Dev had spent a restless night in the village, lying on a cold floor and trying to sleep. Trying to justify the fact that he was hiding from the dragons when maybe he should be defending his palace. Or meeting his grandfather. Or sleeping on his sofa. In Grimere, he’d reasoned, people walked around without the dragons bothering them. But this seemed different. The last time the Revinir had roared, it had been a command to kill him. Did that command expire after Drock had caught him mid-fall and taken him away? Or would these dragons still have that goal in mind if they discovered it was him?

It’s not like the dragons had seemed to care that he’d been standing at the edge of the property earlier. But what if he took the lengthy trek from the orchard through the brush and up the hill, and went halfway across the open courtyard to the center tower—that was the part that frightened him the most. If the dragons decided they were interested in him after all, if they came for him once he stepped onto the property, he had no place to hide. They’d catch him for sure. Whether he made a run for the tower or back to the village, he wouldn’t be able to beat them.

He’d thought about food. Could he catch some fish and use it to bribe them? Or perhaps the dragons went to the river to drink and eat at some point? That was it. He’d get close enough to spy and wait for them to go to the river.

And that’s exactly where he’d been sitting for hours in the early-morning fog, waiting for at least one of the dragons to go to the river so his chances of being eaten were lessened. Not long ago all four had moved toward the tower, but then they’d retreated. Dev had held his ground and continued to wait. Then he saw the movement way up in his library window. The person, whoever it was, was still up there.

He sat up as the person looked out. He couldn’t make out any features. The angle was too sharp, and the sun was bouncing off the dusty glass, obscuring his view with a glare. He didn’t feel afraid to be seen—humans weren’t his enemies these days. Maybe Ashguard or whoever it was could help if he wasn’t hiding from the dragons. Keeping his eye on the great red beasts, Dev stood up and took a few slow steps forward through the brush, trying not to make any sudden movements that might set the dragons in motion.