Julie Kagawa

They wanted me to sit, listen, learn, be quiet, when I wanted to run, shout, jump, fly.

Sometimes I think you're the only thing keeping me sane.

Is our life not exciting enough? Or do the lot of you just have some kind of death wish?

More dragons incoming...

You have no idea what you really are," the Elder Wyrm went on, "or why you are special to the dragons of Talon.

I found myself hating him, wanting to hurt him, to drive him away from the red-haired girl who was supposed to be mine.Breathless, I slumped to the wall, numb with the realization. This anger, these illogical feelings of rage and possessiveness...I was jealous. I was jealous of a girl I was supposed to be stalking, seducing, for the sole purpose of revealing her true nature. This had become more than an objective, more than a mission.I was falling for her.

Victory was close. Just one final push. "Send in the rest," I ordered. "All wings attack. Take that base down now.

One hand traced small circles against my back, and I pressed closer to him, listening to his heartbeat. __ used to think that having nothing to live for made you a better fighter,_ he murmured. __urns out I was wrong on a lot of fronts.

Shark!" I yelled as my feet hit the wet sand. "There's a shark out there! Everyone get out of the water!"Man, you want to see humans move fast? Scream that on a crowded beach and watch what happens. Its amazing the fear people have for a scaly, sharp toothed predator. I watched the water empty in seconds, parents scooping up their children and heading to shore, desperate to get out of the ocean, and found it a little ironic. They were so terrified of the big, nasty monster out in the water, when there was a bigger, nastier, deadlier one right here on the beach.

If I was in Talon, I would be the one in charge, I'd be the one calling the shots. I wouldn't have to take pointless exams, listen to humans or worry that my every move was being watched. In Talon, dragons were the bosses, the presidents, the CEOs. If I was a part of the organization, no one would tell me what to do ever again.I would have to let some things go. I t might be painful, but in the end, it would be worth it. Sacrifice was necessary, but I would be free.

The kind of bs is dead. Long live the queen.

I leaned back against the headboard and closed my eyes, feeling the inferno flair between us once more. It flickered and pulsed, but my blood was boiling on the inside and Ember was the fire that ignited it.

The organization likes to do their dirty business where no one can see it.

Rnesh karr slithis," I hissed back, which was Draconic for eat your own tail, the dragon version of go screw yourself. No extra translation needed.

Can't anyone ever start a fight without all the posturing and cheesy Bond-villain threats? It's not that hard. Here, let me demonstrate." And he smashed a fist into Colin's nose.

I didn't fall in love with how you looked," he murmured as his hand rose, gently brushing my cheek. "I fell in love with you."My eyes watered. And everything inside me melted into molten goo. "You are getting entirely too good at making a dragon cry," I saw and kissed him.

You can't be completely in love with a dragon and expect anything to be normal.

I wanted to spend more time with her; she was constantly in my thoughts, and right now the only thing I wanted was to lean in and kiss her. Which was, of course, disastrous for the mission, but I couldn't help it. Somewhere between that day on the beach when I'd met her for the first time and the night of the party when we'd kissed in the ocean, she had become something more than a potential target. She had, very inexplicably, become the most important thing in my life.And that terrified me.