Twiceborn Read online

  “Let’s talk about it later.”

  “Okay.” The drugs in his system made him more biddable than usual. Also a little spacey. He gave me a beatific smile. “I bet she made a beautiful dragon.”

  “What happened to your arm, Uncle Ben?”

  “Aaah …” Daddy tried to kill Mummy and Uncle Ben got in the way? Stumped for an answer, Ben looked at me.

  “We might save that for later too, when Uncle Ben’s not so tired.”

  “Okay.” He laid his head back on my shoulder.

  Ben caught my hand in his. “It’s good to see you. Both of you.” His eyes searched my face. “I’m so sorry.”

  I squeezed his hand. “I know. I’m sorry too.” For the things I’d called him, for the way I’d reacted. For the separate hells we’d both gone through in the past seven months.

  “Are we … okay?”

  There was a strange lightness in my heart, something I hadn’t felt in so long I’d forgotten what it was like. I had my son back, I had a guy prepared to throw himself in front of a killing blow to save me—a guy who, even as beat up as he was, still looked pretty damn good with his shirt off.

  The strange feeling was happiness. I reckoned I could get used to it.

  “Oh, I think we’re a little better than okay.” I set Lachie gently on his feet, then leaned in and kissed Ben thoroughly, deep and long. Everyone said dragons had strong sexual appetites. As soon as those bandages came off, Mr Stevens would be finding out just how strong.

  He grinned up at me. “Okaaay!”

  THE END

  Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed Twiceborn, please take a few minutes to leave a review where you bought it. Your feedback helps other readers find the book, and I would be very grateful for your assistance in helping to spread the word.

  Kate’s story continues in The Twiceborn Queen, available now on Amazon. Book 3 will be called Twiceborn Endgame. Sign up to my mailing list and get it for only 99 cents. You’ll have a window of 24 hours once the book goes on sale. After that it will go back to regular price, so make sure you open that email as soon as you see it.

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thanks to my trusty team of beta readers: Mal, Peter, Geoff and Chris. Your help and encouragement was invaluable. Thanks also to my editor, Eliza Dee, and to my family for putting up with being ignored for long stretches of time.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marina Finlayson is a reformed wedding organist who now writes fantasy. She is married and shares her Sydney home with three kids, a large collection of dragon statues and one very stupid dog with a death wish.

  Twiceborn, Book 1 of The Proving trilogy, is her first novel.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR