Read Online Emma (Dark Fire) by Jodie B. Cooper - Free Book Online Page B

obviously didn’t have a choice; it was either bombardment by his emotions or get sucked into an icy void. That was just fantastic, she thought sarcastically.
    “We don’t live past the death of our mate,” Lydia said, frowning at Emma as she rubbed her chest. “Once a permanent bond is established, and whenever our mark is touched, we feel every emotion our mate feels. Having a Chélah, a beloved mate, die is more than our mind can handle. He’ll die when you do.”
    Lydia glanced up at Keith. “Once we bond, we aren’t even attracted to another person. There is no such thing as divorce on Tuatha Dé Danann.”
    Emma knew there would be no waiting to see if Tyler was her mate. A dragon had marked her. She was his mate. Yeah, she wasn’t too excited over that fact. If she could feel his emotions, he could feel hers. Did he care that her heart felt like he’d ripped it in half? That she could feel the horror and disgust that he felt for her?
    “On Earth, you don’t go around telling someone you are mated,” Keith said stubbornly, folding his arms in a defiant gesture.
    “On Tuatha, it’s what every person yearns for. Maybe having someone who loves you more than their own life is more than your poor mortal brain can comprehend!” Lydia snapped back, glaring at him. Her deep throated growl breaking the peace of the meadow as she stormed away.
     

Chapter - Cavern Springs
    The next day Emma wished she’d stayed home. Every TV channel was covering The Arrival and she could be watching the live news coverage.
    Instead of staying home, she was on her way to the small town of Cavern Springs, Arkansas. The twisting two-lane highway, with tall trees bordering either side, was the only road between Beaver Dam and town.
    “The sheriff should’ve put up a sign telling everyone the road is under water,” Emma said, wondering how long it would take to reach town.
    As if hearing her unspoken words, the jeep slowed to a crawl in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.
    “It wouldn’t have mattered. People would still drive down it, even knowing it dead ends,” Keith said, nodding to the car in front of him with a bumper sticker supporting a high school band from half a state away. “It’s not every day a lake triples in size, swallowing a road and dam in the process.”
    “True,” Emma snorted, “but surely these people knew once they drove down the road, they’d have to come back the same way. I mean, hello, the other end of highway 187 drops into Beaver Lake. There’s no other way out.”
    He chuckled, agreeing with her sarcastic tone.
    Yesterday, the entire world ground to a screeching halt. Everything from the stock market to ball games stopped when Tuatha appeared on Earth.
    She chuckled. It was hard not to stop when the baseball diamond sprouted feathery blue trees or when tiny purple frogs, the size of a dime, covered the floor of the American Stock Exchange.
    So far, no part of the world lay untouched.
    Anxious to hear anything new, she flipped on the local radio station.
    The static cleared and the announcer’s melodious deep voice said, “Our round the clock country music has been interrupted for continuous coverage of The Arrival. For anyone not aware of it, The Arrival, as the media dubbed yesterday, happened all over the world.”
    “Entire castles and medieval villages have sprung up across the entire world. So far, dragons appear to be the largest of the creatures, with wingspans estimated up to fifty feet wide.”
    “To date, the Ozark Mountains have the largest concentration of dragons. Dragons, winged lions, and winged humans are flocking to this location. With the appearance of angels, televangelists are shouting it’s the End of Time.”
    “The western edge of the Ozarks is now home to hundreds of massive stone castles, several are three to four times the size of Windsor Castle.”
    “Cavern Springs is the nearest town and we’re feeling the tension, but compared to Mexico City I believe we are