“The dragon masters are the only other dragon shifter population we’re aware of,” Gilder says, her golden hair catching the firelight, gleaming as I imagine golden dragon scales would. “Other than the dragon shifters in Philadelphia.”
Another supernatural race nearing extinction.
I haven’t had dealings with a dragon shifter, but they are inherently strong and brutal. But then, so are the monsters at the Academy…
Again, I shake myself.
“What of the woman I met in the park?” I ask. “Do you know anything about her?”
Now, my sisters close off, but I immediately recognize it as a protective reaction rather than a secretive one.
“We have felt her pain before,” Gilder says quietly. “But we don’t know what has caused it.”
“And we don’t know what kind of supernatural she is,” says Rose. “Somehow, she can mask her true nature from us.”
“She is most certainly something ancient,” Sable adds.
They all hang their heads, and I’m not sure why until Gilder whispers. “We have learned to block out her pain.”
Even though their heads are bowed, and I can’t see their faces, I sense that their eyes are closed.
“That’s why you slept through it?” I ask gently.
They all nod.
“We first felt her pain eighteen years ago,” Gilder whispers, her hair cascading over her face. “A terrible grief. We raced out to find her—many times we did so—but she evaded us each time.”
“We cannot help her,” Sable says. “She does not want our help.”
I take a deep breath before I pull my knees closer to my chest, a sense of foreboding settling within my mind. “She didn’t evade me. She asked me to act.”
My sisters raise their heads, their focus flickering to each other, but their thoughts are so closed off that I can’t read them.
I should probably be alarmed to be shut out, but they have had hundreds of years to bond, and I am new. I have to accept that there are experiences they have shared that are not my business to know.
“We woke up in time tonight to hear her speak of Typhon’s bone,” Sable says, tucking her black hair behind her ear. “We heard her warning that there are more bones. Perhaps she somehow believes the bones will help her seek revenge against Vanguard.”
“The bones can control monsters,” I say. “They have to be destroyed.”
“Found and destroyed,” Rose says firmly, while Gilder and Sable nod.
I shake my head with frustration. “For the last eight months, I’ve lived under the illusion that there was only one bone. To find out now, after all these months, that there are more…”
My sisters’ eyes are wide as they nod.
“It is frightening,” they say in perfect unison. “Even for us.”
“Where might the bones be?” I ask.
“Well…” Sable chews her lip. “As Furies, we are built to be drawn to the bones.”
“Not to be controlled by them,” Rose quickly adds. “Rather, it is our purpose to ensure they are contained, and therefore, we are inherently attuned to their magic.”
Now, my sisters speak quickly in turn, each one’s voice melding with the others.
“Lady Tirelli must have been keeping the bones fully contained, most likely within one of her personal realms.”
“Which is why we didn’t sense the White Wand when it resurfaced.”
