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The time for that has come and gone. I have failed her.

My breath hitched: A dragon had been killed here. Just moments ago. An enchanted dragon, certainly, but one who might have lived, might have flown again—just like Nyxaris. Or like Molindra.

I was a coward. I hesitated. I did not ask to bring her back. I feared what could go wrong. I made no attempts. I did not wish to risk you. Now it is too late. Nyxaris’s voice was full of anguish. I should have tried, should have demanded it of you all. Instead, I wavered. Uncertain as to whether …

Whether she might awaken like Molindra? I whispered. Nyxaris said nothing. I stared at the sky. The sun had gone behind the clouds. This means Blake—Vorago—he was close. He was at Bloodwing.

Nyxaris inclined his head grimly.

I looked over at him, realizing something else. You’re not entirely surprised.

Another silence.

You knew where he was, I pressed. You knew and you didn’t tell us?

In answer, Nyxaris opened his mouth and roared. I stumbled backward. A student who had been strolling through the cloisters briefly glanced our way and then began to run the opposite direction.

Nyxaris looked down at me, his amber eyes burning. I have been guarding you. Guarding this school. Guarding your city. I believed Vorago understood the consequences that would befall him should he venture here again. I believed he would not dare.

But he has dared, I said softly.

Desperation has rotted his reason. Revenge lies heavy upon him. He blames me—and Molindra. A century of stone. A hundred years of silent fury. Molindra is beyond his reach. And so he struck Alabryss instead, hoping to wound me, to enrage me.

There was no point in saying that it seemed to have worked. He wants to draw you out, I said, the words clicking into place. I forced myself to breathe. All right, I said carefully. Tell me this. Do you know where Vorago has been hiding? My dragon hesitated. Something in my chest twisted.

Yes, he said at last. He skulks in a burned-out village half a day’s flight from Veilmar.

My control snapped. You knew all this time, and you didn’t tell us? I went on, as anger surged. Medra has been suffering. Do you have any idea what she’s going through? Wondering if Blake was alive, wondering if he was … I stopped. Is he alive?

Nyxaris’s gaze sharpened. He is. The for now didn’t have to be spoken.

Relief crashed over me. How? It’s been more than two weeks since he last fed from Medra. It was strange that I knew that—it seemed too intimate. But it was a fact she had shared with Rodriguez and me. How can he survive this long without her blood?

As long as Vorago remains in dragon form, the hunger will not be as strong. He is weaker, yes, fraying at the edges. But he could survive a few more weeks yet. Perhaps longer. Dragons are hardy.

I stared at him. So he can’t survive forever. He might have died before this. You had no right to keep this to yourself. I deserved to know. Medra deserved to know. You don’t get to decide what truths we can handle. Nyxaris’s wings flared outward, and another roar tore from his throat, vibrating through my bones. I flinched. People all over the school must have heard it and trembled. Stop. You’ll scare them.

Scare them? Let the sheep be frightened. There is a wolf among them, he growled. Make no mistake about it. I was protecting you.

Protecting me?

Yes, he roared. Protecting all of you.

I took a step back. By killing Blake. By letting him die slowly. Vorago would have come for Medra, wouldn’t he? But you made sure he couldn’t get to her.

His eyes flared. I have been protecting her, too. You, this school, your precious city. His huge black frame shuddered. You do not understand. That night, when we fought him in the skies, Vorago spoke to me.

I held still. What did he say?

He laughed at me. Taunted me. He told me what he would do when he got to you. How he would make you pay for what I had done to him.

I froze.

He swore he would make you suffer—and make me watch.

Silence fell between us. I held very still, thinking.

I could not risk him drawing closer, Nyxaris said, his voice trembling. I could not allow him to come near you.