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NINE RIDERS HIT THE GROUND—THEN THE BROKEN DRAGON LET ONE WOMAN TOUCH THE WING THAT TERRIFIED HIM / Chapter 12 / 20

Chapter 12 - THE DIRECTORE DECREE

Marlo stepped between Kael and Nyx. Nyx’s eyes snapped open, his pupils slitting into narrow black pins as a dangerous orange glow warmed his throat.

"Stand down, Kael," Alistair ordered, stepping forward and displaying his Directorate badge. "This facility is under direct command of the Recovery Directorate."

"Not anymore," Kael replied smoothly, pulling a sealed parchment from his leather coat. "By decree of the Ministry of War, all 'unstable' dragons are to be transferred immediately to the Iron Spire for safety protocols. That includes your black beast."

"The Iron Spire is a prison," Marlo said, her voice trembling with rising fury. "They keep dragons sedated on blue-root until their minds rot!"

"They keep dragons controlled," Kael corrected coldly. "The High Council has decided that your little demonstration on the docks proved one thing: wild creatures respond to emotional bribery, not discipline. We cannot risk a rogue beast panicking during an actual aerial border skirmish."

"Nyx isn't rogue," Marlo spat. "He fought off three corrupted riders and saved this city!"

"He saved you," Kael said, pointing a heavy gloved finger at her. "He obeys you because you pander to his pain. That makes him a personal weapon, not an Imperial war-dragon. Hand over his reins by sunset, or we take him by force."

Kael turned and marched out, his guards falling into step behind him.

Marlo looked at Alistair. "We can't let them take him."

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My sister flung my ten-year-old son's Christmas gift across her marble kitchen, and the tiny wooden roof snapped against the tile. My brother laughed. Timothy crouched to collect the pieces, but I caught his hand before he could touch them. By morning, an envelope would make my sister's hands shake.

My sister flung my ten-year-old son's Christmas gift across her marble k...

For twelve years, my mother had persuaded everyone in our hometown that I'd turned my back on my family to build a career in the Navy. At my father's memorial service, she publicly shamed me in a packed church and ordered me to take off my military uniform. I was ready to walk away when a retired general rose from his seat with Dad's final letter in his hand and said, "Before you humiliate your daughter one more time, Helen, these people deserve to know the truth."

For twelve years, my mother had persuaded everyone in our hometown that...

My husband sl3pped me across the face in front of his entire family and shouted, “Get out of my house! You don't belong here anymore!” Behind him, my mother-in-law smiled with satisfaction, certain she had finally succeeded in driving me away. What neither of them knew was that I secretly owned the mansion they were standing in—and the $10,000 my mother-in-law spent every month on designer clothes, luxury holidays, and personal comforts came straight from my bank account. They thought they were throwing out a helpless woman. They had no idea they were about to lose everything…

My husband sl3pped me across the face in front of his entire family and...

"If we resist a direct order from the Ministry of War, we'll be branded traitors," Alistair said grimly. "Everything we fought for—clearing Ren’s name, exposing Voss—will be erased."

"Then we don't fight them here," Marlo said, looking deeply into Nyx’s amber eyes. "We give them what they want. We go to the Iron Spire."

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Chapter 13 - INTO THE IRON SPIRE
Chapter 14 - THE HORROR IN BLOCK NINE
Chapter 15 - THE WHISPER OF REDEMPTION
Chapter 16 - THE NIGHT OF THE IRON BREAK
Chapter 17 - FLIGHT OF THE UNBROKEN
Chapter 18 - THE SIEGE OF SUN VALLEY

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