The Twin Dragons Series: Dragon's Shadow Book 2
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C. Swallow
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In the mystical realm of the Dusk Mountains, Silver, a dragon shifter, returns to her homeland seeking solace in a mortal job. Her life takes a dark turn when she discovers her employer murdered, thrusting her into a web of intrigue and danger. As alliances form and old flames reignite, Silver must navigate treacherous politics, confront her tumultuous past, and embrace her true power to protect her loved ones. Will she rise to the challenge or be consumed by the shadows lurking in the kingdom?
Chapter 1
Book Two
TWENTY-TWO DAYS LATER
SILVER
“It’s good to be back.” I sip the hot tea while my legs dangle off a ledge jutting out of the Dusk Mountains, my first and now my forever home.
Princess Summer sits beside me, also drinking tea, wearing a flattering, lacy baby-blue dress.
I wear some brown leather pants and a cheap white blouse. I visited the Patter Kingdom and Patter Town in the past week, where I bought myself some new golden hair clips and secured myself a job.
“It’s been three weeks since your return, and you say that every day at least once.” Summer watches me with knowing eyes, and I blush a bit as she assesses me.
“Why are you trying to convince yourself that you’re better off away from Storm?”
“I don’t need to convince myself of anything,” I respond too quickly and sip more of my tea, my hold on the teacup a little bit weak as I think of… of him.
I try hard, every second of the day, not to think of Storm… or Rawk and Zoraul, my babies.
My hand trembles with a rush of nerves as I think of their fate without me, but I quickly put the teacup down on the stone ledge before Summer realizes I am trembling.
I haven’t told her, or Dane or Aneurin—her mates and Dragon Lords—of my babies. I don’t want them sending me back forcibly.
I mean, I do love my babies, and I will return one day, but I can’t be rejected by Storm anymore; it would drive me to hate him further, and I don’t want to end up like Elaine, a physically abusive parent.
I can never see myself becoming such a thing, but even the thought of transmitting negative information to my babies through my aura is distasteful to me.
And hate isn’t something I ever want to dwell in; I see what it does to people. Elaine hasn’t spoken to me once since my return. She hated me for leaving and despises me now that I have returned.
Regardless, I feel her love for me mixed with her pain.
In a way, she is angrier at herself, as she feels guilt about her harsh treatment of me growing up, but she thought she was protecting me with such punishments.
However, since my departure, she knows she drove me away and had been wrong.
Now, she can’t face me, and I’m not so willing to seek her out, so I avoid her.
“So, what kind of Dragon really wants to work in a mortal shop?” Summer asks, smirking.
“I thought you’d be more content exploring the woods, hunting for gold, swimming through the lakes, basking in the sun—”
“I need the distraction and the work,” I answer, trying to convince myself and Summer as I explain further.
“Plus, I love people, and I’d like to interact with them more, especially now that Dragons are more accepted in the Patter Kingdom since Alexa and your mysterious brother took the throne and the castle.”
Alexa is Dane and Aneurin’s sister.
Summer’s mysterious half-brother, Colton the Blacksmith, took the throne recently from Prince Jordan Culling, a Dragon Slayer who had taken the Patter throne not very long ago from Summer’s brother, Ross the Great.
Yep, that is a long line of throne changes in the kingdom…and that’s if you don’t consider Dane’s claim on all the lands as a part of all of his kingdom.
It’s fair to say there has been quite a bit of tension in these lands ever since Princess Summer moved to the Dusk Mountains to live with her mates, when the drama and switching leadership all began.
“Oh, Silver, you’ve grown up so much. I know I’m only two years older than you,” Summer murmurs. “But you’ve changed since your return. You’re just…hmm, you seem different…on the inside.”
“I am now aware of the misfortunes that can plague you even in the face of supposed fortune,” I murmur back as I gaze out over the morning-lit forest and pick up my teacup again, wanting to prove to myself I can stop the anxious tremble in my hand.
However, as I pick it back up, I see my wrist now quivering with an unexplained, continuous, and overwhelming rush of emotions.
My two slight fingers gripping the handle of the teacup slip, and I watch the tea and the fine porcelain fall through the air.
“Oh!” Summer bends over, as do I, to see the descent and shatter of the cup on the mountain’s rocks a few hundred feet below us.
Once it shatters and I feel Summer’s eyes upon me, I instantly feel her strong suspicions.
She is no longer just suspicious of my resolve; she is worried and deeply concerned about whatever emotion I am hiding.
An emotion, I admit, I’m even hiding from myself most of the time.
“Oh my, I think I’m late for work.” I quickly jump up and turn to unexpectedly see Dane and Aneurin.
I almost jump in fright at their secret appearance at the other end of the ledge leading into the entrance of the cave.
I narrow my eyes for a moment, the black-and-golden scaled Dragon Lords lying flat on their stomachs, their snouts resting upon their front claws as they eye Summer like prey.
They are like sneaky cats, aiming to terrify her at the last moment.
I hadn’t even heard them slither their way closer.
“Do not speak a word,” Aneurin whispers through my mind, and Dane narrows his eyes when Summer almost turns around.
“Why?” I ask them, curious and still shocked.
“If she squeals, we win the challenge, and she must remain naked for three entire days,” Dane explains to me joyfully, and I just grimace and turn back to Summer, squatting beside her.
“By the way. Two monsters are plotting your demise,” I whisper but do not give the whole game away as Summer raises a brow and turns to me with worry still in her expression.
“Don’t try and change the subject,” Summer responds, unsure of herself as she tries to work out why I changed the subject so suddenly.
“And Dane and Aneurin won’t scare me; they are on a morning scout and won’t be back until lunch. By then, I will be helping June, their mother. They won’t bother me if I’m with her.”
“I thought I was gullible.” I smile and decide not to walk off the cliff.
Instead, I transform and pick up my clothes in my talons before swiftly jumping off the ledge and swooping down to the forest below.
A moment later, I hear Summer scream at the top of her lungs.
I try to laugh, but the closer I fly to the forest, the more intensely my unexplained anxiety increases.
I just keep flying until I reach the edge of the town, where I transform and quickly shrug on my clothes.
The leather pants are nice and tight, and my white blouse helps me fit in with the working women of the town.
I run my hands through my hair and clip in the golden clips to keep the silver strands from falling in my eyes.
I head off onto the cobbled road into the center of the town, where I’ve secured a job as a florist on a corner.
The man who owns the shop is extremely kind, and although he is elderly and frail, he has a passion for all the flowers of the forest.
He is also getting too old to stand all day to sell the flowers, so when I reach the shop, I see him in his usual seat, reclined and resting back with a book over his face and his hands clasped over his stomach.
I smile as I see him napping in the sun in front of the small shop, but the closer I get, the more my anxiety dramatically builds.
I feel for his aura…and I feel nothing.
I stand still for a moment, then I realize the air around him is empty because his soul has left his body. In other words…he is dead.
I quickly approach, believing a thug must have stolen from him and killed him in a sneak attack, only to leave him cruelly lying in public while everyone walks unknowingly past his dead body.
Once I approach, I lift the book from his face to see blood pooling out of one eye from a stab wound.
I place the book back over his face gently as I gasp in a breath, trying to work out how I can lay him to rest without disturbing the public.
“Take a look at what is in his clasped hands.” I jerk my head up and see a mirage slowly solidify into Drax’s form. He is holding a rose, smelling it while raising a brow.
