Page 12 of To Match A Dragon's Fire

It’d be a lot of work to turn the land around, but we could do it.

I could do it.

I wasn’t the innocent girl who’d left that town with dreams of a wonderful future. Now I was hardened. Roughed up a little. Old enough to know I could handle whatever came my way.

And I couldn’t care less that my ex-husband was there with his cheating, homewrecking wife while the entire small town knew every bit of my business.

Yep. I was a mature, independent woman.

I bit into a piece of gas station chocolate to chase my sip of wine, wondering if we should risk cracking another bottle.

“Do you mind if Sam comes?” Willow asked as she stood, grabbing the empty wine bottle to cart it away. She’d be the first of us in bed tonight and I was sure the Bronco would be packed and ready to go by the time I woke up.

“Why would we mind?” I glanced at the mantle where the urn sat with Sam’s ashes. I hadn’t liked the guy in life, but he wasn’t such a douchebag in death.

Plus, he’d helped sire Harper and she was my favorite little kid. He could travel with us if Willow wanted.

“Guess we’re all going.” Willow nodded at the urn on her way to the kitchen.

“You know, this feels meant to be.” Riley sighed, leaning back against the couch. Her shoulders were less tense as she stared up through the sunglasses at the ceiling.

“What does?” I relaxed beside her.

“We’re the most screwed-up group of women I’ve ever met.” She chuckled. “It’s fitting that we’re doing the apocalypse together.”

“We’re not that messed up.”

Riley pointed to her face and then to Sam’s urn before motioning to me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Come on.” Wine sloshed to the rim as she held up her glass. “Don’t pretend you aren’t afflicted with our awful taste in men. Even if we ignore the string of bad hookups you’ve left behind, I’m pretty sure your ex-husband ranks up there with the worst of the worst.”

She wasn’t saying anything I didn’t already know.Which is why I don’t want to go...

But it was too late to back out now.

“It’s a good thing we have each other then.” I clinked my glass against hers in salute, laughing softly at the ridiculousness of it all. “To bad choices and surviving the end of the world with my slightly damaged, hot-mess best friends by my side.”

4

Kieran

Earth Giveth and Earth Taketh Away

My work boots were still coated in wood dust and dirt as I headed into the den of vipers.

I’d thought about holding this meeting in the dining hall, but the conference room was better suited for dragons’ temperaments.

There, the tables were bolted to the floor and the chairs were made of stainless steel to provide a measure of fire resistance.

I was quite fond of my oak dining table and wanted to preserve it.

The last time I’d held a meeting of the clans was almost fifty years ago. It’d gone as well as I assumed this one would, so I had reason to be worried about my table.

Fredrick waited at the door, sitting in his specialized wheelchair that held his massive frame. At almost seven centuries old, his legs weren’t what they once were. But his mind was keen as ever and I couldn’t run this place without him.

“They’re restless,”Fredrick spoke telepathically to me. The mental connection only worked with family,mates, and those protected members adopted into my flock.

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