Soul of Smoke Read online

  Soul of Smoke

  By Caitlyn McFarland

  On a hike deep in the Rocky Mountains, Kai Monahan watches as a dozen dragons—actual freaking dragons—battle beneath a fat white moon. When one crashes nearly dead at her feet and transforms into a man, Kai does the only thing a decent person could: she grabs the nearest sword and saves his life.

  As the dragon/man, Rhys, recovers from the attack, a chance brush of skin against skin binds him inextricably to Kai. Becoming heartsworn to a human—especially such a compelling one—is the last thing Rhys wants. But with an ancient enemy gathering to pit dragons against humanity and his strength nearly depleted, Kai has just become the one thing Rhys needs. A complete bond will give him the strength to fight; a denied bond means certain death.

  Kai is terrified at the thought of allowing any dragon into her mind...or her heart. Accepting the heartswearing and staying with the dragons means sacrificing everything, and Kai must decide if her freedom is worth risking Rhys’s life—a life more crucial to the fate of humanity than she could possibly know.

  Book One of the Dragonsworn trilogy

  95,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve been hearing the term brand promise a lot recently in business articles. This is something we talk about behind-the-scenes at Carina Press quite often, because we know there’s a trend right now to call something romance but not deliver on a happily-ever-after or even a happily-for-now. But those of us at Carina Press are longtime romance readers and fans, and we know how important that brand promise of a HEA is to romance readers, so we want to assure you that if we call something romance, we’ll deliver a story with strong characters, a wonderful relationship and, eventually, an emotionally satisfying ending at the conclusion of the story (even if that conclusion comes after two, three or four books, not just one!) You can trust us to want that romance ending just as much as you do!

  This month, we have seven romances in a variety of subgenres I’m happy to be sharing with you, including one by a debut author.

  Christi Barth wraps up her contemporary romance Shore Secrets trilogy with the stand-alone novel Back to Us. When her ex-boyfriend refuses to sell her his land unless she dates him for a month, an uncompromising winemaker learns that some bargains are worth making for a second chance at love.

  Joining Christi in the contemporary romance category, with one of a male/male nature, is A.M. Arthur and her Restoration Series. In Finding Their Way, Boxer thought he was done with relationships, but deepening his new and evolving friendship with Riley could be worth the risk of another heartbreak.

  And in the erotic contemporary romance subgenre, a financially destitute and desperate woman agrees to a shocking contract—engaging in BDSM sex with a man who has a dark and mysterious past—in exchange for all the money she could ever wish for. Check out Under Contract, part of Jeffe Kennedy’s Falling Under series, which also includes her previous two novels Going Under and Under His Touch.

  Fan-favorite Cindy Spencer Pape is back with a new steampunk romance in the Gaslight Chronicles. In Ether & Elephants, Tom and Nell have loved one another since they were children, but one cataclysmic mistake destroyed their chances. Now they are forced to work together to save a missing child and all the old sparks have returned, igniting fires that may burn out of control.

  If you’re looking for a bit more of a traditional historical romance, Alyssa Everett delivers a fantastic one with The Marriage Act. Though bitterly estranged since their wedding night, warring husband and wife John and Caro must mask their hostility to play a devoted couple for Caro’s unsuspecting family in a second-chance-at-love regency romance.

  Taking a less traditional historical romance route is Kari Edgren. Defying her goddess-born family, Selah Kilbrid joins with a mortal enemy in An Immortal Descent to save the two people she loves most as they race toward a long-forgotten nightmare that awaits them in Ireland.

  And this month we’re proud to present debut author Caitlyn McFarland and her Dragonsworn trilogy. In book one, Soul of Smoke, Kai Monahan’s uneventful hike in the Rocky Mountains ends with a dragon shapeshifter named Rhys magically bound to her—now she must complete the bond and give up her freedom or risk unleashing dragons on humanity in a war that will decimate both.

  Escape into fun (and a happy ending!) with a Carina Press romance this month by picking up one of these novels or one of our more than a thousand backlist titles.

  Until next time, here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  Angela James

  Editorial Director, Carina Press

  Dedication

  For Chaela, Joci and Kairi.

  You are princesses, and you are dragons.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Author Note

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Caitlyn McFarland

  About the Author

  About the Never Deal with Dragons series

  Chapter One

  The Precipice

  Kai stood at the brink of the precipice, the toes of her worn hiking boots hanging over the edge. One wrong move would plunge her down the sheer cliff face to the rock-strewn valley two hundred feet below. A shiver of adrenaline thrilled from the bottom of her feet to the base of her neck.

  She threw out her arms and inhaled the pine-spiked autumn air. It was late September, and the higher elevations of the Rockies were a motley mix of yellow, orange and deep, dusty green. Snow capped the high peaks in the distance. Not far off, a stream laughed in its rocky bed.

  Freedom.

  Grinning, Kai stepped back from the view and sauntered to a boulder ten feet from the drop-off. She shed her pack and leaned against the sun-warmed surface of the stone. Haphazard flyaways the color of soot had escaped her messy bun, and she smoothed them down with callused fingers.

