Hard Boiled
The Dragon Born Academy 3
T.L. Christianson
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Copyright © 2021 by T.L. Christianson
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Edited by Kjirsten Territ
Cover by Raquel Lyon At Crooked Sixpence
Contents
1. Ashe
2. Sydney: 1 month later
3. Ashe
4. Sydney
5. Ashe
6. Sydney
7. Ashe
8. Sydney
9. Ashe
10. Sydney
11. Ashe
12. Sydney
13. Ashe
14. Sydney
15. Ashe
16. Sydney
17. Ashe
18. Sydney
19. Ashe
20. Sydney
21. Ashe
22. Sydney
23. Sydney: 1 week later
24. Ashe
25. Sydney
26. Ashe
27. Sydney
28. Ashe
29. Sydney
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1
Ashe
Darkness was falling, and one by one, the stars began filling the sky as it went from pale blue to a deep navy. I guided my dragon, Eondian, down to land in the pasture of my parent’s ranch. Before my beast even came to a stop, I jumped down and began pacing. My body was spent from hours flying, exhausted from pushing both Eondian and me in the sky, but I still twitched with restlessness.
I was at my absolute lowest.
Squeezing my eyes closed, I could see Sydney kneeling on her bed, eyes bright with anger as she yelled at me.
This was why I planned my life—to avoid things like this. To avoid situations where people were hurt, where I was hurt.
I didn’t care that I broke my heart because I deserved it. But Syd—my Sydney—didn’t deserve any of this.
The night closed around me as I continued to pace there in the tall grass wrapped up in my thoughts. Eondian bumped me with his snout until I absentmindedly stroked his eye ridge. He growled low in his throat before snorting out a plume of smoke.
I needed sleep, but my body twitched with the need to act—to fix things that couldn’t be fixed and to right the mess I’d made. But there was no immediate remedy. Only patience and time could solve this problem.
“Dragon’s teeth!” I cursed under my breath.
“Ashe?” Called a voice from the direction of the house, but I didn’t turn to see who approached. I knew who strode through the tall grass toward me, making it swish as he walked.
When Corbin neared, I stared out toward the tank, a small man made pond in the pasture.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, still not looking at him.
Corbin Bryant had been one of my closest friends since we were boys, and when we ended up at the same college for undergrad, our friendship was sealed. It had been hard enough living in the mundane world, but without Cor, I wasn’t sure I would’ve lasted long enough to finish undergrad, let alone my MBA.
He thumped me on the back, wanting to comfort me as waves of tension rolled off my mind. Raising his eyebrows, he blew out a breath. “I left Briony after my shift when your mom called me and said you’d gone rogue and were flying the skies in broad daylight above LA… besides, tomorrow’s my rest day, and I needed a break anyway.”
“I’m fine,” I told him, my voice gravelly. I bit the side of my cheek to hold in my emotion.
Like the good friend he was, Corbin said nothing, knowing I wasn’t okay and knowing that I’d eventually continue.
When the surge of heartache passed, I pulled my gaze away from the reflection of the rising moon on the pond.
Turning to him, I said, “How can everything inside me be crying out for one thing and yet, according to everyone else…” I scoffed, “even my own brain—I know that it’s wrong.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Dude, seriously—you did exactly what every other Prime in your situation would have done. They just don’t have the balls to say it.”
I shook my head. “No. I should’ve known. I should’ve realized how young she was, and I should’ve stopped Eondian. And maybe I couldn’t, but I won’t use that as an excuse because… ugh.”
Corbin stared up at Eondian as he flew low and landed. “I don’t know, man. The way you described it to me—the pull of the bond.”
… that irresistible need to connect… to be seen for who I was—not what I was. I didn’t have to say it. We were both Primes—both seen as a means to an end for most wyvern women, someone with power to be harnessed and used. Prime women were practically non-existent, so we dated wyvern women, knowing it would never be an equal partnership, would never result in a Tetrad—a bond between two Primes and their dragons. A bond that wasn’t guaranteed even if two Primes wanted it.
This Tetrad was what I left unfinished with Sydney… one of the most potent and rare unions known to the Dragonborn.
“Dude…” Corbin sighed out through his nose. “I can tell you’re spiraling down a dark path—don’t do it.”
I shifted, the grass crunching beneath my boots. Looking up, I caught sight of the cows as they began lumbering away, then trotting faster to avoid my dragon who had flown over to drink... or maybe harass them. Eondian was kind of an asshole sometimes.
I stared out into the night sky. Maybe it was the dark, or maybe the emotions I’d stuffed down were all coming up at once. Whatever the reason for my philosophical frame of mind, I said, “You know that deep, almost insatiable need for a connection on a primal level? I’d never experienced it, and truthfully I thought it didn’t exist… until that day I met Syd.”
My quiet companion blew out a breath and laughed, “What? Are you talking like love at first sight or lust?”
