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“What aren’t you telling me, Lysander?” I exclaimed. I looked at Kage. He looked as out of the loop as I felt.

“I know you’ve been speaking to Lunaya at night.” Kage glanced at Lysander. “In dreams. But it’s … not always a dependable method. I know you know she’s alive. But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there? You’ve been hiding things?”

“Trying to protect you both,” Lysander gasped. “So hard.” I could see his shoulders trembling.

His sister was in danger. I tried to imagine what hearing from Persis in my dreams would do to me. I assumed what Lunaya had been put through was terrible. But then I thought of something, and before I could stop myself, the words were out. “Why haven’t you gone to her? If you knew she was alive, why are you still standing here?”

Lysander’s face broke.

“I’m sorry,” I said at once. I went to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I’m sorry, Lysander. I know there must be a reason for all of this. Just tell us. We’re here. We’ll understand.”

Kage had come up behind me. He was standing very close. “She’s right.”

Lysander nodded slowly. “Lunaya is alive, yes. But I can’t help her. Not in the way you think. She’s trapped. Bound to Marcus and Catherine—and to the dragon. It’s slowly killing her.” He touched my cheek gently. “Persis is there, too.”

I drew in a breath, then backed away from him. “What?”

“I didn’t know until recently. I swear, I didn’t. Lunaya … she wouldn’t let me come. She said there was no point if she couldn’t leave. All I’d have been able to do was …” He shook his head. “There are children there. Persis is one of them.”

“Is he all right? What have they been doing to him?” My heart was hammering.

“He’s alive and unharmed. Lunaya has some sort of a plan.” He closed his eyes briefly. “I was never going to leave her there. I was always going to go to her. But when I told her about my dream, we both agreed that we had to wait.”

“For this moment? For what you’d seen?” I spoke softly.

He nodded. “Yes.”

The room was filled with tension. With something else, too. The moment was significant in a way I was just beginning to comprehend. “Thrice bound by blood,” I whispered. I stepped into the storage room, a chill already in my veins.

“Regan.” Kage’s voice was sharp. “What are you doing?”

“What did you say?” Lysander demanded.

“Just a moment.” There was a tall bookcase in the storage room. It had already been fairly full when I’d stuffed the books I’d found on Rodriguez’s desk onto one of the shelves. I scanned my eyes over the spines, searching for the one I’d seen. “There it is.” I pulled the book down and started flipping pages. “Listen,” I said eagerly.

I read aloud, “As the Veil grows thin, she shall approach: the woman who has crossed over and stood against the darkness. Thrice defiant and thrice bound by blood, she walks where others cannot tread …”

When I was finished, Kage was looking a little pale, too. “Well?” I said excitedly. “It’s obvious, right?”

Kage frowned. “What’s obvious?”

“It must be about Lunaya. I found the book on Rodriguez’s desk. I think he thought it was about Medra, but Lunaya would make more sense.” I glanced at Lysander.

“I’ve heard the prophecy before,” he said quietly.

“So you agree, then?” I asked quickly. “It’s about Lunaya?”

“I think so,” he said, his voice tight.

Well, no wonder, if he believed the girl in the prophecy was his sister. Then I thought of something else. “Wait. Why did you see us going through the arch?”

“Good question,” Kage said. “We’re not leaving Bloodwing.” He glanced between us. “Are we?”

I thought of the school. Then I thought of my little brother. “Persis is at the Bonewood, with Lunaya?”

Lysander nodded. “She’s been keeping an eye on him.” His voice was strained. “I was going to tell you. Both of you. All of it—about the dream, everything. I meant to do it this morning, but then—”

“Then the plague came,” I finished. I wasn’t angry with him, I realized. He’d been carrying a huge weight. We all had been.