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Contents ( 50)
  1. CONTENTS
  2. PROLOGUE
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. EPILOGUE
  48. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  49. Also by Liz Flanagan:
  50. COPYRIGHT

She opened one eye, full of swirling lights and keen intelligence. It had a massive green iris slashed with a verti­cal black pupil. She grunted, and Joe wasn’t sure what that meant: the sharing of thoughts obviously only went one way. Maybe it would be different with his own dragon.

‘Go on,’ Thom urged him. ‘She’s saying you can approach. Just talk to her. Don’t worry – if she didn’t like you, we’d all know by now.’

‘Can I touch her?’ Joe called.

‘I’m not the boss of her, Joe. Why don’t you ask Ruby?’

He focused on the purple-red dragon, trying not to think about how easily she could squash him if she wanted to. He pictured the journey they were about to make. ‘Er, hello, Ruby?’ he tried again. ‘Uh, uh, thank you for letting me ride with you tomorrow. I hope I won’t be too heavy.’

Did that sound disrespectful, like he was doubting her strength?

Ruby twitched her ear and let out a whoosh of hot air that smelled of smoke and charred meat.

‘I’ve never ridden a dragon before,’ Joe told her, ‘so thank you for taking me along.’

Ruby was watching him now with both eyes open. She raised her head slightly and leaned out to sniff him. Her head was the size of Joe’s whole torso, and her jaws 135could snap his arm as easily as he’d take a bite from an apple.

He held his arm steady. Be calm, Joe, he told himself, she’s just finding out about you. He thought then about his hopes for their journey, how he really wanted to find the silverblue so he could take it straight to the hidden eggs. His mind turned to the eggs: his excitement at finding them; his concern for them; his love for the purple one.

Ruby growled gently and then nudged him with her nose, tucking him closer to her massive body.

‘See!’ Thom shouted over. ‘She likes you. Told you.’

Hardly able to believe it, Joe spent some time whispering to Ruby, passing his hands gently over her scaly sides, getting to know her, telling her what was on his mind.

When he looked over her broad back, he could see Winter doing the same with Iggie.

‘Right!’ Milla called finally. ‘That’s all our bags packed. You two can sleep here tonight so we can leave at dawn.’

Winter looked at Joe. He knew she wanted to say some­thing. When he’d finished talking to Ruby, he sidled over to join Winter. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

Winter’s face showed conflict and concern, but she couldn’t speak.

‘Do you want to check on the eggs?’ he guessed. ‘It feels wrong to leave without telling them, doesn’t it?’

Winter’s smile was brief and bright as a flash of lightning. She nodded.

136

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Later that night, Joe and Winter slipped out and went back to the hidden eggs. They chose the fastest route: running through the deserted streets of the shadow strip.