Cara plunked herself down in a chair, folded her arms on the table, and gestured to Tyrez. “Draw the sword.”
He stared at her. She raised her brow.
Tyrez sighed and stood, picking up the scabbard. I noticed how incredibly worn it was, the leather tattered in several places. It looked ready to fall apart.
He stood very still for a moment, and the look he shot Cara was a mix of emotions that I couldn’t even begin to decipher. But then he closed his free hand around the sword’s hilt, and pulled.
Nothing happened. His dark brows dropped, and the muscles in his arms stood out as he attempted to pull it out again.
“What the—” Riggs reached out a hand, and his brother passed the scabbard back to him. With the lightest of tugs, the sword slid free. It gleamed as though lit from within, and I thought I saw writing along the blade.
Hellfire,Caliel said, and I sensed his shock.There are stories of such a sword in the human realm—but he broke off.
Tell me what you know!I demanded.
A hesitation, and then,First, I need to make sure I am right.
The ominous creak of a stressed structure distracted me—Tyrez, collapsing back into his chair with a thump. His eyes were flashing like mad—who was he talking to? I glanced over to Ash—to see his doing the same.
Cara sighed. “That’s pretty clear.”
“I don’t understand.” Riggs slid the sword back in, slung the scabbard back over his shoulder, and took his own seat.
“I will explain the sword—” Cara replied.
“Now that I know which timelines are moving forward,” Ash interrupted, “we need to focus things.” He sounded alarmed.
She turned to him. “Have you seen any futures involving the Matriarch and a fire?”
Ash flinched. “Nothing specific, but yes.” When Tyrez shot him a look, he added, “Until I knew?—”
“It’s okay. I get it,” Tyrez said.
Ash leaned forward, his silvery gaze locking on mine. “I need you to walk me through what you’ve seen,” he said. “My gift is so powerful—I envision multiple possibilities for the future. Until events tell me which one is likely, I am useless. Your vision may help me focus on the right timeline.”
I swallowed. “Okay. I’m not sure how much help I will be.”
He stood, moved around the table, and crouched next to my chair. Then he held out his hands.
I met his pale eyes. Seeing the concern deep within them, I offered my own. The fingers that closed around them were long, the bones of his hands clearly visible beneath the skin.
The grip was warm, though, and curiously reassuring. “Tell me,” he asked softly, “exactly what you saw. Even small details may help.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Then I told him. Caliel supplied little things I hadn’t at first noticed—the types of artwork on the walls, the archways along the hall, the color ofthe polished floor tiles. He also helped with what Tyrez’s son had told the boy whose eyes I saw through. And then we got to the fire itself.
At that point, Tyrez interrupted. “The flames were burning the stone?”
I opened my eyes to see that Ash’s were fogged over, as though he were a million miles away. “The plaster and hangings, mostly,” I answered. “Oh, and the metal tiles, too.”
But then Ash, caught up in his own vision, interrupted. “The stone ismelting.”
“Impossible,” Tyrez stated. But his eyes had started to glow with a fire of their own.
“Not impossible,” Ash corrected, his voice abstracted as he remained lost in the timeline. “A sign of the fire’s origin.”
“What kind of fire can melt stone?” Nettie’s eyes were wide.
“No ordinary fire can,” Cara stated. “But the Fire Drake is a magically enhanced creature. Part Dragon, and part Fire Elemental, combined to produce a true monster.”