I shook my head, “No. It wasn’t love—or lust—at first sight, it was… I don’t know… something else. Like, something about her called to something deep within me, something primitive and ancient.”
Gazing over, I searched my friend’s face. His brown eyes were dark, but the moon reflected off his messy blond mop of hair.
“Man, I don’t know about that,” he told me. “I think you’re overthinking this. You always take too much on. Maybe it’s just you, or maybe it’s from being born into one of the four families. But you’ve always had this stick up your ass—like you had to be better, faster, smarter, stronger—and a Prime, since your brother wasn’t—especially since he wasn’t. I never had that. My parents were just happy to have me at all. Being a Prime wasn’t ever held over me like it was you.”
We watched Eondian as he bathed himself in the pond, dredging up the muck from the bottom before rolling in it and splashing.
“Am I going to have to ask, or are you going to tell me why you freaked your family out and nearly got yourself into a fuckton of trouble?”
“I let her go,” I whispered, my voice rough.
“What do you mean, you let her go? Dude, she’s your bondmate,” Corbin spat, then pointed to the gazebo over in the distance. “Come on, let’s go sit down.”
I matched his pace as we walked. “Even as difficult as my upbringing was—always in the spotlight, always watched—at least I had a childhood. Syd
has been nothing but a slave to George Miller.”
“The guy who raised her? You know he’s been brought to Briony; he’s in lockup.” He looked over at me to see my response.
“About time… and yet, she cares for him,” I told Corbin. That fact burned inside me like a lump of smoldering coal. “I felt it through the bond. She genuinely thought he was her dad. Even after she realized that he wasn’t, she still thinks of him; she still loves that asshole.”
He grunted and shook his head. “Does she know how you feel?”
“No….”
Corbin cut me off, “So what about the bond? There are a bunch of rumors going around about it. I heard the Council didn’t charge you, but that they’re denying it? What does that mean? I mean, I thought that a bond was a bond. I get that you had this connection, and I don’t blame you for leaving my sister, Lacy—but what I don’t get is how you go from almost proposing to one person to having this,” he made air quotes, “ancient and primal connection with someone else.”
I’d only spoken about the bond a little to him because I wasn’t sure what everything meant, and I wasn’t ready to articulate the enormity of the situation.
Maybe it was time. “When our dragons mated back in January… all those months ago,” I sucked in a breath, almost unsure of how to explain everything, even to Corbin. “It was like Sydney’s life flashed before my eyes. I lived her emotions and saw into her mind. It’s like I’ve known her all my life—that’s how strong this is. It was like opening a door into each other’s brains. I can sense her and feel her, and she can do the same.” Or at least we could until I pissed her off and she blocked me out.
“But you’re keeping things from her?” he asked, his brow furrowed.
I waited to answer, the grass swishing under our feet as we walked.
Entering the shadow of the gazebo, we strode up the creaky steps and stepped up onto the bench before balancing on the railing, sitting so we could each lean against one of the roof posts.
“Yes. But… you and I have lived with Primes all our lives. We know how to close our mind—Sydney doesn’t…” The memory of her sorrow and fear from that day, her innocent desire for me, burned in my thoughts.
“Because she was new to the Dragonborn,” he murmured, thinking.
“Yeah,” I agreed. All rational thought fled my mind when she looked at me with those big blue-green eyes.
“Yeah. You’re screwed. I’ve never seen you make that stupid expression you’re making right now…” Corbin told me. “You still have another year to serve in the guard, and she’s eighteen when? One, two years?”
“Fourteen months. She’s almost seventeen… not that it makes it much better,” I amended.
He pursed his lips, considering my words. “Can’t you just get married?”
“Where did you hear that? Did my dad tell you that?” I barked.
Lighthearted Cor let out a silent laugh, smiling. “No, Evgeni. He’s here.”
I groaned. “He’s here? Shit.”
Sucking in a shaky breath, I slid my backpack off and tugged out the bottle of whiskey before unscrewing the top and taking a long gulp. I needed fortification.
“No. We’re not getting married. Marriage is for people who can’t make a bond. I’m not a mundane,” I scoffed.
“But man, you were ready to marry my sister. What’s the difference?”
I spun on him, growling with self-loathing. “I’m ready to settle down, ready to move on with my life, but Sydney isn’t. This entire thing is my fault. If only I’d controlled Eondian, kept him from mating with her Dragon Aaraeth—then we could’ve waited. She could’ve lived a normal life… she’s just not ready.” I swallowed a gulp from the bottle, having spent most of my anger. Now I just felt empty. “She kissed some kid at the academy… after our bond. And I knew I couldn’t… I wouldn’t control her like George had controlled her. That’s why I told her to date… to explore other relationships and live her life as she should.”
Another long swallow burned my throat, but I welcomed the sensation.
