“What’s happened?”
“Bring everyone outside, and we’ll discuss it together.”
A new kind of dread filled me at his ominous words. I caught Teddy’s worried gaze and did my best to send her a reassuring smile.
As it did every time Teddy saw Javier, I felt that splintered part of her soul fracture deeper. It didn’t matter that she’d seen him less than an hour ago during our movie night. She longed to be a part of his life again. An actual part of his life and not simply a bystander when he came by to spend time with the younglings.The few words they’d spoken in the past year weren’t nearly enough to mend the trust that had been broken.
While I’d noticed the way he watched her with the same quiet ache, neither of them made the first move. Teddy, because she felt she needed to move at his pace, and Javier, for reasons he never told me.
Outside, small butterfly-like faeries flew across the now empty yard where we’d watched our movies. Light cascaded around the tiny pixies with their elegant wings fanned out as they enjoyed our long summer nights. I wasn’t sure where they slumbered when our eternal winter returned, but as a youth, the pixies were one of my favorite parts about summer.
They seemed so carefree, only bothered when one of the younglings from the orphanage would capture them in clear jars. Sure, they helped illuminate our otherwise dark dormitories, but even at a young age, I knew it was cruel to imprison them. So while the others slept, I’d free the tiny fae, letting the younglings believe the pixies had escaped on their own.
Rather than sitting on one of the lawn chairs, I went to stand by Hoshiko’s large orange face, crossing my arms over my wide chest. The dragon’s hot breath fanned over my face and neck.
Across from me, Everly and George drifted toward Celestia, the pale silver dragon lifting her head as Everly stepped to her side. She took a moment to stroke her dragon’s head.
“What’s going on?” Donnie asked.
While he, Ryenne, and Nate had originally started as Teddy’s friends from the human realm, we’d all formed a tight friendship, and our friend group continued to grow as we added shifters, mages, and lirio. We were an odd group, including different breeds of fae that we had once seen as our enemy.
But I guess that was what happened when our fae king tore through the veil to save his mate and ended up falling in love with a mage.
“Sama’s going to open a mental connection with everyone,” Javier said.
A year ago, Javier would’ve fidgeted or shifted positions when attention was on him before, but now he stood with quiet confidence, keeping his legs apart and hands hanging on either side. As if he knew the space his athletic build needed and had no qualms about taking it.
While he tried to appear nonchalant, I saw the way Javier’s throat bobbed, and I smelled the fear he tried to hide.
Sama’s magic brushed against my mind.
“There is much you do not know of dragons,”he said.“Despite the questions you may have, there is much that will remain unknown to many of you present.”
His commanding gaze landed on Donnie and our other human friends before it spread to the shifter fae.
“At this time, all you must know is that our dragas, the mother dragons, and every youngling and hatchling from our realm are in danger. The adult males show no signs of harm.”
“Your realm?” Teddy tilted her head in curiosity. “You weren’t born here?”
“None of us were born here,”Sama said.“Dragons in this realm, as well as other realms, all come from Vistos, an island in our home realm.”
I turned an accusatory glare at my dragon. I’d trusted Hoshiko in ways I found I didn’t trust many. Yet he’d kept this from me.
“You never told me you were from another realm,”I said to Hoshiko, who simply stared at me.
“No one but Javier was entrusted with the knowledge of our home,”Sama said, having heard my thoughts.
Sama, with his eyes the color of night, glared back at each of us. Had the others asked their dragons the same?
“Where we’re from isn’t important?—”
“The Elder dragons lied to us for thousands of years.” Elias bared his sharp canines, a vein on his neck pulsing. “You want us to trust you, to form an alliance with you, yet you continue to hide truths from us.”
His head snapped toward Nalari, his expression tight. I laced my fingers together, already searching for the right quip that might cut through the tension. This time, the lightheadedness that hit me wasn’t from fear. It was that dizzy, reckless edge that always surfaced before I opened my mouth at the wrong time.
“Nalari is correct in what she just told King Elias,”Sama said.“Revealing our home, even to our riders, risks exposing our home to others who may wish them harm. Neither Hudson nor King Thierry knew of Vistos.”
“Why did you trust Javier, then?” George asked.
