I set down my glass with a trembling hand.
‘Courage, dear one,’ Aodahn tells me. ‘You should perhaps—’
‘Viv?’ Atlas strides back into the Amber Court. ‘When did you last see the loquisonus machine?’
I frown. ‘This morning. Why?’
‘It’s broken,’ Atlas says.
I tense, my heart pounding.
Broken?
‘The tunnel-detecting machine?’ Aodahn says.
Across the court, I see Abelio watching us.
Cindra approaches. ‘Show me,’ she tells Atlas.
The five of us follow Cindra and Aodahn to our sleeping cave. We find the loquisonus machine still in its case, but when Atlas pulls it out, broken parts rattle inside.
‘You found it like this?’ I ask Atlas.
He nods. I glance at Cindra.
‘Do you think one of the wyverns was curious, and accidentally . . .’
Abelio slinks into the cave. When he sees the loquisonus machine hanging from Atlas’s hand, his turquoise eyes flash. ‘You have vandalised it,’ he hisses.
‘It wasn’t Atlas,’ I say sharply.
‘You want to ensure we cannot use your tunnel-detecting machine!’ Abelio continues. ‘This is sabotage.’
I feel my eyes narrow. ‘Sabotage? Or perhaps,’ I say slowly, ‘you wish to dissuade the wyverns from escaping the concealment you have forced on them.’
Cindra gives me a sharp look as Abelio recoils. ‘Without this machine, you cannot keep your side of our agreement,’he snarls at me. ‘You must leave immediately.’
‘Fasgadhis freely given, Abelio,’ Aodahn stutters.
‘Five dawns offasgadhis generosity enough,’ Abelio snarls.
‘Hedid it,’ Marquis says quietly.
My cousin glares in the wyvern’s direction and I know he’s right.
‘Didyoubreak the machine, Abelio?’ I ask.
He lets out a bird-like screech that sends a chill through me. I sense the others tense.
‘Abelio,’ Cindra says sharply. ‘If we banish the humans after nightfall, they will be hunted.’
‘So be it!’ Abelio shrieks, his eyes wide. ‘The wyverns owe them nothing.’
‘What’s he saying?’ Gideon whispers.
Abelio bares his teeth and I see the flicker of flame in his throat. A threatening clicking comes from his chest. The sound of fire.
‘Cindra, please!’ Serena shouts.
