It wasn’t simply a ploy to solidify his ties to the packs—the Archmage was after something lying dormant within the women. Some had hidden Cryptid blood, which gave them talents just waiting to be activated by the Dire virus.
The plan was insidious, but effective. Because once bitten and mated to a Dire alpha, the females were controlled by the bond between them. Rindek ruled the alphas, and they controlled the talented females. A brutal pact that all hinged on one thing—determining which women had hidden abilities.
The plan would have gone nowhere without Ash.
The Archmage used him to find the women. Time and again, Ash searched the timelines for women using their powers and then backtracked along the timeline to find where and when they were.
Many times, he’d hidden what he’d found. But he couldn’t protect them all.
At the moment, he just wanted to stave off more agony. “I told you the packsmightbe safe. The future is never that certain. In some timelines, the Dragons and Sabres found us. I did tell you.”
Rindek sent another pulse of agony through Ash. “I lost two packsbecause of your incompetence.”
The Archmage had similar projects in other places, so it wasn’t a crushing blow. But Rindek was a very dangerous person to cross. And Ash had failed to mention thatmosttimelines agreed on the failure. He’d secretly done much more... he’d encouraged certain events.
It was his only possible rebellion against the ruthless tyrant who owned him. And the only way he could save his people from what was to come.
The cost of such rebellion could be his life.
The Archmage attacked with pulse after pulse of raw power that surged through Ash’s collar. Until finally, the welcome blackness rose and pulled him under.
Into the realm of dreams.
With his ability to see past, present, and future timelines, dreams were seldom pleasant. But compared to his reality, they provided a release of sorts.
Today, they let him fly.
Ash was a Dragon shifter. But he’d never experienced an actual transformation. He’d been held captive, and collared, from the moment he’d been born.
He only flew in his dreams.
And so he dreamed:
His golden wings spread to catch a thermal, and it carried him ever higher into the brilliant-blue sky. The land was far, far below, but his keen eyes caught every detail, every boulder and stone, every flower. The freedom of soaring—it filled his soul to bursting.
This was what it meant to be Dragon.
And then, he was no longer alone among the clouds.
Something huge blasted by above him, causing the vapor to swirl. Ash’s heart raced as he craned his neck, trying to see.
With a flash of blue and green, a Dragon surged free from the clouds. Every gleaming scale was magnificent, he was a thing of heart-stopping power and grace and pure beauty. Ash was so astonished he dropped a few hundred feet before he spread his wings and stopped his fall.
Who was this Dragon? Was he a dream, or a vision? Something about him seemed familiar. Like he belonged here, with Ash, in the clouds.
The air grew more turbulent, until Ash had to flap hard to fly against it. The big Dragon vanished, and thunder vibrated around him.
The lightning came out of nowhere, scorching through him, seizing the muscles of his wings until he was falling, unable to save himself...
Ash screamed, and opened his eyes.
The Archmage’s crimson gaze was inches from his own. “There is no escape from me,” he hissed through pointed teeth. “I even own your dreams.”
Ash turned his head away. Because it was true. The only way out was for him to anger the Archmage enough that he might, finally, kill him.
Lost in the throes of agony, it was all too easy to contemplate that final push. But the timelines told him the truth of it—if he let that happen, his people would die.
Their future might hinge on him. And he would do whatever he could to stop Rindek from succeeding.
