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He stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Zaira, it’s time to come clean.”

“I am clean,” the First Stone Keeper said, narrowing her eyes. “Dwarves believe in bathing. Don’t highbloods?”

The back of Blake’s neck flushed. “Of course!”

Magda lumbered to her feet. “Zaira, enough with the bullshit. They know.”

Zaira looked at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nyxaris came to us before he left to find Florence,” I said. “I mean, he came to Blake. They spoke.” We’d decided not to share with everyone the fact that Nyxaris was a highblood man and a dragon.

Blake cleared his throat. “Yes, mind to mind. You know, like dragons do.”

Zaira was looking at us suspiciously. “And?”

I was starting to get annoyed. “Nyxaris told us the dwarves were coming.”

“How would he know this?” Zaira’s head snapped to Magda. The professor pointed to the fluffin. Zaira gave a disbelieving laugh. “The fluffin told the dragon?”

“They can communicate,” Blake said quietly. “Neville told Nyxaris enough, I guess. Nyxaris sent us to see Magda. We knew about your delegation. We knew about the eggs before you told us.”

Zaira glared at Professor Stonefist. “You betrayed your people.”

Magda crossed her arms. “My people? I served, you little whelp. Need I remind you? Everything I do is for my people.” She glanced at Blake and me. “But I do have some loyalty toward the students I teach, as well.”

“Divided loyalty, it seems to me,” Zaira huffed.

“Stop trying to change the subject,” I said. “Nyxaris wants us to protect those eggs, so how are we going to get to them? And how are we going to do it before Mortis does?”

Nyxaris had known Neville had visited the dwarves. He hadn’t said how, and as the fluffin couldn’t talk, it was still a mystery to me. Nyxaris had also known I couldn’t ride him, and I couldn’t ride Blake—not then. So, he’d made us swear that we would get to the eggs and protect them. It was personal for Nyxaris. The eggs weren’t his, but they belonged to Molindra and Alabryss. I sensed the dragon believed he owed both of them a debt.

But it was more than that. If the eggs fell into Viktor Drakhar-row’s hands, the Veil would fall. Viktor would gain unspeakable power. And then Florence’s rescue would be meaningless. Or, worse, impossible.

“We want to know about the keys, Zaira,” I continued. “We want to know everything.”

There was quiet. Zaira still looked furious, but now I saw resignation in her expression.

“I told you to tell them from the start,” Kazmyn said softly, kicking at a loose rock.

“Shut up,” Zaira snapped. She rubbed her temples. “Very well.” She looked around at all of us. “The eggs are secure in the inner core of the vault. There are layers we must pass through. Wards created by the dragons and dwarves. Each ward is unlocked with a key.”

“What are the keys?”

“I am one,” she said, tossing her head. “As First Stone Keeper and head of the Emberwatch, now that Lord Sharma is … missing.”

Rodriguez muttered something under his breath.

“Missing is one way to put it. A rather charitable one,” Sankara spoke up. “He’ll have told House Mortis everything, won’t he?”

“Not necessarily.” But Zaira looked uncertain.

“They’ll torture him,” Blake said quietly.

Zaira bit her lip. “He is dwarven. He will not yield.”

“They don’t need him to yield. They have his blood,” I said bluntly.

Zaira looked uncomfortable. “Perhaps.”