His mother would have loved to have seen those relics. There was always something to the relics that she had been intrigued by, always something that she had wanted to find, and so far, Bingham still had not yet shared the truth. There was more to his mother than what Ty had known. More to him, as well. Had his mother known that he had the potential to be a Tecal? Had his father?

  As he walked along the hallway, Ty tried to test for any sense of the smoke dragon, something that he had never done while he was within the temple. For that matter, Ty had tried to feel for anything within the temple. He didn't know if there would be any way for him to detect much of anything here or if it would augment his power in any way. He reached a doorway, the same doorway where he had found his brother when he had first come back to Zarinth. He stopped in front of it. Strangely, there came a stirring from deep within him, that of the smoke dragon, but it was also something else, a faint trembling.

  It was the lava dragon.

  Ty was aware that he was there, able to feel its pressure and energy. It was pushing that energy outward, trying to prove something to him. The dragon wanted him to know that it was still there within him. He focused on that power, wondering if perhaps he might be able to draw upon something more, or if that energy was merely hidden buried deep within him.

  The door to the room came open, and Albion stood on the other side. He was several inches taller than Ty, had darker skin, and chestnut brown hair. Tired lines around his eyes made him look older than he used to. He looked weary, exhausted, and there was something almost haggard about him.

  “Ty? I wasn't expecting—” Albion looked along the hallway, sweeping his gaze in either direction before turning his attention back to him. “That was you?”

  Ty shrugged. “I don't know. What was me?”

  “I felt something. I don't know what it was, but I certainly didn't think that it was you.” Ty frowned. He had known that his brother had some potential but wasn’t exactly sure how it would manifest. Perhaps he was Dragon Touched, though if that were the case, Ty didn’t know how much formal training his brother had.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Of course you can. Is everything well?”

  “As well as it can be. I was just up near Ishantil, and the Order attacked again. Well, not the entire order. Roson James.” He looked over, noticing the way that Albion watched him. “We got him.”

  A wave of relief swept across Albion’s face as he regarded him for a moment. “Why do I get the sense that you aren’t as pleased as you should be to have caught him?”

  Ty made his way into the room before looking around and taking a seat on the bed.

  The room was fairly empty. Albion didn't have much in the way of decoration here, though he wasn't surprised by that. He hadn't been here very long, and it seemed as if he didn't intend to stay long. When he closed the door, he took a seat on the chair nearest him, and he watched Ty, a look in his eyes that suggested that he was uncertain.

  For that matter, Ty felt uncertain, too.

  “I thought that you would have celebrated catching him,” Albion said. “I might've chased him for years, but you suffered under his influence just as much.”

  “It's not that I'm not happy that we caught him,” Ty said, looking around the room casually. “It's more that I have a feeling that he wanted us to catch him.” He looked up, holding his gaze. “Does that make any sense?”

  “Of course it does. Somebody like him probably does have another motive, but do you really think he would've wanted to be brought into the kingdom under captivity?” He shook his head. “You saw the prison.”

  Albion shivered slightly. Ty didn’t know what it would’ve been like to have been imprisoned within the Dragon’s Jaw prison, though Albion had done so willingly. It had been part of a ploy to draw Roson James, but it must have also been terrible. Ty had seen the prison and understood how dangerous it might have been.

  “I remember. But you were there willingly.”

  “Just because I went there to try to draw out a danger doesn’t mean they didn’t treat me as if I was truly a prisoner. It wouldn’t have been realistic otherwise, Ty.”

  “Roson was after something.” Ty told him as much as he could about what they had encountered and watched his brother as he did. “You made a point of saying that it was only the beginning. That whatever else was happening would not be over.”

  Albion took a deep breath, letting out slowly. “He was always after something more,” he said, shaking his head slowly. “I never learned what it was, only that he traveled to places powerful with the Flame. It made it difficult to follow him. We simply didn’t know what he was after.”

  “But you didn’t know that it was him at the time.”

  “Not at the time,” he agreed. “We knew someone was visiting places of power. And to be honest, it’s not uncommon for a Dragon Touched to be drawn to those places. How could it be otherwise when they are touched by the Flame?”

  “But they aren’t touched by the Flame. They have a connection to dragon remnants.”

  He had no idea what Roson chased now, but it worried him.

  “I might have to go and see his other places. I suspect I could talk to Gayal and convince her to come with me,” Ty went on.

  “You shouldn’t go alone. And not to a place like that,” Albion said. “You need somebody with a connection to the Flame.”

  Ty started to smile. “You?”

  Albion frowned at him. “You don’t think that I have a connection to the Flame?”

  Ty laughed softly. “Oh, I’m sure that you have a connection to the Flame.” His brother was essentially Dragon Touched, even if he never became one of their rank-and-file troops. “It’s just that I don’t know that you want to take this journey.”

  “I will send word to Zara. We should start with the steam fields. She would like that journey.”

