Cast in Flame

Chad, however, bid on and bought the book as a gift for someone else, and he has a few words he wants to say:

To that special someone in my life who shall remain anonymous. Mainly because I would not likely be among the living if her true name was mentioned.

There are so many things about you that I love, like your stunning smile and laugh, which I never get tired of finding ways of bringing out. The unconditional honesty you are willing to give or how you sneeze when the sunlight kisses your face. And the phrase “Oh Dear” will be forever special to me.

Life offers many challenges, but I have never stopped loving you, always have, always will.

Contents

Cover (#u706a3e77-1db8-5927-b225-be5ce6f29693)

Back Cover Text (#ufae812fb-0ec8-530c-bd84-ce126ae83873)

Praise (#u32cc8109-f875-5b3d-b56c-a33ef740f58b)

Booklist (#u32334b42-fb9a-567d-9c52-42873c175f29)

Title Page (#u8598b5e1-016f-50ff-a60e-6bc2203b4b5d)

Dedication (#u1135e779-f236-558e-bcc1-90397929700a)

Chapter One (#u28d4a6c4-521b-5e2a-b65f-e6b548792ebb)

Chapter Two (#u7f440b64-5a6c-5f8d-9250-7d46d82947fd)

Chapter Three (#ud4f762aa-b13a-578a-a44b-a36e44312365)

Chapter Four (#u71ce183f-44ef-54f0-b112-7ecf66ad12ef)

Chapter Five (#u48e92284-1ed1-5cfd-9155-f9d1270bbb37)

Chapter Six (#u55924c1c-ff41-5c85-8f5e-ed7811158d84)

Chapter Seven (#u6cb3b26e-c9d9-5d2c-a7e9-e48384c2b47e)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_eecc72e0-3355-5893-a5b7-985761b771ab)

On the second day after her return to Elantra, the city she policed as a groundhawk, Private Kaylin Neya fell out of bed, daggers in hands, knees bent. After one confused moment, she sheathed her daggers, took a brief look around the otherwise empty royal guest chambers that served as her temporary home, and let loose a volley of Leontine curses.

The small, translucent winged lizard that habitually slept above her head squawked in protest; she’d swept him out of the way without a second thought. He hovered in front of her face as she cursed; she didn’t, at the moment, have anything left over for groveling apologies.

Leontine wasn’t the usual language heard in the halls of the Imperial Palace. Nor was it generally heard in the function rooms, and when it was, it wasn’t the particular phrasing she now indulged in. On the other hand, the thunderous sounds that had driven her from sleep pretty much guaranteed that no one who’d care could possibly hear her words. Kaylin could scream until she was blue in the face, with the same results. Anyone in the palace halls could, at the moment.

Dragons were having a discussion.

When she’d first heard Dragons converse in their native tongue, she’d thought of earthquakes or tidal waves. Distinguishing individual voices had been less important than covering both her ears in the vague hope she’d preserve some of her hearing. A couple of weeks in the palace with Bellusdeo for a companion had changed that. She could pick out three loud—painfully loud—voices in the crash of distant thunder: Diarmat’s, Bellusdeo’s and...the Emperor’s. While she generally enjoyed the arguments between Bellusdeo and Diarmat, she had zero desire to ever interrupt—or witness—any argument which also contained the Emperor. Even mention of the Emperor was probably career-limiting.

It was dark, but the storm of sound in progress didn’t seem like it would die down any time soon, and sleep was pretty much impossible—at least for Kaylin. The rest of the Dragon Court was probably in hiding, but Immortals didn’t need anything as petty as sleep.

The minute—the second—she had the time to find a new place, she was so out of here.

The small dragon landed on her shoulders. She’d named him Hope, but felt self-conscious actually calling him that, and she hadn’t had time to come up with a name that suited him better. He yawned, folded himself across her shoulders like a badly formed shawl, and closed his eyes. Clearly, Dragon shouting didn’t bother him in the slightest.