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Visha was shaking her head in frustration. “We’re idiots. We knew they needed Neville.”

“Yes, but I thought they’d be waiting to ambush us farther ahead,” Rodriguez said quietly. “Not that they’d backtrack to get him and risk being attacked.”

“Why did they want Medra in the first place?” Professor Stonefist asked suddenly. “They asked for the rider. We know they need the fluffin’s blood. Why not just keep the fluffin and move forward?”

“Zaira,” Kazmyn said. Just his sister’s name. That was all.

I glanced at the Stone Keeper. She was standing rigid, her hands clenched at her sides.

I narrowed my eyes. “Zaira?” She didn’t reply. “Kaz,” I said softly. “What is she not telling us?”

Kazmyn shifted nervously. “I’m not sure.” He glanced between his sister and me, then blurted, “I think there’s something she’s been hiding.”

“Kazmyn,” Zaira said, her voice sharp and angry, “you know nothing. Silence yourself.”

My blood burned. I drew my knife. “You’d better start talking fast or you’re not going to like what happens next.”

“You’re threatening a defenseless woman?” Sankara demanded, frowning.

“He’s not threatening her. I am.” Visha slid behind Zaira, a dagger already in her palm. “Talk, Stone Keeper. Now. Or things are going to get messy.”

Kazmyn looked uneasy, but it was telling that he didn’t object. And it made me even more worried. “Zaira, please. Whatever it is, just tell them.”

Zaira exhaled. “We are in a terrible predicament.”

“Why? What do you mean?” I snapped.

She met my gaze. “It is not dragon’s blood we require to access the vault.”

I lifted my knife and hurled it. Zaira gasped. Kazmyn yelled. The knife landed smack in the center of one side of the Stone Keeper’s tent, rending the canvas in a wide slit.

“You want me to kill her?” Visha asked bluntly.

I shook my head. “We still need her blood.” I glowered at the dwarven woman. “You lied to us from the start.”

She swallowed. “I did not think Lord Sharma would tell them.”

“Mortis has been dismembering the man piece by piece, and yet you thought he’d keep his lips sealed?” Magda Stonefist shook her head. “Oh, Stone Keeper.”

I took a slow step toward Zaira. “You let us walk in here, with her, knowing that.”

Rodriguez looked like he was going to be sick. “I don’t understand. We don’t need dragon’s blood?”

“The dwarves were not fools,” Zaira snapped. “When the vault was designed, the Emberwatch and the Stone Keepers knew a full-grown dragon from the surface might not be able to come below. Not all dragons are like—” her eyes flicked to me “—him.”

“A rider was easier,” Kazmyn murmured. “It makes sense—we need dragon rider blood.”

“Why would you omit this?” Sankara demanded, folding his arms over his barrel chest.

“Lord Sharma and I believed it was too dangerous a detail. The fewer who knew, the better.” She looked at me. “Besides, a dragon’s bond to his rider is strong, and when they are mated, the dragon is compromised.”

“Compromised?” I exploded. “I’ll show you fucking compromised.”

“You see?” she said, with infuriating complacency, as if she’d decided I wasn’t going to kill her. “He is too passionate. Too hot-headed.”

“My rider is gone,” I snarled. “I did not protect her. How does that fit into your little equation?”

She closed her eyes briefly. “You are right.”