Firedragon Rising Read Online Free PDF

What’ll I do without your
frou-frou crap to make fun of?” As she stuck the sword back into
its sheath, her throat tightened. That was the closest she could
come to saying good-bye.
    For a moment, Connor was quiet. Then he
said, “I’d better leave you to your escape.” As he lifted the
silencer spell, sorrow shaded his once-bright eyes.
    She stared at the plain black hilts of the
two swords, motionless. Friends were supposed to hug and cry and
blubber sappy words when they parted. And though she couldn’t bring
herself to do any of those things, Connor must have known what she
wanted to say. The bittersweet smile he gave as he walked toward
the door told her as much.
    As he started to leave, she was seized by
the abrupt need to say something, and called, “Connor!”
    He stopped and turned back.
    She hesitated. “See you later,” she said
finally.
    His face brightened. “You too.”
    For some reason, those few
words brought some relief to the ache within. They meant she’d seek
a way to see him again, and he’d do the same. That neither of them
believed this was the last time they’d speak. The next time could
be an eternity later— years , even—but she’d made an
unspoken promise to him, and she intended to keep it.
    Okay, enough of this gooey
crap . She straightened as the door shut
behind him. She had no time to mope—her window for escape was
growing narrower by the second, and she had to get out before it
closed altogether.

 
     
     
     
    HARDLY A SINGLE STREETLAMP
DISTURBED the darkness of the Capital’s
outermost zone, and the mandatory curfew meant that the streets
were deserted except for the patrolmen. Concrete buildings
surrounded Aurelia, their windows black. Midnight had come and
gone, which meant that just about everyone was asleep.
    Nevertheless, she gave her hood a quick tug to
make sure it hid her face from anyone who might be watching. The
thick leather jacket she wore over her hoodie kept her upper body
warm, and the ponytail stuffed down her collar acted as a scarf,
but the winter wind cut through her jeans.
    She narrowed her eyes,
watching for movement, and kept her ears sharp for any noises other
than the steady mix of the motorbike’s rumbling with the wind’s
whooshing. As long as she avoided the gaze of the patrolmen, they
would assume that she was one of them, since they rode motorbikes
as well. But that didn’t mean she was safe. Far from it. Everett
couldn’t have missed her zooming out of the Academy, and she was
certain he’d alerted the authorities. That meant those patrolmen
were looking for her , and while camouflage and the cover of night guarded her for
now, it couldn’t last.
    Her best chance at escape was to make it out
of the city and into the wilderness, where further darkness and
unfamiliar terrain would serve as shields. But she’d be leaving one
danger for another; even if she managed to avoid the Triumvirate,
monsters were waiting outside the perimeter.
    Fear trickled down her
spine and she tried to shake it away, reminding herself that if her
untrained housemaid of a mother could make this journey, then she
certainly could. Since learning the truth about Bridget Sun, she’d
felt an unshakable connection to the woman who had sacrificed her
own life to give Aurelia hers. I won’t let
you down, Mom , she thought. I’m gonna make it to the Rising, and then I’m
gonna take down the slime balls who killed you. No Triumvirate goon
or supernatural beast will stop me.
    The swords Connor had given her bounced
against her thigh as she veered around a corner. Normally she would
have worn them strapped to her back, but her knapsack occupied that
spot. All the bag contained were a change of clothes, a canteen,
and the contents of her secret food stash—apples and candy bars and
other snack foods she’d stolen from the cafeteria. It was hardly
enough to live off, but the Way Station was little more than an
hour away by motorbike, so she wasn’t exactly going