Page 51 of Tempest Blazing
"Hey," I said quickly, turning to face him fully. "Mason, I'm okay. I was captured, but Kane and the others came for me. That's how the ring got destroyed—in the rescue."
I watched him process this, saw the exact moment understanding dawned. The fury shifted, transforming into something deeper. More complex. Relief mixed with residual anger, with the bone-deep fear of what could have happened.
The words hung in the air between us. I watched the last of the tension leave his shoulders as the full picture finally clicked into place.
"Gone," he repeated, voice rough. "Actually gone."
The composure I'd grown so used to cracked. Just for a second, but I saw it. The way his shoulders dropped, the relief so profound it was almost painful.
"Mason." I reached for his other hand, needing the contact after seeing him so shaken, lacing our fingers together. The mate bond flared warm and electric, and I felt the depth of what he was processing.
"Kali's free," he said, voice barely above a whisper. "Really free."
"She's safe," I said firmly, squeezing his hand. "You both are. That's over now."
Ciaran set a plate in front of me, the simple gesture somehow weighted with care. "The building's nothing but ash and rubble. Even the underground levels collapsed. There's nothing left to rebuild."
Kane nodded, but his expression remained troubled. "Which brings us to the bigger question—what comes next? Organizations like that don't just disappear without consequences."
The reminder of Dominick's words hit me like cold water. I'd been so focused on Mason's healing, on the relief of survival, that I'd almost forgotten the larger implications. Almost.
"Actually," I said, my voice coming out smaller than I intended, "there's something else. Something Dominick told me before... before everything went to hell."
All eyes turned to me, and I had to fight the urge to shrink back into my chair. The mate bond pulsed with Mason's steady support, but my throat still felt tight as I forced the words out.
"The fighting ring—it wasn't just about money." I took a shaky breath. "It was a recruitment funnel. Dominick said they werelooking for specific types of fighters, people with particular... qualities. And they were feeding information up to someone else. Someone bigger."
The silence that followed was deafening. Kane's fork clattered against his plate as he set it down hard.
"Harbingers," he said, voice flat with certainty. "It has to be. The timing, the targeting..." His blue-violet eyes sharpened with the kind of analytical intensity that made me understand why he was so good at strategy. "They're mobilizing. Building an army."
"An army for what?" Draven asked, though his tone suggested he already suspected the answer.
Kane's gaze found mine across the table. "For her. For what she represents. The first human Dragon Rider—that's not just a novelty. That's a symbol. A threat to their entire worldview."
The weight of it settled over me like a lead blanket. I'd known, intellectually, that being the first human Dragon Rider made me a target. But hearing it laid out so starkly, understanding that an entire organization had been building toward... what? Capturing me? Killing me? Using me?
"So what do we do?" I asked, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. "I can't exactly go into hiding forever. And I won't let fear control my life again."
The determination in my own words surprised me. Yesterday, I'd been broken and afraid, convinced I was powerless. But sitting here, surrounded by people who'd fought for me, who'd literally brought down a building to keep me safe—I felt different. Still scared, but not helpless.
Mason's hand tightened around mine, approval and pride flowing through the bond. "We protect you," he said simply. "Whatever it takes."
"In the meantime," Ciaran said, his voice carrying that dangerous edge I was learning to recognize, "we keep you close. No unnecessary risks."
The protective intensity radiating from all of them should have felt suffocating. A week ago, it would have. But now, after yesterday, it felt like safety. Like home.
The silence that followed was comfortable, weighted with shared resolve. We had a plan, or at least the beginning of one. I was reaching for my coffee when Draven spoke again, his voice carrying a razor-edged calm that made the hair on my arms stand up.
"Well, in that case... maybe it's time we stop pretending we don't know who Ciaran really is."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Mason's head snapped up, his coffee mug freezing halfway to his lips.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mason asked, looking between Draven and Kane with growing alarm.
Kane and Draven exchanged a meaningful glance—the kind that said they'd already discussed this.
"You weren't there," Kane said quietly to Mason. "Last night, when we got Tess back... we saw something."
