Are you saying Mykal is like his father?I teased.
No way I was ever that stubborn. Or reckless.
You pierced your dick because your brother dared you.
A hesitation.Yeah, you’ve got me there.
I should be with you, regardless.
You are flying cover for me being gone. It is way more useful than what I’ll be doing.
I subsided, but only because he wouldn’t be going along on the mission either. Razir had been too well known in the palace. Plus, the only way in was on wings—and he didn’t have any.
So he was stuck at the treehouse with his family, Dani, and Ash, while Ganit and his chosen few joined with Talakai and Havoc to form the strike team going in after Tyrez.
They weren’t alone. Cara was sneaking in with them. If they could get her to Tyrez, she could gate them all out of there.
Has Ash said anything yet?I asked.
In answer, Riggs showed me a glimpse through his eyes—of Ash, in the library, pacing. Dani sat at the table, watching him, but her eyes flashed constantly.
Their tension carried from them, through Riggs, to me. Whatever the Oracle had foreseen about this mission, it wasn’t a sure or happy thing. So why, then, had Ash pushed Tyrez to go?
There is more to this than he is admitting,Riggs stated uneasily.I wish I knew just what it was.
Yeah. Damned Seers.
And he istheSeer of all Seers.Riggs was having problems standing still, too. The Matriarch sat next to Dani, her face set in stone, but the fingers stroking her teacup trembled.
“Is everyone ready?”
I yanked my focus from Riggs to Cody, who stood beside a swirling gate. He’d spoken generally, but his gaze was on me. The Sabre undoubtedly knew what was going on. But his role, like mine, was to run cover.
I nodded to him. He turned to the gate and took us through.
We emerged into a dense jungle beneath a restlessly tossing night sky. I adjusted the sword over my shoulder and lookedaround, but there was no gatekeeper or guards. This was either a wild gate—they sometimes sprang up naturally near the convergence of energy ley lines—or one that had been specially created by the Watchers for this mission.
We’d already been debriefed, so we moved out, following Cody through the damp foliage. Our target was about a mile away, and we jogged along a game trail as humans, doing as much climbing as running. This jungle, like most, worked hard to obliterate paths.
A light drizzle began to fall. The clouds overhead were so low I felt as though I could touch them—we must be at a high elevation. Cody held up a hand, and we slowed down, moving into the foliage surrounding a lake.
I peered through the gloom to a large island, bare of trees, with a building. And in a room on the uppermost floor—our target. I wondered if it was an old piece of machinery like our last score.
This was no moat, though, and there wasn’t a bridge. Access was by boat, but we’d come in on the opposite side of the lake from the dockyard. Our progress to and from the building this time would be courtesy of our two aquatic members.
Nar and Leah slipped into the water and transformed. Sid grabbed hold of the fin running along the Sea Krayt’s pale-scaled neck and allowed himself to be towed into the water while Adilyn flitted above. I sank my fingers in Leah’s soft, dense fur.
Cody waded in as a human and began to swim with strong, sure strokes, the rain disguising any splashing he might have made. Which only strengthened my resolve to learn to swim. At least I now knew how to float, and I concentrated on being as small a burden to Leah as possible.
We were halfway across the lake when something big dropped from the clouds. Spluttering water, I glanced up?—
And then I shrieked as vicious talons plucked me straight out of the water.
The Dragon’s talons closed on my upper arms and heaved me into the air as though I were a mere mote of dust, and I heard Cody shout. But then we were away, winging across the lake.
I squirmed in my captor’s grasp, trying to reach the sword—but he had hold of my arms, and the effort was useless.
Riggs was suddenly there, an urgent presence in my brain.Freeze him, Breana. You can do it.
