Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Thank You!
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
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About the Author
Night Shift Dragons
DFZ Book 3
Rachel Aaron
They say family always sticks together, but when you’re your dad’s only lifeline and the whole world—humans, dragons, and gods—wants you dead, “family bonding” takes on a whole new meaning.
My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I’m in way over my head. I thought getting rid of my dad’s bad luck curse would put things back to normal. Instead, I’m stuck playing caretaker to the Great Dragon of Korea. That wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t such a jerk, or if every dragon on the planet wasn’t out to kill him, or if he were my only problem.
Turns out, things can always get worse in the DFZ. When a rival spirit attacks my god/boss looking to turn the famously safety-optional city into a literal death arena with Nik as his bloody champion, I’m thrust onto the front lines and way out of my comfort zone. When gods fight, mortals don’t usually survive, but I’m not alone this time. Even proud old dragons can learn new tricks, and with everything I love falling to pieces, the father I’ve always run from might just be the only force in the universe stubborn enough to pull us back together.
Author’s Note: This is the third and final book in a new series set in the same universe as my Heartstrikers novels. You don’t need to have read Heartstrikers to enjoy this one, though! Opal’s story was written to stand by itself, so if you haven’t read the others yet, don’t worry! I wrote this with you in mind. Please enjoy, and thank you as always for reading!
- Rachel
In memory of my dad, Rob Aaron,
who was not a dragon,
or cruel, or neglectful,
or any of the horrible things I always make parents in my books.
He was wonderful, and he will forever be
very, very missed.
Prologue
The white dragon crashed into the shallows of the Detroit River like a meteor. The dark water exploded when she hit, flinging rocks and sticky mud high into the air as her huge body plowed up the waterway’s Canadian bank before finally coming to a rest against the rotting hull of a long-forgotten tour boat. The stinking mud she’d sent flying landed on top of her a few seconds later, hitting her broken scales in a staccato patter of soft, wet slaps.
Ow.
Chest heaving, the dragoness known as White Snake, youngest daughter of the previous Great Yong of Korea and dragon of nowhere in particular, cracked open her glittering eyes. Across the churning water, the skyline of the DFZ was still undulating angrily, its elevated roads twisting like vines around the place where her hateful brother and his human pet had vanished. No, not vanished. The city had eaten them. Snatched the bleeding dragon right out of the sky. Right out of her claws.
White Snake had no idea what Yong had paid to get the god of the city on his side or how he’d done it, but it was most definitely done. With one well-hurled truck, the DFZ had smashed the victory White Snake had given everything to obtain. It had taken centuries of patient waiting to find a flaw in her brother’s control, years of watching and biding her time before the Great Yong had made a mistake great enough to give her a chance. She’d planned the events of these last few weeks down to the second, mortgaged her resources and connections down to the hilt to bring it all together. And now, in the space of an instant, it was over. Smashed, wasted, ruined. Her greatest plan, her chance of a lifetime, gone forever. And if she didn’t do something about this bleeding soon, she would be too.
Groaning, White Snake closed her eyes and tried to push herself up, “tried” being the operative word. Great Fire, that city hit hard. Even with the river to cushion her fall, it felt as if every bone in her body had been shattered. The only positive she could see in her current situation was that at least she’d landed on the Canadian side of the river, outside the city limits where the DFZ couldn’t reach to finish the job.
That was lucky, she supposed, but the city wasn’t the only—or even the most dangerous—thing she had to worry about right now. As a small dragon with no clan to back her up, White Snake had always taken care never to make enemies, but there were no politics in the world good enough to save a downed dragon. A predator that could no longer defend itself was everyone’s prey, and the DFZ had slapped her out of the sky in front of the entire world. It was only a matter of time before another dragon showed up to take her fire as its own. If she wanted to live, she had to move.
Growling deep in her throat, White Snake dug her broken claws into the mud. Move, she ordered herself. Move, weakling, or you’re dead. They will eat your flesh, scales, and bones. They will steal your fire until you’re left without even a ghost. Move.
But she did not move. No matter how she struggled or how fiercely she clawed the sucking mud, her mangled body did not budge. When she collapsed panting back into the bloody water, the truth of her situation hit her like a second truck to the face. She was going to die here. Die alone in the dark, in mud that smelled of dead fish, on an alien shore, without ever seeing her beloved homeland again.
Roaring at the loss, White Snake surged upward. Pushing with all her fear-driven strength, she managed to pry herself a few feet up the bank. She was about
