Secrets Bound By Sand

It has been a difficult week. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you know I hurt my hands on Tuesday, which has made everything more difficult. I meant to have this book up for preorder on Wednesday. Unfortunately, having the use of only three fingers on either hand makes typing and using my mouse difficult.

For this reason, the arc will have to be postponed until I have the full use of my hands back.

Until then you can enjoy the cover, blurb and second parts of the first chapter. If you haven't read the first part of Chapter 1, go here.

I hope you enjoy. I had a lot of fun writing but Ilith and Tate's adventures.

When the past forms the future, how does a woman with few memories survive?

No longer nameless or alone, Tate has put down roots in the city of Aurelia. She’s found a home, friends and a misfit family. When an assassination attempt leads to a dangerous loss of control over her dragon, Tate is sent to the farthest reaches of the empire on a mission she can’t refuse.

It isn’t long before Tate stumbles into her usual brand of trouble. Kidnapped and separated from her closest allies, Tate will have to find a way to survive old enemies and new acquaintances.

Piecing together the tattered remnants of her past might be the only thing separating her from death. Enemies long thought dead are returning and they won’t be satisfied until they have Tate’s head.

Preorder from Amazon

Do not read if you haven't read part one. Go here for part one.

Chapter One Part Two

Ilith surged to ascendancy, muscling through the pain as her skin split and reshaped until a dragon crouched where Tate had once lain.

The shift was a blaze of agony, the wrongness from the poison blunting her thoughts while stripping her of reason and intellect, leaving behind nothing but rage.

She became a creature of instinct, driven by the need to survive.

Her gem-like eyes fixed on the creature who'd come close to ending them. She sprang forward, the motion one of endless grace.

Her jaws closed on one head. She ripped it from the monster's shoulders in the next moment. It lashed her with its tail, its needles striking her hide. She ignored it all, raking her claws along the monster's side. Blood hit her mouth and then the one known as Ilith was gone.

She became fire and death, ripping the creature apart as she gobbled down bits of its meat. Only when it lay in pieces around her did she lift her blood-stained snout and show her teeth.

The prey had mostly flown while she was occupied with her meal.

Her head swung around until she spotted one last prey still panting with fear in the corner.

Ilith pawed silently over the bloody marble, her scales rasping against stone.

She darted forward, her gaze fastened on the wounded prey.

A small furry creature landed between her and it.

The creature roared at her. It stood on its hind legs and swiped at her nose. Pain blossomed and Ilith reared back momentarily before roaring at the impudent creature.

She liked the sound so much she did it again.

The creature behind the smaller one bleated, distracting her from the beautiful sounds she was making.

She growled and snorted at it.

The small furry creature swiped at her again, making a pissed-off sound, different from a roar. It was an angry yowl.

Ilith cocked her head. She hesitated as the smell of family wafted up to her. Some of her rage receded—just a little.

Drawing her lips back, she exposed her fangs as her head lowered in threat. The small creature didn't back down, showing her his fangs as well.

Intelligent eyes gazed back at her as a slight pressure brushed her mind.

She hissed in displeasure as the pressure became more insistent. She shook her head fiercely.

The bright light from above distracted her again and she forgot the furry creature protecting the hairless one. She craned her head back, noting the endless patterns above as they framed the sky.

She snorted and stretched her wings. Flying would feel good after that meal.

She leapt, scrabbling for purchase on one landing before leaping for the next. Stone crunched under her weight and more than once something clattered as she knocked it over. She paid none of it any mind, focused on that dome high above and the sky beyond it.

Running footsteps and shouted words pulled her attention momentarily to below. Men poured into the room, stopping short at the sight of the slain creature on the marble. It didn't take them long to find Ilith where she clung high above, her tail dangling off her current precarious perch as she wedged herself against the wall.

She stared disdainfully down at them. They wore clothes with an image emblazoned on the front, that of a dragon wrapped around a sapphire-blue jewel.

Jealousy and covetousness tempted Ilith to descend, to rip that stone off their chests and keep it for her own.

She ignored the urge, a single scrap of reason whispering that the stone on their chests was a lie. It wasn't real.

She turned from the deceivers, waddling up the stairs, around and around, as she ignored the shouts and angry chatter below. She had sky to reach.

A force hit her side, ripping a roar out of her. She looked down just in time to see another rock levitate and zip toward her. She dodged out of the way, now bounding up the stairs several at a time.

Violent food. She should rip them apart.

Energy bolts zipped toward her, changing her mind. She wasn't in the mood for a hunt after just eating. This meat was too difficult. She'd wait.

The bolts hit her hide, causing little more than irritation. She wanted out and away from the violent creatures, to stretch her wings and leave the things threatening her behind.

