Page 81 of Born in Fire

“We’re tracking three potential culprits,” says Caleb. “Malakai directly, the Circle under his leadership, and the Syndicate. The timing of Elena’s abduction by Malakai and the Towers attack suggests coordination, but we need proof.”

“Proof?” I can’t contain my bitter laugh. “They killed Juno. That’s all the proof I need.”

“Dorian,” Caleb’s voice carries a warning.

“No.” I slam my fist on the table, leaving a dent in the polished surface. “While we sit here planning PR strategies, our enemies are out there, believing they’ve won. They attacked our headquarters, threatened our clan, killed an innocent woman—my—” I choke on the words I never got to say to her.My woman. Mine.“They need to pay. Now.”

The room falls silent. Even Mara stops typing, sensing the dangerous current running through the air.

Caleb dismisses the others with a subtle gesture. They file out quietly, leaving just my brother and me in the war room.

“I know what you’re planning,” he says once we’re alone. “Going after them alone is suicide, Dorian.”

“Maybe.” I don’t bother denying it. “But I’ll take as many of them with me as I can.”

“And then what? I lose my brother over a human?” Caleb’s composure cracks slightly, revealing genuine fear beneath. “We’ve already lost too much.”

“Juno wasn’t a clan member,” I say quietly. “But she was… everything. And I never even told her.”

My brother heaves a sigh as he looks at me. “Dorian…” He purses his lips. “How well did you know her?”

I stare at him for a second—just one second—before I launch myself at him and grab him by the throat.

“Well enough,” I snarl into his face. Scales cover my fist, my claws biting hard enough to draw blood.

Caleb flinches but doesn’t react. “I’m sorry, brother. I had to ask.”

“You think this was some passing fling?” I shake my head. Somewhere deep inside, a little voice is telling me why Caleb might have assumed this. My track record sucks.

“I think it was something you didn’t understand, Dorian.” His voice is hoarse from the pressure of my hand around his throat. I loosen my grip. “Something special.”

I release him abruptly, stepping away. “It was,” I whisper, wishing I’d had time to truly understand the connection I’d felt to her. “She was… in here.” I thump my chest.

“I can see that.” Caleb moves closer, risking the dragon heat still radiating from me. “So help us do this right. Help us find who’s truly responsible, gather our strength, and strike decisively. Not just for vengeance, but for justice.”

I want to refuse, to storm out and begin my hunt immediately. But centuries of brotherhood hold me in place, the loyalty between us stretching but not breaking.

“Three days,” I concede finally. “You have three days to find concrete evidence of who orchestrated the attack. Then I’m going hunting, with or without the clan’s blessing.”

Relief flickers across Caleb’s face. “Thank you.”

As he turns to rejoin the others, I remain alone in the room, fingers tracing the patterns on Juno’s scarf. The stars embroidered in silver thread catch the light, reminding me of how she’d described her parents taking her to watch meteor showers as a child.

“I’ll find them,” I promise her silently. “And when I do, they’ll learn why dragons were once the most feared creatures on earth.”

I tuck the scarf more securely around my neck and follow my brother, my grief temporarily contained but not diminished. Three days to play by their rules. Then vengeance will have its due.

Chapter 24

Juno

I wake in fire.

No. Not fire. Ash. Cold ash filling my mouth, my nose, my lungs. I claw upward through it, desperate for air, for light, for escape from the crushing weight. My fingers break through to emptiness, then my arm, then my head, gasping and choking as dawn air floods my burning lungs.

The world is too bright. Too loud. Too everything.

I drag myself from the pit, body trembling with effort. Gray dust coats my skin—skin I don’t recognize as mine yet somehow know is. I stare at my hands, turning them over. Palms. Fingers. Nails. The words come without meaning or context. Just labels for parts of this unfamiliar vessel.

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