Hidden Flame: Bound to the Triplet Dragon Kings

**Avery**

This is insane. All of this is insane. I locked my door and rested my back against it. I could hear The Trio quietly talking in

the hallway on the other side of my door, but I couldn’t make out what. They were happy and excited no matter what

they were discussing. They all want me to forgive them but Cassius. He wants to prove himself. Should I let him?

Not thinking, I throw open my door. “What am I to you?” In unison, they said, “Mate.” I abruptly slammed and locked my

door before I pressed my forehead to it. Mate? How? Oh, fucking god! I pulled out all of the historical books in my room

and some of my romance books too because some truth always lies in fiction if you are willing to read between the lines.

In my human history book, there is a section on mythology. In Babylonian myths, Tiamat was the goddess of all dragons

and she was believed to bring chaos and violence as well as create monsters. What if she didn’t bring those things but was created from them? Next, I found an example in Chinese culture. There was a woman named Longmu. She and those

dragons that she bonded to are believed to have created devotion and parental love. I wonder if she is the one

responsible for the mating bond. I picked up a romance book called The Flame. I rented it by accident because it is about

dragons.

Shakily, I began to turn the pages and read. In this fictional book, the female lead never knew who her parents were. She

was found as an infant near death along the shore of a frozen river by an elderly dragon woman. She raised the girl as

her own. The girl had a strange mark on her right hip. It turned out that the mark was from a royal lineage of dragons

dating back to their creation.

After turning on all of my lights, I grabbed a

body. None of my scars remained except for the marks

looked different. Yes, there was still a dragon’s clawed handprint on my

that day

attack me, instead, it marked me. But why? I was a

looked everywhere except between my

inside of my upper right thigh is an iridescent triquetra

the mirror and it shattered into a million

I am not alone

hurt?” Cassius asks as he rushes to me with Asher at

the shards as I grab the shower curtain in an effort to cover myself.

but Asher stopped him. Asher took a hand towel from my

head so that it covered his eyes. “Avery, let me help. I won’t look, I swear,” he

agreed. He scooped me up and carried me to my bed. I

and the other Hags tried to kill me. But it wasn’t Cassius who carried me, if I had

am taking a huge leap of faith in allowing myself to be vulnerable around Cassius. To my

the way to my bed. He gently laid

the shards. Before you tell me that you can do it yourself, let

for the full experience.

else. Happy reading!

take his wrists and guide his hands to where the shards are protruding from my body. It hurts,

get the fuck out

return with their eyes covered. Conner fumbles around but Clint seems at home

guide my hands over where they were once

did as

what I read and what I saw. “Avery, we need to see it,” they all said

cover my intimate areas. “I am trusting all of you, don’t make me regret it.” Without hesitation, they all nodded and fell to their knees at the foot of my bed. I inched