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74- Reckoning
When Anzi withdrew from the gauzy curtains, Bisset was watching her from where he stood flanking the palanquin. He wore no expression, stone-cold and emotionless as always, but behind the marble indifference lay an insidious spite directed at none other than her. She knew. So did he. He wouldnât be looking at her otherwise. He was sending a clear message he knew she would decipher behind his inscrutable face. And she would have gone for his head for that if not for one thing: she had to stay alive to protect Oza. And Letti, too, if Bisset knew about her. And why wouldnât he? It seemed all he did now was seek out her weaknesses and threaten them. She should have known he would act quickly. She had thought she could stall until she was no longer under close watch and move then. This was her fault.
A flurry of suspicion slipped through her. She still believed he had a greater hand in plotting Kaiâs attempted
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Called by the Dragon   76 - Weakness
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Called by the Dragon   77 - Performances
Anzi hit the ground so hard it made her teeth rattle, but she managed to land on her feet and tuck into a roll to protect her knees from the impact. In truth, it was easier than it should have beenâjust a half-year ago, she would never have considered leaping down from such a towering height, but she was desperate and determined as she shoved through the crowd to find that flash of pink she had seen a moment ago. If she had wasted even a single second longer for fear of her own safety, she would surely lose Letti. But desperate or no, the aching pain that throbbed in her calf and foot was a bitch. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, cursing Bisset for crippling her, but there was no time to be bitter about it for long. Thereâ! She wrenched Letti back by the shoulder and found bright blue eyes staring back at her, wide and panicked. They were filled with no small amount of fear and hostility, but as soon as she recognized Anz
Called by the Dragon   78 - The Walls
âDonât do this,â said Anzi. She shifted, making certain she was concealing every part of Oza from Doufanâs view. âYouâre not going to like how this ends.â His glaive twisted in his grasp, a small rolling of the handle that made the keen edge of the curved blade on the end gleam under the torch light. âIâm obligated to make you an offer since thatâs our way,â he said just as blithely. âGive me the boy, and Iâll make it painless for you.â âIt? And whatâs âitâ supposed to be? Youâre getting ahead of yourself.â She grasped the hilts of her swords and unsheathed them an inch. The other soldierâs glaive tip edged upward as well. âThis is a bad time for you to play Bissetâs lapdog. The whole cityâs falling apart. Get out of here, and I wonât bring this up to His Excellency when we see him next. Consider it a favor repaid if you donât say a word about the guards.â But he said nothing, and something about his cold composure
Called by the Dragon   79 - Panic
The falling stones should have crushed her. She had never visited the dungeons often enough to know exactly how far underground this lower level was, but the weight of the upper cells alone should have flattened her. And Oza, too, no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise. Sheer determination and panic wouldnât have been enough for her to save him. Or shouldnât have been. But as she groaned under the weight of the solid slabs threatening to drive her into the ground and take Oza as well, she realized dimly that she wasnât dead. That wasnât possible, and yet here she was, breathing, however laborious and painful each rattling, shallow inhale. Her arms and legs trembled madly, struggling to support the weight of every piece of debris fallen on top of her so she didnât suffocate Oza underneath, and she felt no give as she shifted left and rightâbut she was alive. She was conscious. And although they were buried in darkness under the rubble and she
Called by the Dragon   80 - Understanding
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Called by the Dragon   81 - Shambles
The dragonâs talons threatened to crush her ribs with their perilous strength, but she clutched at them with a determined fire and grit her teeth against the pain. She had just been given a second lease on life, and Oza and Letti, too. If Doufan had run her through, he would have gone after them next without a doubt, and they wouldnât have stood a chance. It chilled her to think how close they had all been to meeting their end just moments before, but as they rose higher and higher over the Imperial City, exhilaration and relief filled her instead, swallowing up all the fear that had weighed her down like the night clouds blanketing the moon. They were leaving. They were leaving, and she had managed to keep everyone alive. Her heart pounded harder when she thought of Kai and how she had had to leave him, but surely he would have done the smart thing and left the Imperial City as she had told him to do before parting ways. And he would be safe, she told
Called by the Dragon   82 - Blood and Bone
Oza was still perched atop the dragonâs back, motionless, and Anzi refrained from telling him a second time to come down from there. The hostile expressions on the faces of everyone present told her he was in the safest place he could be, high above, and she briefly wished Letti hadnât come down yet either. But it was too late. They were surrounded, and despite Kaiâs sharp command, no one was lowering their guard. Only a few of them were carrying weapons, but she knew well enough they had no need of manmade blades. Not if they really were dragon shifters. Out of the corner of her eye, something gray and black flitted down the great dragonâs side, and she let herself glance there for a precious half-second to see the Prince crawling upside down off the elder dragonâs neck. His wings were outstretched as he climbed down with his thumb-like claw hooks, and now she saw something else peculiar. He had four wings now, two smaller ones that the main o
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