Dragon's Secret

by J. D. Monroe

  Contents

  Speak The Language

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 1

  What Now?

  Also by JD Monroe

  About the Author

  DRAGON’S SECRET Copyright 2019 by J.D. Monroe.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Mighty Fine Books, LLC

  PO Box 956

  Evans, GA 30809

  Editing by Rebecca Jaycox

  Cover Design by Celtic Ruins Designs

  Book Design and Ebook Formatting by Katzilla Designs

  ISBN: 978-1-944142-32-2

  First Edition: 2019

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Created with Vellum

  The Dragons of Ascavar – the Kadirai – have their own language and customs. While all terms are explained in context, if you want to follow along with the language of the dragons and learn more about their culture, you can check out this link to the Kadirai glossary on my website:

  | SPEAK THE LANGUAGE |

  Taegan Asharin knew the woman on the stage was a dragon from a hundred feet away. After giving her an appreciative look from head to toe, his first thought was wow, she’s hot. His second was what a dirty cheat. Anger flared in his chest as he watched her, standing there like she’d run a fair race.

  The Marigold Park Road Race was a five-kilometer run for charity, hosted by his cousin’s gym, Ironscale Fitness. Most of the gym staff and race volunteers, including Taegan, were dragon shifters. With their physical advantages over humans, there was a tacit understanding that none of their kind were to enter events like this. What did they have to prove by outrunning a bunch of humans?

  A crowd of spectators with numbers pinned to their shirts gathered around the small amphitheater stage, munching on post-race bananas and watery sports drinks. “And in first place overall in the women’s category, with an impressive time of nineteen minutes and forty-two seconds, Chloe Madsen,” the emcee’s voice blared over the loudspeaker. “Congratulations, Chloe!” The runners applauded, unaware they hadn’t stood a chance against her. She’d only been beaten by one other runner, a skinny high school boy made entirely of wiry muscle and energy.

  Chloe Madsen.

  Taegan instantly disliked her. Chloe Madsen should have known not to enter. Maybe she’d thought giving her human name would let her fly under the radar. Narrowing his eyes, Taegan cut through the crowd. With a bright smile, Chloe lowered her head to receive the oversized medal. Then she had the nerve to clasp the second and third place runners’ hands and hold them up for a picture.

  A hand gripped his arm before he got to the stage. “Did you already get all the signs picked up from the road?” His cousin, Tellana, had a basket full of bananas under her arm. A wireless radio earpiece was nestled in her ear, emitting a steady stream of laughter and chatter.

  “No,” he said. He tilted his head toward the stage. “Did you notice the winner?”

  With a sweep of her bright amber eyes, Tellana appraised Chloe. Her nose wrinkled. “Is she Kadirai?”

  Standing at least six inches taller than the two women flanking her, Chloe had the broad, but beautifully proportioned figure of a Kadirai woman. Strong shoulders and gorgeous, golden legs for days. “She has to be.”

  “Did someone deliver the prizes?” a tinny voice asked from the earpiece.

  “I’ve got a prize to deliver. About nine inches of—”

  “You guys, that’s disgusting,” Tellana complained. She shook her head and plucked the earpiece out of her ear, letting it dangle over her shoulder. “My brother is a child. Sorry. If she’s Kadirai, she should know better.”

  “I know,” Taegan said. “Do you know her?”

  His cousin shook her head. “Never seen her. Go find out her story. If she’s Kadirai and hasn’t declared herself, Mom will want to know about it.”

  He nodded. Tellana was the daughter of Izarin Asharin, the head of the Portland dragon community. It was a huge breach of etiquette for a new dragon to take up residence in the city without presenting themselves to Izarin.

  Taegan meandered through the crowd, watching with irritation as Chloe posed for a picture for the local paper. Even better. She was practically daring the local Kadirai to say something. Even if Chloe wasn’t local, she should have known the laws governing all dragons in this realm, not just the city.

  Takhara vhan was the highest law for dragons living in the human realm. Keep the secret. Over a century ago, dragons had left their own realm in search of respite from the endless, bloody wars plaguing their lands. Humans could barely deal with other humans who were slightly different, let alone learn that their neighbors could breathe fire. Revealing themselves to humans would only invite more conflict and bloodshed, which no one wanted.

  Takhara vhan included obvious restrictions, like not transforming and flying over human cities. No breathing fire, no abusing their psychic ability to manipulate humans. He’d skirted the line on that one a few times, particularly when he’d encountered a couple of illiterate shitheads bullying another kid in the locker room in high school. Encouraging them to tell the gym teacher exactly what they’d done had earned them a few days of suspension, even if it also had earned Taegan a sound reprimand from his parents.

  But keeping the secret also meant things like not abusing their physical advantages in subtler ways. Like much of his extended family, Taegan trained at Ironscale. He wasn’t a powerlifter like some of the others, but on innate strength alone, he could walk into a competition and easily outlift humans who’d been training for decades. Dragon blood was practically a performance-enhancing drug, which Chloe Madsen should have known.

