Page 97 of Dragon’s Rogue

“We’d still need Silas for that,” Thorne said impatiently.

“Unless…” Tyr spoke quickly, then trailed off. The dragons all looked at each other, clearly talking in their minds, though Blaze couldn’t hear any of them, even Zane.

Blaze elbowed Zane. “Hello? Other people in the room, here. We’re all in this together. Whatever you have to say, stop mind-talking and say it out loud.”

“Sorry,” Zane said. Thorne didn’t look sorry, but he shrugged in acknowledgement.

“I thought of something, but it’s a risk,” Tyr said. “A big one. Jack isn’t just connected to Silas—he’s connected to the idol through Silas’s magic. Since we have Jack and the idol, it’s possible we could use Jack’s connection with Silas to sever both Jack and Silas from the idol, and from each other.” He looked at Rebel. “But he’s pretty weak. It could kill him.”

“He’s going to die anyway, if we don’t do anything,” Rebel pointed out. “And he asked me to help him. He said I was the only one he could call. That means he’s trusting me to make the decision.”

“We’re going to need Blaze,” Tyr said, looking at Zane. “That idol’s a direct conduit to Corwyn and Vyrkos. Not only do we need her magic, but we may need the power of the Seal to help sever the link.”

Zane opened his mouth, and Blaze elbowed him again. “I’m standing right here,” she said, waving her hand to get Tyr’s attention. “It’s me you have to talk to.”

“Says the woman who isn’t going to get flamed by Zane if anything happens to her. Unlike the rest of us.”

Blaze turned to Zane, putting her hand on his cheek. “You know we have to do this,” she said. “We’ve had no leads on Silas. If we can cut him off from the idol this way, we have to try. It could buy us the time we need to find the rest of the Seals and figure out how to get them back in the tomb.”

“Then Rebel and I should be there too,” Tempest said.

“Now, wait a minute,” Rebel began. “I’m not going to let you—”

“Did you hear what she said to Zane?” Tempest said. “Ditto that. I know you want to keep me safe—”

“She’s not the only one,” Tyr murmured.

“—but I’m responsible for making my own decisions. Doing this spell could save Jack, and it could weaken Vyrkos’ power. We need to give it everything we’ve got. Even if we don’t have the Seals yet, the Keepers must have some power.” She turned to Tyr. “I’m helping.”

Rebel sighed. “Fine, then. If you’re doing it, I’m going with you. I’m sure as hell not letting you do it alone.”

They all looked at Thorne. Blaze knew he was worried that agitating the idol to that extent would just make things worse, but as Tyr had argued earlier that night, they were getting to the point where doing nothing was a greater risk. With the possibility of saving a life hanging in the balance, they didn’t really have much of a choice.

Finally, Thorne gave a short nod. “We’ll set it up. And then we’ll hope that the whole damn thing doesn’t backfire on us, and wake the dragon.”

Chapter 43

Tyr and Thorne set up a spell circle in a large empty rock chamber, as far away from the portal room as possible to avoid disturbing Vyrkos.

As if ripping away the idol’s conduit to the outside world wouldn’t disturb him at all. But Blaze had to admit it would be stupid not to do everything they could to mitigate the danger.

Blaze stayed as far from Jack Harper as she possibly could. The longer she was around him, the more nauseated she felt, and they needed her to help with the spell.

Zane came over to where she was standing in a corner, his gorgeous blue eyes filled with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay? We can do it without you, if you need us to.”

“I’m okay.” She really wasn’t; she felt like she might vomit any second, and the Seal on her back felt hot. “It’s just feeling Silas’s magic so strong on Jack.”

He put his arm around her, rubbing her back soothingly. Her necklace hummed, and she felt a little better. “I used to practically worship him, you know,” she said. “He was older than I was, so handsome and talented, and he treated me like a favorite little sister from the time I was about six, and he was twelve.

“He’d teach me spells, help me with the ones that were hard for me. He’d teach me how to defend against them, too, and when I got older we’d practice making up spells and challenging each other to neutralize or undo them.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m pretty sure I saved his life once,” she said. “He was convinced he had a flying spell perfected, and he wanted to show it to me. He took me to the edge of a ravine and made me watch him jump off. I was awed and terrified at the same time.”

“Fool,” Zane muttered under his breath. “I’m assuming it didn’t work.”

“It did at first, and then he lost control.” She could still remember the horror she’d felt, the terror as she watched Silas careening to what looked like certain death. “He hit the side of the ravine, rolled down thirty feet.”

“And you went down there and saved him?” She knew Zane was trying to sound sympathetic to the little girl she’d been, but she got the feeling he was thinking that their lives would all be a lot easier if she hadn’t.