Page 53 of Exquisite Monster

“Every human delegation is here. They are here because they owe Craisos for their food and the weapons they believe are meant to protect themselves. I have no doubt Andaros will leverage his hold on them to march on dragon lands. And frankly, most of them might agree with him. But they will all be in the same room, and I am living proof that dragons are not what humans believe.”

Tense silence dropped over the fire. It felt as if the silence rang outward and encompassed all the mountains.

“Are you suggesting to reveal ourselves to them?” Mesene asked carefully.

“Yes. I’m suggesting I try to make them doubt. If they understand that dragons are not a mob of violent creatures coming to burn them alive, maybe there’s a chance they will say no to Andaros. If they realize they have been lied to, there is a chance things will change. There are more humans who do not hate dragons than you know, just as I’m sure the reverse is true.”

“Thatis something that would get us executed by the Elders,” Sotai said.

“And the rest of this isn’t?”

They laughed. “A fair point. You speak the truth. We have already crossed that line.”

Idroal sighed and dragged a hand over their face. “It still does not solve the problem of Andaros taking you captive the moment you step into the room, putting us back in the exact same situation.”

A thought came, and then my smile. “But you brought dragons with the skills to help, remember?” I looked at Karadi. “Just how impenetrable is that shield?”

Sickness swept through me with terrifying swiftness. Roiling, retching, and uncomfortable heat. I nearly fell over because the feeling was so strong. Until I realized the feeling wasn’t mine. It was Sirrus.

“Lena?” Belleo called my name. She was next to me and I was on the ground. “Lena? What’s happening?”

“Sirrus,” I managed. “It’s Sirrus. He’s in pain.”

Belleo and Erryn leapt into action. They helped me get to thebedding we had and rest as the awful feelings washed over me. “Is he in danger?” Erryn asked.

“I don’t know.”

From beyond my sight I heard Idroal’s voice. “Let’s fine-tune this plan. Lena is right. We have little time, if any, to get them out.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

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SIRRUS

We heard nothing about Lena.

Days and days of nothing but hurling up fire and Andaros trying to break us. Not that he was doing a very good job of it.

They had to feed us because he didn’t want us to die. Because of that too, we were whole after he took us apart, healed completely.

If I had nothing to live for, maybe I would have broken. Andaros’s testy advisor was right on one count—if Lena died, I would not be so calm. I would shatter the world no matter what commands bound me. If he found her and brought her back here?

I would cleave his head from his body with my bare hands.

It was hard to track the days passing with such monotony, but we tried. Little snippets here and there from passing conversation or our brief forays to the surface. A delegation from every human kingdom was here, and the rulers of most of them were in residence.

A perfect opportunity for the Elders to burn all the human leadership together if they could. Thankfully, the barrier still held.

I flexed my hands against the steel that held them. My fingers ached from not being able to fully extend them, and not for the first time, I wished things were different. Something was coming. We all felt it. Something would change. Soon.

We talked when we needed to, but mostly we were alone with our thoughts and impressions of each other. What was there to talk about except the things we already knew? And the things we missed would only bring us more pain.

Nelis, the advisor, was the one who took me to the surface today, with a sharp nod at the guard. I didn’t fight back or resist.

“Don’t think about it,” he said.

I looked over at him. “What?”