But across time and distance and death, the first dragon reached.

“BRING ME HOME.”

CHAPTER THREE

“DEFINITELY NOT.”

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“Why would you even suggest that?”

I waited until their comments were finished before I said, “It’s the most straightforward plan.”

“It’s the worst plan,” Gerel muttered. “You’ve been hiding your identity for decans. Why expose yourself now?”

“We want to find Nine, don’t we?”

“Not at the expense of your safety,” Hristo said.

I smiled a little. “We were running from Altan. Now he’s locked in the closet. Anyway, I don’t think my identity is as secret as we thought. Tanhe knows who I am.”

“What?” Ilina’s mouth dropped open. “Are you sure? How do you know?”

“We’ve been using the papers we bought in Val fa Merce.” Chenda crossed her arms, and she had the look of someone already composing a letter of complaint.

I perched on the arm of the sofa and sighed, pulling LaLa toward my shoulder. She started licking my face, as though to wash off the stink of explosions. “He didn’t outright say anything, but it seemed like he was hinting that he knew.”

“Then we can’t be sure,” Chenda said.

“I can get answers.” Gerel’s tone was dark.

I held up a hand. “No, it’s all right. He clearly understands that we’re trying to keep our identities secret. We used false papers, and he said it’s important to protect his guests. It shouldn’t be a surprise, though. Zara looks similar enough to me. And my scar doesn’t make me look like a different person.”

“And we paid with dragon figurines.” Ilina dragged her hands down her face. “That was stupid.”

In addition to Captain Pentoba’s influence (she knew everyone in every port, and they all seemed to owe her favors), we’d given him a few of the dragon figurines I’d brought from my home in Crescent Prominence. They were worth a small fortune, as some had real gemstones embedded in them, while others were made of precious metals. They were exquisitely detailed, crafted with care, and on Anahera, they were worth thousands of lumes.

“I agree with Feisty,” Gerel said. “It was a poor move on our part, but we were in shock after the earthquake.”

We were still in shock.

“Which is why we need to think about this,” she went on. “Mira, regardless of Altan’s whereabouts, you were still a prisoner in the Pit. We were all prisoners there. Exposing yourself puts everyone at risk.”

I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. “You’re right. But if we want to make a difference in the world, we have to take risks. We can’t put our own safety above the survival of the Fallen Isles, and Nine might know how to help us.”

“How so?” Gerel leveled her scowl at me.

I couldn’t answer that without sounding crazy, but I knew that finding Nine was the first step. I dreamed of dragon bones and eclipses every night, and even if my human self couldn’t put together all the clues—not yet—this dragon side knew something important.