Dragon Fall: Masters of the Flame 3 (Mating Fever) Read Online Free PDF Page A

satisfying.” Torch let out a wry laugh. “But yeah, kinda hard to hide.”
    “You did a great service for your clan.”
    “You could’ve kicked me to the curb with the rest of my line when they betrayed you. And then they would’ve left me to die since I was too young to fly with them.”
    “Those were dark days,” Bale said softly. He’d never blamed Torch’s kin for conspiring to overthrow him. The petralys had taken him hard, and they’d feared for the continuation of the Nox Incendi. But the dragon in him would never step aside. He’d have to be dead.
    And that would be soon enough now.
    “Can I depend on you to give my brother the same loyalty you’ve given me?”
    Torch snorted. “You don’t even have to ask. If you did, you’d have torn my guts out by now, yeah?”
    Though the exertion ached, Bale chuckled. “Yeah.”
    “And that’s why I wanted to let you know…Esme is awake and out of her room.”
    Bale pictured the pale girl unfurling like one of the early spring flowers in the desert outside the Keep—not that he’d ever see that with his own eyes again. “That’s good.”
    “No. I mean yes, it’s good, but she’s awake and out of her room right now . She went down to the slots hall around midnight, and she’s looking a little…ah…”
    All of Bale’s muscles stiffened, as if he was being stretched on a rack. “What?”
    “Lost,” Torch said. “Alone. Anjali told me Esme was feeling a bit…” He cleared his throat. “ Lonely . If you know what I mean.”
    The word ratcheted Bale’s muscles tighter yet, until the ache was almost numbing; a relief, really. “There are plenty of people to watch in the Keep. And she can’t get too lost here, especially if your security has an eye on her.”
    “Uh, yeah. About that… When I say lonely, apparently Esme wants a bit more than just company.” He twisted the words with an odd inflection.
    The dragon understood before Bale did and yanked him to his feet though his body in this form could scarcely move.
    “She can’t.” It wasn’t a roar but a strangled curse. “She’s mine.”
    “Actually…she isn’t. In this new era we’re living in and especially in this place called Vegas, she can do pretty much anything she wants,” Torch said. “With any one she wants.”
    Bale growled under his breath. So much for deferential. “And you call yourself clan enforcer.”
    “Well, I can’t exactly chain her in the dungeon,” Torch said defensively.
    “Why not?” He lurched against a flowstone column where dripping rock met in the middle. For all that it was stone, it was far more delicate than it looked. “Just…bring her to me then.”
    “I would,” Torch said, in a tone that said he wouldn’t, “but I thought you might go after her instead.”
    The flowstone crumbled under his fist. It would be another hundred years before the edges of shattered stone met again. “Impossible.”
    “She knows you already. She trusts you. You kept Ashcraft’s nightmares away from her.” Torch coughed lightly. “Anyway, she’s already spent the night here.”
    Impotent fury twisted in Bale. “She doesn’t know who”— what —“she spent the night with.”
    “Then show her,” Torch said. As if he was being so fucking reasonable.
    “You want me to show her?” Bale’s voice dropped an octave, falling into the dragon’s range. “You think she could bear to see me?”
    “It can’t be that—”
    Bale gnashed his teeth and breathed out a fireball.
    The dragonfire ignited the brazier. Not just the ever-ready coals but the wrought iron cage itself. The stench of burning metal and stone choked the cavern.
    To his credit—or as testament to his foolishness—after a startled step back, Torch held his ground. And his narrowed gaze was fixed not on the raging fire but on Bale.
    “There was the hint of a bond between you,” Torch said over the hungry snap of flames. “I saw it in her.”
    The blaze sputtered out. “Doesn’t