Page 25 of The Storm of the Empire (Flyers Of The First Kingdom #3)

TWENTY-FOUR

LUKA

I stepped up to the bars to get a better look at him.

Even emaciated and filthy, I would know his face—not that we had ever met. It was as if Nyx had been starved and beaten for months and thrown in a cell to rot.

This had to be his brother, Kol.

But weren’t they sure he was dead? At least Zaria, Jaxus, and Kiera had been, Nyx had searched for months before he finally accepted the truth.

“What is it?” Faolan asked.

I glanced between Faolan and the prisoner. “You’re not going to like this.”

He waited.

“I know him.” I pointed into the darkness.

“Have you finally cracked?” He looked exasperated.

I back tracked. Maybe I needed to get information out of him before I absconded with a half-dead fae in front of him. This guy might not even have been Nyx’s brother. So before I totally blew my cover, I wanted every last drop of information I could get.

“Who are you transporting prisoners for?”

“I don’t even know if they are prisoners. We just move what we are told to. I don’t know who all these guys are.” His anger pitched again.

“They are in irons, and they aren’t prisoners?” I can’t take my eyes off Kol. His eyes are closed. If I could only see the color, I would know for sure.

“They are probably dangerous, and I don’t know.” This clearly wasn’t uncommon in the circles he’d moved in, so I couldn’t take that.

No more information was ever given than absolutely needed.

“What is this line of questioning about?”Faolan snapped.

An idea hit me.

“Is this male a dragon?” I gestured at the emaciated form laying in the cell.

Sighing, Faolan reached for the lever holding closed the cell door. Tentatively, he slipped inside, and I filled the doorway behind him.

He stepped closer, nostrils flaring before he backed away quickly, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket. “He’s coated in Dragon’s Bane.”

“What?! How did you not know when you opened the door?”

“It’s hidden. Mixed with other substances. There isn’t a lot, but it’s there.” He kept the hanky over his mouth and nose. “They’ve moved Dragon’s Bane on our ship before, and as long as the crates aren’t open, I’m fine. It’s how they get past the inspectors. But I’ve—” His chest heaved in ragged breaths.

Was he actually having a reaction or was he just alarmed?

“Is he a dragon?” I asked again.

“I can’t tell. Not like that. If he is, that’s the best disguise I’ve ever seen. Whatever that is must be slowly killing him, though.” His eyes were glued to the prisoner, too. “I’d have to get closer to be certain, and I won’t risk it. Why do you want to know?” His words turned harsh. He wanted to get out of there.

“I need to get off this island right now with this prisoner, and if you have any goodwill towards me, you will help me. I promise you, Nyx Asra will reward you greatly.”

“The Dragon of the Night? What do you have to do with the Head of the Dragon Council?”

Good, I was banking on him and everyone in the kingdom knowing the Asra name.

It was time to put all my cards on the table. It was the only way I was going to get his help. Maybe a favor would do something.“I work for him.”

“You’re mad. What would he want with this prisoner? I want to believe this is a ruse because you think I’m a risk to your life. I can assure you I only wanted you to be more careful because I think you have potential.” He shook his head. “That’s not what I’m about.”

“You think I’ve made this up? And the bane?” I walked into the cell to check the male’s pulse. If he was dead, all of this would be moot.

“The bane could be to keep me away.”He glanced around me.

“When would I have had time to plan this? I didn’t come down here to trap you.” He had a pulse. It was thready but there. “Listen, I know this sounds like I’ve lost my mind or I’m pulling something, but I am willing to throw everything I’ve learned away, any scrap of goodwill, for this male. I have to find a way to get him out. This is Nyx’s twin brother. I’m sure of it.”I pled with my voice hoping he’d understand the urgency.

“How are you sure? Explain to me how you even know Nyx Asra.”

I knew in my gut that if I didn’t come clean, this would never work, and Kol would be gone by the time Hazel made it back here with Nyx. But the truth might also get me killed. Faolan could take my confession, kill me, and use the knowledge that Nyx is onto the priests to help them go further underground.

But I trusted him for some reason I couldn’t quite name.

Faolan wasn’t a priest. He took work from them, but ships didn’t hold an allegiance to anyone. They did the work they were paid for.

Or maybe I was gaslighting myself in my last few moments.

“Spit it out,” he hissed. “I don’t want to spend another minute near this bane if I don’t have to.”

“I have been tracking the movement of Dragon’s Bane and now dragon eggs across the kingdom. That’s what I was doing near the temple in Runerth. That’s what I was doing on the voyage over to Storm. I’ve been tracking this for months, and we returned to your ship because of an egg that was stolen from a storm dragon, but we think those were part of that ghost drop we witnessed off the Storm coast.”

“Those were eggs?” He knew more. His eyes told me everything I needed to know. His shock was too real.

“I think so. It’s the only thing I can come up with. Otherwise, we don’t know where the egg was taken. I wouldn’t give up all this tracking and months of my life that Nyx and Jaxus have me doing unless it was of the utmost importance?—”

Faolan cut me off. “Did you say Jaxus?”

“Yes…”

“You’re working for Jaxus?” he clarified.

“Closely. You know Jaxus?”

“I grew up with him. How much do you know about him?” Faolan was careful with his words.

“More than most. If you grew up with him, that would explain why you are a dragon who lives outside of the First Kingdom.” I didn’t know all the details, but I knew that Jaxus’ back story was a ruse and that he came from a place they could not speak of. I didn’t want to give away the information I had out of hand. I knew this could still be a trap.

“Say more if you want me to trust you,”Faolan demanded.

I eyed him and decided I had to trust him. “I know the secret of where you come from.”

Faolan reeled but gathered his wits quickly. “And you’re sure this is General Asra’s brother? Because neither of us will be able to show our faces back here or on Ciro again once we do this.”

Relief flooded through me. He was going to help me. “I’m sure. Can you help me get him out of here? You’re the only one who can. I know it will ruin your career here, but I promise you Jaxus and Nyx will repay it.”

“I know they will. Jaxus would rather have me there, anyway. I’ve been avoiding it.”

I got up off the floor and dusted off my knees. “How can you safely transport him like this?”

He exhales sharply. “We need to find a way to wrap him so the bane doesn’t touch me. I can’t inhale it.”

“What about if you carried him in some type of sling?”

“What are you thinking?”

“We could use a sail.”

“Can you carry him back to the ship?”

“I’m sure I can, but then we risk being seen. I’ll go steal a sail, and we can wrap him here. Then we get our arses away from this island.”