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His eyes drifted to the timestamp, and he could feel his scales roiling with his fury.

Alessandro hadn’t meant to ice over the library, but with his dragon so volatile, it had been more of a surprise that he hadn’t set it on fire. “This happened the night of the attack on us?”

Matteo gulped. “Y-yes, but I was trying to ensure that the audio wasn’t a mistake before I turned it in. According to procedure, we have to take it to the techies to ensure it wasn’t, and I didn’t get it back until last night.”

“According to procedure, you let your Generals know of any concern you put a chief priority on, but perhaps it fell under your priority to unseat your General from power. Is that what motivated you? You thought once you had my spot that you could turn this in as further proof that you deserved the position?” Blaise roared. Flames were dancing on his skin as he glared down at the much smaller fire dragon.

The tension that had left Mateo since the beginning of his tale was back in place, and he dropped his sight to the ground, a trick for younger dragons to calm older ones, but Blaise had no soft spot to exploit. “I swear, I was just trying to make sure that the silence wasn’t a technical error! Unlike the heads of houses that refused us permission to move against the civilians, I know the importance of Draconis.”

“Get the fuck back to the coliseum and wait for me. If you deviate, I will resort to our king’s preferred method of punishment and tear your wings from your back in slices.”

Mateo gave a small sound of a whimper and was gone in the next second.

“Fuck!” Blaise roared. His anger manifested in a fireball that shattered a stained window overhead.

Seeing the fire dragon so amped up made Alessandro redouble his grip on his own control and he removed his ice, hoping the protective spells on the books had withstood the instant thaw.

“If that’s not Cherry Young, who is it?” Stone asked even as his fingers were flying on his laptop, his body already working faster than his mind.

Alessandro offered his commandeered bowl of grapes to the fuming dragon general.

He had half a mind to just show up to the compound and figure it out without all the stealth bullshit. But he couldn’t risk showing any sign of hostility to the undisputed champions of non-shifters with their current state of affairs. He needed solid evidence something foul was happening with the Coven.

He felt the trigger of one of his barriers only seconds before the trespasser appeared before him.

Shock filled him at the sight of the blue-eyed beauty. Her body was fading slightly in spots where the sun shone just a little too brightly.

“Elaine?” Stone hissed.

“Why haven’t you crossed over?” Alessandro demanded as she stepped into the shadows, anxiety written all over her face.

“I tried.” Even in her ghost form, he could tell she was shaking. “But I saw what he had planned. I had to help the woman, the woman that healed me, but I can’t find her.”

“The ones responsible for Pan’s Flute?” He demanded.

Elaine let out a breath that came out as mist. “Yes, my King, you must hurry, her family is in danger.”

“The elf’s?”

Elaine’s form flickered. “I can’t hang on anymore. Save her kingdom, Alessandro.” Her last words hung thick in the surrounding air.

Her kingdom. The Eastern Elven Kingdom was in peril.

“Naseem, you’re in charge. Aqua, come to me. I’m taking Stone and Blaise as well.”

“Got it.”Naseem’s voice was liquid honey and the calming breeze Alessandro needed to keep from losing total control.

He felt the scales crawling along his skin, a sign of his rage. The anger he’d held onto since Draconis’ attack finally had a source to concentrate its wrath on and his dragon was thirsty for blood.

Aqua appeared a moment later, looking flush with confusion, but just as Stone’s and Blaise’s beasts were showing their heads in iridescent opal and ruby red scales, her own cerulean joined the fray in patches on her flesh.

“We’re going to the Eastern Elven Kingdom. I’ve just received a tip that the ones behind our attack are there, plotting something against the royal family.” He held out a hand, and the book he still hadn’t given to Blaise appeared. “This is the scent we’ll be working off of to gather the targets.”

Aqua looked like she was about to argue, but Alessandro’s stern gaze quieted her.

“Great, now we can call it even against the elf.” Blaise took the book and raised an eyebrow at the title. “Is this a kid’s book?”

“It’s a gift for you once we’re done.”