[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]stared at her wrists. The bones jutted more prominently than they had a day ago.
A muddy mix of auras ringed her fingers and underscored her chipped manicure.
The dragons still fed she felt them inside, drinking and chewing and snapping at
one another but somehow, her disintegration came slower than Salim s. They d
nearly reduced him to bone in a matter of minutes. His muscle deterioration
showed in the way he had descended the stairs, unsteady and holding the rail.
Did it happen slower with her because she was fat? Cora bit her lip. If that
were the case, she didn t have that much more time than Salim. What could the
dragons consume in pounds per minute? If they operated on five pounds a
minute, she had about twenty minutes from the start of the feeding. After that,
they would have eaten through the fat stores and would begin to consume her
necessary muscle and bone& assuming they ate the most plentiful matter first.
For all she knew, they d finished on muscle and were just now attacking fat.
Diane s footsteps creaked across the gallery, slower than her normal gait. Cora
couldn t watch the turn in the stairs. She was making her mother face her failings,
but she had to make herself do the same thing. Diane was the failure she most
regretted of all the people Cora never wanted to hurt, her sister topped the list.
Ma has some explanations she d like to give. Stories she wants to elaborate
upon, she said when Diane appeared.
Wordlessly, Diane scooted past Miranda and sat on the top step.
Cora raised her eyebrow at Miranda. Why don t you start with the parental
issue, Ma.
Miranda stiffened. I ve never tried to humiliate you, Coraline. I don t
appreciate your attitude now.
Don t care. Start talking.
Ma? Diane prompted. What s this about?
Glowering, Miranda fussed with her hem. Ii s aura shimmered pale around
her, attuned, no doubt, to her agitation. Cora couldn t bring herself to care about
53
Dragon Queen: Book 3: Dragon Bound
upset feelings. She had bigger problems with the mess of dragons still writhing
over her skin. What could she possibly do with them? Even if one belonged to
Diane, she couldn t thrust it upon her sister. Not if it remained crazed like this.
Your sister is angry with me for details I ve kept secret, Miranda began.
Cora rolled her eyes. Nice technique, there, making me the bad guy.
I kept secrets, Miranda amended sharply. I had your father, and I had a
lover.
I know that, Diane said, surprising Cora. Big deal.
How did you know? Never mind her lover is a dragonlord. Not Daddy.
That part didn t bother Cora so much she d never been able to reconcile her
gentle, grease-monkey father with a supernatural lifestyle, anyway.
I didn t think the dragons were going to come, Miranda exclaimed. What
was I supposed to do& wait forever? Your father and I were going steady since we
were sixteen. I couldn t keep turning him down. Couldn t tell him I was holding
out for a fairytale.
Then, one day, after we d been married about three years& Miranda
shrugged. Marcus came.
Cora frowned. Who is Marcus?
A homeless man who started sleeping under the stairs in our building.
But
Did you really think you could know an entire past just because one secret
leaked? Miranda asked derisively. Marcus was sick and dirty. I went out for
milk one morning and found him dead at the bottom of the stairs.
But what about Paul? Cora asked.
Diane interrupted. Who s Paul?
Paul Beesom. My father. She added, Not yours.
What
This is my story, Miranda said. I ll stop with it right now if you continue to
presume you have a right to it.
Cora bit her lips and looked away. Beside her, Diane s confusion was tangible,
a static charge on the narrow landing.
Paul s family owned the building. He came when the ambulance did to check
on his tenants, I suppose. And when he did, he& Miranda shrugged. He took
the dragon. Ii. Marcus s death left the dragon s aspect adrift. Flickering without a
battery to fuel him, I guess.
Marcus didn t know what you were?
He might have, but how was I supposed to know what he was? He was a
diseased drifter living under my building s stairs. I was twenty years old did you
think I wanted anything to do with him?
What about Paul? Diane asked.
He& knew what he was doing. Knew how to communicate with me.
Recognized the dragon s affinity for me.
But Daddy
The combination of dragon and man does something to you, Cora muttered.
It does. Did, Miranda confirmed.
Does, Cora corrected. Still does. You still have him as part of your life.
54
Dragon Queen: Book 3: Dragon Bound
Miranda hunched over her knees and folded her forearms atop them. I m not
explaining that to you.
Cora glared at her mother. You made it sound like you ve been lonely and
abused all this time. That wasn t fair, Ma. Not if it wasn t true.
So what does this have to do with me? Diane interjected. Evidently this
dragon shit is a family thing, and I m not part of it.
Diane, you are. Just not in the same way that Cora is. I made him swear to
stay away from you
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