Emma (Dark Fire) by Jodie B. Cooper Page B

fortress, I’ll tell General Maxwell. With everything else going on, having bloodsuckers so near the capital during school break will cause a complete uproar among the court peacocks.” She grimaced. “I guess it’s just as well I stopped at Minnie’s house for lunch.”
    Tyler seemed to remember Emma and glanced down. “Minnie’s a distant cousin. We have the same great, great grandfather.” He frowned as another batch of dragons flew overhead. “I guess people must’ve panicked.”
    Lydia snorted, propping a slender hand on her hip, she glanced between Emma and Keith. “That’s putting it mildly. Springville appeared in the middle of one of Earth’s villages. People started running and screaming. Martin Gulpenny was in dragon form when a horseless wagon smacked into him. I heard the metal wagon screech from two blocks away. People were shifting to dragon and gryphon, grabbing whatever child was nearest and taking to the air trying to escape. Parents were screaming for their kids. Then a group of teen gryphon showed up and started attacking the metal carriages. It was pure chaos.”
    Tyler grimaced at her words then suddenly grinned. “Was Andrew home?”
    “Your,” Lydia pointed at him, emphasizing the single word with a short growl, “miserable cousin was streaking through the air roaring as loud as he could and belching short bursts of fire. Shifting from dragon to wér, he’d drop onto roofs, and scream, ‘run for your lives! It’s the end of the world!’ When I get my hands on that heathen, I’m going to wring his neck. People automatically trust black dragons and he’s nothing but a menace.”
    “It’s not entirely his fault. You know how much Minnie coddles him. He’s just young.”
    “Young!” Lydia huffed in exasperation, throwing up her hands. “He’s half a year older than you. You weren’t that young five years ago.”
    “Aw, come on Aunt Lydia, he never means any harm. You just don’t remember.” His mouth twitched, trying not to smile. “I’ve heard some of the pranks you pulled at our age. You had granddad pulling his hair out. As I heard, you filled the primary dark fountain with rose scented bubble bath and…”
    Lydia’s growl cut him off. She glared at him. “I might be over four hundred, but I remember none of my pranks caused an entire village to evacuate in hysterics.”
    “Whoa!” Keith interrupted with a stunned expression. “Did you say you’re four hundred years old?”
    “Yes, why?” Lydia asked, shifting a bit closer to him.
    “Four hundred years and you ask why?” Emma squeaked, mouth gaping in shock. “You look like you’re in your twenties! Does that mean you people are immortal?”
    “Of course not, everyone eventually dies. Like all humans we live until we have a fatal accident or our mate dies,” Tyler said, a dark frown settled over his face. “Why would you even ask?”
    “Humph!” Emma harrumphed. Clasping her arms across her stomach, she frowned at him. “This is Earth. We’re normal humans. You know mortals. I’ll live another sixty or seventy years max, before I grow old and die.”
    Her words stumbled to a halt. Gasping, she clenched her hands tightly together as an ice-cold fire sweep through her, burning her and freezing her at the same time. Whimpering, she pressed a hand to the area above her heart as a feeling of desolation, of eternal emptiness, encased her chest.
    No one paid her the least bit of attention.
    The moment Emma said she would die, Tyler bent over double, cursing. An instant later, he threw back his head and roared. Despair filled the horrifying sound. He stumbled away, rushing toward the meadow. He shifted into dragon and flew away without a backward glance.
    She whimpered softly. The icy feeling wasn’t the same as the vampire attack. The vampire’s glamour hadn’t made her feel lost, totally lost without hope and hollow inside. Yeah, hollow was a good description. She felt as if a big, chunky hole had