Shadowed Lies Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Shadowed Lies

  Soul of a Dragon, Book 2

  Clara Hartley

  Copyright © 2018 by Clara Hartley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Prologue

  Karona’s wings ached from a long day of flying.

  He swung the wooden door open and unbuckled his weapon gear from his back. A long, tiring day of work had just ended, and he would be greeted by his prize. Rayse Everstone, their femrah, worked him hard, but at least he and his family had a comfortable clan to house in.

  “How was the trip, darling?” his wife said, cradling their young son in her arms. His baby boy sucked his thumb. “Don’t do that,” Marley chastised him, and pried their son’s digit from his lips. “Why don’t you tell him? He always listens to you first.”

  Karona smiled and scooted over to his family. “Not until I have a kiss.”

  She shot him a warning glare, but it was not without flirtation. He could recognize the slight upturn of her lip. She forced a scowl, but stilled leaned up and pressed her mouth on his cheek.

  “A kiss on the lips, I mean,” he said, dragging the both of them into his arms.

  “Don’t be greedy.”

  He had thought his life was perfect—little did he know, it was to end that very moment.

  “Femriahl, what are you doing here?” Marley asked.

  Karona cranked his head around, startled by the suddenness of his wife’s outburst. He pulled himself away and prepared to greet Constance. She often carried herself with a harmless posture—not necessarily friendly, but not hostile either. This time was different. The darkness in her gaze made even a full dragon male like him uneasy. “Femriahl?” he said, pacing forward.

  Constance muttered something beneath her breath and lifted her hand. He waited for the magic and retreated closer to his family as his protective instincts kicked in. He wasn’t sure why he acted so worried. The femriahl wouldn’t hurt them. He waited but nothing happened. He allowed himself to relax.

  Then hatred crashed into him.

  Pure, intense hatred for Marley carved an ugly pattern through him. A growl tore from his chest, and his dragon awoke with newfound rage.

  “Karona, love, what’s—”

  He spun around and summoned his talons. They sprouted from his fingertips, like the tools of an executioner. This anger… this pain… It wasn’t normal. His mind told him he ought to love Marley. His child, frightened, clung to his mother. Karona had no contempt for his son.

  But the boy was in his way.

  He shoved the nuisance aside and pounced on his prey. His mind was in a fog, and emotions clouded reason.

  “Karona, please!”

  He squeezed the life out of her. The life force wisped away from Marley, and she withered in his hands, leaking away like water from a cracked glass.

  “P-please…” Her last plea was little more than a choked cry.

  And she was gone.

  He blinked. The anger disappeared. It was promptly replaced by ghastly horror. What had he done?

  He hunched over the form of his dead wife. His son lay next to her, baby dragon wings spread behind the boy’s back, and tears spilling from his eyes.

  His mind drifted in a sea of confusion. This… it didn’t make any sense.

  The horror of what he’d just done slammed into him, and Karona threw his head back and howled.

  Chapter 1

  Try not to miss me too much,” Rayse said, brushing his lips against Constance’s neck. She was a sweet scent of herbs and delight.

  Greta sniffed. “Will you two lovebirds stop mucking up my clinic? Hurry up and drop off your mate, then be on your way.”

  He feathered his thumb over Constance’s arm, where his mate mark curved in a dark, inky pattern. He smiled, knowing she truly belonged to him now.

  “I think I can survive a day without the Black Menace,” Constance replied.

  “Oh? Don’t come begging for my attention when you need me, then.”

  She laughed. “I can assure you I won’t.”

  “You’re in a better mood today,” Rayse said. “That’s good.”

  “The pain gets easier,” she said. “I still miss Papa.” Her face sagged and lost its color. Watching her upset made him the same way.

  “I never should have brought it up.” He dragged his arm around her waist, hoping to provide comfort. She felt so small and delicate under his touch. He loved that.

  She cupped his face. “No, it’s good. It’s only been few months. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of his… passing. It’s good to talk about grief. I can’t be bottling everything up.”

  “Well, feel better soon, little fire. You look prettier when you’re smiling.”

  “Oh? As if I’d look better if I cried.”

  “I can name a few I’d prefer crying. They wouldn’t look nearly as beautiful as you do, even if you were wearing your most unpleasant expression.” He tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. “I’ll pick you up at the end of the day. There’s this place in Everndale with the sweetest of desserts.”

  “But you hate sweet foods.”

  “You love them.”

  A blush bloomed on her face, coloring her cheeks with a rosy tint.

  “Are you done yet, pumpkins?” Greta asked, hands on hips.

  “I should leave before your mentor rips half my face off,” he said.

  Constance nodded and projected a mock sense of urgency. “You should.”

  He kissed her one final farewell, and took off, summoning his wings. The familiar ache pierced through his scapulae. He didn’t pay it much mind, and welcomed it like an old friend. He had a long list of errands to deal with today, and couldn’t wait to finish them all to spend more time with Constance.