  “Why?” Ty didn’t know his brother the way that he once did, but he recognized that something was being kept from him.

  “Let’s just say that there are things that she might find interesting.”

  “As a healer?”

  He nodded. “Most of the time.”

  “And what is she the rest of the time?”

  “Something else.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  There were preparations to be made.

  Ty fully expected to return to the capital, but ever since they had captured Roson, he wasn’t entirely sure what he needed to do, if anything. There was a part of him that had believe that he needed to return to the capital so that he could continue his Tecal training, but then Albion had made his offer.

  It was the day after he had visited with Albion when he ran into Olivia on his own.

  He saw her scouting along the street. It was near a line of merchant shops, along with homes in the distance, and he noticed the distinct prowl she made as she wandered through the streets. She had a slight sway to her hips, and though it irritated him, he couldn’t help but find that incredibly appealing.

  He immediately turned the opposite direction, but it didn’t make any difference. Olivia had spotted him, and she headed directly toward him.

  Ty debated running, going the opposite direction, doing anything other than staying here and having a conversation with her, but he decided that he needed to deal with this. It was his own issue, and he had to come to terms with it. He couldn’t let her have this hold over him.

  She sauntered toward him, and she cocked a brow, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. “Ty. Back on the job, or are you heading back to the capital?” There was a mixture of curiosity and jealousy in her tone that actually made him smile. She was curious. Bingham must not have shared with her why Ty had gone to the capital. And here he thought Bingham was not helpful, but in this case, it seemed as if he was.

  “I am not back on the job,” Ty said. “I’m done with that, at least for now.”

  She smirked. “Is it because you aren’t the best thief in your family?”

  “Bingham told you that?”

  “He didn’t have to. It’s not as if Bingham is the only source I have. There’s no shame in admitting that others are better than you. I don’t have that problem in my family.”

  “Probably because you stabbed them all in the back,” Ty said.

  “I do what’s best for my family,” she said. “And you can’t tell me that you aren’t doing the exact same thing.”

  “I don’t think it matters what I tell you, does it?”

  She looked over to him, and there was a flicker of irritation that fluttered across her attractive face.

  Ty snorted. “See? It doesn’t matter.”

  “Why should it matter?” she asked. “It doesn’t. I’m better off with you gone. Now that Bingham is reestablishing himself, I’m getting the better jobs.”

  Ty debated how much to tell her about Bingham. Should she know that Bingham might not stay in Zarinth? Maybe it would be better for her to find that out on her own.

  “Do you even care that Eastley died?”

  She tensed, glancing along the street before turning her attention back to him. “I didn’t want that to happen to him.” She stepped close, raising her hand, nearly touching him on the chest, before catching herself and withdrawing. A hint of color swept through her cheeks. “I would do anything to take that back.”

  “Anything?”

  “I’m just trying to help the people I care about. I don’t know why you keep pushing back against me, Ty. The more I learn about you, the more I learn that you’re doing the same thing. You want to protect your people. Why is it wrong when I do that?”

  Ty opened his mouth to argue and tell her that he hadn’t betrayed anybody in what he had done, but maybe he had. He had thought the two of them had a connection and had been willing to risk his own place in the city to find out if there was something there. What bothered him more was that he should have known better.

  And maybe that was really the problem. Ty was still mad at her. After all, why shouldn’t he be? Eastley was gone because of her. His best friend was gone. Not only that, but she had fooled him into thinking that there had been something between them, and he had bought it—tinder, coal, and match.

  Perhaps that was why Maeve was upset with him.

  She never said it, but she didn’t need to, either. When Ty had visited her the last time, it was clear on her face.

  “Is there anything that I can do to help?”

  She frowned at him, her brow furrowing. “What?”

  “I’m asking if I can help with your family. I don’t know what you’re going through. I don’t know why you keep doing what you do nor why you keep betraying people the way that you do, but if there’s anything that I can do for you, at least let me know. I have some connections now. I can’t make any promises, but there might be something that I could offer you.”

  Olivia stood with her hands at her side, and for the first time in the years that he’d known her, there was no flirtatious expression on her face. There was no pout. There was no attempt to try to act the part. She had a flat expression.

  “There’s nothing, then?”

  “There’s nothing you could do,” she whispered.

  “What is it? What’s driven you this way?”

  “Something you can’t even understand,” she said.

  He sighed and shook his head. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. If it is about money, I think Bingham is your best bet. If it’s about resources within the kingdom, I have come to know a few Tecal.” He watched her as he said that and noticed a slight twitch at the corners of her eyes. “But if it’s about something else. Food, supplies, a priest, a healer…” Her eyes twitched again. “A healer. That’s what it is. I don’t know who is sick or with what, but I have a friend Maeve who might be able to help—”

  “No one can help,” she snapped.

  With that, Olivia spun, storming off. She left Ty staring after her.

