Tyrez growled, very low. Ganit took a step closer to me. “What is it to you?”
“I am his friend,” I said.
But Ganit’s eyes had narrowed. “Your voice is familiar, friend. Lower your hood.”
“Riggs is just a nosy bastard,” Tyrez insisted. “And in this case, his counsel is not required.”
Ganit ignored him, taking another step closer to me. “Lower your hood,” he insisted.
I’d put myself in this position. Yet something deep inside insisted I could trust this Dragon. A memory? I didn’t know.
When I reached up, Tyrez warned, “Don’t do it.” There was an air of desperation in his voice.
I lowered my hood, and Ganit’s breath whistled through his teeth. Behind him, the other three shifters stiffened.
“Razir,” Ganit said. “We thought you were dead.”
Tyrez stepped forward. “He is recovering from a head wound and has lost his ability to shift.”
Ganit froze. “Is it permanent?”
“I don’t know,” I said quietly. “But that is not all I lost. My memories have vanished.”
The old Dragon tilted his head. “You remember me, though, don’t you? I see it in your eyes.”
“I remember that I know you. That is all.”
“How were you wounded?” Suspicion laced through the older Dragon’s words. “We were told his death was due to an underworld mission gone bad.”
“It was,” Tyrez butted in, and his glance to me was filled with warning. “But we have reason to believe his life is still in danger. So his survival must be kept secret, for now.”
“Understood.” And there was a wealth of grim emotion in the single word. Ganit’s eyes gleamed at me, before he said, “That you are alive—it is an answer to a prayer, even if you have temporarily lost your Dragon.”
“It might be permanent,” Tyrez stated. “We don’t know, yet.”
“I am not the answer to anyone’s prayers,” I said at almost the same instant. My pulse thundered.
“Yes, you are,” Ganit responded. “We have come to Tyrez because the Empire we once served is teetering, and Taran seems determined to tear it down.”
Tyrez moved closer. “It is still difficult to believe Taran would collude with the underworld.”
One of the other shifters spoke. “We have been trying to prove it. But so far, everyone we send to investigate has disappeared without a trace.”
Ganit’s eyes moved again to me. “I don’t suppose you can help with that?”
I shook my head. “I have no memory of what was done to me. And even if I did, it would be my word against theirs.”
The other Dragon hissed through his teeth. “At this rate, we will never get proof of what Taran is up to.”
“Dragons are not good at subterfuge,” Tyrez stated. “When I return from the funeral, I will put together a team. It will have to run beneath council radar, of course.”
Ganit grimaced. “We may never get the proof we seek. What we need, is an alternative plan.” His gaze moved from Tyrez to me. “Someone to contest Taran for the Emperor designation. According to the laws, Taran would have to accept the challenge.”
I looked toward Tyrez. “He is the leader, not me. It is him you must protect.”
“Fate may have other ideas,” Tyrez stated. “It is not me who the sword chose.”
Ganit glanced at him. “What sword?”
