Page 27

I eyed her guiltily. “I’m sorry, Florence.”

She nodded. “It’s all right. I kind of figured this was about Blake.” She looked awkward. “I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to talk much about him before this.”

“We’ve all been busy,” I said and meant it. “I’m just glad you’re willing to talk about Blake.”

She nodded. “Of course. Nyxaris and I know he didn’t want to do what he did. Vorago made him.”

I stared at her. “Nyxaris knows that? For a fact?”

She nodded again. “Of course. Blake and Vorago are bound now. Vorago is clearly controlling him.”

“But there must be a way to save him. There has to be. Blake is still in there. It’s his body, not Vorago’s,” I said adamantly.

“I hope you’re right. We’ll help you in any way we can, Medra,” she said.

I felt a rush of tears to my eyes. “Thank you, Florence.” I turned to look at Rodriguez—which helped the tears dissipate immediately. “And you?”

“What about me?” He nibbled on the tip of his quill. “Do you even need me here?”

“Nice try. You’re staying, Headmaster.”

He sighed. “Fine. Shall we recap? Blake did a ritual—”

“He did a ritual with your fucking book,” I said furiously. “I found The Dark Art of Eternal Bonds in his room. Care to explain?”

Rodriguez tried to look innocent and failed. “He might have stolen it just like you once did, Miss Pendragon.”

“Did he steal it? Tell me the truth.”

His eyes narrowed. “Did you ever stop to think that I may have been trying to save your little boyfriend?”

“Rodriguez, whatever you told Blake to do resulted in him massacring half a city,” I cried.

His face fell. He sank down into the chair behind him word-lessly. The room was silent for a few moments.

“He was going to die,” Rodriguez said finally. “I really didn’t think …” He put his head in his hands. “Fuck,” I heard him mumble. He lifted his head. “There was already a dragon in him, Medra. He was already like Viktor. Not like Viktor exactly,” he added hastily, seeing my expression. “But he can do what Viktor can do. He could do it before he even did the ritual with Vorago.” He looked at Florence. “You probably know all of this already. But for Medra’s benefit …” He met my eyes. “You may not know that there are two kinds of dragons.”

“Oh, I don’t think I know all of this either, Professor,” Florence said quickly. Her cheeks had turned pink with excitement. I knew she was always eager to learn something new.

“Well, dragon breeding is simple.” Rodriguez’s mouth turned up. “In fact, I tried to explain it to Blake once. If a dragon has a dragon mate and the two breed, then a dragon offspring comes from the union—obviously.”

“Obviously,” I repeated. As if anything to do with dragons was obvious.

“Those dragons are purebloods,” Rodriguez said. “They aren’t like Blake.”

“What is Blake, exactly? How is he different?” I demanded.

“Well, some dragons are born, and some are made.” He scratched his chin. “Though, a better word might be triggered.”

I wrinkled my brow. “Triggered?”

He nodded. “That’s right. Think of it as a latent ability that some highbloods have. The ability isn’t always activated. In Blake’s case, it was.”

“And what activated it?” I demanded. Then I realized. “Oh.”

“Yes. Oh. I’m sure Viktor Drakharrow knew exactly what might happen when he instructed his nephew to take you as his second consort.”

“My blood.”