Cara wasn’t about to be cowed by the angry giant Dragon shifter warrior. “No, you’re not. Your instincts to protect are admirable, Tyrez, but you know Ash is right. If this wasn’t about your family, you would see it. Both your Dragon, and yourself, are too easily identified. That goes for Alistair, too, if you were thinking of calling on him. And of course, there’s no way we can send Ash, either.”
“So who does that leave?” The big shifter’s voice was nothing more than a growl.
Cara set down the teapot. “I’m thinking most of team Centaur. That gives us a Jumper, Marcus’s many talents, a Dragon known for shredding armies, and Rafael, who can use his power of persuasion if necessary. We’ll leave Kiko out of the mix. She couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it. But we’ll add Dani, who can keep us connected to Ash and yourself.”
The big Dragon shifter regarded her with incredulity. “So instead of me going, you’re sending mymate?”
But Ash nodded approval. “I should be able to trace the Matriarch’s location through the timelines and relay it to her.”
They want us to work with Rafael?Caliel’s hostile reaction was unexpected.
He’s a member of Team Centaur now,I stated, a bit bewildered. I remembered Rafael being warm and supportive—he’d helped alleviate my pain that horrible night when Isobel had transitioned me from Centaur to shapeshifter.
He is the one who captured me,Caliel snarled. And then he forced his will on me to keep me immobile while Isobel ripped away my life essence.
I froze with my hand on my teacup.Rafael did that?
Yes. He is a monster.
Our experiences had been so different, I didn’t even know what to say at first. My own actions had labeled me not muchdifferently.Rafael may have been as misguided as me. It seems Isobel was good at creating monsters out of ordinary people.
There is nothing ordinary about Rafael.But I sensed a slight lessening of his anger as he thought about what I’d said.
As I processed Caliel’s horrible experiences with Rafael, my eyes darted between those at the table. I didn’t know Dani at all, but Riley’s Jumper talent would be useful. But I wasn’t prepared when Ash pulled me in.
“I still can’t see the boys in the timelines,” he added. “Not alive, anyway.” When Tyrez stiffened, he hurried on. “The team will need Bree to identify where she saw them.”
When I stared at him, my mouth dropping open, Riggs said, “If she’s going, so am I.”
He spoke to Cara, but his gaze was fastened upon me. Strangely dark due to the stuff the Watcher had given him, but the intensity in them sent my heart leaping in my chest.
A rumbling growl echoed within me.He will get himself killed if he goes. He does not even remember being a warrior.
Are you saying I shouldn’t go?
He hesitated, then grudgingly said,They need you.
Cara, meanwhile, was clearly against his decision. “You are in hiding from the Empire, Razir. Some lake resort guards might know you—even looking as you do now, so that is a risk we cannot take.”
“My name is Riggs,” he hissed. “And if Breana is going, I am too.”
Unexpectedly, Ash spoke up. “He’s in every timeline I’ve tracked so far.”
Cara shot the Oracle a sharp look. “Does he get discovered in any of them?”
“A few,” Ash admitted. “But not most.”
Riggs hadn’t looked away from me, and my heart refused to settle down.
By what means were we going to pull this off?Caliel’s mindvoice was a mix of exasperation and confusion.We need to whisk those people out from a burning building with no one noticing.
And whoever is setting the fire might be watching,I added,to ensure the targets die…
Caliel summed it up well.This is going to be some rescue.
Exactly,I replied, just as Cara met my eyes.
And then she smiled.
