Freedom's Fall Read Online Free Page A

hands over the grumpy
dragonet, knowing he’d lost this battle before it even started.
    “Good morning, Oskaal,” Sorcha said, baring her teeth. “Would
you like to be civil or would you like me to explain to Tengale how you growled
at me and hurt my feelings?”
    Poor Oskaal squeaked, shot into the air and disappeared with
a hasty pop.
    A laughing Sorcha dusted off her hands. “And that’s what
happens when the biggest, meanest dragon in the den claims you as his pet.” She
fell onto the couch next to Tansy. “It’s good to be me.”
    Tansy chuckled. Sorcha was a powerhouse in her own right.
With the weight of the two senior dragons in the den behind her, she got her
own way more often than not. Even her mates gave in to her, though not always
with good grace. One of Sorcha’s husbands, Jaxmyre Randovar, was the den commander
and he didn’t like being told what to do by anybody. Kaelum Sentrellovere, her
other husband, was a sweet, generous man who seemed to be the peacemaker of
their family.
    Jax and Kae’s battle dragons, Tengale and Jaysada, had
firmly and irrevocably claimed Sorcha as their pet, and the fiery Bostonian had
no qualms about throwing Tengale’s weight around.
    Sorcha slapped the couch cushion. “So, koala girl, are you
ready for your dragon-talking lesson?”
    “Koala girl?” Tansy couldn’t help cracking a smile despite
the hokey nickname.
    “Yep. As you are one of only two Aussies in our little
community, I want to be culturally sensitive.”
    Tansy snorted. Sensitive her ass. Sorcha grinned and kept
talking. “I call Chelsea kangaroo girl, so that one’s taken, but koalas are
cute. Right?”
    Only if you’d never heard them grunting and squealing in the
middle of the night. Tansy’s dad loved camping and insisted that it bonded the
family. He particularly enjoyed the rustic, natural appeal of bush campsites
with no facilities. After learning to dig a hole to go to the bathroom, koalas
had been the least of her childhood worries.
    Tansy refrained from enlightening her American friend on the
realities of wildlife in the Australian bush. Instead she chose to focus on her
Concern of the Moment—because god knew, she had plenty
to choose from.
    “About the dragon-talking thing,” Tansy said, half tempted
to simply nix the idea altogether. “I’m not sure I want a den full of scary and
scaly blabbing away inside my mind.”
    “I don’t blame you.” Sorcha shuddered. “I wouldn’t want that
either. But you can relax—only Fellescend and Zenbaylan
will communicate with you.” She winked in a way that wasn’t reassuring and
Tansy could almost feel herself being railroaded.
    Sorcha sailed on, oblivious. “Usually the blacks won’t talk
to anyone but the two Enforcers they’re partnered with. Happily—or unhappily—for us, the ones who
carried us back from the rescue mission now consider us their pets.” Sorcha
pulled a face that suggested that acquisitive claim could go either way. “They’re
also very territorial. Tengale and Jaysada will only talk to me, Benmonth and
Annlyss will only talk to Chelsea, and Fellescend and Zenbaylan have reserved
their privilege for you.”
    Tansy rubbed her eyes, trying to get her head around the
idea of talking to someone mind to mind. Or was a dragon some thing ?
    The concept was a two-edged sword, though there was no
denying the advantage of scaly communication. If she could “talk” to Dev and
Rye’s dragons, it would give her an immeasurable level of security. And as
their pet, she would belong in the den regardless of her relationship with Dev
and Rye.
    But the downside was her fear of flying. The dragons seemed
too arrogant not to call her out if they knew about her phobia. She wasn’t sure
she was ready to deal with that on top of everything else she was juggling.
    Unfortunately Sorcha didn’t seem to be in the mood to take
no for an answer. And—aside from confessing the truth—Tansy had no real excuse not to commit to a