“We need to talk to him,” Jarvis agreed.“I’ll go get him.”
“We don’t need anything from him,” Tyne argued.“He works for Carlyle.Do you really think he’ll tell us anything?”
“Sol wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Graham,” Dallin pointed out.
“He has to be a spy or something.There’s no other explanation.”
“Or maybe he never wanted to work with Carlyle but couldn’t say no.I’m sure you remember how Carlyle is, even though it’s been decades.We had a hard time beating him, and we’re mages.We had to work together to trap him.What do you think one human with no magic could do against him?What should Graham have done?He did the only thing he could and obeyed Carlyle’s orders because if he didn’t, he probably would’ve died.”
Tyne looked shocked that Dallin was standing up to him.“He hurt your dragon.”
“He didn’t.He helped Sol, and I’ll always be grateful to him for that.He was forced into something he couldn’t get out of, and you’d know that if you gave him a chance and talked to him.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you want to do the right thing?Look, I know I can’t force you to change your mind about Graham, and considering how stubborn you are, I’m not even going to try.He’s the only one who spent any length of time with Carlyle recently, though.He’s the only one who can answer our questions, and we need that.We need to find out what that spell was.”
It could be a location spell, but Carlyle already knew where the castle was, so it wouldn’t make sense.Had he been trying to cast a spell that would activate once Sol was here?Dallin could think of a few that could have a delayed effect, and none of them were good.
They were sure that Carlyle had failed to cast anything on Sol because they’d all examined Sol when he’d arrived at the castle.Officially, Jarvis had been the one to do it, but Dallin knew that they’d all wanted to be sure, including him.Sol was spell-free, which was a relief, but it didn’t tell them what Carlyle was up to.
He wouldn’t give up trying to get revenge on them.He was angry for the years he’d spent trapped in the gemstone—as anyone would be—and he’d make them pay.They had to find out how he was planning to do that.
“Fine,” Tyne said with a huff.“Get Graham.Don’t complain to me when he betrays us, though.I’ll be there to sayI told you so.”
Dallin didn’t doubt he would because it would be a very Tyne thing to do.He was competitive and disliked losing, and he was always smug when he won.It was irritating, but especially so in this situation.This wasn’t a game.Their lives and the lives of the people they cared about were in danger.They needed to find out what Carlyle was planning before it happened so they could be prepared for whatever Carlyle threw at them.Hopefully, Graham would know.
* * * *
SOL WAS RELIEVED THAThe wasn’t the only one standing up for Graham.He understood that Graham was an enemy of these people, but he truly believed that the poor man hadn’t had a choice.He also owed him his life, so if Graham needed someone to stand up for him and protect him, he would.
It looked like he wouldn’t be the only one.Dallin had gone against his brother, even though Tyne was kind of terrifying.Maybe Dallin was used to dealing with him.Sol was glad to stay away from Tyne, though.From the way Tyne glared, Sol was pretty sure that he was plotting his death.He really didn’t like that Sol was willing to help Graham.
“Parker, would you mind?”Jarvis asked.
Parker was on his feet instantly.Bennett quickly followed, and Sol watched the two leave the room.He’d talked to them when they’d visited him in his room after he’d first arrived at the castle, but he didn’t remember them.He’d seen pictures, though.He knew that all of them had been like a family and that he’d been close to the other dragons.They didn’t feel close anymore, but he hoped that would change.
For most of the life he remembered, he’d been alone.He’d met Pippa years ago, but before then, he’d been too scared to open up to people.He hadn’t wanted people to know that he was a dragon shifter.He’d been sure that they would either hand him over to the authorities so he could be experimented on, or they would run away screaming and be terrified of him.Pippa had done neither of those things.She’d accepted him and welcomed him into her life, and he would never forget that.
He had a chance for more now.He’d talked to other dragon shifters, to men who’d lost their memories like he had.They were in the same situation, and that made Sol feel close to them even though he barely knew them.
“Everything okay?”Dallin asked.
They weren’t sitting next to each other, but they were close.Everyone seemed to be focused on their own conversations, and no one glanced at them.Even Pippa was busy on her phone, typing something that was making her smile.Sol was tempted to ask what she was up to, but it was her business.She’d tell him if she wanted to.
Besides, Sol wanted to talk to Dallin.Things were a little weird between them, but Sol hoped that soon, they’d find their footing.Both their positions were hard—he didn’t remember Dallin at all while Dallin remembered him as someone else.
“You really believe Graham?”he asked.
Dallin blinked.“I do.I went and talked to him the other day, and he told me what happened to him and how he ended up with Carlyle.”
“You didwhat?”Tyne asked, getting everyone’s attention.
Dallin didn’t seem to care.He kept his focus on Sol as if he was the only person in the room with him.
“It was quite sad,” he explained.“I don’t know if he’s going to tell everything today, but I can say that I understand why Graham felt like he owed it to Carlyle and Simon to stay with them.More than that, it’s clear that he was forced to stay.As soon as he found a way out, he took it.Carlyle has never treated anyone well, and Simon, well, I don’t think he has a lot of respect for his brother.”
“Or maybe seeing someone being tortured from up-close was too much for him,” Tyne grumbled.“Or even more likely, he and Carlyle are still working together, and this is a trap.We don’t know that he’s not telling Carlyle every detail of what he’s seeing here.”
