1. Bree

1

Bree

I sat on my ex-Centaur butt in a meadow filled with frantic people.

The afternoon was sunny and cheerful, but it had little impact on those surrounding me. Most were covered in soot, and livid burns laced their skin. Children were crying, their eyes wide with fear. And all I could think of was one thing.

Riggs had a son .

There are a lot of other concerns to be worried about here, the Gryphon trapped inside me stated emphatically.

He wasn't wrong. I attempted to get my mind back in gear as Cara straightened. She locked eyes with the huge turquoise Dragon shifter that loomed over me.

"We need Ash. Tell him to meet us at my house."

We need the Oracle? I sensed how uneasy that assertion made Caliel.

Tyrez's eyes began to flash as Cara turned and threaded her way through the people injured by the volcanic eruption.

Riggs helped me to my feet. My legs trembled and barely held me.

"Lean on me," he said, although I detected a subtle tremor in him, too.

Caliel muttered something I didn't quite catch. What? I asked.

Nothing, he grumbled.

Tyrez caught up to Cara, who seemed to be heading for the gateway, which pulsed gently now that the evacuees had been brought through. She paused to place a hand on Bess, the other Watcher, who straightened from healing a young woman.

"Do you have this?" Cara asked. "Something's come up, so I have to go."

Bess glanced at us, and then back to Cara. "With Anna and Rafael helping, we should be good. I think the worst injuries are seen to. Anything I should know?"

"Not yet." Cara moved away.

We followed her to the gateway, and she took us through.

The familiar lush garden greeted us. The scent of growth and flowers suddenly emphasized the stench of ash and sulfur embedded in my furred and feathered clothing. I sneezed.

We startled the little bearing beast, Grunt, who had been snacking on shrubs nearby. He bolted a few feet, and then stopped, turning toward us. Cara's hand trailed over him as we went past, and I gave him a quick scritch.

The woolly creature followed us to the house. We left him eating more shrubbery outside, and Cara took us in. She gestured to seats in the kitchen.

"Sit," she ordered Tyrez.

He stared at her with a marked degree of incredulity. "You can't be serious. My mother and son might be burning up, and you want me to sit?" There was a note in his deep voice that had me examining him more closely. The aura of calm control that I'd come to associate with him as an instructor was showing cracks. Like the beast inside was awakening.

It was an unsettling thing, and it amped my own angst.

Cara's mouth straightened. "Your family would have been at the palace for your brother's coronation. They might still be there."

"My mother will be unlikely to stay for the evening celebration." Tyrez's voice had calmed, just a bit. "She might go back to the lake resort with them."

Cara looked at me. "Were there any references to the time of day in your vision?"

I thought hard. I hadn't seen the outside of the building. But there had been impressions, gleaned from the one whose eyes I'd seen through.

Riggs's son .

"I can't be sure. But I had the feeling it was nighttime."

"We have to warn them," Tyrez growled.

A few worry lines relaxed around Cara's eyes. "We have a bit of time. Not much, but some." Her fingers pointed first at Tyrez, and then to the chair, with emphasis. "This is going to take a calm atmosphere to accomplish. Having you looming over things is not going to help the process. So sit ."

He rumbled at her, but the Dragon shifter sank his large frame into the chair. It creaked beneath him. After his turquoise eyes flashed, he said, "Ash is here."

"Excellent." Cara poured hot water into her teapot.

Tyrez's gaze fastened on Riggs. "That was pretty impressive back at the lake."

As Riggs shrugged uncomfortably, Cara asked, "What did he do?"

"Brought the lake up into the air. Then Bree froze it, and Marcus flung it at the cloud coming to eat us."

There was the tiniest hesitation as Cara placed the pot on the table. "Sounds like some outstanding teamwork."

"Saved us all," Tyrez said.

"It was Bree and Marcus, really." Riggs leaned back.

All that muscle and modest, too.

Were all Gryphon so sarcastic? I ignored Caliel and looked at Cara. "Without the suspended water, it wouldn't have worked."

