36. Riggs

36

Riggs

My eldest brother was dead.

Maybe that would have affected me more if I could actually remember him. Or if he wasn't implicated in taking my past from me, and almost my life.

But it didn't bother me. Not one bit. What did, was that Tyrez had been accused of his murder.

"Is he alive?" My voice didn't sound at all like mine, and my heart felt like it was in a vice.

"They are holding him, pending an official execution," she replied.

A tremor ran through me, and Breana folded her hand around my arm. And just like that—the images flooded me. Of racing through clouds, chased by his Dragon. Of drinking imported beer. Of getting my blasted dick pierced on a dare…

"You're remembering," Breana breathed aloud. "You remember him."

"Yep," I whispered.

Cara's eyes were riveted on me. But all she said was, "I need Riggs to go to my suite." Her eyes fell on Breana. "I need you to stay here."

"What?" Breana looked at the Watcher as if she'd lost her mind. "I'm coming with him."

"Everything counts now, Bree," Cara's voice was low and intense. "Our every move. I have come up with a reason to haul Riggs out of classes—there has been a flood in his cover-story homeland, and many are dead. It's the perfect excuse, but I can't explain you out of classes, too."

"We are mates ," Breana stated, and the word pierced the images flooding my mind, sending a pulse of heat straight through me.

"Not everyone knows that," Cara pointed out.

Breana's mouth opened and then closed. I glanced around. Students were looking, wondering why the Watcher spoke with us.

"Go," she told me. "I will speak with the instructors and then join you." She met Breana's gaze. "You are flying cover for us. I need you to be a student today, Bree. Can you do that? For him?"

Breana's beautiful gaze searched my own. You are with me, wherever I go, I said.

Frustration surged along the link, but then she nodded. Cara moved off to the instructors, and I reached to slide my fingers along Breana's jaw.

Be careful, she said. You should take the sword.

My rejection was automatic and thorough. No. You need it to hold that monster in check. Caliel is too weak.

Her eyes were rife with worry, but she nodded. I sensed how badly she wanted to kiss me, but with everyone watching, it would give too much away. So instead, she sent the mental equivalent, a rush of warmth and love and support that almost took me out at the knees.

Then I was walking through the back entrance, my heart pounding. Taran was dead. That left his heir, Daize, as the next Emperor.

And Tyrez could die for a murder he did not commit.

Are you sure he didn't do it? There was pain in Breana's voice, and I sensed her struggle for calm. With everything that Taran is doing—maybe he finally pushed Tyrez one step too far.

It only put my own doubt into words, but something within me dismissed it. My brother would never stoop to killing him. He would challenge him honorably. Tyrez follows the rules.

Breana hesitated, and then said, He didn't follow them when he saved Dani.

That was true. But Dani had been his fated mate. I couldn't think of anything that would push Tyrez to kill Taran without a formal challenge. Ash will know what happened.

Ash should have foreseen this. Why didn't he stop it from happening?

She had a valid point. Why had Ash insisted that his mate attend the funeral?

The door to Cara's suite was unlocked. I pushed through it, and saw the Oracle sitting at the table, with their third mate, Dani, beside him.

The Oracle's complexion was usually pale, but now it was almost white. Like a ghost. And the look in his eyes stopped me cold.

A million questions pummeled my brain, but the primary one surfaced. "Why did you tell him to go?" I couldn't keep the accusation out of my tone.

Pain pulsed from him. "Because the timelines all agreed on that one point—he had to attend. Otherwise, what might follow cannot happen."

My mind spun. "What might follow?"

Dani answered. "He cannot tell you that."

I glared at her. "Cannot? Or will not?"

"Both," she snapped. "You have no idea what he's been going through. It is not your place to judge."

There is deep pain in him. Breana was standing with the remainder of our team in the back field as everyone discussed the murder, but she was seeing through my eyes. This wasn't an easy decision.

I struggled with my rage, and my understanding.

He wouldn't have done this without a very good reason, Breana insisted. You have to trust that he would never have risked Tyrez unless there was a good reason.