  “Thanks for coming out to the Marigold Park Fun Run. You can check the Ironscale Fitness website for race photos starting on Monday morning, and you’re all encouraged to check out upcoming events like the New Year, New You Run, and the Cupid Shuffle in February!” the announcer said. “Everyone be safe and have a great weekend.”

  Pop music blared over the loudspeakers as the runners dispersed. Some headed for the balloon archway at the finish line to take pictures while several others climbed onto the stage. Chloe Madsen crouched, jumping off the waist-high concrete stage to join a human woman waiting below. As soon as Chloe’s feet were on the ground, the other woman hugged her, squealing, “I’m so proud of you!”

  The display only made Taegan angrier. Did her human friend know she was a cheater? As he approached, Chloe untied her ponytail and unleashed a waterfall of wavy auburn hair. His heart thumped. Despite his anger, he had to appreciate how beautiful she was. Her eyes were the dark amber of honey, framed in thick lashes.

  He said, “Excuse me, I—”

  “Oh!” her friend exclaimed, thrusting her phone toward him. Neon blue sunglasses with the Ironscale logo were pushed up on her head. “Hey, would you mind taking a picture of us together?”

  He frowned. “Sure.” The shorter woman beam
ed and wrapped her arms around Chloe’s waist. A bright smile spread on Chloe’s face. The race had left a pleasant pink flush on her full cheeks.

  As he held the glitter-encased phone, he inhaled deeply. The cool morning air carried the damp hint of wet earth from the rain last night. Plenty of sweat and sugary sweetness from the shaved ice truck nearby. And there was definitely a familiar scent emanating from Chloe. The rich, wood-smoke scent of Kadirai blood was prominent, mixed with floral shampoo and mint gum. She smelled nice, but she smelled like his kind.

  “Thank you,” her friend said, taking the phone back. “Oh, look at this. We look so cute.”

  “We do,” Chloe exclaimed. She glanced at Taegan and smiled. “Thanks.”

  “Ekshaare,” he said in Kadirai. “Takhara vhan, na?”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  He repeated himself in Kadirai. “Keep the secret, huh?”

  Her brow furrowed as she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand you.”

  “Excuse us,” he said to her friend. The shorter woman shot him an incredulous look. “I need to speak to Chloe privately about the race results.”

  “Oh,” Chloe said, frowning at him. “Maura, I’ll be just a minute. Will you get me one of those pineapple slushes before they close the stand?” She fished through a zippered running belt on her waist and took out a credit card. “You know my PIN.”

  “Sure,” Maura said. She raised her eyebrow at Taegan, a faint smile playing across her lips.

  After the human woman walked away, he narrowed his eyes. “Why did you enter this race?” he demanded in English.

  Her jaw dropped. She stared at him like he had three heads. “Um…because I wanted to? Is there a problem?”

  “Yeah, there’s a problem. You should know better.”

  Irritation etched a deep line between her furrowed brows. She folded her arms across her chest, squaring her shoulders. “What exactly are you saying?’

  “You know you have an unfair advantage, and you should—”

  “Unfair advantage? What?” A familiar burst of heat billowed off her, tinged with the smell of wood smoke.

  “You’re Kadirai,” he said, trying not to let his own anger manifest and escalate the situation. Two flame dragons in an argument could get heated, quite literally. “Don’t play stupid.”

  “I’m what?”

  “Look, I’m not going to make a big stink about it, but you should really be ashamed of yourself,” Taegan said. “Congratulations, you beat a bunch of people who had no chance to win against you.”

  Her cheeks flushed deep pink. “Listen…” She leaned in, reading his nametag. “Taegan. I don’t know what your deal is, but I don’t have an unfair advantage. I train hard and eat healthy. That’s it. I don’t know where you get off implying that I did something wrong.”

  “But you’re—”

  “Stop.” Her voice was firm. A hint of fire flickered in her bright eyes. “You’re being extremely rude. Maybe you’re used to intimidating women with your ranting, but unless you’re making a formal accusation, this conversation is over.” She raised her eyebrows and threw up her hands. “Do I need to pee in a cup for you?”

  “No, I’m just saying that—”

  “Then we’re done,” she snapped. “Thanks for raining on my parade.” She whirled on her heel and stalked away, following the path her friend had taken. Her shoulders were tense, and her hair swayed slightly, like she shook her head in anger.

  He was still staring in disbelief when Tellana approached him from the balloon arch, surrounded in a cloud of banana-scented air. “How did it go?”

  “She denied it,” he replied.

  “Denied what?”

  “She acted like she had no idea what I was talking about,” he replied. Tellana frowned. “Does she think I’m stupid? Like everyone can’t smell it on her?”

  “Then I guess you have a job now,” Tellana said. “Find out her deal, and make sure she announces herself to Izarin.”

  “Oh, come on,” he complained. “Why don’t you do it? You love bringing the hammer down.”

  “I do,” Tellana said, her full lips curving into a smile. “But I have a month of work to do in the next week to get ready for the lip-sync battle. I’m booked. Besides, you’ve already talked to her.”

