Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles Trilogy #1)(40)

“Well?” He glanced pointedly at the tray of food Tirta had left behind. “You know your options. Do you really want to spend more time alone in the dark?”

No.

I couldn’t.

I’d die.

There was no telling when Mother and Father would get me out, and I wouldn’t survive until then if I kept clutching this secret. Tirta had said so many adults died in the Pit because they expected things. Maybe I was like that—expecting food and water and decent treatment.

Now I knew better.

Tirta had said that prisoners who adapted survived longer.

I had to adapt. I had to be a Drakontos mimikus and change myself for protection.

Give up my secret or die. There were no good options.

“Very well.” I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep, dread-filled breath. “I don’t know much. I—” I swallowed a knot in my throat. “I found shipping orders. Instructions to move fourteen large dragons to the mainland. Someone is sending our dragons to the Algotti Empire.”





BEFORE





Sarai 15, 2204 FG


AFTER WE FOUND THE WHEEL TRACKS IN THE EMPTY caves, Ilina, Hristo, and I went to Ilina’s parents’ office with the news: someone was stealing our dragons.

But when we arrived, the room was empty, just a pair of desks and a mountain range of scattered papers.

“The sanctuary keeps logs of everyone who visits.” Ilina began digging through the papers. “Whoever took the dragons will be listed on one of these.”

There were so many papers, though. It was hard to believe there was any kind of order to all this chaos. Nevertheless, Hristo and I began searching for the entry logs, too.

That was when we found it.

Shipping orders.

Sitting on her father’s desk. Evidence that someone had betrayed the Fallen Isles.

ILINA’S PARENTS ARRIVED a short time later, bursting into the office and asking what in Damina’s name was going on. We told them about the caves, showed them the papers, but they insisted it was fake.

“I’ll take it to the Luminary Council if I have to,” I said. No one made fake shipping orders like that. Especially about dragons. They were the children of the gods.

“Please don’t,” Ilina’s mother said. “Please just leave it alone.”

“I don’t see how I can.” I glanced at Ilina, who nodded. “If we let injustice go unchallenged, how are we any better than those committing the crimes?”

Ilina’s parents looked at each other with tears in their eyes, and her father said, “We can’t stop you, Mira, but please, whatever you do, leave Ilina out of it.”

IT WAS LATE by the time Hristo took me home, and Mother scolded me for missing dinner. I didn’t care. The shipping order was a fire in my pocket that kept me burning with rage all through the night. How could anyone steal dragons? How could Ilina’s parents ignore something so terrible? They ran a sanctuary for dragons; they should have been outraged.

I kept thinking, too, about who might take these dragons. Poachers? Another sanctuary? Someone else? The Crescent Prominence sanctuary wasn’t perfect, but the keepers had always put the dragons first. None of this made sense.

That rage grew and grew throughout the night, though I took two pills from Doctor Chilikoba’s amber bottle. They did nothing to break through the most intense panic attack of my life; the anticipation of what I was about to do was so overwhelming.

I spent the whole night moving between praying for strength and calm, and reading the shipping orders.

At breakfast, I insisted that I visit the Luminary Council. Mother and Father didn’t even ask why; they were just happy I was finally showing an interest in politics. Zara merely glared as though I’d committed some grievous and irreparable wrong.

Noorestone light gleamed off marble columns and gold-inlaid walls as I entered the council chamber. The space was so full of light and warmth, and filled with twenty-seven elected officials charged with protecting our islands—and our dragons.

Elbena Krasteba was one of the younger councilors, and often my self-appointed companion when I traveled. I’d always considered her something of a friend. After I presented my findings, she left her seat and glided toward me.

“Thank you, Mira, for bringing this to our attention.” She took the shipping order from my hands. “It means so much to all of us that you came straight here. But don’t worry. The dragons were removed for health reasons. There’s a breeding program on the mainland. We are doing our best, as caretakers of the children of the gods, to ensure their continued survival. This is just one way.”

She was lying.

If that had been true, Ilina’s parents would have said so right away. They’d have told Ilina before we ever found the empty caves. And we would have believed them, because we believed in the sanctuary’s goodness. We believed in the Luminary Council’s goodness.

Not anymore.

“I know you’re lying.” My whole body shook with rage. “I know it. We’re not finished.”

I left before they could say anything else.

TWO DAYS LATER, I returned to the council house with an apology.

Morning light streamed gold through the windows as I stood before my government once more, but instead of arguing their claims, I offered deception.