Flashfire Read Online Free PDF Page A

service, especially due to some game of his father’s, although he had paid a hefty severance to each.
    Plus the pair had to be beguiled before they left his employment, for their own safety and psychological well-being. Now he had to find another couple willing to work for him under his terms, and for only a few days. It was all very time-consuming and extremely annoying.
    Lorenzo couldn’t help suspecting that his father was deliberately making problems for him.
    Instead of just being old, confused, and generally impossible.
    Never mind that there were technical issues with Lorenzo’s final spectacle of being buried alive in the desert in his car, a feat of daring that relied upon precise preparation. The modifications to the car were not quite as he had insisted, and he’d have to discuss it with the mechanic again. If Lorenzo had had a dollar for every incompetent human with whom he’d been obliged to work over the past four centuries, he’d be a multimillionaire.
    He was one anyway, but he’d earned that money.
    And now the eclipse. He could feel it. It had nothing to do with him, because he had nothing to do with his fellow
Pyr
, so it infuriated him that he was sensitive to total lunar eclipses at all. What did he care if another
Pyr
had a firestorm? What did he care if another
Pyr
met his destined mate, whether they conceived another dragon shape shifter? They were just more
Pyr
for Lorenzo to ignore.
    Lorenzo had work to do and money to make and obligations to fulfill. He would have appreciated the other
Pyr
ignoring him as thoroughly as he ignored them.
    It would only have been polite for the moon to have chosen to not send him notice. But the pending eclipse teased at the edge of his consciousness, making him feel on the cusp of change.
    Involuntarily.
    Lorenzo hated everything that was involuntary.
    And he hated being
Pyr
.
    Becoming a dragon was barbaric and primitive. Never mind the fighting, the slashing and ripping and biting. He shuddered. It wasn’t clear to him whether the flashfire song would eliminate his shifter powers completely—as well as breaking the connections to his kind—but Lorenzo didn’t care.
    In this moment, Lorenzo had to put the crystal out of his mind and focus. He preferred evening shows, but that wasn’t relevant. Two thousand people had just paid top dollar to see his afternoon performance.
    And they would leave his custom-built theater happy.
    Lorenzo did his breathing exercises and deliberately lowered his pulse. He steadied himself as well as he was able, under the circumstances, and prayed that all the preparations had been done correctly. On this day, he’d take heads if there was anything less than perfect. He dressed alone, as always, then squared his shoulders and considered his reflection.
    He wasn’t holding up too badly. He didn’t look a day past three hundred years old.
    Or in human terms, a day past thirty-five.
    The tuxedo fit him beautifully, but that was the mark of a good bespoke tailor. It reassured him to look so polished. Appearances were critical. He straightened his bow tie with a tweak. He swirled the black cape he favored as he swung it over his shoulders. As usual, the glimpse of its orange satin lining lifted his spirits. So beautiful. So elegant. So unexpected. He adored that cape.
    Lorenzo scooped up his top hat and turned with a flourish. He strode to the door, leaving his dressing room with purpose. He checked the props and the staff, hearing the chatter of the audience gathered behind the heavy velvet drapes. He felt the familiar tingle that he always felt before a performance—part nerves, part anticipation, part terror.
    The lights began to dim. The music began to play.
    Showtime.

    Cassie had to hand it to this Lorenzo guy. The theater was incredible. He hadn’t skimped at all. There was nothing tawdry or tacky about it. The interior was gorgeous and elegant, far more luxurious than any of the other venues they’d visited or