The back door opened, and Nettie appeared, holding a fistful of colorful flowers. The aura of contentment surrounding my herbalist friend indicated that her new role caring for the Watcher's homestead suited her. But her expression grew troubled as she met Cara's gaze, and my eyes drifted to the lean, pale-haired figure accompanying her.

I sensed Caliel's fascination. Never before have I seen a Dragon of that color.

"Never know what you'll find while picking flowers," Nettie said. "Today, it appears I've found the Oracle."

I examined the new arrival with interest. A Dragon, clearly, but his scales shimmered silver and gold. He nodded to me when Cara made the introductions, but then his eyes moved to Riggs and froze on the hilt of the sword, just visible over his shoulder. "Where did you get that?"

Cara answered before Riggs could. "I gave it to him. Or rather, offered it. The sword has chosen him." She'd grown very still, watching the Oracle. "Did you foresee it?"

Ash took a deep breath. "The timelines have been particularly chaotic as of late. But yes, I saw the sword in some of them. I just didn't believe it was back in play, so I ignored them."

His voice was slightly hushed, and Tyrez stiffened. "It's not really that sword, is it?"

"Yes. It is." Cara wrenched herself back into motion, distributing cups.

As I looked between them, hoping for clarity, Tyrez rubbed a hand over his face. "Damn it all to hell."

"Precisely," Ash agreed.

"What sword?" I shot him a puzzled look.

"The sword Riggs carries has a long history." Cara offered me a muffin and pushed the butter my way. "But before we all get too excited, I would like to check something." She gestured to Riggs. "Can you put it on the table?"

Riggs stood and reached behind him.

"It's designed for an overhead draw. Interesting," Tyrez noted.

Riggs shrugged. "It feels right."

"A tough way to draw a sword," Tyrez said. "But you always made it look easy."

There was an uncomfortable moment as Riggs laid the sword and scabbard on the table while not meeting his brother's eyes. His hand moved away from it slowly, as though reluctant to do so.

Cara plunked herself down in a chair, folded her arms on the table, and gestured to Tyrez. "Draw the sword."

He stared at her. She raised her brow.

Tyrez sighed and stood, picking up the scabbard. I noticed how incredibly worn it was, the leather tattered in several places. It looked ready to fall apart.

He stood very still for a moment, and the look he shot Cara was a mix of emotions that I couldn't even begin to decipher. But then he closed his free hand around the sword's hilt, and pulled.

Nothing happened. His dark brows dropped, and the muscles in his arms stood out as he attempted to pull it out again.

"What the—" Riggs reached out a hand, and his brother passed the scabbard back to him. With the lightest of tugs, the sword slid free. It gleamed as though lit from within, and I thought I saw writing along the blade.

Hellfire, Caliel said, and I sensed his shock. There are stories of such a sword in the human realm— but he broke off.

Tell me what you know! I demanded.

A hesitation, and then, First, I need to make sure I am right .

The ominous creak of a stressed structure distracted me—Tyrez, collapsing back into his chair with a thump. His eyes were flashing like mad—who was he talking to? I glanced over to Ash—to see his doing the same.

Cara sighed. "That's pretty clear."

"I don't understand." Riggs slid the sword back in, slung the scabbard back over his shoulder, and took his own seat.

"I will explain the sword—" Cara replied.

"Now that I know which timelines are moving forward," Ash interrupted, "we need to focus things." He sounded alarmed.

She turned to him. "Have you seen any futures involving the Matriarch and a fire?"

Ash flinched. "Nothing specific, but yes." When Tyrez shot him a look, he added, "Until I knew?—"

"It's okay. I get it," Tyrez said.

Ash leaned forward, his silvery gaze locking on mine. "I need you to walk me through what you've seen," he said. "My gift is so powerful—I envision multiple possibilities for the future. Until events tell me which one is likely, I am useless. Your vision may help me focus on the right timeline."

I swallowed. "Okay. I'm not sure how much help I will be."

He stood, moved around the table, and crouched next to my chair. Then he held out his hands.

I met his pale eyes. Seeing the concern deep within them, I offered my own. The fingers that closed around them were long, the bones of his hands clearly visible beneath the skin.

