Dragon Ugly (Dragon New Year) Read Online Free PDF Page A

aromatherapy products. He was a bit low on incense, and wondered if he had time to slip in and check out their selection.
    Once the food was ready, Brent grabbed the bags and headed to Fletch. All of a sudden, a tingle raced along his spine like an icy finger. He stopped dead in his tracks as his face became flushed. The dragon let out a roar and steam billowed out of Brent’s nostrils and open mouth. Fletch came rushing up to him and grabbed his arms. “Brent, you okay?”
    Brent blinked. He felt stuck to where he was, holding up the line for the waffle truck. He ordered his body to move but it didn’t obey. His dragon roared again. Fletch took hold of his arm and dragged him over to the bench. Taking the food from him, Fletch forced Brent to sit down. “Brent, answer me,” he demanded.
    It took a moment for Brent to find his voice. The dragon was pushing, shoving, crashing against the barrier that separated it from the outside world. Pain rocked through his arms and legs, ricocheting around his chest and stomach, as if he was going through a shift. Scales rippled under his skin. He fought to keep the change from coming, but the dragon wouldn’t be denied. It continued to claw its way out, sending threads of fire along his muscles. His chest hurt. Each breath was labored. Shards of pain spiked through his lungs with each pull of air. He could hear a crowd in the distance.
    “Please, stop this , ” he begged his dragon.
    “So close , ” the dragon responded.
    “Not here , not now,” Brent insisted. “Later…not the time.”
    The dragon just blinked.
    Ripples of pain danced along Brent’s shoulders and back, as if his wings wanted to break out. He couldn’t let that happen. “Please, not this way. We can’t meet her this way, please. Not here . ”
    Again the dragon blinked. Thankfully, the pain began to fold back inside Brent until it became a dull ache in his arms and legs, and all around his torso. “Thank you , ” he whispered.
    “Find her , ” the dragon commanded, before disappearing into darkness.
    “Brent?” Fletch crouched down in front of him, worry in his brown eyes.
    “I’m…okay,” Brent managed to rasp out.
    “You sure?” Fletch accepted a napkin and some ice from one of the people from the waffle truck.
    “Yeah. Just an urge to shift. Been too long.” Brent sat up and winced, as his bones cracked and his muscles popped. The shifter’s ability to heal was activated, and soothing warmth flooded his body. But it didn’t erase the memory of what had just happened. Humiliation colored his cheeks and sank through his chest as his ears burned. He couldn’t believe how close he’d come to shifting right there in public.
    “Shifting here? You do know how dangerous that is, right? It’s not even the full moon. You scared the shit out of me and everyone around here.” Fletch sank down next to him, concern filling his brown eyes. “I thought for sure that you were gonna cause a mass shifting right here. Hell, my dragon wanted to shift right along with you.” Fletch laid a hand on Brent’s shoulder. “Do you need a break? We’ve been working a lot, pushing ourselves the last few days. You want some time off? I’ll cover for you.”
    Brent gave him a wan smile. “I appreciate it. I do, but I just have to have a talk with my dragon is all. Let’s eat and get going before Tor thinks we bailed on him.” He ignored the concerned look that Fletch gave him. “I’m fine, really. Eat, before I take yours and make you go stand in line.”
    Brent tried to look for the trigger as he ate. When he’d been hanging out near the waffle truck, he had felt nothing. It wasn’t until he had started thinking about the aromatherapy store nearby that he’d felt that tingle again. He swiveled around in his seat to look at the store once more and felt the dragon slither under his skin, scales brushing smoothly under Brent’s flesh. Did she work there? Was she in there right now? Brent’s curiosity