  In all of the interactions that he’d had with Olivia, he had never felt like he came out with the upper hand. Even this time, when it seemed as if she had reacted because he had figured out what she needed, he wasn’t sure that he actually had the upper hand. He wasn’t sure that he wanted that, either.

  A healer?

  What kind of healer did Olivia need that she couldn’t find? Maeve was skilled and might be one of the most skilled—and affordable—healers in this part of Zarinth. Why wouldn’t she have gone to Maeve?

  But Bingham would have known about Maeve. If it was only about a healer, there would be no reason that she couldn’t have gotten that help already. There would be no reason that Bingham wouldn’t have suggested someone like Maeve to her.

  Which suggested to him that there was something else going on. Perhaps whatever had happened, and whatever illness it was, could not be healed.

  He couldn’t even imagine something like that.

  He sighed and turned. He wasn’t finished with his supply run and needed to gather more before they departed. If he was going to go with Albion like this, then he was going to need some supplies as they made their way south. Enough for the two of them. Three, he corrected himself. By the time Zara reached them, they would need more.

  After having gathered some food supplies, some blankets, and some other various traveling items, he debated whether or not to visit Bingham again. He never did get his answers about his mother.

  A fire near the edge of the city nearest Ishantil caught his attention. People were running, some of them bloodied, and most panicked. Another explosion thundered.

  Was Ishantil erupting?

  Ty didn’t think that was the case. Were it Ishantil, he would have expected to have felt something deeper—and perhaps with the connection to the dragons.

  This was something else.

  A soft pulling of his dragon came to him, guiding him toward the edge of the city, though Ty headed that way on his own. People raced from them, heading away from this part of the city. The fires along the edge of the city blazed bright and hot, and several buildings had been destroyed, reduced to little more than a pile of stone.

  The dragon led him to Gayal, whose face was bruised, and she was winded.

  “What happened?”

  “Roson James,” she muttered. She clenched her jaw. “We had him, but…”

  “But what?” he asked.

  “But he fought his way free,” she said.

  Ty found himself trembling. He wasn’t sure if it was anger, frustration, or some other emotion. The only thing he knew was that they had captured Roson James, and now he’d escaped.

  “How many were lost?”

  She glanced over. “Three Tecal.”

  “How many dragons?”

  That was the greater concern. And more than anything, he suspected that was part of what Roson had intended in his captivity. He had wanted them to hold him for some reason, some purpose that Ty could not even fathom. He didn’t know if it was about the dragons, about the Tecal, or perhaps something else entirely.

  “None that we can tell. He’s moving south,” she said. “Dorian has been trailing him.”

  “By himself?”

  She frowned. “Do you think Dorian is incapable?”

  “That’s not what I was saying,” he said hurriedly, but realized immediately how it had sounded. He was challenging the most skilled of the Tecal, but not without reason. Dorian had struggled. “It’s just that Dorian lost his connection to the dragon. I don’t know that he’s the best person to do this.”

  She breathed out heavily. “You aren’t wrong in that,” she said. “But I can’t tell Dorian that. I don’t think that anybody could tell Dorian that.”

  “How many Tecal remain?”

  It was a dangerous question, he knew. He didn’t really know how many Tecal there were within the kingdom the first place, but now this was a very different level of concern. The Order was ticking them off, and over time, they would all be slaughtered. All of the dragons would be lost.

  “Not enough.”

  “What happens if Lothinal gets too powerful?”

  “You don’t think they are already?”

  “I’m sure that they are, it’s just that I think that we still can head them off. We can coordinate with the Dragon Touched, the remaining Tecal, and—”

  “We’re running out of options. We need to stop Roson James and prevent whatever he intends, and we need to do so before they complete their next attack. It’s time for us to leave.”

  Ty glanced toward the temple. “I had talked to my brother about going.”

  “He might useful. There are places that Albion can reach that you and I cannot. Not without a priest. If he accompanies us, though, it’s likely we’ll be able to gain access to some of these temples and waypoints that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise.” He rarely saw Gayal flustered, but she was flustered now. He could see it in her eyes. “I’m not sure about anything right now. We are at a disadvantage here. We have to figure out what he’s after. It has to be about more than just destroying the Tecal.”

  “What if that’s all it is?”

  “Then all of us are targets. But I think it’s about more than that. I think he intends to do something else. Having seen the temples near Ishantil destroyed, and the fact that he’s heading south…”

  South. The direction Albion had wanted to go anyway.

  What had he known?

  “The steam fields?”

  “That’s my fear.”

  “Let me get Albion to go. I’ve already started to gather supplies. I don’t have enough for us to all go, not on a long journey, but—”

  “You keep thinking about traveling like a normal person. Once you gain control over your dragon,” she said, glancing past him, before turning her attention back, her voice dropping, “you will find that you don’t need to think about traveling in the same way.”

  “I know I don’t,” he said. “It’s just that I’m not able to travel like that. I wish I was. I wish that my dragon would react to me, but when he does, it seems to be on his terms, not at all on mine.”

 

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