I was already tearing through my shelves, pulling down tomes bound in cracked animal hides and stitched parchment. Dust scattered across my desk as I flipped the pages of an old journal Blair, the council’s seer, had given me.
My eyes flew over the words of old prophecies she’d written until I found it.
There it was in half-faded ink, scrawled hastily.
I read it aloud for Rowan to hear,
“Born under comet rain,
To cease the dead corruption again.
Lightning strikes a starlit sky,
Earth rises to meet the storm’s eye.
Wickedness looms to drag dragons under,
Twin souls opposed by thunder.
Finding their mate will seal their magic,
Burying corruption with the Fates, inevitable yet tragic.”
I let the words hang, the air thick with the weight of it. “Rowan,” I said softly, “these aren’tjustdrakes. They’re the prophecy made flesh. It’s about a war to come. Have you talked to Blair about this?”
“Not yet. Blair has been avoiding any talk of Roak with me.” Rowan cursed under his breath. “Do you realize what this means? If the Dragon Cult catches wind?—”
“They will,” I cut in. “Obviously. They’re already whispering Roak’s name as if he were the Dragon God. The cult will attempt to kill the brothers if they can, since clearly this affects them. Which is why, listen to me, we need them trained. Four years of basic instruction and knowledge of our world while they’re still mostly in hiding, then enrollment into Blezen Academy. If anyone can survive what’s coming, it’s assassins forged by Blezen.”
Rowan groaned. “They were raised hidden in peace, not to be assassins.”
“Give them four years to learn before they go into the academy to train to be assassins,” I told him. “Without proper training, they’ll be killed.”
“…Fine. Four years. I’ll talk to Blair.”
“Good idea. Are you good?”
“Sabine and I killed him,” Rowan croaked. “He was exposed to her venom, but he didn’t break into ash immediately. I lit him on fire as he was turning to ash…all that is left of him isash. No bones. No brain to be resurrected.”
“He can’t be resurrected by just any old necromancy,” I said with a frown. “But there’s always a way. Especially if there was a scale of his lost somewhere before that.”
“Let’s put this conversation on hold until I speak to Blair.” The tension cracked. “Remind me again why you agreed to teach at Apex Elite Academy? Being the headmaster of Fate Hollow is enough to drive me mad, but being a professor? Alister and Lachlan still teach, and it’s a lot. How are you managing research and lectures?”
I swirled Rune’s venom in its vial, watching it lap at the glass like a tide. “Because it’s worth it. For Sabine’s venom. For the potions this venom will unlock for our agents. Not to mention, now I have access to Rune’s. In four years, we’ll have an arsenal no one can predict.”
“Glad to hear you’ve come to terms with it,” he said.
“It’s only four years.” I hesitated, then admitted, “You know…when Rune gave me her venom, her fang dripping the venom into the vial I was holding, I felt butterflies.Me.Butterflies.” I scoffed at the ridiculousness.
“You like her,” he said flatly.
“She’s Sabine’s daughter.” I shrugged, going back to my work. “Of course I do.”
“No, Drecken. Youlikeher.Romantically. Trust me, I know.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve never liked anyone like that. I’d never like anyone that wasn’t fated to me.”
“Exactly.” Rowan’s voice sharpened. “When I heard Wren’s name, before I ever met her, I knew she was special to me because I couldn’t stop thinking about her and worrying for her safety. I’d never worried about anyone like that before. Bonds don’t snap the way they used to. They’re rarer,slower. Even dragon and drake bonds wait years before the threads revealthemselves. The last case of an instant bond in Blezen was twenty years ago. She could be your fated mate, Drecken.”
