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I glanced at Blake. He was bare-chested, his hair a mess from the wind, and the expression on his face basically screamed cocky asshole. He arched his brow. “Let’s get one thing clear. I’m not at your disposal.”
“You’d let the world go up in smoke,” she snapped, “rather than lift a finger to help it?”
“Finger, claw.” He chuckled, then narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t say that either, did I?”
Zaira’s mouth tightened. “You have been blessed with a great gift.”
“Oh, is that what it is?” he snapped. “I thought it was more like a curse. Thanks to this so-called gift, many innocent people are dead.”
Her eyes blazed. “You are afraid.”
“I’m not afraid,” Blake snarled. “I’m simply tired of being used. And let me warn you, Zaira, the last time someone tried to use me, it didn’t go very well.”
Zaira looked between us. “Tell me about this last time.”
“Blake is the one who destroyed Veilmar,” I said quietly. Zaira blanched and started to back up.
“Zaira, wait. It’s not what you think.” I quickly gave her the Vorago story—the short version. When I was through, Zaira still looked wary.
Blake sighed and held up his hands. “I’m cured now, I swear. I’m not going to set anyone on fire.”
She pursed her lips. “I suppose I have no choice but to trust that it is true. Because you are the key.”
“So I was right. Only a dragon can reach these eggs?” I asked.
She hesitated. “Two creatures are needed to access the place they are hidden.”
My pulse quickened a little. Obviously, she wasn’t telling us everything.
“The moot is a front, as I said. Some of the dwarves in our party will meet with the highbloods. But as for Dinesh and me, we will initiate the Quest for the Bloodmaiden’s Reliquary,” she continued.
“The what now?” Blake asked, frowning. “That sounds like a children’s story I had to read in the temple on Sundays.”
Zaira’s lips twitched. “Quests and dragons are in dwarven children’s stories as well,” she admitted. “But this is no mere child’s tale. The story is how we move mountains without beginning a war between our two nations.”
Blake scratched his chin. “Literal mountains or figurative ones?”
“Oh, will you please put a shirt on?” Zaira demanded, waving a hand at him. “I cannot take you seriously like this, dragon or not.”
Blake looked annoyed. “This is my room.”
“Blake,” I said gently.
He exhaled. “For fuck’s sake. Fine.” Muttering under his breath he moved to a tall dresser and pulled a black T-shirt out. He dragged it on. By the time he was through, his hair was even more of a spiky mess. I hid a smile. “So these eggs were actually the Bloodmaiden’s?” Blake asked as he tugged the shirt down. “That’s weird, isn’t it? I don’t remember learning anything about that in history class.”
“Of course they were not hers,” Zaira snapped. “They are dragon eggs, as I have said. The Reliquary is merely the name we have given to the quest to hide its real intentions.”
I snorted. “Right. Like Elaria’s going to believe that.”
“She will not have a choice,” Zaira said imperiously, reminding me suddenly of my mother. “Only an approved squad will be permitted belowground.”
Blake raised his eyebrows. “Two things. One, a squad? Really?”
“That is the language you use at this school, is it not? The units you are meant to be sorting yourselves into for combat?”
“Yes, but we haven’t exactly been following a normal curriculum lately,” I pointed out. I glanced at Blake curiously. “What’s the second thing?”
“The second thing is that you, Zaira, would make an abysmal teacher. The way you drip-feed us information is infuriating. Please tell me you won’t be accompanying us on this quest,” Blake complained.
