Dragon's Breath, Tome 1 : Stalked by Flames

Chapter 1

Bailey

I should have known the day was going to be bad when I stepped outside and saw vivid purple and red northern lights in the sky—at nine in the morning, in Oklahoma. Checking my water bottle, I didn’t find anything suspicious in the clear liquid. Then I caught other people staring upward, too, gawking. Thank God. I’d begun to wonder if the hit of acid I’d dropped two years ago had come back to haunt me.

The lights faded and the sky turned dark and ominous shortly after that, which should have been my next clue to stay inside and wait it out. Not to mention it was a Monday and doomed by default. But I didn’t, so I only had myself to blame when the clouds unleashed bucket loads of rain on me while I loaded all my personal possessions into the backseat of my truck.

That wasn’t the end of the troubles, though. Not even close.

Right after turning in the keys to my apartment I discovered my truck had a flat tire on the front. Someone had slashed it, leaving the poor thing to look like an undercooked soufflé. I spent the rest of the morning at the shop getting it replaced.

Then right as I was about to escape Norman city limits, my friend Trish called to remind me I hadn’t turned in my library books yet. It was almost as if fate itself intervened so I couldn’t leave Oklahoma anytime soon, though I suspected she’d wanted to say goodbye one last time.

Another storm approached from the west as I balanced a high stack of books in my arms, heading for Bizzell Library. With the semester over and graduation just two days ago, there weren’t many people lingering on campus. Just a few students lounging on the grass and a guy feeding the squirrels. Most people had gone home for the summer. Much like I hoped to do.

The ground shook and two of my books tumbled to the sidewalk. Damn earthquakes. They were getting more frequent with every passing month, and the experts couldn’t explain them. Oklahoma had a reputation for tornadoes—not earthquakes.

A few dozen other places around the world were experiencing similar problems. Extreme weather, earthquakes, and an unsettling sense of doom that left everyone feeling the end was nigh. Of course, I didn’t buy what those crazy guys on street corners shouted.

I leaned down and grabbed the fallen books and put them back on top of the others before resuming my walk toward the library. Now that the tremor had passed there wouldn’t be another one for at least thirty minutes. At least, that’s how it usually went. None were on the scale of the big California earthquakes, but they were strong enough that you felt them when they struck. The constant shaking was beginning to take its toll on structures. I kept waiting for a building to come crumbling down.

A student exiting the library held the doors open when I reached them. I mumbled my thanks to the guy and kept going. Five minutes, tops, and I’d be out of there by noon. Texas wasn’t having all these problems. I couldn’t wait to get home to my parents’ working ranch where I could put my shiny new business degree to use. The paperwork alone had become a mess since I’d left, and I had a lot of plans to help increase profits.

Trish, my best friend, stood behind the checkout counter. We’d been roommates during our freshman year. I’d never been good with people except those closest to me, but she’d poked and prodded until I let her into my inner circle. If not for her forcing me out of my reclusiveness, my college experience might have been limited to classes and my dorm room. I still didn’t like interacting with people much, but she’d helped me improve my social skills a lot.