“Maybe the dragons’ll blow smoke down on us, and Mauldrene will take care of Rishaq for us,” Lev said.
“That’s the optimistic man I … put up with,” Zi said.
Lev snorted and pulled her head against his chest. She giggled.
“About Mauldrene…” Baz said.
“Here we go,” Night said.
“Trust me,” Baz said, “there’s no way you’re guessing what I’m about to tell you.”
“No way at all,” I offered, as if I were indeed part of the crew.
“I still wanna guess,” Lev said, sounding more like his usual self by the passing minute.
“We don’t have time for that,” I said. “You’ll never guess, not in a millennium.”
“Oh yeah? You say that only ’cause you don’t know Levin Brant.”
“No, Lev,” Baz said. “She’s right. There’s no chance?—”
“Mauldrene’s a dragon.”
Baz hmed. “Not bad, bro, not bad at all. But that’s not it.”
Anticipating the effect the news might have on my small friend, I turned toward her, placing my hand on her slight shoulder. Her eyes widened impossibly more. Never once had I touched her so openly in front of others. Only Teo had witnessed us sharing any degree of affection, and Teo wasn’t “others.”
While Marina stared at my hand on her body like it was itself a dragon, I said, “An unknown demigod is trapped inside this castle.”
Marina gasped so hard she coughed. I removed my hand as her body shook with it.
Night whistled.
The implacable Félix said, “Wow.”
And Lev said, “Damn, bro, you’re right. I never woulda guessed that.”
“That’s scorching crazy,” Ed said. “How?”
“We don’t know,” Baz said. “Micaela didn’t know either. She said that not even the demigod knew what had happened to her, or even who she is.”
“She doesn’t know which demigod she is?” Moncho asked.
“That’s right.”
“By the Ethers,” Félix said.
“Yep.”
“Now her actions take on different meanings,” I said. “Like, why did she have those select books in that small library separated from what I must presume is a larger library? A castle such as this one must have a grand library. Do the books she set aside hold some sort of important information?”
To my lower back’s relief, I finally slid the dragon hide book from my waistband. After taking in Baz’s discarded pile of weapons, I placed the book beside them. I couldn’t very well carry the thing with me everywhere I went as if it were a dragonling.
Félix hummed. “I’ll start reading. To behold an actual demigod is remarkable.”
“Absolutely remarkable,” an awestruck Marina whispered. “I wonder which one she is, and if she could be the key to restoring the demigods’ power in the Opalese.”
“Maybe,” Baz said. “We also must discover the truth about my mate’s brother.”