  Gravel crunched behind her. Kai turned. “About time.”

  Juli emerged from behind the tall, tumbled boulders that hid the path, looking cool and composed. Her pink jacket, which precisely matched the accents on her black pants, was worn but obviously cared-for. She eyed the cliff, then Kai, brushing an escaped strand of short, white-blond hair behind one ear. “We’ve talked about this.”

  Kai shrugged away a buzz of annoyance. “I promised, didn’t I? No more almost falling off cliffs.�
� And she hadn’t. She’d been careful. “Where’s Charlotte?”

  Juli jerked her head over her shoulder as their roommate trudged into sight.

  “I hate you, Monahan,” Charlotte wheezed, scraping trendy brunette bangs off her damp forehead. “I can’t believe you talked me into coming all the way out here.”

  Kai grinned. “You’re the one who wouldn’t stop raving about that hot tub in your parents’ cabin.”

  “This—” Charlotte swept her arm out to indicate the wilderness surrounding them, “—is not the hot tub.”

  Kai swung her pack back onto her shoulders, looking up at Charlotte. Of course, being five foot two meant looking up at most people. “We couldn’t stay in it all weekend. We would’ve gotten pruney. Besides, if I wanted to sit around, I could have stayed back at the apartment watching MonsterChase with Pan.” Kai wiggled her fingers, mimicking the voice of the British voiceover guy on their fourth roommate’s favorite cryptozoology show. “Bigfoot! The Wyvern of McCauley Peak!” She laughed. “Dragons and deadly cryptids, they’re out there!”

  Charlotte was not moved. “My feet hurt.”

  Juli raised one perfect eyebrow. “I warned you about wearing new shoes.”

  “But they’re so super.” Charlotte put her best French accent into the last word and stuck out her leg to admire the shoes in question. “Outdoorsy girls are hot, right? You never know when you might need to impress a man, Juliet.”

  Juli made a disgusted sound. “I have more important things going on in my life than impressing men.” She stowed her water bottle and tightened her pale blond nub of a ponytail.

  Kai leaned the side of her face against the sun-warmed stone. “I love you for you, Char.”

  Charlotte snorted. “Obviously. I’m fabulous.” She wandered to the lookout where Kai had stood a moment before, though Charlotte stayed a solid five feet from the brink. Pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head, she looked to the color-splashed world beyond, where the snowy tops of distant peaks tangled in hazy clouds. After a minute, she let out a resigned sigh. “It is beautiful. Do you teach next week, Kai? It could be fun. Convince me rock climbing isn’t just for skinny tomboys like you.”

  “I teach a beginner’s class every Wednesday.” Kai exchanged glances with Juli. Charlotte would never actually ruin her manicure.

  Kai rubbed a thumb over the pads of her fingers, feeling the short, rough fingernails, hard-won calluses and mostly healed splits. A lifetime of competitive gymnastics hadn’t been nearly as hard on her skin as two years of rock climbing.

  “It’s getting late.” Charlotte collapsed in the shade of a boulder. “I want the hot tub!”

  Kai twisted a carabiner on her belt and shot Juli a pleading look. They’d been climbing steadily all day. Now the summit loomed above them, so close she felt she could reach out and slip her fingers along the jagged contours of its crest. They couldn’t go back to the cabin yet. Hiking with Charlotte had meant Kai left her climbing gear at home, but this path was supposed to lead all the way to the top. After the week she’d had—two O-Chem midterms, a research paper turned in two days past due, and another blowout argument with her mother—she needed to summit this mountain.

  Juli hauled a groaning Charlotte to her feet and frowned. “Half an hour. That’s it. I won’t be caught out here after dark.”

  “Perfect.” Kai shouldered her pack, grinning again, and led them farther up. It was narrow going for a little as the path snaked between the cliff’s edge and a sharp slope of rocky scree. Charlotte clenched her teeth and scooted along sideways, and even Juli slowed to a careful, measured walk.

  Kai laughed, sucking it all in, holding it inside. The air, the song of birds and rustle of small animals, the green valley rolling away below with a lake at its center reflecting the sky. The time to do anything or go anywhere. Today was free. Today was perfect.

  After a few minutes the path turned away from the edge of the cliff. Open ground sloped gently downward, the scree becoming a sheer rock wall that loomed high above, casting sections of the path into shadow. Kai trailed her fingers along the rough gray stone, humming. Juli and Charlotte fell behind.

  The path followed the rock wall around a bend. A dozen yards ahead, a flash of blue caught Kai’s eye. She stopped. Something human-shaped sprawled in the shade at the base of the cliff. “Hey, Juli, you’d better get up here... I...” She swallowed, her throat bone dry. “There’s a girl on the ground. I think she fell from the top of the cliff.”

  Footsteps pounded as Juli raced up the path. “Where? Never mind. I see her.”

