Flesh and Dragon's Bone

It's easier than you might think for a girl to be a dragon, but for a dragon to be a girl? Well, that's a far different story...
The rumors of that night had followed Yelena her entire life: The little girl shot by her parents. The girl raised by cannibals. People had never let her forget she was different-something she already knew, deep down. Returning to Merced, California, after a disastrous attempt at college, Yelena promised herself things would be normal this time, with an apartment close to her adopted parents and a job at her friend's clothing store. If she could just ignore the strange way people looked at her, the way they whispered about her when they thought she couldn't hear, things would be fine. If she could just ignore the truth that she was not like them. That she was something else entirely. Dragons were not what Yelena remembered in stories--dumb, giant lizards with burning coal in their guts. They weren't meant to be bridled and ridden by dashing knights in heavy armor. Dragons could outwit a human as easily as they could soar above the heavens. Yelena knew this because, deep down, she was one.