of existence, and I tumbled through the sky once more.

On and on that continued. Kieran’s shadows would envelop me, only to fade away.

His panicked cries echoed in my mind—more frantic than I’d ever heard.

The ground was only getting closer. Fuck.

Was this how I died? What would happen to Clara?

‘You’re NOT dying, Selena.’

Distantly, I heard Kieran scream. It sounded like it was right in my ears. Please. I only had a couple seconds left before I smacked against the ground.

Wispy shadows covered my arm.

The wind whipped my body. ‘It’s okay.’

‘I won’t let you die.’ Another shadow grabbed my leg. Desperation bled in Kieran’s tone. My fall slowed, but at this rate, there was still a good chance I’d die.

‘It was my choice.’

‘NO.’ Shadows covered me, concealing me in darkness. I lost sense of time. When they slipped away, I stared at the ground. My ears rang. I screamed as I fell the last few feet.

Pain ricocheted through my body. But I wasn’t dead. Kieran did it. He slowed my fall just enough so I wouldn’t die. ‘Thank you.’

‘Don’t do that again,’ Kieran’s voice cracked.

I forced myself to stand up. My lungs burned, every muscle in my body cried out. But I pushed through the pain and ripped open the satchel. The fight wouldn’t stop until we all died or one of the kings hatched the eggs. I expelled a breath. ‘Andova can’t get the dragons,’ I said to Kieran.

‘I’ll back you up.’ He knew what I planned. There wasn’t a hint of remorse in his tone.

I grabbed the three eggs and held them in my arms. They glowed a brilliant miasma of colors. I could feel the magic radiating off them. Pure. Untainted. I didn’t want to kill them, but if I didn’t, we’d be in another war. I’m sorry.

Pure, unadulterated fear hit the bond like a tornado. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. ‘SELENA!’

I looked up and—

Heat. Scorching heat.

Praskovya’s flames engulfed me. Of course. Even with Hesperos’s and Umara’s intervention, the gray dragon was slippery as fuck. I waited for the pain to kick in, to scream as my nerves melted, but the pain never came. I stood still and clutched at the eggs.

Why isn’t it hurting ?

A tendril of hope rose in my chest as well as confusion. This feeling of the flames cascading over my skin—it was just like when Umara claimed me. I’m not burning. Holy shit, I’m not burning.

I opened my eyes and looked down at my arms. No burns. I was completely and utterly fine. The eggs warmed in my arms. Almost impossibly so. Did fire harm them? Distantly, I was aware of Umara screeching and biting into Praskovya’s side, but I couldn’t focus on that.

No, a tiny crack caught my attention. My eyes widened. The flames died down, and I looked at the centermost egg. No fucking way. I studied the shell and its everchanging colors. Crack! There was no denying it. A line formed in the top of the shell.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Lines formed across all the eggs. Bits of the shells tumbled to the ground. No fucking way. The fire hadn’t harmed the eggs. Somehow, they were awakening. How the fuck—

A tiny head popped up from the center egg. It was an ugly little thing, but its scales glittered under the sunlight. I couldn’t describe its color with the way its scales seemed to reflect any and all light.

Another head popped out from the second egg on my right side.

The one on the right—its feet popped out of the shell as it lazily kicked.

The center baby dragon let out an odd crooning noise and jumped onto my arm.

It bumped its head against my neck, right up against my Rider’s Mark.

The baby dragon was a small thing—the size of a kitten.

I couldn’t move a muscle. My whole body tingled. Something deep in my soul called to these dragons. While I stayed frozen, the other two jumped from their shells and latched themselves onto my arms. The one on the right licked my arm. Its tongue was dry like a cat’s.

My breath hitched, and the empty shells slipped from my grasp.

All around me, everything stopped. The dragons stopped their terrible in-fighting.

Umara curled around me. Even Praskovya and her rider sunk to the ground.

The townspeople, who had been screaming since the fight began, gathered around the rubble and watched.

This shouldn’t be possible. I should’ve burned. The eggs shouldn’t have hatched for me. Unless…

“Holy shit,” a townsperson whispered.

“I thought she was a peasant.”

“I thought she was a traitor.”

“The Siren!”

Kieran was the first to move, shoving past the crowd to stand across from me. His expression hardened, and his stormy eyes met mine. I saw a plan forming in his mind. ‘Do you trust me?’ he whispered.

‘I don’t.’

‘Then I’m sorry, because I have to do this anyway. It’s for your benefit if you play along. ’

The eldest baby dragon let out a little screech.

The other two joined in that awful song that made my ears ring.

But somehow that song felt like it called to my soul.

Warmth spread throughout my body. The dragons around roared and shot flames up at the sky.

The eldest baby used my braid to climb up atop my head, and the middle one claimed the spot by my neck.

The youngest still hadn’t moved from its spot on my arm and clutched at my skin even tighter.

Don’t tell me… It can’t be true. I can’t be…

Kieran knelt before me. “Only the Aesvara royal family can hatch eggs. Princess Selena, royal heir to Lusadia, you have our loyalty.”

Nimue’s widened eyes met mine. My brain went blank.

My heartbeat sounded in my eardrums. I felt like I was in a dream.

This can’t be real. This can’t be true. But it was.

The crooning baby dragons were an attest to that.

There was no way I could come up with something this wild.

The middle dragon crooned and nuzzled against my neck.

After Kieran, Gareth was the first to kneel. He placed his gloved hand over his heart. “All hail Princess Selena!” Gareth’s eyes met mine, and he inclined his head. I knew what he was thinking. This was my chance to change my legacy. Kieran ensured it, and Gareth had cemented it.

Their actions rippled through the crowd. One by one, everyone except the Andovans knelt.

What. The. Fuck.