How had he passed through Vaxan’s ward? And left it completely intact as he’d done so?
Had he—oh.Of course. His brother, Vorzyr, had been here after that Temperance battle and been granted passage by Vaxan himself. I knew how T’s mind worked. He’d masked himself temporarily, and with him having the same blood as Vorzyr and a very similar magical signature, it would have made it much easier to pull off.
Registering the major aggression, Zayn bolted from me, and rushed over, calling his power to his right palm, his fuchsia magic flaring.
Torvek snarled, “Stay back, chaos gremlin, or you’ll feel the wrath of my flame.”
I grimaced as Zayn blasted him, swiping a deep wound across Torvek’s cheek that had him grunting, eyes blazing with fury—knowing him, at the insult of it more than the pain.
“That’s the second time you’ve threatened me with your fire, flame boy,” Zayn called to him as he strode closer, power still live and at the ready. “That’s what you get.”
I felt T’s power coil.
“Stop,” I ordered, then I burst between them.
I swiftly pressed a hand to T’s chest with my dragon might, then signaled Zayn to take it down.
Zayn sucked in a breath, but did as I’d asked, calling his power back, and not escalating any further.
Thank you, my lovely.
“Torvek,” I snarled when he tried to push against my hand. “You’ll hurt me. And striking Zayn will cause me pain too.”
His blazing eyes flickered unsteadily as they settled on mine properly.
And then he stepped back.
I dropped my hand. “All right, now what is this all about, flame bite?”
“That’s right,” he snapped at Zayn. “It’s flame bite, not flame boy. You hear me?”
“We’re all hearing you loud and fucking clear,” Zayn shot back. “And trust me, the raging thing doesn’t usually end well, so keep that in mind. Seems you need a release—some way or another. A little controlled violent sparring with your dragon warrior buddies back in your kingdom? Some hard fucking?”
“Watch your tongue,” Torvek snarled, almost starting forward again, but holding when his gaze flicked back to me.
“Zayn, leave it,” I told him as he came to stand beside me.
He nodded, but wrapped his arm around me, glaring at Torvek.
T tugged at his hair, then rumbled at me, “You knew that Fanor was aware of what I am?”
I jolted. “What?”
He glared at me. “V had a talk with me concerning what you, him, Cornelius and Fanor are trying to putting in place to help Draven push back the call to mobilize.”
Vorzyr wasn’t supposed to have done that. Not yet. Not until things were properly in place, especially when it came to the Torvek aspect of it, so he wouldn’t be put at risk—or majorly panic. Like right now. It had to mean that T had found out on his own somehow. He had his ear to the ground and access to a lot of intel funnels.
He went on, “Fanor knowing about me came up—had to come up for him to get his point across. Then I inferred the rest where your knowledge base was concerned.”
Before I could respond, he started pacing, “And how could you not include me in that meeting with my brother—and you, essentially my little sister, present? Not to mention, Fanor! Evi!”
I held up my hands and told him calmly, “Because you’re not on the periphery. You can’t act outside the political landscape like all three of us can. It would have compromised you.”
He frowned. “So this is why Fanor recused herself from certain topics involved in her role at the Dracoryn Core? I thought it was because of me, us breaking things off. But that even seemed far-fetched, because Fanor isn’t the type of person who’d compromise her career over a romantic entanglement. She’s powerfully ambitious and steadfast in all that she does.”
“First, you’re right that she wouldn’t do that. Second, you’re also not just some‘romantic entanglement’to her. You’re it for her. The one, T.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t… all this you’re working on clandestinely. Then her knowing about me? About me, Evi! My other abilities! Forsolong, too.”