She was right, and I knew it, but it didn't stop me from trembling with the need to do something . My fingers folded into fists, but I'd never felt so helpless.

"Does Breana have the sword?" Ash questioned.

"Yep," I replied. "It helps her hold the Ice Drake in check. She needs it more than me."

Ash assessed me with his pale gaze, and I tensed for a discussion, but he merely nodded.

Then Cara sailed through the door. "We have to get to your mother," she said, "before she does something unwise."

"But Tyrez!" I insisted.

"We will tend to him. But this has to be handled just right, Riggs, or the consequences will be disastrous, not just for him, but for the realms as a whole." The Watcher straightened. "Do you trust me?"

I met her eyes. The chaos within me demanded immediate action, and my frustration carried through my reply.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

Her eyes flared brilliant blue, but she said, "Meet us at the treehouse." She looked at Dani and Ash. "The academy is expecting me to escort Riggs to his homeland. They won't realize I am diverting him elsewhere."

They both nodded, and I followed Cara out the door.

The front meadow had a few uneasy groups of students, but they basically ignored us as we made our way to the gate. Just as we got to it, though, it crackled, swirled, and fluoresced.

And Dragons came through.

Ganit. And six others. All in human form, but with fierce looks upon their faces.

If they were surprised to see us there, they didn't show it. Instead, they walked straight up to me and bowed their heads.

"Ganit." My stomach twisted into a knot. "What is this?"

"There is no way Tyrez would murder Taran," he said. "We may lack proof of what is actually happening, but we will no longer serve this Empire. And there are many more who feel the same." He met my eyes and raised his chin. "In the absence of Tyrez, we pledge our allegiance to you."

My heart thundered. "I am nobody's leader."

The old Dragon's eyes flared. "Well, you are ours, now," he said.

Cara took us to the treehouse.

My mother hugged me. Tears filled her eyes, but her tightened chin revealed her determination.

Once we were all assembled in the library, Ganit gave us the details he'd brought with him from the Empire

"Taran asked to meet with Tyrez alone." He shook his head. "Considering the animosity between them since the exile, it was strange, but it wasn't like Tyrez could refuse. They were together for half an hour when Tyrez shouted for help. Taran had sent the guards away—whatever he wanted to say to Tyrez, it was intended to be private. They burst in to find Taran mortally wounded, and Tyrez bleeding, with his sword drawn, bending over him."

Dani's eyes were flashing like mad. "Tyrez says that Taran wanted to talk to him. He claimed that despite the bad blood between the brothers, Taran wasn't sure who else he could trust."

The information was like a lightning burst in my brain.

Who, breathed Breana. Who could Taran have been talking about?

Dani went on. "Tyrez says they were attacked by five Dragon shifters. They came through the escape passages behind Taran's private chambers. They were good fighters—he managed to kill one, and Taran wounded another before going down himself. But the others dragged the body away. And when he called for the guards, it took them a long time to arrive."

Ganit growled. "Daize was in the main amphitheater at the time, which was set up for the funeral reception."

"Daize had Tyrez arrested for the murder of the Emperor," Dani said.

I stared at her. "Without a trial?"

"Daize says his guilt is unquestioned," Ganit snarled.

My pulse pounded. Daize must be furious about his father's death, to push so hard for an immediate execution. The laws insisted on a trial. My gaze moved to Ash. "There is no way Tyrez did this. Who is really behind it?"

Ash stiffened. "I cannot tell you. Not yet."

My teeth clicked as my jaw snapped shut on what I really wanted to say.

Maybe he doesn't know for sure, Breana stated. He's said the timelines are difficult to decipher.

I think he knows, I growled back to her.

"How is Tyrez?" the Matriarch asked Dani. I noticed how pale she looked.

She grimaced. "His wounds have gone untreated, but he says they are not serious."

"He would say that regardless," Ash stated through clenched teeth.

Dani reached for his hand. "Yes, he would." Her gaze sought out Cara's. "They have scheduled the execution for midday tomorrow."

"We need to get him out of there," the Matriarch stated.

"We will," Cara said. "But first, we need a plan…"