Smoke and Flame (Rise of the Dragons Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  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

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Smoke and Flame

  Rise of the Dragons Trilogy Book Two

  N. R. Hairston

  Copyright © 2017 by N.R. Hairston 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.

  Cover Design by Hot Covers.net

  Published by

  OTHER TITLES BY N. R. Hairston

  Magic and Mischief Series

  A Magical Reckoning, Book One

  A Symptom of Magic, Book Two

  Chronicles of Magic and Mischief (Novellas set in the Magic and Mischief world):

  Cursed Magic, Book One

  World Breaker

  Rogue Magic, Book One

  World Breaker Beginnings (Novellas set before events in World Breaker, though you don’t have to read one to read the other.) Read this series for free when you join my mailing list, here.

  Rebel Magic

  Stolen Magic

  Crooked Magic

  Rise of the Dragons Trilogy

  Fire and Ash, Book One

  Smoke and Flame, Book Two

  Dust and Cinder, Book Three

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Other Titles by N. R. Hairston

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  For a better reading experience, it’s probably best to read book one, Fire and Ash here, first.

  Smoke and Flame

  Intent on rescuing her teammates, Alisa finds herself pitted against her own allies as the fight with the relentless Yango rages. Can delving into the origins of her dragon powers give her the strength to prevail in this seemingly endless battle?

  Chapter 1

  Reid and I had continued to work on our fighting technique with Iago and Coen for the next couple of weeks, and I thought we’d both improved significantly.

  We would have to leave again soon, we all knew that. Iago’s sister, Lantana, had been captured and taken to one of three worlds and we were going to get her back, so we needed to be prepared. The Yango were bloodthirsty and ruthless and learning to use our powers better was a must if we wanted to defeat them.

  We still needed to find Brad and Melinda as well. This thing, these dragon abilities we had in us could still kill us, and we needed to know what we were dealing with. Brad and Melinda could tell us, or either Kyla, so she was included in our search also. But first we needed to bring Lantana back. She had the power to summon and could bring Brad and Melinda to us in the blink of an eye.

  Tanko, a friend of Iago’s, was being slapped with powerless cuffs when the portal taking her away had been opened, so he hadn’t been sure which world she was on, but knew it was either Graven, Emor, or Loden.

  Iago and Trout had settled into Brad and Melinda’s nicely, and unlike Coen, they didn’t seem bothered living in a house that Yangos once owned.

  My parents had come by a lot at first to sound off their objections, but in the last couple of days, they’d been a lot quieter. I didn’t know for sure, but I had a sneaky suspicion it had something to do with how much time Vonda, Todd, and I, were spending together.

  More than once I’d caught either my mom or dad watching us with pleased expressions on their faces. As if it comforted them to see us together like this.

  Seeing my parents happy, well somewhat happy, put my mind to rest, and made the other stuff a bit easier to handle.

  Reid and Todd had taken Iago, Trout, and Coen shopping that next day, as promised. They’d needed clothes and toiletries, plus Trout and Iago had wanted to add their own style to the Handler’s house, so I’d given them carte blanche to do whatever they liked.

  Reid had come back from their shopping trip looking frazzled and saying, ‘never again.’ I think the hardest part had been stuffing Iago and Trout’s weirdly colored hair under caps, and praying no one got a good look at Iago’s yellow-orange eyes. Though he could always claim that they were contacts. He could have worn shades, of course, but it was the dead of winter, so that would have attracted even more attention, something none of us wanted.

  Not sure if that excuse would have worked, but I had a feeling people would believe that before they believed he was a stranger from an alternate universe.

  I swallowed hard, my insides twisting when I thought of everything that had happen so far and was still to come, but I kept telling myself to push ahead and focus on our goals, getting Lantana back and finding Brad and Melinda. I’d have time to breathe later.

  At least things with my family seemed to have settle down, well with Todd and Vonda anyway. My brother, who was moody as hell, and didn’t much like anyone invading his space, seemed to have found common ground with Coen, in that they could work together, live together, and still enjoy each other’s company.

  I thought about the light that was now in my brother’s eyes, and the easy and familiar way they were with each other, and realized that the two had formed some kind of simpatico that worked for them.

  My sister had been to every one of my training sessions, the ones that didn’t occur doing her work hours anyway. She seemed happy to bounce her time between my place and Todd’s, and it made me realize something that I hadn’t thought of before.

  I’m not sure if it was the way we were raised, or just who we were on a more personal level, but none of us had any close friends or love interest. We never had.

  I mean, I had Reid, but Reid was Reid. I thought this was exciting for Todd and Vonda. None of us had had a real life before this started. We’d gone to work, went home, and would maybe meet every couple of weeks to have lunch and catch up.

