Phoenix Read Online Free Page A

me. “Do you think we should get back there?”
    “I think we need to make sure everyone’s okay. That was a big explosion.” I withdraw my hand from over Nia’s shoulder, taking care not to infringe on her personal space. She seems skittish. I don’t want to do anything that might prompt her to flee.
    “We need to be careful.” Ram turns to Nia. “I’d like you to come with us.”
    Nia shakes her head. “The mamluki—”
    “We know how to fight them. They hunt us, too.”
    “But she’ll send them after us—all of them, pursuing us. It’s not the same as being hunted. They know my scent. She will set them after me.” Nia glances at the sky as though weighing a decision. Is she going to leave us in hopes of leading the yagi away from us?
    I don’t want her to try. “Nia? You said you’ve been looking for other dragons for many long years. We’ve been looking, too. We’ve finally found you. Please stay with us.”
    “I won’t endanger you.” She refuses bluntly.
    “We endanger ourselves,” Ram insists. “We came here. We caused that explosion. I don’t think you’ll be able to hide any longer. You must stay with us.”
    Ram reaches for her hand. I want to warn him that Nia is already nervous enough, that he shouldn’t push her, but Nia doesn’t seem to need my help.
    She takes a step back from Ram and looks at him steadily, her hands now beyond his reach. Technically, she’s a bit shorter than he is—he’s well over six feet tall—but something about her regal posture and the tilt of her head makes it almost seem as though she’s looking down at him. She has an inherent dignity that holds my gaze. She owns whatever space she occupies, and right now, she’s ordering Ram out of that space without saying a word.
    Nia obviously doesn’t care for my brother’s bossy approach. Fortunately, I learned how to wheedle from an early age. It’s a technique that requires more humility than most dragons are willing to exhibit, but right now, it may be my best hope for keeping Nia from flying away.
    “Please, Nia. We’re more afraid of losing you than of facing the mamluki.”
    “You don’t understand,” Nia’s voice is strained. There’s something under her words—a barely-suppressed grief, I think. She chokes past it, covers it with something more like anger. “I am a harbinger of death. The longer you are in my presence, the more certain your demise.”
    Ram and I exchange glances. Some girls have a flair for the dramatic, but I don’t think that’s what Nia’s up to right now. Ram’s face says he wonders if there isn’t more to Nia’s claims.
    “We are strong and valiant fighters,” Ram asserts. “We’ve tangled with yagi before, many times. They are troublesome, yes. A menace—”
    “I will tell you,” Nia cuts Ram’s speech short. “There was another dragon.”
    Nia has our full attention now, though her words sound strangled. “I only consented to work for Eudora in exchange for information about other dragons. That was the agreement. She told me where a dragon might be found. I traveled there. Found her.”
    “Her?” I repeat, partly in hope and surprise, and partly because Nia’s voice is so strained I can’t be certain I heard her correctly—and this is one point in which I cannot endure any uncertainty.
    “Yes. Her. She—she was an ancient dragon, injured long ago in the battles against the dragons. She lived alone, betrayed by her people, unable to fly after she lost an arm and a wing. I found her and I rejoiced that I was no longer alone, but hardly had she told me of her past than the mamluki caught up to me, trained on my scent. I fought—I fought to defend us both. It was not enough. They swarmed us. Killed her. Drove me back to the white witch.”
    Nia looks at us, her eyes imploring. “They are baited by my scent. I will not watch another dragon die because of me.”
    I sense she’s about to leave, but even as I’m wondering what I could possibly do