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Zaira looked at her coolly. “We have an arrangement, one which benefits the dwarven people.”

“You mean one in which the students you send here are your spies?” I guessed.

Zaira flushed. “Not spies.”

“But they bring back information?” I persisted.

“Do you know much about the dwarven kingdom, Medra Pendragon?” Dinesh Sharma asked me, not unkindly. I shook my head. “Dwarves are mostly immune to vampire thrallweave and magical conditioning,” he explained. “The highbloods dislike that about us. In the past, the highbloods attempted to cull the dwarves. To wipe us out completely.”

“I … didn’t know that.” I glanced at Blake.

“Neither did I,” Blake said. He looked at Visha. She shook her head.

Dinesh smiled sadly. “Highblood history is selective. I have no doubt what you all have been taught is riddled with errors. The last time the highbloods attempted this culling, the dwarves fought back with such ferocity that the highbloods were forced to retreat. After that, Thrazdummar was mostly left alone. We do send students to highblood schools from time to time, and we do so with our own motives. Our students become our ears on the surface.” Dinesh looked across at me. “My grandson wished to come to the surface. He had always been curious about life up here.”

I nodded. “He told me so. I knew him for less than a year, but he was a dear friend, one I never wanted to harm. I know it must seem strange to hear me say that, but I never wanted to kill him. Naveen loved Bloodwing. But this school took him and twisted him. It used him up.”

There was silence for a moment. Then Dinesh nodded. “We will speak of Naveen in private. For now, let us return to the greatest matter at hand, the matter of dragons. Viktor Drakharrow seeks the power of dragons.”

My heart sped up. “He needs a Silvrayne. But we’ve already established that’s impossible.” Zaira and Dinesh were silent.

Rodriguez frowned. “It is impossible, isn’t it? There are no Silvraynes. How could there be? Alabryss was the last of her kind.”

The dwarven young man sitting beside Visha spoke up. “Before Alabryss was turned to stone, she left something behind.”

“Allow me to introduce my brother,” Zaira said stiffly. “Kazmyn.” Kazmyn waved a hand, looking surprisingly cheerful.

“Lovely to meet you,” Rodriguez said. “But what exactly do you mean, Zaira? What did Alabryss leave behind?”

I already knew. “Eggs? She left eggs.” I made it sound like a guess.

Zaira nodded reluctantly. “Yes, eggs. The eggs lie deep below ground. The dwarves have guarded them for generations.”

Blake frowned. “Viktor wants these eggs? He knows they exist?”

“He believes they are his by right,” she said with derision.

I thought of Viktor Drakharrow possessing baby dragons and felt sick. “Are any of them actually … his?”

“No,” Zaira replied. “But they were once in his possession. The dwarves stole them back. We hid them long ago.”

“Did the dragons know about this? Did Alabryss?” Rodriguez demanded.

“Of course,” Zaira said dismissively. “They wished us to take the eggs. They had no desire for any potential hatchling to fall into Viktor Drakharrow’s hands.”

“Potential hatchling?” Blake’s eyes went wide. “So the eggs are … hatching?”

Zaira looked at Dinesh. “The eggs have been dormant for many years. But now they are in great jeopardy,” Dinesh said bluntly. “We believe the ones trying to destroy the Veil have learned where the eggs are. They are coming to seek them out.”

“So why don’t you move the eggs?” Blake demanded, leaning forward. “Get them to a safe place.”

“We cannot access the eggs by ourselves,” Zaira admitted. “We have no way of doing what you say.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand. You hid them. Why can’t you move them?”

“We hid them with the dragons. With dragon help.”

Understanding dawned. “You need a dragon to access the eggs,” I said, my heart sinking. “That’s why you wanted to see Nyxaris.”