Corbin rubbed his forehead in irritation. “Oh, Ashe… You idiot. You try to be perfect all the freaking time! But life is messy. And the emotions I felt rolling off you when you first landed—well, I have a pretty good guess that Sydney wasn’t happy about you leaving her.”
I stood and stumbled from the liquor and lack of food. “I’m not sleeping with an underage girl. Why is this such a flexible issue for everyone? What’s wrong with being patient and waiting?” I threw my arms up and shook my head. “What you all don’t get is that I love her,” I looked down at my hands, avoiding his gaze, but admitting, “and yes—I want her… but I have to do what’s right—for her, even if it’s difficult.”
He stood and jumped down from the bench, pacing. With his hands on hips, Corbin stopped and met my gaze in the dark. “You need to stop feeling so guilty.”
We both turned toward the presence of other Primes nearby. They were making their way toward us, the light from the house casting two men in shadow.
I turned back toward Corbin. “I’m coming to terms with the situation, and in time she will too. Syd will come back to me, and when she does, this will all be worth it,” I told him, even as he gave me a doubtful expression.
I hope you’re right, Eondian snorted, speaking to both of us.
I slumped down into the seat, looking up at my friend.
Corbin loomed over me, one foot on the bench beside me. “Prime bondmates are very rare. You’ve been given a gift. Why are you fucking around?”
I growled low in my throat at his question.
Leaning over the rail, I watched my dragon. A brave cow near the water held his ground for a few moments before being chased away by my dragon. Eondian splashed toward it into the pond, sending a wave across the other side. The cows who bedded down beneath the trees nearby mooed in protest.
Eondian didn’t care. He continued to wallow in the muck and water, making the occasional loud clap as his wings slapped the surface.
“You know, that was a stupid thing you did today—riding Eondian from L.A to Monterey.”
I raised an eyebrow at the irony of the situation. It was usually me berating him about being stupid.
“I know,” I sighed. “I was tempted to hook up with Summer’s friend… what’s her name? Or Erin, or Hannah—not Lacy.”
“Oh, of course not my sister,” he agreed dryly. “Did you?”
“Did I what? Hook up with someone? No!” I laughed derisively.
I couldn’t, because I wouldn’t be with that person. I’d be thinking of Sydney—touching her skin, kissing her lips, losing myself in her. Dirtying what we would have… no, I wouldn’t do that.
Corbin raised his eyebrows at me, “Oh, because you’re such a good guy? No. Ashe, I know your body count. Look at you! You’re whipped, man! Is this why you picked up this ridiculously large and cheap whiskey?”
I nodded as I took another swallow. It wasn’t great on an empty stomach, but at this point, I didn’t care.
“This isn’t you, Ashe,” Corbin told me, reaching for the bottle and sniffing it before taking a drink, then making a face. “Ugh! I’ve never seen you drink like this… not even back in undergrad.”
I took the bottle back, and he reached for it again.
I escaped his attempts to take it this time and instead lifted it for another long swallow.
A noise from behind me made me turn in that direction, searching the field, shrouded in night.
The presence of a powerful Prime had come closer now, making my senses tingle with alarm even through the warm buzz of alcohol.
It was Evgeni Garin—by far the most powerful Prime I knew, maybe even as powerful as the Prime Leader.
I’d known Evgeni all my life. He and my father were both Harrow Primes and went way back. Evgeni was the ultimate fixer as well as the leader of the political faction called the Elibera. Everyone came to him if they needed help, even those from our riva
l faction, the Orthodox. He traded favors and solved problems, earning him a reputation of being morally ambiguous. But I knew the truth.
Evgeni lived by a code.
This was why we were all shocked when it came to light that Sydney, this long lost female Prime, was his biological daughter.
I caught Corbin out of the corner of my eye as he made his way across the gazebo to escape.
“You’re leaving me?” I asked as his boots shuffled down the steps.
He shook his head and turned back to meet my eye. “Yep,” he said, before starting to run through the field toward the house.
“Corbin,” Evgeni called out in greeting as my friend waved, then continued to run.
The coward.
As Evgeni mounted the steps to the gazebo, the old boards creaked beneath his feet ominously.
I looked away and swallowed another gulp of my cheap liquor.
If I allowed Evgeni to see what boiled inside me, then I’d break. I’d practically grown up in his house, been raised by him and his people.
After all, I was the virtual Prince of the Elibera, mentored by the best—Evgeni himself— trained to fight, and expected to become the next Prime Leader. A position I’d been groomed for from birth.
Evgeni didn’t laugh or smile as he usually did. Instead, he eyed the bottle I held loosely in my left hand.
“Wow. Drinking? Things must be bad,” he said with just a touch of humor that didn’t reach his eyes.
Forcing a mask of calmness over my features, I met his eye and shrugged before setting the bottle down carefully.
Hard Boiled Page 1