  Other than that, we’d all three pretty much led solitary lives, and then here came three beings from another universe to shake things up. I thought both Todd and Vonda liked being included, being a part of something that was bigger than all of us, and for some reason, that sent a warm feeling fluttering through my chest.

  I’d seen a different side of them lately. Vonda, in a quiet and reserved kind of way, was always there to help out, giving advice, and doing the small things, like making sure we had enough water during training, and keeping us supplied with fresh towels to wipe down the sweat.

  Todd kept us in delicious food. Also, he hadn’t barked nearly as loudly as I thought he would the few times he’d come home to a house full of people.r />
  We were at his place now, having completed our last round of training.

  Todd wasn’t here, but Coen had fixed a tray of my brother’s gourmet ham and cheese sandwiches and put them on a platter in the middle of the kitchen table.

  My brother’s kitchen was about as big as my whole house. Everything was stainless steel, from the refrigerator to the counter tops.

  He had three kitchen islands with stainless steel pots and pans hanging above all of them. He also had two large double sinks that pretty much took up the right side of the room on their own.

  My brother was a clean freak. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn the kitchen, and everything in it was just purchased today.

  The counters stretched through the length of the kitchen and probably had every appliance known to man packed neatly on them. Large double-hung windows were placed every few inches and allowed for an optimum amount of sunlight. All windows had the same forest green curtains on them, which my brother kept open and pulled back.

  We sat at the table, drinks in front of us, devouring the food Coen had set down. He’d made a pitcher of lemonade too, and I sipped on that, marveling at how good it tasted. Especially considering I’d never seen him drink the stuff.

  Iago popped a finger-sized sandwich into his mouth and paused a second to appreciate the taste. “So,” he said after swallowing. “The first world we should try is Graven. I don’t know the other two worlds Tanko mentioned. Never heard of them actually.”

  Apprehension filled me as I looked from Coen to Trout. Both men wore blank expressions. “None of you have heard of the other two worlds?” That didn’t bode well because we had no idea what we were walking into.

  I didn’t like it, going into these worlds without at least a little knowledge of them. It was risky to say the least, but we needed Lantana back, needed her on our team, and I was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.

  Coen got up to grab himself another soda. Grape. He really seemed to like the stuff. In the past two weeks, that’s all I’d seen him drink, and I noticed that Todd’s refrigerator now had two cases of the stuff. My brother’s doing, or Coen’s? It was an interesting question.

  Coen leaned against the counter where the sink was, drink in hand. “No, never heard of them, but it’s Graven that’s the problem.”

  Reid sat beside me, both hands on the table, an indecisive look on his face. “Why is that?” He seemed more alert than usual, and I put my hand under the table and on his leg, just letting it rest there. I wanted him to know that he could talk to me if he needed to.

  His eyes widened when I first did it, then he looked at me with a slight smile on his face, letting me know he understood.

  On the tray of sandwiches were a bunch of little cherry tomatoes. Trout popped one in his mouth, a nonchalant look on his face. “We’ll probably die the moment we step onto Graven, so there’s no point in worrying about the other two worlds anyway.”

  Iago, from his position beside Trout, scoffed and gave the other man a light slap on the arm. “Stop scaring them. This is serious.”

  “I know,” Trout said, turning from Iago back to us. “I think it’s best to warn you. If we make it out of there alive, well, that’s a big if, and I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

  Reid folded his arms in front of him and leaned back in his chair. “Tell us about it.”

  My sister sat at a kitchen island, scribbling fiercely, taking notes on everything we said. I watched her closely. I hadn’t noticed until this very second, and I wasn’t angry so much as curious to her reasons. “What are you doing, Vonda?”

  She looked up, her brown eyes staring directly into mine. “I’m cataloging.” She said it is if I should know what she was talking about. I didn’t, and her unblinking stare didn’t really help.

  “Cataloging what?” I asked. Was she keeping notes for my parents? I let out a frustrated breath of air. I really hoped she wasn’t reporting everything we did, and said, back to my mom and dad.

  She swiveled her chair around, a small bit of black hair falling in her face. “You need order,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Coen eyed her. “I’ll have you know I keep everything we’ve done and said right up here.” He tapped a finger to his forehead, and I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or joking. For all I knew, the man had an eidetic memory. With him, I could never tell.

  My sister gave him a deadpan look. “You have your treasure chest.” She held up the notebook she’d been writing in and waved it. “And I have mine.”

  “Bottom line,” Iago said, bringing all eyes on him. “Graven is a place that even Yango fear to tread. I think that’s the main thing we need to focus on.”

