Fire The Blood: Dragon Mage Series Book III by Kelly Lucille Page B

Solan, and the worry was clear on her face. 
"Lady Asha has flown."  She turned to look directly at Braedon, who
felt the news like a kick to his solar plexus.  For a moment he could not
breathe.  " You must go after her." 
    He narrowed his eyes at
her careful words.  "Don't you mean I should bring her back?"
    Melisande licked her lips
and shook her head slowly.  The wind kicked up her skirts and then darted about
the room, blowing a warm warning across all their senses.  Her eyes turned
sad.  "Neither of you will be returning here: not this day."
    Braedon stilled utterly,
feeling his stomach drop.  "Riva?"
    Lady Melisande's eyes
apologized even while she spoke.  "The two of you have always had separate
paths to walk."
    Braedon clenched his
fists, feeling the heat climb his arms with his agitation.  Few things could
cause his control to slip, but this was one of them.  "I cannot leave her
alone again, no matter her path or mine."
    Melisande pressed her
lips together, the wind picking up as she tilted her head to listen.  She
shivered visibly, and her mate moved to pull her into his arms.  His eyes were
molten and only for her.
    Melisande seemed to lose
some terrible tension when he touched her.  She patted his arm, her eyes going
back to Braedon.  "Riva will never be alone again.  Nor is she any longer
yours to protect."  Braedon would have argued, but she continued, and her
words stopped him cold.  "But I fear should you take any more time, even
to say goodbye, Lady Asha will be lost, forever."

CHAPTER SIX
    Asha reveled in the
freedom of flight that she had not anticipated.  Had she known the complete and
glorious liberation she would feel riding the thermals on the wings of a
phoenix, she would have never left the sky.  When she added in the feeling of
finally leaving behind Dracon and all that it represented, it was if the
shackles had finally been removed.
    Asha had prearranged with
Clare that they would stop at the edge of Kinkaid land.  She was still shaking
her head over the conversation that lead her here.  After knocking on Clare's
door in desperation, she had burdened the girl with a few key secrets in the
hopes that the young mage would understand her dilemma and want to help.  Clare
had listened to the entire story, blinked, and then smiled, answering simply
and a bit recklessly in Asha's opinion. 
    Her "Let's go!"
was so very young.
    But because of the way
she foolishly jumped in to help, Asha was now free of Forsaken and on her way
to freedom.  Flying so magnificently was a perk she had not anticipated.  It
was with an almost ache that Asha jumped from the back of the phoenix and
waited for the girl to transform.  When she did, Clare smiled at her full out:
the first true smile she had seen since she met the girl.
    "Thank you, Clare. I
hope that you don't get into too much trouble."
    "It doesn't
matter," Clare said, a mischievous light in her eyes.  "I finally get
to do something other than hide." A worried look replaced the twinkle. 
"You should let me take you the rest of the way.  If you cannot transform
into a dragon, it will be impossible for you to get through the gate and all
the way south without one of the dragons bringing you back.  Melly told me the
dragon knights are loyal to General Solan, but some of the houses have their
own guard and do not always have the same code of honor the knights live
by."
    "All the more reason
you should head back now, before I leave Kinkaid land.  I would not have you in
danger."
    Clare sighed, kicking a
rock with her long, leather-encased legs.  "I do not know how much longer
I can stay in hiding this way.  Before we came here, we were in hiding, but it
seems so much worse when we were supposed to finally be free.  I am beginning
to think that there is nowhere a mage can be safe."
    Asha studied the girl,
wishing she could tell her that Dracon would be the safe place she expected.  "Do
you feel unsafe at Forsaken?  At House Fire and