  He saw Fraser swooping in from above in dragon form. The blue beast shifted back into a human. Rayse heard the sound of bones twisting and cracking. As the dragon shifted, the bag they often used to carry around their items fell from its grasp and lay on the ground. Fraser, in human form, reached down and picked up his clothes, then slipped them on.

  Rayse hadn’t seen Fraser for the last month. The return of his friend brought a smile to his lips. At least there was good news for him today.

  “Did you get it?” Rayse asked.

  Fraser dug into his pouch. “The soul beads? They’re right here, milord.”

  Rayse eagerly took it from his friend. He had been counting on the team he had sent Fraser with to procure the beads for him.

  “A gift for Constance?” Fraser asked.

  “I’m hoping this will cheer her up. She was raving about it the other day. Was it difficult?”

  “Ridiculously. The water witches aren’t kind to dragons. Browick got the tip of his tail cut off because of them. We had to change our plans after that. We heard the Grimfire dragons had a good alliance with at least one of them witches, so we went to them instead. Diovan Grimfire…”

 
; “Was he a good leader?”

  “He’s an ass. Sorry to be harsh, milord, but he is. Got us doing backbreaking work for his amusement. His wife seems to be better at keeping the clan together. Diovan’s an aloof asshole.” Fraser fished something from his pocket. “Oh, and he asked me to pass you this.”

  “A letter?”

  “Says it’s important that you read it.”

  Rayse’s fingers brushed the crinkling brown paper. He was about to slip the envelope open when Shen, his other closest subject in Gaia, swept down in half-human form.

  Shen landed, leaving his yellow wings open, then quickly said, “You have to see this, milord. It’s troubling.” Shen’s words had gushed from his lips before he had properly balanced himself on the ground.

  “What happened?” Rayse asked. “Another raid in the villages? More kidnappings?”

  “No. It has more of a domestic nature.” Deep cuts furrowed Shen’s temples.

  Rayse shot Shen a look of puzzlement. “Murder?” he guessed. They haven’t had one in years. Besides the challenges for leadership, the Everstone clan was mostly peaceful.

  “It’s Karona. He killed his dragon wife.”

  Shock coursed through Rayse, but he didn’t show it. Instead, he shot Shen an intense glare. A dragon male, killing his own mate? That was unheard of. His mouth set into a thin line. “Take me there.”

  “His home isn’t far off from here,” Shen said. The yellow dragon flapped his wings and levitated.

  “You must be tired,” Rayse said to Fraser. “I’ll handle this. Go home to Marzia. She must be eager to meet you again.”

  Relief spread over Fraser’s face. “I’m eager to see her, too.”

  The three of them took off. Fraser made a left turn, while Rayse and Shen moved right.

  Rayse meandered through the clouds and landed in front of Karona’s house. There was blood throughout the scene. A dragonling boy in dragon form was cowering in the dark shades of the quaint hut.

  The scent of iron and death hit Rayse’s nostrils. The place looked like it was in the aftermath of war. He scanned over the torn sheets and the toppled furniture. Karona had been one of the friendlier dragons. That man had lived a quiet life, and mostly minded his own business. This destruction… It wasn’t like him, or at least what Rayse had known him to be.

  “That’s his wife’s blood?” Rayse asked.

  “His own,” Shen responded. “He hurt himself gravely after the incident. He says he can’t remember any of it.”

  Rayse strode toward the curled-up male, who was lying in front of a dead body. The man was rambling nonsense to himself. “Karona?”

  The dragon craned his head up. “I can’t die. I killed her but I can’t die.” His arms were covered in deep gashes, self-inflicted wounds that were already slowly knitting up. Rayse’s eyes traveled to the man’s neck, where splotches of blood stained in a mottled red. The red grime was mixed with Karona’s tears.

  “Karona, pull yourself together. What about your son?” Rayse’s gaze crept to the pitiful-looking little dragon boy.

  “I killed her. I don’t know what came over me. It just happened… One minute I was greeting her, and then she was gone.” The killer looked down at his hands with confusion.

  “Tell me what happened,” Rayse commanded.

  “I deserve to die.” Karona wouldn’t stop his ramblings. “I don’t know what to do. She’s gone. This wasn’t supposed… this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  “What do you remember?”

  “Nothing… Nothing… I don’t recall anything. She’s dead. Marley… Oh, Marley. I… I killed her. Killed her. She was just smiling at me moments ago. My wife…” Karona bent his head low and started sobbing. His cry was an ugly sound.

  The man couldn’t seem to get a grip of himself, and he had little important information to give.

  Shen asked Rayse, “What do we do with him, milord?”

  Rayse sighed. “Cuff him and take him to the dungeons. We run a trial later today.”

  “A trial? But the man isn’t in the right state of mind.”

  “I’m not certain what happened, but murder is a murder. And every crime needs punishment.” Rayse looked at the quivering dragon. Karona was a man who had lost everything. He had no desire to live. “I think he’ll prefer that.”

  “Yes, milord.” Shen dragged a pair of dragon-stone cuffs from his arsenal and locked them around the ankles of the poor man.

