‘Oh, Joe.’ Winter’s face softened. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘There’s more,’ he said hesitantly. ‘I had to bring some people here. They were in danger.’

‘Who is here?’

‘They’re my friends. Or they were, once.’ He squirmed under her gaze. ‘And Yannic’s a spy.’

‘I don’t believe it!’ Winter cried. She stood up and shouted in his face, ‘The dragons need to be safe, and you bring danger into the nest?’

‘That’s not fair.’ Joe explained everything that had hap­pened. ‘Yannic helped us escape. We need him. You know 229we have to stop the Brotherhood? You saw it yourself – they’ve already killed a dragon.’

‘Exactly!’ she yelled. ‘So we need to keep Fidell and Ren hidden from them.’

Joe had never seen her like this. She was like a protective mother dragon, growling and spitting sparks.

‘We have to let Yannic in. He’s going to help us.’ He looked around the candlelit cavern, searching for a way to bridge the gap between them. ‘And you think this is danger­ous now, bringing Yannic down here? I tell you what will be dangerous: an island controlled by the Brotherhood. They’ll lock us up and take our dragons, just like they did to Milla in the last war!’

Winter reached out for Fidell, who was nudging at her waist, rumbling softly.

‘But if we use the tunnels to hide and to take messages, we can reach everyone on the island,’ Joe hurried on, spot­ting a chance now. ‘We can make a plan, ready to fight back! We don’t have long – they’re putting my sister on trial in two days.’

‘Who’s fighting back? I’m not.’ Winter grabbed Fidell and clasped him close to her. Both dragons were listening hard, their golden eyes round and solemn as their people debated.

‘Fair enough.’ He sighed. ‘But please let me bring these people into our cave. All of them?’

‘Let’s just put up a big sign, shall we: tunnels this way? This was my home! It felt safe here: you promised me.’

‘It will still be safe,’ Joe repeated. ‘Just shared.’ He hated to break his promise, but this was more important. 230

She didn’t reply for a long moment, shoulders hunched miserably. She looked like a cat with its fur fluffed up, hiss­ing and growling.

‘Winter, I’m sorry, but this is something we can do to help. Let’s do it?’

She didn’t reply, but shrugged one shoulder and he decided to interpret that as permission.

‘Come in! Amina, Conor, bring everyone in!’ Joe shouted.

Amina, Conor, Flavia, Tiago and Yannic came forwards, into the candlelight.

‘Winter? Let me introduce my best friends, Amina and Conor. Then this is Flavia, from the last Hatching Day. And Tiago and Yannic – you’ve seen them once before, when we, er, rescued Tiago. But Yannic works for my sister, really.’

They all stared at each other.

‘And this is Winter, who saved my life, and our shadow dragons, Ren and Fidell.’

Amina went forwards to sit next to Winter, crossing her legs and settling down, her dragon by her side. ‘My dragon’s name is Maric. We’re so glad to meet you. Thank you for letting us into your home.’