The grip was warm, though, and curiously reassuring. "Tell me," he asked softly, "exactly what you saw. Even small details may help."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Then I told him. Caliel supplied little things I hadn't at first noticed—the types of artwork on the walls, the archways along the hall, the color of the polished floor tiles. He also helped with what Tyrez's son had told the boy whose eyes I saw through. And then we got to the fire itself.

At that point, Tyrez interrupted. "The flames were burning the stone?"

I opened my eyes to see that Ash's were fogged over, as though he were a million miles away. "The plaster and hangings, mostly," I answered. "Oh, and the metal tiles, too."

But then Ash, caught up in his own vision, interrupted. "The stone is melting ."

"Impossible," Tyrez stated. But his eyes had started to glow with a fire of their own.

"Not impossible," Ash corrected, his voice abstracted as he remained lost in the timeline. "A sign of the fire's origin."

"What kind of fire can melt stone?" Nettie's eyes were wide.

"No ordinary fire can," Cara stated. "But the Fire Drake is a magically enhanced creature. Part Dragon, and part Fire Elemental, combined to produce a true monster."

No. Vic wouldn't—would he? Why would he attack the Matriarch?

He would do it to solidify a relationship, Caliel said.

As my mind spun, silence fell on the room for a few moments. Then Tyrez added with an edge to his tone, "If it can burn through Dragon scales, then yes, stone would be possible. But that would mean underworld involvement."

Cara nodded. "Yes, it would."

"When does this happen?" the big shifter growled.

Ash's long mouth twisted. "Soon. I would say tonight. She and the others must have returned to the lake resort after the ceremony."

Tyrez exhaled. "We have time to stop this, but we must go now." His lips had started to pull back from his teeth.

The comment had an immediate effect on the Oracle. "The lake resort is in the Empire's home realm. You cannot go." His eyes snapped back to full awareness.

"I'm going. I don't give a damn about the exile rules." Tyrez's jaw clamped.

Ash let go of my hands and stood to regard his mate solemnly. "If you go—the timelines are clear. The results will be disastrous."

The look Cara shot Tyrez was not devoid of sympathy. "If you set one foot in that realm, your brother will order your immediate execution."

"I do not care," he snarled.

"It's not just about you." Ash's eyes flared gold. "What I've seen is clear. If you go, you will achieve everything your mother has tried to prevent. Whether you live or die, your presence will generate a civil war and split the Dragon Empire in two."

Tyrez stared at him. "My presence alone will do that?"

"No," Ash admitted. "But it will ensure it happens. You are a catalyst in this—and you still have many supporters in the Empire. There is a large number that are searching for alternatives to what Taran is doing. If discovered, the involvement of the Emperor's next eldest son could set things in motion." He turned to Cara. "The future is still uncertain. But we have to tread with care."

Cara nodded slowly. "If we stop this, they will only try again, and we might not see it coming next time."

"We can't just sit back and let them die," Tyrez snarled.

The Watcher held up a hand. "Of course not. But just how we stop this will have an impact if we are not careful. They will make sure their deaths look like an accident. If it gets out that the Matriarch was murdered—with even a hint of it leading back to Taran—it can, and will, split the Empire into factions that will fight one another."

Riggs had been sitting quietly listening to all this, but now he spoke. "We need to get them out of there without anyone knowing. If they are presumed dead, they will be safe."

Silence fell as we all stared at him. But then Ash nodded. "Yes. He is right. That is what needs to be done."

"But in order for that to work, we have to pull them out of a burning building," Tyrez sounded almost desperate now.

"You won't be doing it at all," Ash insisted. "But, yes."

The two glared at each other, and their eyes flashed like crazy. Whatever they were saying to each other, wasn't pretty. An angry Tyrez was a terrifying thing, but Ash didn't even flinch.

"Riggs is right." Cara calmly broke the silence. "The Empire has become so unstable that it cannot be fixed from where it is now. We must, therefore, preserve our assets for another day." She stood, checked the tea, and began to serve it. Her expression remained tranquil, as though we were planning a trip to the park.

Tyrez slammed his big hand down on the table, threatening the infrastructure enough that it sent a few muffins rolling off the plate.

