Arista's Legacy: The Dragons of Incendium, #4

By Deborah Cooke

A Warrior Maiden of Cumae and a mercenary for hire, Arista is used to both hunting and being hunted. She accepts an assignment from Queen Arcana of Regalia so that she'll have a chance to find the secret that can save both Regalia and Incendium from destruction. Arista never expects to be helped by one of Arcana's own sons, much less that she will fall in love. How can she choose between defending her beloved and completing her quest?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Deborah A. Cooke
• Release date: Oct 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781927477984

Deborah Cooke

Deborah Cooke has always been fascinated by dragons, although she has never understood why they have to be the bad guys. She has an honours degree in history with a focus on medieval studies, and is an avid reader of medieval vernacular literature, fairy tales, and fantasy novels. When she isn’t writing, she can be found knitting, sewing, or hunting for vintage patterns. To learn more about Deborah and her dragon shape shifters, please visit her websites at www.deborahcooke.com and www.thedragondiaries.com. Her blog, Alive & Knitting, is at www.delacroix.net/blog.

Book preview

Arista’s Legacy

Arista’s Legacy

The Dragons of Incendium #4

Deborah Cooke

Deborah A. Cooke

Arista’s Legacy

by Deborah Cooke

Cover by Frauke Spanuth.

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Arista’s Legacy Copyright 2016 Deborah A. Cooke

All rights reserved.

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Without limiting the rights under copyright preserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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Contents

The Dragons of Incendium Series

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Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

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An Excerpt from Wyvern’s Warrior

About the Author

More Books by Deborah Cooke

The Dragons of Incendium Series

Paranormal romances featuring dragon shifters in space.

Deborah Cooke, author of the bestselling Dragonfire paranormal romances, introduces a new paranormal romance series featuring dragon shifter princesses whose adventures are out of this world!

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Once, in the Kingdom of Incendium, there were twelve princesses of the realm, each a dragon shifter. Each fiery and passionate. Each possessed of an appetite for pleasure that only her destined mate can satisfy. Twelve men are expected in Incendium, each with special powers of his own, each with the gift to claim one dragon princess’s heart forever.

1. WYVERN’S MATE

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2. Nero’s Dream

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3. WYVERN’S PRINCE

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4. Arista’s Legacy

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5. WYVERN’S WARRIOR

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6. Kraw’s Secret

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7. WYVERN’S OUTLAW

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8. Celo’s Quest

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9. WYVERN’S ANGEL

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10. Nimue’s Gift

Visit the Dragons of Incendium tab on my website

for additional reader resources,

including a glossary of terms,

a history of Incendium,

a cast of characters and more!

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Arista’s Legacy

The Dragons of Incendium #4

A Warrior Maiden of Cumae and a mercenary for hire, Arista is used to both hunting and being hunted. She accepts an assignment from Queen Arcana of Regalia so that she’ll have a chance to find the secret that can save both Regalia and Incendium from destruction. Arista never expects to be helped by one of Arcana’s own sons, much less that she will fall in love. How can she choose between defending her beloved and completing her quest?

One

Arista hesitated in the debrief chamber. The door had already sealed behind her and the dim lighting touched the waiting tank of healing fluid.

She had returned to Cumae. She had surrendered the ShadowCaster and made her way through the long twisted corridors to the deep recesses of the Vault. She barely remembered making the journey, because she had done it so often.

Yet she was distracted. She was aching with her last memory of Regalia, with the price of her escape. She couldn’t stop reliving that moment and wondering what she might have done differently.

How she might have saved Venero.

Arista knew what she was supposed to do in this chamber. She’d done it hundreds of times. She’d never delayed before. She knew also that she wasn’t truly alone, although she was apparently the only occupant of the small room. Its walls were filled with sensors and cameras: the great Hive was monitoring her.

The duration of her hesitation was being measured and interpreted.

The slight elevation of her pulse was being noted, and a range of explanations were being sorted in order of greatest probability.

She’d always known this and it had never bothered her.

Until this day.

She considered the tank of healing solution filled with nanobots to repair every minute scrap of damage incurred on her quest. Her gaze locked on the cable that she should have already pushed into the hidden port on her head.

Arista licked her lips.

Is there a problem, Arista? It was the voice of the Hive. Genderless, neutral, endlessly soothing. Impersonal. It irked Arista this time.

I’d like to request a memory partition, she said before she thought the better of it.

She could almost feel the sharpening of the Hive’s attention.

A memory partition? For what possible reason?

I’d like to keep a memory to myself.

We are all completely unveiled to each other, Arista, the Hive said quietly, just