Love Fire

LOVE FIRE IRIDESCENT DRAGON LOVE DESTINY DRACO DRACOVERSE PRESS Copyright © 2023 by Dracoverse Press 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. www.TheDracoverse.com Destiny Draco Newsletter CONTENTS Welcome To The Dracoverse… 1. Erin 2. Brent 3. Erin 4. Brent 5. Erin 6. Brent 7. Erin 8. Brent 9. Erin 10. Brent 11. Erin 12. Brent 13. Erin 14. Brent 15. Erin 16. Brent 17. Erin 18. Brent 19. Erin 20. Brent 21. Erin 22. Erin 23. Brent 24. Erin 25. Brent 26. Erin 27. Brent 28. Erin 29. Brent 30. Erin 31. Brent 32. Erin 33. Brent 34. Erin 35. Brent 36. Erin 37. Brent 38. Erin 39. Brent 40. Erin 41. Brent 42. Erin 43. Brent 44. Erin 45. Brent 46. Erin 47. Brent 48. Erin 49. Brent 50. Erin 51. Brent 52. Erin 53. Brent 54. Erin 55. Brent 56. Erin 57. Erin Preview Hailey Sloan WELCOME TO THE DRACOVERSE… The World As We Know It… The time is now. But ten years ago, the Veil began to fall. And the world began to change. The Veil was initially constructed by the Witches of Mesopotamia during the early days of humanity. It shielded mundane humans from seeing what they could not understand - a paranormal world of shifters, vampires, witches, and fae. As humanity began to spread and grow, so too did those who lived on the other side of the Veil. There were times when the Veil thinned, and someone would think they saw a ghost. Or find evidence of magic. Some humans walked both worlds, but to those in the know, the watchword was always silence. Until ten years ago, when the Veil finally collapsed and fell, forcing those with paranormal abilities to come out to society. People have speculated why the Veil finally fell. Was it the increasing number of humans and paranormal beings that came to dwell on the planet? The advent of near instantaneous information and connectivity? Or something more malicious? Regardless of how it happened, the fact of the matter is that for the last ten years, human beings have had to share a world that they thought they lived in by themselves. They discovered that there were others who walked among them, known as meta humans, that were very different. Into this world one hopes that both sides can come together and find common ground. As of today, that’s all it is still. Hope. 1 ERIN Even though I've cast this spell hundreds of times, my heart rate spikes as the magic flows out of me and into the dragon scale, turning it into a fine powder. But it's not the rush of magic that quickens my pulse. No, it's my body's memory of what that powder can do to it. It's why I wear a mask as I work. I'm the only one who does, the only one who has to, the only one who was stupid enough to get hooked on this shit and then determined enough to stop. I know inhaling the smallest amount will send me down a path of addiction that only leads to ruin. "Can you believe how fucking dumb this one was?" asks Tami as the scale in her hands crumbles. She shivers as some of the powder floats into the air. "He walked right into such an obvious trap. It was so easy to trick him into shifting and then swarm him." She pitches her voice up and bats her eyelashes. "How big does it get when you're a dragon?" Sarah laughs and inhales some of the floating dust. Her pupils are blown wide, making her green irises almost nonexistent. When we both started here, people used to mistake us for each other. Same green eyes, long red hair. We both ended up using more than just what we breathed in making this stuff. But I got off that bullet train to Hell. She hasn't. I've managed to put on a healthy amount of weight, so I actually have some curves again. I've also got some color back in my skin. Sarah... not so much. It makes me want to scream, but I bite my tongue. The mask provides the added benefit of hiding most of my face, and the others I work with are just high enough not to notice the pain hidden behind my eyes. Granted, I don't know if they'd notice it if they were stone cold sober. My father certainly hasn't. I'm able to play the smiling, devoted daughter with him, despite knowing what he did to my mother. I have no actual proof he made her disappear. But the fact she died so soon after telling him his drug operation was too dangerous to continue if he wanted to be part of his daughters’ lives is just too conveniently timed. Add on to that the fact that the car accident happened to be one of his favorite methods for removing rivals, and I'm almost certain he was behind it. She's been gone eight years, but it seems her dire predictions have come true more than once. First my brush with Iridescence addiction, and then Leanne, my younger sister, disappearing a year ago. Though I wonder if maybe he had something to do with that as well. She was always the more rebellious one. So even though I want to tell these two they're horrible fucking people, even though I want to set this entire tunnel system under Billings, Montana on fire, turning my father's drug manufacturing operation to ash, I can't. At least, not if I want to stay breathing. I know enough about how he operates that I could bring it all down swiftly, but I'm certain if I ever step out of line, I'll be dead. So instead, I