  “Tellana—”

  “Consider it an order from the top, cousin,” she said. “Bring her in.”

  Chloe tried not to let a bad day last beyond bedtime. Her adoptive mother, Helen, would encourage her to send all her worries off to the moon, so she would wake in the morning with empty hands to grasp a new day’s blessings. It was silly, but even as an adult, she sometimes stood by her window at night and whispered her frustrations, then thanked the moon for listening. On Saturday night, the moon had gotten a blistering earful about the rude-ass race volunteer.

  She tried to let it go, but she’d woken up Sunday morning still holding fast to her anger. She hadn’t managed to let it go entirely by Monday. In addition to waking up with a pounding headache yet again, she unlocked her phone to the post-race picture of her and Maura, which reignited her frustration.

  It didn’t help when she walked into the teacher’s lounge for coffee and heard Maura telling three of their coworkers about the “unbelievably hot guy that took our picture after the race.”

  Fair enough. Tegan or Tagalong, or whatever his name was, had definitely been in the category of scorching hot, with eyes the color of a tropical sea and the kind of muscles you could only get by taking super-soldier serum. He was the perfect flavor of fit guys—not too big, not too small. But Maura had missed the part where he’d accused Chloe of cheating. Her callused feet and expensive collection of sports bras begged to differ. Unfair advantage, her interval-training ass.

  Maybe he was one of those pickup artists she’d read about, trying to get her attention by criticizing her. Nice try, buddy. The only attention she wanted to give him was to punch him in his perfect mouth.

  “He wasn’t that hot,” Chloe interjected, as she finished filling her insulated cup with coffee.

  “He was, too,” Maura replied. “It makes me want to go get a membership at that gym.”

  To be fair, he really was that hot. The minute she saw him approaching, her stomach had done the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy—until he opened his mouth, of course. But Chloe hadn’t told Maura that part. Even though he sounded crazy, he’d been so self-assured that Chloe had felt guilty, like she’d actually done something to warrant his accusations. So she’d told Maura he just needed to confirm some details for their records.

  “Have fun with that,” Chloe muttered. She carefully balanced her coffee with her tote bag, fishing keys from her purse. “Are you still okay with taking the kids to recess today?”

  “I’ve got it,” Maura said. “No worries.”

  With twenty minutes until a screaming horde of fourth-graders barreled down the halls on a sugar high from breakfast, she hurried to get her room ready. After straightening her desks, she carefully wrote Good morning! with a signature Ms. Madsen cartoon doodle on the whiteboard. She wrote the day’s plans for math and science on the board, leaving a square area marked off in purple. By the end of the day, the space would be filled with doodles from students.

  Once her projector was set up with the morning assignment, Chloe downed a handful of aspirin and tried to release the tension from her shoulders. A dull headache had taken up residence in her skull months ago. She’d tried everything from more water to more sleep to expensive herbal supplements. Nothing had helped, except when she exercised until she was exhausted. Maura helpfully suggested that she might have a brain tumor, which had planted an unwelcome seed in her mind. If it didn’t get better soon, she’d have to see a doctor, which she dreaded.

  With the rhythmic pounding between her temples, she walked into the hall to wait for the morning bell. “Empty hands for new blessings,” she reminded herself.

  In addition to being unbelievably rud
e, the man had completely crapped on her achievement. Five days a week, she was running or lifting weights. She hadn’t slept in on a Saturday in two years because she was up early for grueling sprints that made her want to puke. For that guy to act like she had some unfair advantage…

  “Empty hands,” she mumbled. If Helen were still around, she would have said his rudeness was a reflection of his character, not her value. Letting him ruin a perfectly good Monday when she had an extra twenty minutes of planning and no after-school commitments was giving him more power than he deserved.

  The bell rang, and the halls filled with the noise of nine-year-olds flooding her way. The morning routine passed in a flurry of high-fives, good mornings, and the occasional don’t throw that. As the announcements concluded, she walked to the front of the room to survey her class.

  Temperature check. Aidan was already in full wiggle mode at the back of the room. He looked like he was in his own world, but he’d squirm his way through a science lesson and get a perfect score on the quiz afterward. The perpetual motion helped him pay attention, so she left him alone, as long as he stayed in the back and didn’t distract anyone else.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Chloe said. A heavy sigh caught her ear amidst the chorus of good mornings. Alyssa Kouris gave her an impressive eye roll, arms folded across her chest. The intimidation tactic was a little underwhelming, considering her My Little Pony shirt, but Chloe got the message. The girl had been sweet as pie in September, but something had changed in the last month. She ignored it for now, but made a mental note to keep an eye on her.

  “Did you know that Mrs. Townsend and I ran a race this weekend? Have any of you run a 5K with your family?” Several hands went up. “Cool! Were any of you at Marigold Park?” Charlie’s hand popped up. “Whoa, awesome, Charlie. Well, I got a really cool prize for you guys. It’s not here yet, but by the end of this week, we’ll have new robotics kits for the club.”