Page 59 of Dragon’s Rogue

“I had a friend named Jerome. We were too young to go on the raid, but we were terrified of what was happening. We did a scrying in the fire, watching the raid with our magic.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It was a slaughter. Nearly all the panthers were killed, even those who had no magic, who didn’t fight.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Even the children.”

The room had gone silent; everyone was watching her.

“I had just turned sixteen, and at the full moon I was going to be initiated into the coven. I couldn’t let myself be initiated into that. So instead, at the dark of the moon I sneaked into the coven’s ceremonial space and stole the statue. I put the most powerful bindings I knew on it, and then I ran.

“I disappeared into the city, made myself invisible. I magically severed all ties with the coven, and changed my name every few months. When I could afford it, I created a whole new identity for myself.” She reached out her hand toward the spell cage sitting on the table. “I hoped—I hoped that when the statue was gone, its influence over the coven members would be gone too. That somehow, they could reclaim who they were.”

She said sadly, “My father was a good, kind man once. All these years, I hoped he’d find his soul again. That the whole coven would find their souls. But I always knew there was the chance that Silas would come after me instead.”

She gave a bitter smile. “And now you’re trying to tell me that this—” she flicked her finger at the idol— “is some kind of conduit to an evil Draken Lord who’s about to break out of his tomb. So, instead of keeping it in Ireland, far away, we brought it right to him?”

She shook her head. “I’m thinking this is not at all what Finnbar’s sorcerer had in mind.”

Chapter 28

The room was silent for a moment. Then Tyr said, “Maybe it was.”

Zane wanted to smack his brother. “For fuck’s sake, Tyr, can you be any less sensitive? That thing annihilated her whole family.”

Tyr gave him the side-eye. “Yeah, that last thing you just said was super-sensitive. Way to go.”

Oh, hell. “Sorry,” Zane murmured to Blaze. His idiot brother Tyr was still talking, though.

“Anyway, yeah, the sorcerer inside the idol is evil, sure. He’s been hanging out with nobody but Vyrkos for centuries. But…” Tyr trailed off. He was shoving stacks of folders around, pulling ancient books and scrolls out from under them, glancing at them, and shoving them aside again.

“But what?” Thorne said impatiently.

“But I don’t think that’s what Finnbar’s guy was talking about.” He looked at Blaze. “What was the second treasure?”

“What?” Blaze stared at him.

“You said the sorcerer came to Finnbar with two priceless treasures. What was the second one?”

“Oh.” Blaze sat back in her seat. “Actually, no one knows. It was one of our favorite things to make up stories about, when I was little. The mysterious second treasure.”

At that moment, the elevator doors opened and a tray full of food floated out, all by itself. It sailed over to the conference table and hovered next to Blaze. She looked up, and when she saw the tray moving of its own accord, she startled and shoved her chair away, feet scrabbling on the ground.

“What the hell? Is that a spell?”

Oops, Zane thought. He should have warned her. “Sorry to freak you out,” he said. “It’s just a zefir.”

“A what?”

He’d lived with zefirs all his life. He’d never had to explain one before. “Um, a type of air elemental, I guess? They’ve served dragons for—well—ever. They cook, and do housework. And stuff.”

“And… they’re invisible?”

Blaze watched, mouth open, as items began seemingly to unload themselves from the tray. A bowl of thick meaty soup, a baguette with a dish of butter, a pot of tea with creamer and sugar bowl, napkins, utensils, and cups. And an entire chocolate cake.

“Not exactly invisible,” Zane said. “They’re incorporeal. No bodies.”

“Then how do they carry things?”

Zane frowned. He’d never thought about it. “Beats the hell out of me. But they keep me supplied with cake, so who am I to complain?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I thought the cake was for me.”