  Karona stood and followed Shen’s instructions without resistance. The prisoner allowed Shen to lead him along, his eyes dead and empty.

  Rayse walked out of the decrepit hut, feeling already tired from the gravity of what had happened. Would this be an isolated incident? This simply left him with one more mystery to solve. He wondered if Constance would have any clue as to what was going on.

  “You should stop getting into so many fights,” Constance told her patient. “This is the fourth time I’ve seen you this week. And it’s Tuesday.”

  The teenage dragon, Reorden, sniffed. “It’s their fault for getting on my nerves so much. Luckily, you’re here to set my bones straight every time.”

  “You can’t count on always being this lucky.”

  “We’re dragons, what do you want us to do? Get along?”

  She shot him a chastising glare, then crunched the young male’s joints into place. Reorden whimpered. “You wouldn’t have to go through this if you’d just be a little more careful,” she said. His bones would heal in an hour, but she wrapped his arm in bandages just in case. She smoothed a hand over the bandages when she was done, pleased with her handiwork. “Try to control your anger next time?”

  “I’m a growing boy. Dragon puberty isn’t the kindest on emotions.” He gave her a cheeky grin. He recovered from his pain quickly.

  “I’ve seen calm teenage dragons.”

  “They’re the strange ones.” He was still grinning, but shortly after, his face fell. Reorden stiffened. He was looking at the entrance. “I don’t think Lord Everstone likes you working here.”

  Her eyes followed her patient’s. She saw Rayse perched at the entrance, wearing a mask of warning.

  “He gets like that.” She smiled to herself about the way the boy looked like he was going to wet himself. “Don’t you enjoy sticking up for yourself and picking challenges?”

  “Not with him.” The young man swallowed nervously.

  “Stay tough.” She made one final check of his wound, to make sure everything was in order, then stood up. She fished her coat from the hanger. Greta had already left, and Reorden was the last patient for the day. They were getting fewer visits from the dragons these days, save for the mishram who were all standing at the back of the clinic. The Dragon Mother’s disappearance had stopped their enemies from getting so riled up.

  “Go on now,” she said to Reorden. “I need to lock up.”

  The boy wasted no time in scampering away. He avoided Rayse like the plague as he left. Rayse wouldn’t stop glaring at him, and that made Reorden quicken.

  She lifted a cricket from one of her jars and shut the doors behind the curtains of the clinic. She whispered a cheap spell to make sure they were shut tight. The insect fell dead. Only Greta and Constance knew the password for reopening the clinic. She ambled up to Rayse. She flashed him a warm look despite his hot, territorial gaze. She knew he wouldn’t hurt the boy. His dragon was past that because they’d finished their mate bond.

  Almost finished it.

  A pang of guilt hit her chest when she thought about it. She still hadn’t told Rayse about the temporary spell. He was so joyous about their new dynamic that she couldn’t bring herself to mention it. She recalled the way he had stormed off after the bond had just formed, right after she told him about trying to stop them from being mates. She was afraid the same thing would happen again once she revealed the truth.

  Her aversion to the truth had started with light procrastination. Then it dragged on. Soon, weeks had passed and it felt
like she had passed the point of no return when it came to telling the truth.

  “I thought I asked you to save the male patients for Greta,” he said, a growl in his throat. “You don’t have to touch them.”

  “As you can see, she isn’t around.”

  “You could have asked him to wait till tomorrow.”

  She chuckled. “It doesn’t work like that.” She kept close to his side as they strode into the cool winds. Her coat was warm enough, but Rayse felt far more comfortable.

  “I thought you didn’t like males?”

  “You taught me that not all of them are terrible.” She hooked her fingers over his. “Now, dessert?”

  “Actually, I have something better.” He dug into his pocket. He rounded his arm around her and pulled her close. She could smell his ashy scent. Did he mean sex? He wouldn’t be wrong if he meant that sex was better than dessert.

  She shot him a curious glance, ignoring the heady sensation his presence gave her.

  He smiled as he pulled out a small sack. It wasn’t larger than the palm of her hand. He passed it to her, and she received the gift carefully.

  “What is it?” she asked. She tried to be cautious about getting her hopes up.

  “Look inside.”

  She tugged the seams of the pouch open and peered in. Her heart fluttered when she had the first inkling of what it was. She heard the objects in the pouch clink together. “Soul beads? How did you get them?” She picked one out, handling it as if it were worth a kingdom—and it probably was.

  “I sent Fraser and some men. They complained that these came at no easy cost.”

  “Thank you,” she said, grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. These would be incredibly useful in her research. “I can’t believe you listened to that long ramble. I’m touched.” She rewarded him with a kiss. Knowing Rayse had gone through the trouble to procure these for her sent butterflies through her chest.

  “Do you want to go to Everndale?” he asked. “I’m sure that store’s still open.”

  “I’d rather not,” she said. “I want to test my new toys out.” She shook the beads in her palm and smiled sheepishly up at her mate.