  The girl, probably eighteen or nineteen, was lying face-up. She wore a high-necked black shirt and loose, charcoal-gray pants tucked into black, thick-soled, utilitarian boots that laced to above the ankle and looked as if they’d seen a lot of wear.

  In sharp contrast to the military-like garb, the girl was draped in a ridiculous amount of jewelry. Gold armbands, rings, multiple earrings, and no less than three necklaces, all hung with crystal or polished slices of colorful stone. Her hair looked as if it had once been arranged in an ornate, braided updo.

  Juli reached the girl and knelt by her side. Charlotte squealed, took a breath, and squealed again. “Is she dead? Oh em gee, she’s totally dead!” She seized Kai’s hand and dragged her forward, but Kai resisted. Death was not her kind of thrill.

  Long auburn hair straggled across the fallen girl’s face, which was ghost-white except for the blood. It caked crimson in her hair and streaked her cheek and neck, blending with a mottled mix of purple and black bruises. The left leg of her pants was torn to the knee, exposing the girl’s calf, which was so bruised and swollen the bone had to be broken.

  Juli had two fingers on the girl’s neck and an intent expression on her face. “She’s not dead. And don’t say oh em gee, Charlotte. You’re twenty, not thirteen.” Juli whipped off her pack and dug for the first aid kit. “Her injuries have started to heal, but the blood looks fresh. That doesn’t make sense.” Frowning, she trickled a few drops from her water bottle into the girl’s slightly open mouth. No reaction.

  Kai twined her fingers in the carabiners on her belt, clicking one open and shut, open and shut. Her eyes fixed on the neck and left sleeve of the girl’s shirt, which had been covered in myriad pentagons cut from thin black leather and layered over each other in rows, making them look like scales. “What do we do?”

  Juli’s brow furrowed. “We can’t carry her.”

  “She definitely wasn’t robbed.” Charlotte indicated the girl’s jewelry. “Oooh, druzy! I love the uncut-stone thing. So natural, you know?”

  “We’ve got to get help.” Kai ignored Charlotte’s commentary on the unconscious girl’s fashion choices and looked helplessly at the empty mountains tumbling away beyond the slope. They hadn’t seen any other hikers all day, and there was no sign anyone else had been there recently.

  Juli stood and pulled out her phone. “I don’t have any reception.”

  Kai tugged her own phone from the pocket of her hoodie. “Me, neither.”

  “We have to go back to the cabin and use the radio.” Face troubled, Juli stuck her phone back in her jacket.

  “It’s a three-hour hike!” Kai protested. It had taken them twice that long to get this far, but going downhill would be faster. “Someone has to stay.”

  “We need to report her location to the rangers.” Juli dug through her pack. With the squeaky rustle of cellophane candy wrappers, she shook out a silver space blanket.

  Kai couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “We can’t leave her alone!”

  Juli tucked the blanket around the girl’s body. “There are only three of us.” She straightened. “Two stay and one goes for help, or one stays and two go for help. Either way, someone gets left alone. It’s not safe.”

  “I’m not staying,” Charlotte added.<
br />
  Kai folded her arms. “I’ll stay.”

  “I’m not leaving you.” Juli’s face was closed, her tone final.

  Kai glared. She and Juli had been best friends since they were five, and Juli could be more dictatorial than both of Kai’s older brothers combined. It had never bothered Kai until she’d finally freed herself from her mother’s tyranny and quit competitive gymnastics two years ago. Since then, even Juli’s well-intentioned bossiness got under her skin. “I’m staying.”

  Juli let out her breath in a frustrated hiss, glaring at Kai. “No one will be able to get here until after dark. Maybe two of us should stay.”

  “No. I still have food in my bag and my own blanket. Besides...” Kai tipped her head toward Charlotte, who had all the survival skills of an ice cube on a summer sidewalk.

  “If you’re sure...” Charlotte trailed off, unaware of the silent exchange.

  Juli glanced at Charlotte. “Fine.” Her voice was frosty. “But you had better stay away from cliffs.”

  Recognizing victory, the tension between Kai’s shoulders eased. She laughed. “Come on, Jules. I promise I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Juli’s nostrils flared. “Fine. The sooner we go the sooner we’ll be back. Let’s go, Charlotte.”

  Kai waved as they walked away. With a final glance from Juli, her roommates disappeared around the curve of the mountain. Kai dropped her pack, stretched and paced, keeping an eye on the girl.

  Hours ticked by. The sun inched toward the western horizon, and Kai got bored. The girl remained unconscious, getting neither better nor worse. Though Kai had meant to sit by her the whole time, she walked to the grassy, flattish slope and amused herself by stretching and doing back handsprings. But gymnastics always left a bitter taste in her mouth, so after a few minutes she moved back to the cliff, evaluating the rock. It looked solid, so she traversed the bottom, moving back and forth no more than a few feet off the ground.

  Evening hovered closer, the warm fall day ebbing into chill twilight. Juli and Charlotte had to be back at the cabin.