  My stomach dropped, and I looked from Iago to Trout to Coen taking in the grim expressions on all three of their faces. I swallowed hard, it couldn’t really be that bad, could it?

  Iago’s keen eyes searched our faces. Then he sat up in his chair, pausing a second, before going ahead and spitting it out. “I don’t think we should use our powers while there.”

  I blanched. He could have kept that shit to himself. “What?”

  Reid put a hand on my arm to stay me. “What do you have in mind?” he asked Iago.

  One thing I’d learned, was to follow something to the end before making a decision. So, I’d listen to what he had to say, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t go along with it, and I’d let him know that. If it made sense though, I was willing to give it a go. Iago had more experience at this than me, so I did value his opinion.

  Over on her own little private island, my sister scrawled away, while Coen eyed her warily. I got the sense that he wanted to say something really inappropriate to her, but kept biting his tongue at the last second. He wasn’t really one to mince words, so whatever he wanted to say was probably a doozy and better kept under wraps.

  Coen popped one of the last of the sandwiches into his mouth, and washed it down with a little soda. “Yes, Iago, please enlighten us to why we should go into one of the most dangerous worlds we know, with absolutely no backup.”

  Irritation marred Iago’s face, and his words were colored the same. “How are we going to find my sister if we go in there powers blazing, Coen? Tell me that.”

  Trout put a hand on the other man’s arm, and it seemed to calm him a bit. “Then tell us what you have in mind,” he said softly.

  Iago nodded. “Graven doesn’t really have a set ruler, but there are a handful of people that the majority are more likely to follow. We need to get in front of them so that we can find out if a Litvan woman was brought there recently. Then we can move on from there.”

  “That’s stupid,” Coen said, walking over to the table. “They’re going to attack us the moment we enter their world. The only thing not fighting will do is get us killed. That’s it.”

  Trout’s brown eyes flashed, and a bit of silver energy shot through them, making goose pimples break out on my arm. In the few weeks I’d known him, I’d never seen him this pissed. “We’re doing it like Iago said. If that’s the way he thinks we should play it, then that’s the way we play it.” He looked straight at Coen, a clear challenge on his face.

  Coen’s jaw tightened. “And who the Litvan put Iago in charge? You? And I’m just supposed to follow you two? No questions asked, huh?”

  Iago didn’t look mad, just anxious. My eyes turned to Vonda as her hand flew across the page trying to get as much down as she could.

  I watched her closely, letting out an understanding sigh. She was my big sister, and I’d known her since the day I was born, and no doubt had loved her that long as well. There was nothing I wouldn’t have done to get her back had she been taken. Nothing.

  So, I wouldn’t sit in judgment of Iago and his plan. If he thought this was the best way to get Lantana back, then that’s all I needed to know. We were doing it, as I didn’t see a reason not to.

  Trout came to his feet and went to where Coen was still leaning against the sink. His fa
ce was hard as he looked at the other man. “We’re doing this Iago’s way.”

  Coen snorted. “Why because you—”

  “Don’t finish that sentence,” Trout warned before Coen could say more.

  Coen stepped a little closer, and I was sure they were breathing the same air now. “Give me one good reason why I should follow Iago without question.”

  Iago came to his feet, an exasperated look on his face. “Because it’s my sister that’s in danger, you horse’s ass.”

  He quickly placed himself between Trout and Coen, staring the latter man down. “Move,” he said, getting in Coen’s face, his voice low and gravelly.

  Coen didn’t budge, but the gulp was visible in his throat.

  Iago stepped a little closer, and I held my breath as a dangerous tension filled the air. “You want to challenge me, Coen? On what’s best for my sister? Say we go with your plan and it doesn’t work. What do you think I’ll do to you?” He stepped even closer. “I said move.”

  The front door opened, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. Todd walked in, two brown grocery bags in his hands, his eyes quickly assessing the situation. “So, are we boys today, then? What do you want, a little schoolyard rumble?” His voice was chastising as he walked to the counter and set his bags down.

  Neither man looked his way, but Coen regarded Iago with hard eyes. “You lead me into something I can’t get out of because you’re thinking with your heart instead of your head, and I’ll kill you. You hear me?”

  “You’ll do what?” Trout asked, stepping in front of Iago and glowering at Coen. “Want to say that again? I don’t think you do.”

  “Oh for—” Todd rolled his eyes and then grabbed Coen by the arm, pulling the other man away. Coen jerked out of Todd’s grip, but nevertheless followed him down the hall, throwing a couple of angry glares toward Trout and Iago as he did so.

  Reid sat with his arms folded, a look of disbelief on his face. “Done yet?” he asked them.

  Trout threw a hand up. “Every now and then, it gets heated. That’s just the way we are.”