Page 20 of Forged in Fire
Sorry it had to be this way.
Like this was inevitable. Like he knew it would end this way if I ever reached him…
“I don’t understand.” My shadows spiral higher, dark tendrils reaching toward the armed figures who haven’t moved, haven’t spoken, haven’t done anything except wait for orders. From him. “Why are they doing this?”
“Because I told them to.” Simple. Matter-of-fact.
Oh, God, the phone. When we were walking here, he was texting them.
“But… But why, Kieran?” I hate that I sound so pitiful, but I’m fighting back tears. I risked my life to rescue him. And he didn’t want rescuing.
“To save our people, Iris.”
Save our people. The words should make sense. Dragons need saving—I know that. The clans are fractured, weakened, dyingout while the world grows more dangerous. But the way he says it, the clinical detachment in his tone, makes my stomach twist.
“Since when do you work with… people like this?” I ask because that’s easier than asking the real question.
Since when do you work with people who ambush your own sister?
“Since I learned the truth about what’s happening to dragon society.” Kieran takes a step closer, and the armed figures adjust their positions slightly, maintaining their perimeter. Professional. Coordinated. “The clan divisions, the territorial disputes, the endless warfare—it’s all leading us toward extinction.”
My dragon surges. The urge to shift and attack wars with my confusion. How can I use claws and flame on the brother I came here to save?
“The Syndicate showed me the truth, Iris.” He spreads his hands, steady and certain. “They showed me what dragon society could become if we unified. If we stopped tearing each other apart and started working toward a common goal.”
The Syndicate.
The one that took Kieran in the first place.
“They showed you?” I repeat the words slowly. My shadows hiss around my feet, responding to the fury building beneath my fear. “Kieran, they captured you. They tortured you. They—”
“They opened my eyes.” His interruption is firm. “Yes, the initial contact was… unpleasant. But that was before they understood what I could offer. What we could accomplish together.”
Together. The word makes my shadows writhe higher, black tendrils reaching toward him before I yank them back. He’s talking about partnership with the people who’ve made our lives hell. Who made me search for him while they were—what? Converting him?
“You’re talking about the enemy.” My voice comes out sharp. Dangerous. The kind of tone that usually makes smart people step back. But not Kieran. He just watches me with eyes that used to mirror my own thoughts and now reflect nothing I recognize.
“The people who’ve been trying to prevent us from destroying ourselves,” he corrects, and there’s something almost pitying in his expression. Like I’m a child who doesn’t understand the complexities of the adult world. “The clan system is broken, Iris. It’s been broken for generations.”
“Broken enough to justify betraying your own sister?”
“I didn’t betray you. I’m offering you salvation.”
I almost laugh at that.
Salvation?
Like I’m drowning and he’s throwing me a rope attached to an anchor.
“How long?” The question comes out as a whisper. “How long have you been working with them?”
“Long enough to understand the scope of what we’re facing. Long enough to see past the propaganda we were raised on.” He moves closer, and this time I do step back. My shadows respond to the instinctive retreat, darkening the air around me like armor I can’t fully trust. “The Syndicate isn’t our enemy, Iris. It’s our future.”
“They brainwashed you!” The words explode out of me, sharp and desperate. Heat flares in my chest, scales surfacing along my arms as my control wavers. “Whatever they did, whatever they told you, it’s not real. You’re my brother. You’re Kieran Asguard, and you would never—”
“I would never what?” His voice rises slightly, the first crack in his composure. “Work toward a future where dragons don’t have to hide? Where our children might actually have a chance of something more?”
“You would never lead your sister into a trap!” The shadows around me surge upward, responding to the pain that’s trying to tear me apart from the inside. “You would never look at me like I’m a problem!”
