Sacrificed to the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #1)
by Jessie Donovan
To Anne McCaffrey
My teenage years would’ve been incomplete without her dragonrider stories. I also wouldn’t be a writer today without her; she was, and still is, the biggest single influence on my writing career.
PART ONE
Chapter One
Melanie Hall sat in the reception area of the Manchester Dragon Affairs office, tapping her finger against her arm, and wishing they’d hurry the hell up. She’d been sitting for nearly an hour, and with each minute that ticked by, she started to doubt her eligibility. If she didn’t qualify to sacrifice herself to one of the British dragon-shifter clans, her younger brother would die; only the blood of a dragon could cure her brother’s antibiotic-resistant CRE infection.
A woman dressed in a gray suit emerged from the far doorway and walked toward her. When she reached Mel, the woman said, “Are you Melanie Hall?” Mel nodded, and the woman turned. “Then follow me.”
This is it. Mel rubbed her hands against her black trousers before she stood up and followed the woman. They went down one dull, poorly lit corridor and then turned left to go down another. The woman in the gray suit finally stopped in front of a door that read “Human Sacrifice Liaison” and turned the doorknob. Rather than enter, the middle-aged woman motioned for Mel to go inside. She obeyed, and as soon as she entered the room, the door slammed shut behind her.
A man not much older than her twenty-five years sat at a desk piled high with folders and papers. The room couldn’t be bigger than ten feet by ten feet, but it felt even smaller since every available space on the walls was decorated with different maps of the UK. Some were partitioned into five sections, while others had little pins pushed into them. She had no idea what the pins stood for, but the map divided into five represented the five dragon-shifter clans of the United Kingdom—two in England, one in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland, and one in Wales.
One of which might soon be her home for the next six months.
The man cleared his throat and she moved her attention from the walls to his face. When she met his blue eyes, he said, “Take a seat.”
Mel sat down in the faded plush chair in front of his desk and waited in silence. She had a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and while she usually didn’t mind, right now it could end up costing her brother his life.
The man picked up a file folder and scanned something inside with his eyes, and then set it down. She wanted to scream for him to tell her the results, but she bit the inside of her cheek to hold her tongue.
The man’s almost bored voice finally filled the room . “Ms. Hall, the genetic testing results say that you are compatible with dragon-shifter DNA and should have no problem conceiving one of their offspring. You also cleared all of the extensive psychological tests. If you’re still interested in sacrificing yourself, we can begin the final interview.”
Mel blinked. Despite her chances being one in a thousand that she could bear a dragon-shifter child, she qualified. Her younger brother would get the needed dragon’s blood and be able to live out a long life free of pain; he now had a future.
Tears pricked her eyes and she closed them to prevent herself from breaking down. Pull yourself together, Hall. Crying was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She couldn’t give the man any reason to dismiss her as a candidate.
“Ms. Hall?”
Mel opened her eyes and gave a weak smile. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m just relieved that my brother will live.”
“Yes, yes, the exchange. But we have a lot to cover before we get to the contract specifics, so if you’re quite composed, I’ll carry on.” Mel sat up straight in her chair and nodded. The man continued. “Right. You are healthy, genetically compatible, fertile, unattached, and not a virgin, which are the five requirements needed to qualify. Sacrificing yourself means that you will go to live with Clan Stonefire for a period of six months, and be assigned a temporary male. You will consent to his sexual attentions, and if you become pregnant, you understand that your stay will be extended until after the child is born. If you have any questions, any at all, now is the time to ask them.”