Reason had begun to beat back some of the blinding rage, but the renewed attack was making the ability to reason gossamer thin as she descended into primal fury.

She reached the top of the stairs and launched herself at the wall, sinking her claws in for purchase.

She climbed toward the dome high above, moving faster as the sound of those below pursued her.

Her hind quarters bunched and her wings spread as she leapt, bursting through the window and onto the roof as glass shattered around her.

Once on the roof, she hesitated. The sky called to her, whispering of freedom.

A glint in a tower next to the roof she perched on distracted her, quieting all thoughts about the power and freedom in the sky.

Light bounced off something shiny. It was like the stone on the men's chest, only real.

Mine.

Ilith bounded across the rooftop toward the jewel, easily scaling the tower and wrapping herself around the stone perched in its casing.

She purred as she warmed it with her body.

She sat with her jewel for a long time until she became aware of the creatures massing on the rooftop below. She growled at them, warning them away from her prize. She'd found it. It was hers.

She tried to lift it from its setting, chattering at it when it refused to move. She dipped her head closer to peer at it. Small metal claws like dragon paws held it in place.

She snorted fire on them, softening the metal before inserting one claw between it and the stone. She carefully bent the prongs away.

She gently plucked the stone from its setting, almost dropping it when an alarm screeched through the air.

Fire flared, encircling the tower. Ilith fled down its side, attempting to duck into the nearest window, tearing a hole in the stone framing when it wasn't wide enough to accommodate her body.

Once inside, she found herself in a narrow room with stairs leading down. Within the room, gems rested on the shelves along with gold and other shiny things.

Her eyes widened in glee. Mine.

She carefully set down her gem in the center of the room, then moved through the room pulling treasures off their shelves and storing them next to her gem. She lifted a necklace from its bed of silk and set it over her head, preening at the sight of the large center jewel shining lusciously against her scales.

Once the shelves were stripped of their shinies—all of them placed in a pile in the center of the room—Ilith wrapped herself around them, purring, as her tail curled around her to complete the circle.

A short time later, there was a whisper of movement from the stairwell.

Ilith remained still, her head down, only the tip of her tail flicking as a man stepped into view, his attire as shiny and beautiful as the treasure she protected.

"Well, now. This is a surprising turn of events." He held out a hand as another man stepped up to join him. This one was as dark and forbidding as the shiny man was bright.

Ilith lifted her head, her gaze suddenly fastened on the crown on the first man's head. That would look very fine on her horns. She wanted it.

She forgot the other man, as her world spun down to that crown and all the jewels encrusting it.

She wanted it. It was hers.

She moved, snaking through the room. Power gathered at the shiny man's hands as the other man stepped forward to intercept her, a roar swelling from his chest.

Ilith was faster, leaping into the air and twisting at the last minute to avoid their attacks. One claw lashed out, snagging the crown and knocking it from the shiny man's head.

She caught it in the next second, retreating up the wall. She clung to the ceiling, her tail and wings drooping down to brush the floor before she scuttled back to her pile.

She dropped from the ceiling and lay down, flaring her wings to protect her treasure, before raising the crown to her head.

The two men regarded her with nonplussed expressions as she again wrapped herself around the treasure.

Another man pounded into the room, sliding to an abrupt stop. "Is that dragon wearing your crown?"

"Yes, she is," the shiny man said.

Ilith ignored her admirers, warming the jewels by blowing a small lick of fire over them. The third man made a strangled sound.

"This is going to be difficult to explain to the council," the shiny man said.

"Yes, the dragon making herself at home in the treasury is not going to go over well," the third man said, not taking his eyes off Ilith.

"Careful, Ryu, she doesn't seem to be in her right mind," the shiny man said as the dark man moved closer.

Ilith didn't do more than flick her tail at him. He was different than the other two. Dangerous. A threat.

If he tried to take her treasure, she'd have to hurt him. She couldn't let anyone take what was hers.

A small furry form dropped into the room between the two of them. The creature from before landed silently. He observed the room for several moments before padding toward Ilith. She tensed, then relaxed when he curled up by her side and put his head down.

The one called Ryu relaxed slightly, moving in a circle around her, careful not to get too close.

"I'll watch over her while you deal with the rest," he told the shiny one.

The shiny one sighed and shook his head. "This is going to be a headache from start to finish."

"You're the one who wanted to rule. Deal with it," Ryu said, with not an ounce of sympathy.

"Make sure she doesn't go anywhere," the shiny one said, pointing at Ilith. "And for Saviors’ sake make sure she doesn't add any more of my treasury to her horde."

Ilith lifted her head at that. More treasure? Where?

"No," Ryu told her in a firm voice.

She blew a cloud of smoke at him before putting her head back down. She didn't have plans to go anywhere anyway. She was entirely too comfortable right where she was.