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“A fleet of dragons with you at the helm,” Rodriguez mused.

Belatedly, I remembered something important. “Of course, you could always put me down yourself,” I said coldly. “After all, you said your order turned Nyxaris and the others to stone.”

Rodriguez smiled. “I wondered when we’d circle back to that.”

“I suppose I’d better watch my back,” I said bitterly. “I was an idiot to think—”

“To think what—that I might help?” He leaned back. “Blake, I’ll tell you a little secret that it seems even Nyxaris has forgotten. When those four dragons were turned to stone, it was done willingly.”

I stared at him. “What?”

“The Emberwatch had their consent to do what they did. It was done for a reason.”

“What possible reason could those dragons have had for allowing that to happen?”

“We all come to a place of sacrifice in our lives one way or another. You can’t tell me there aren’t things you’d willing give your life—your freedom—to save.”

I thought of Pendragon. “Fine, maybe you’re right. So what were they saving?”

“All of us,” he said simply. “Everything. They were holding back the Veil.”

“The Veil? What’s that?”

Rodriguez got to his feet. He walked over to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that lined the wall next to his desk, then pulled one out and tossed it onto the desk. The book slid to a halt in front of me.

I leaned forward, scanning the title. “Chronicles of Sangratha: An Official History.” I looked up. “It’s a textbook. What’s this got to do with anything?”

“All highbloods and blightborn learn the official history. The Great Famine. The Blight of Shadows. The Dragon Cataclysm.”

I shrugged. “Sure. I remember the basics.”

“No official history is ever true. Perhaps you’ve learned that already.”

I thought of my uncle’s journal I’d found in the Black Keep. “So, what part of this isn’t true? That the highbloods weren’t the saviors of the blightborn? I figured that out a while back. I think a lot of us did.”

Rodriguez grimaced. “Not just that. Think back on the Cataclysm.”

“A time of monstrous creatures. The dragons arose. Dark forces threatened Sangratha. The highbloods and the dragon riders forged an alliance and vanquished them.”

“Right. But where did they come from in the first place?” Rodriguez had shoved his hands into his pockets and now was pacing back and forth, in full-on professor mode.

“Uh …” I tried to think.

“Have you ever been to the borders of Sangratha?”

“I’ve been to the coast before, sure.” Sangratha was a massive island, surrounded by ocean waters. A few scattered islands lay close to shore. Past that, there was nothing.

“No.” Rodriguez took a deep breath. “To the true borders of the Thralldom. You can’t say yes, no one can. Except maybe your brother.”

“Marcus? What do you mean?” My heart sped up.

“Haven’t you even wondered where he’s gone?”

“I’ve been a little self-absorbed the last few weeks,” I admitted. “Can you blame me?”

“I suppose not.” He sat back down in the desk chair. “Sangratha isn’t the only world. There are many. But one in particular used to connect to ours.”

I was stunned but tried to hide it. “Used to? And I suppose the dark creatures came from there? The dragons?”