Ash didn't even flinch.

"Do you know what you are saying?" Tyrez demanded.

"Yes." The Watcher met his wildly flashing gaze. "It means that as far as the Empire is concerned, the Matriarch, your sisters, and the two boys must die in this fire. And it must appear accidental, or the entire Empire will come apart at the seams." She poured his tea, ignoring his glower. "And as we cannot risk word getting out, the council cannot be involved. It must, therefore, be done in secret, without the academy's resources."

Well, that certainly explained us being hurried away to her house in the human realm. But it also made this task very difficult.

Tyrez glowered at her. "I'm going."

Cara wasn't about to be cowed by the angry giant Dragon shifter warrior. "No, you're not. Your instincts to protect are admirable, Tyrez, but you know Ash is right. If this wasn't about your family, you would see it. Both your Dragon, and yourself, are too easily identified. That goes for Alistair, too, if you were thinking of calling on him. And of course, there's no way we can send Ash, either."

"So who does that leave?" The big shifter's voice was nothing more than a growl.

Cara set down the teapot. "I'm thinking most of team Centaur. That gives us a Jumper, Marcus's many talents, a Dragon known for shredding armies, and Rafael, who can use his power of persuasion if necessary. We'll leave Kiko out of the mix. She couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it. But we'll add Dani, who can keep us connected to Ash and yourself."

The big Dragon shifter regarded her with incredulity. "So instead of me going, you're sending my mate ?"

But Ash nodded approval. "I should be able to trace the Matriarch's location through the timelines and relay it to her."

They want us to work with Rafael? Caliel's hostile reaction was unexpected.

He's a member of Team Centaur now, I stated, a bit bewildered. I remembered Rafael being warm and supportive—he'd helped alleviate my pain that horrible night when Isobel had transitioned me from Centaur to shapeshifter.

He is the one who captured me, Caliel snarled . And then he forced his will on me to keep me immobile while Isobel ripped away my life essence.

I froze with my hand on my teacup. Rafael did that?

Yes. He is a monster.

Our experiences had been so different, I didn't even know what to say at first. My own actions had labeled me not much differently. Rafael may have been as misguided as me. It seems Isobel was good at creating monsters out of ordinary people.

There is nothing ordinary about Rafael. But I sensed a slight lessening of his anger as he thought about what I'd said.

As I processed Caliel's horrible experiences with Rafael, my eyes darted between those at the table. I didn't know Dani at all, but Riley's Jumper talent would be useful. But I wasn't prepared when Ash pulled me in.

"I still can't see the boys in the timelines," he added. "Not alive, anyway." When Tyrez stiffened, he hurried on. "The team will need Bree to identify where she saw them."

When I stared at him, my mouth dropping open, Riggs said, "If she's going, so am I."

He spoke to Cara, but his gaze was fastened upon me. Strangely dark due to the stuff the Watcher had given him, but the intensity in them sent my heart leaping in my chest.

A rumbling growl echoed within me. He will get himself killed if he goes. He does not even remember being a warrior.

Are you saying I shouldn't go?

He hesitated, then grudgingly said, They need you.

Cara, meanwhile, was clearly against his decision. "You are in hiding from the Empire, Razir. Some lake resort guards might know you—even looking as you do now, so that is a risk we cannot take."

"My name is Riggs," he hissed. "And if Breana is going, I am too."

Unexpectedly, Ash spoke up. "He's in every timeline I've tracked so far."

Cara shot the Oracle a sharp look. "Does he get discovered in any of them?"

"A few," Ash admitted. "But not most."

Riggs hadn't looked away from me, and my heart refused to settle down.

By what means were we going to pull this off? Caliel's mindvoice was a mix of exasperation and confusion. We need to whisk those people out from a burning building with no one noticing.

And whoever is setting the fire might be watching, I added, to ensure the targets die…

Caliel summed it up well. This is going to be some rescue.

Exactly, I replied, just as Cara met my eyes.

And then she smiled.

Don't be fooled by that smile, he growled . It has likely encouraged others to leap off a cliff.

I sighed. If it saves an Empire, then we might just have to jump.