The Girl Who Rode Fire

I never asked for a dragon. Or a mark that bound me to an elite Academy that didn't want me.
Especially not to him.
Bastian Roen-the Empire's golden son. Cold. Untouchable. And furious that someone like me, a herb-gatherer from nowhere, got chosen by magic meant for royalty.
"Spare meat," he called me.
"You didn't earn her," he said about my dragon.
So I trained harder. Fought through every bruise and insult. And when we were thrown into the Bone Maze together, I expected hatred. Maybe death.
I didn't expect to fall for the storm behind his eyes. Or the way his voice cracked when I nearly died.
"I didn't ask to want you," he whispered.
Then he kissed me like it hurt to breathe.
Now he won't even look at me.
But I'm not done. With him. With this place. With becoming more than they ever believed I could be.
Even if love, like fire, burns.