All Chapters of Called by the Dragon: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

 "I don't think about him at all. Except the things I told you about him, that's all.""Oh, don't be like that. I want to help. Trust me, I know I said I've only been here a few months, but I'm very gifted at this sort of thing. As a matter of fact, you can ask any of the other girls when you see them next. They'll tell you. I've been training for this since I was fifteen, and I know how to read people when it comes to those syrupy sweet feelings they try to hide."Anzi leaned away from her. She most certainly did not like hearing all of that. As a matter of fact, she couldn't help but feel threatened, as if Violetta was saying that she could look right through her down to where she tried to quash the wild, twitching spark that was her attraction to Kai. Fine, then. So what? She was human. It was only natural that she would appreciate a fine musculature and handsome face. It didn't mean she had things like 'syrupy sweet feelings.'This was annoying, supreme

Anzi said nothing after that, neither when she picked Violetta up from the ground, nor when she helped clean off her bloody face, nor even when they arrived back at the palace afterward. Whatever the reason for Violetta's willing subjection to such mistreatment, it was up to her to confess it on her own. She was an adult. They were both adults. And they were neither friends nor each other's confidants, so there was a certain way this had to go. Just the one."I lied to you," Violetta blurted. Just before turning the last corner that led to the harem quarters, she had whirled around to face Anzi and was now staring at her with clear, stubborn eyes. Her hands were clasped in front of her dress, their grip on each other white-knuckled tight, and her chin was raised in a semi-defiant incline."Lied?" Anzi repeated. "How.""I told you the girl who was supposed to teach you is sick. She is. What I didn't tell you is that that today, everyone

He was going to have to let go of her hand eventually. Anzi found herself glancing down every hallway they passed, heart pounding harder and harder with each one. For a short while, she had been too entranced by the sensation of his fingers intertwined with hers to pay any attention to the rest of the world, but after narrowly dodging a few giggling maids who were luckily too distracted to notice them, Anzi had realized that this was too outrageous to continue.She would not be seen holding hands with a foreign chieftain like they were lovers. Maybe she was officially still only a foot soldier, but she had a reputation to uphold, a reputation that was arguably as fearsome as any officer's (more than most, even if she thought about it humbly). Not only that, but once it became public knowledge that she was the newest member of the Premier Guard, she refused to let her it be marred by some shallow rumors about illicit affairs with exotic men.It was hard enough being a w

For the next two days, everything was an uncomfortable blur. On one hand, Anzi had let slip to Letti that there would be some gala or some such thing happening soon, not realizing that it would promptly send her into deep convulsions. And on the other hand, she was still diligently pretending that she could sense no life in any of the dragon eggs whenever she and Bastien made their rounds. There was the matter of Kai, who had unfortunately noticed that there was something wrong with her and refused to leave her alone until she told him exactly what it was.She couldn't tell him, obviously. Couldn't tell anyone. She had to keep this secret and guard it closely until she could figure out what to do next...until she figured out why she couldn't expel the lingering dread inside her that plagued her from morning to night. Was it shock, she wondered, at all the gruesome things she had learned over the last several days? Maybe that was what it was. Poisonous disap

People stared, but that was unavoidable. Anzi drew eyes with her distinctive fringer features, but that was nothing compared to the way Kai drew the eyes of everyone they passed and everyone they didn't, either. From the moment they left the palace (with a letter to vouch for their passage this time), he was subjected to dozens of stares at a time. She was even sure that she saw several people change direction just to follow them, confirmed by Kai's brief half-glances over his shoulder whenever someone tagged along a little too closely on his heels. But he didn't care, it seemed, or at least not enough to demand that they all scatter.If he wanted to, he could have. As she walked on the stone path alongside him, she became inexplicably more aware of his imposing stature, the broad physical presence of him that she hadn't truly appreciated until now. It bothered her that she hadn't noticed it, not fully, and it bothered her that she realized it now all of a sudden, too. Especi