And she’d lost her father to a rogue dragon. A wanted man.
Years passed and they turned into decades, which became centuries, which eventually blended into millennia – and the Great Black vanished along with the Great Gray. The legends changed and warped, and all true belief in the first three legendary dragons vanished. Like Santa Claus.
Except Evangeline happened to know Santa Claus was very real indeed. And so were the Legendaries.
She thought of this as she made her way up the escalators onto the third floor of the busy mall and turned right. Yoppi Yogurt was where she was supposed to meet Mimi and her VIP friend.
“Eva! Over here!”
Eva heard Mimi before she saw her, and she smiled. She couldn’t help but smile; the girl’s enthusiasm was just so fresh and beautiful. A group of people in front of her began to disperse, and Eva waited to pass through them, wondering what new video game shirt Mimi would be wearing today.
They parted enough for her to step through, and she smiled a great big smile.
“Eva, you’re four minutes late!” Mimi chastised as Eva caught site of her at the opening to the closet-sized yogurt shop. She was wearing a bright red shirt with a yellow flaming tire that said, “Fire in the Hole!”
“Sorry, Charmimi, blame it on the train,” said Eva through her grin as she picked up the pace and hugged the young dragon.
“No worries, this is Calidum! I call him Cal.”
An odd sensation came over Evangeline. It was unlike any feeling she’d ever had before. It was somehow familiar, like a dream she’d just awoken from, or a song she’d heard somewhere recently. But it was more than that. It was a flush of adrenaline. And a hit of morphine. And a shot of tequila. It was a buzzing in her ear and a kick-start to her heart, and the sensation that she’d just lost every aspect of control over her own life.
She turned slowly around, the smile slipping from her features…
And came face to face with the very handsome man who was supposed to be Calidum, the red dragon and new Dragon King. But who was, in fact, Korridum… the Great Gray.
She knew who he was at once.
Korridum’s eyes flashed with equal knowledge and recognition. He at once knew who and what she was. He knew everything about her. Just like that.
And what was worse… he smiled. Because there in that fateful moment, in that crowded mall, in front of perhaps Eva’s only true friend, Evangeline realized one more thing. One fundamental, monumental thing.
She realized that she was his queen.
And he realized it too.
The End
Stay tuned for book twelve in The Kings series, The Dragon King, coming fall, 2017.
A note from the author…
Dear reader,
I wanted to say something about Adelaide and Rachel. I’m an author, so I don’t always write what should happen, but what I think my characters would actually do. In truth, both Addie and Rachel should have spoken to someone about what they were going through. They might have felt like they were alone in their suffering, but they were wrong.
You are not alone.
For every person who is bullied, there is a person who will understand and empathize.
I understand. I empathize. A good writer, after all, writes what she knows.
Bullying is more proliferant than most people know, and far more than most people would like to believe. It is a potentially lethal attack that causes everything from post traumatic stress disorder to death.
I was bullied. And I bet that if you weren’t, you know someone who was. Or you might even know someone who is. Chances are, in fact, you know someone who is being bullied and you aren’t aware it’s happening to them.
Now is the time to do something about that. Now. Not when it’s too late.
Let the people you love know that you are there to listen. Pay attention. Has anything about them changed? Ask questions. If you’re lucky enough that they decide to open up to you, for God’s sake try to empathize. Try to put yourself in their shoes. Whatever you do, do NOT make little of what they tell you. To you, the mother, the father, the care giver and the full-time worker with the shit head boss, their worries or troubles might seem insignificant.
To them it is everything.
To them, it can literally mean life or death.
Get involved. Listen and look. If you notice something concerning, ask more questions. Check his or her text messages. Check their Facebook entries. Check their emails. You might get a whole lot of attitude for your efforts, and you might initially regret your efforts. But trust me – trust me – in the end, your efforts mean that you care. The fact that you care means that you love.
And love is the one and only thing that will save someone who is being bullied.
Be strong. Don’t let yourself be bullied away from helping someone who is being bullied.
Love always and forever,
- Heather
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Heather Killough-Walden Reading List
The Lost Angels series:
Always Angel (eBook-only introductory novella)
Avenger's Angel
Messenger's Angel
Death's Angel
Warrior's Angel
Samael
The October Trilogy:
Sam I Am
Secretly Sam
Suddenly Sam
Neverland Series:
Forever Neverland
Beyond Neverland
The Big Bad Wolf series:
The Heat
The Strip
The Spell
The Hunt
The Big Bad Wolf Romance Compilation (all four books together, in proper chronological order)
The Kings - A Big Bad Wolf spinoff series:
(in proper order so far)
The Vampire King
The Phantom King
The Warlock King
The Goblin King
The Seelie King
The Unseelie King
The Shadow King
The Winter King
The Demon King
The Shifter King
The Nightmare King
(future The Kings books TBA; 13 total)
The Chosen Soul Trilogy:
The Chosen Soul
Drake of Tanith
Queen of Abaddon
Redeemer (stand-alone)
Hell Bent (stand-alone)
Vampire, Vampire (stand-alone)
A Sinister Game (stand-alone)
The Third Kiss: Dorian's Dream (stand-alone)
Note: The Lost Angels series (not including Always Angel, Warrior’s Angel and Samael) and the Big Bad Wolf series are available in print and eBook format. All other HKW books are currently eBook-only.
Visit Heather’s Facebook pages at:
http://www.facebook.com/killoughwalden
and
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Killough-Walden/204947809542189
for paranormal romance news, teasers, updates, contests, and giveaways!
Also follow Heather on Twitter at:
@killoughwalden
Visit Heather’s website and sign up for her newsletter to receive all the latest at: www.killough-walden.com
Heather Killough-Walden, The Nightmare King (The Kings Book 11)
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