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I spoke first, unable to see Robby become any more distressed. “No, we don’t know that.”
Benjamin crossed his arms, eyes scanning a fragile-looking Robby. “It does say the lifeblood of the one who invoked the curse first is the lifeblood that ends it.”
I spun to face the vampire. He was certainly a cocky motherfucker, although, to his credit, he didn’t appear ready to sink his fangs into Robby. “That could mean whoever invoked the curse first is the one who needs to die. If the Matriarch called the dragon fall, then it’s her death we need.”
Ben remained quiet, his eyes pinned on Robby.
“Damien’s got a point,” Xavier said. He sat on a footstool, now wearing a three-piece suit, his hair perfectly gelled so that one loose curl fell across his forehead. His assignment must have been some black-tie party. “It could mean the Matriarch’s blood quenches the curse.”
“It could,” Ben said. “But it could also be his blood that needs to be spilled.”
“Enough,” I growled. The word was low but the impact high. Benjamin pursed his lips and dragged his gaze away from Robby.
“Fine,” the vamp said. “It isn’t my species that faces extinction.”
Fucking hell, the vampire was right. The dragon fall could very well be the end of all dragonkind. The curse effectively made dragons sterile, meaning that in a few decades, there’d be none of us left. After tracking the way the curse wound through families, it had been made clear that childless dragons didn’t seem to be affected. But anyone with children, even mothers still in their hospital beds from giving birth, could have been affected. It was a staggered effect so not all mothers fell sick at the same moment, but the burning sickness was making its way through every single dragon family in existence. It wouldn’t be long until there were none of us left.
“Why? Why is Helstriva so obsessed with bringing down the dragons?” Robby asked, his voice shaking.
Warrick spoke up for the first time. I could hear the strain of exhaustion in his words. “Because we’re the only things stopping her from taking control.” He broke out into a series of racking coughs. Xavier came over with an ice pack and a bottle of water, sitting next to his little brother and dripping some of the water over his dried lips.
“He’s right,” Xavier continued. “Yes, there’s the Iron Treaty, and humans would likely be well protected from a full-scale attack, especially with Marvels, fae, and shifters on their side. It would be a prolonged war, but the vampires would undoubtedly win if the dragons were removed from the equation. We could tear them apart in our dragon forms, one of the only ways a vampire could die. Maddox’s ice could shatter them, Damien’s fire could turn them to ash, Dawn’s electricity would fry every single synapse beyond repair.”
Robby turned paper pale. His leg bounced up and down, head shaking. I wanted to tell him it would be alright, wanted to tell him that I’d protect him. He looked even more frail now than he had back in the snake-way, facing down certain death.
“I don’t even know his name…” Robby started to cry into his hands.
“Who?” Xavier asked.
“His brother,” Ben answered. The vampire moved to the couch where Robby sat. I tensed. But he just stood next to him, placing a smooth and gentle hand on Robby’s shoulder. “His name was Chris. I’m sorry about how you had to find out.”
Robby looked up, realizing for the first time that it was the vampire who consoled him. I could see fear flash through those tear-filled golden orbs. The vampire must have sensed it too. He took a few—slow—steps back.
I replaced him, moving to Robby’s side. I’d only just met the guy, but my protective instincts were kicked into high gear. “Come, let’s get you to bed.”
Robby waved away my hand. “No, there’s no way I can sleep right now.” He stood up and started to pace, rubbing at the back of his neck until it turned cherry red. “If I’m the key to stopping this… if it’s my death that needs to happen… then just do it. Get it over with. Do it.”
He turned to my brothers, my sister, to me. He was pleading, but I wouldn’t entertain it for a single second. “Absolutely not,” I answered, along with a chorus of “no’s” from the rest of my family. “We’ll figure this out, and we’ll do it in a way that doesn’t harm you. The prophecy could be wrong, we could be misreading it, or it could all be leading us to kill the Matriarch. But what I refuse to consider is hurting you, and I can swear to you that the rest of my family feels the same.”
Nods all around, broken up by a series of racking coughs from War. He wiped at the sweat beading across his forehead as Xavier gave him more to drink.
