LITMIR.BIZ

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he said, pushing his bare shoulder off the wall. His waist-length black hair trailed behind him like a sultry veil. Tallon blinked and looked ahead as he fell into step beside her.

      “The council has been awaiting you…” His words trailed off. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his brow crease when he looked over her shoulder and saw the walls closing.

      “Where is Lord Declan?”

      At the name, Tallon’s heart tightened and her legs almost buckled beneath her. Clutching the tattered brown satchel to her chest, she moved farther into the black outer tunnel. The air cooled with each step she took, water droplets plopping against slick stones the only sound other than her and Falcon’s footsteps. Tallon kept walking until large hands gently covered the caps of her shoulders, forcing her to turn. Although she reluctantly spun, she kept her chin down, her eyes closed. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Couldn’t acknowledge the truth her heart already knew. To say the words Declan’s gone would make it real and right now she could still pretend it had all been a bad dream.

      “Tallon.” Falcon’s soft voice wrapped around her like she knew his arms wanted to. But theirs was a warrior’s society, a hard, fighting order. Weakness of any kind, especially love, was frowned upon, more than ever since the murder of their King and Queen. Her parents…Declan’s parents.

      A barely audible sob hiccupped in her chest.

      “Oh, gods, no.” Falcon’s fingers squeezed into her flesh with such need it seemed he’d fall over if he let go. It was then that Tallon allowed herself to look into the face she’d known since she was born. A face etched with pain and loss that mirrored her own. Tears welled in her eyes and she shook her head, still unable to speak the words aloud. Falcon nodded, silently telling her he didn’t want to hear her say them. He lifted a hand, smoothing a strand of hair from her eyes before resting his warm palm on her shoulder.

      “Come, we must tell them,” he said, nestling her under the crook of his arm.

      Tallon wanted to push away from him, wanted to walk into council with her head held high with pride that she and Declan had succeeded in the job they had set out to do. But the warmth of Falcon’s body filled a tiny hole in her now empty heart. Made the enormity of it all shrink away for just a brief moment. So instead, she closed her eyes, rested her head against his shoulder and allowed him to guide her.

      Their mountaintop lair spilled into a network of tunnels and caverns of every size imaginable. Tallon knew every room by heart. Now Falcon led her through the hub of their inner city. She knew it with her eyes closed. The heat of too many bodies suffocated the normally cool temperature in the caves. Lights flickered behind her closed eyes. The hearty smell of spiced meats filled her nose and the hum of constant voices buzzed in her ears.

      Falcon’s arms tightened as they turned down the long corridor leading to council headquarters. Once the sights and smells of the inner city faded behind her, Tallon eased from his protective grip and opened her eyes. After the briefest of pauses, Falcon released his hold on her.

      “Thank you,” she whispered.

      Falcon said nothing. He didn’t have to.

      A few more steps brought them to a set of double doors. Guards stationed on either side nodded at their approach and opened the doors. Falcon and Tallon stepped inside the circular chamber. A lone chandelier hung above the table, lighting the ancient meeting room. All of the council members were present and seated. Tallon’s breath hitched at the sight. Other than Hawk, Falcon and his older brother, Kestrel, there were no elders left. Young dragons now occupied the table where just months ago, her mother, father and brother used to sit.

      This war had been costly and not only to the Blacks. It touched every family in every line without discrimination or remorse.

       And now it’s taken Declan.

      Tallon slammed her eyes shut. The hands holding the satchel shook. The fatigue and fear she’d ignored crashed down, nearly choking her.

      A deep voice sounded. “Where is your brother, Tallon?” Kestrel asked.

      She lifted her chin, forcing herself to keep it together. “They caged him.”

      “Damnation,” Kestrel breathed, as a collective gasp sounded in the small room.

      “Was he wounded?” asked Hawk, the last surviving member of the original colony and oldest council member.

      Tallon couldn’t find her voice, so she nodded in reply. Someone cursed. Another let out a long sigh. After a moment’s pause, Hawk rose, his chair scraping against the stone floor as he stood.

      “And the crystal?”

      The room fell silent. Eager eyes met hers. Wordlessly, Tallon held up the satchel. Rounding the table, Hawk took the bag from her, ripped it open and searched inside.

      “He made me take it and leave. He wouldn’t let me stay and fight…” Her stumbled words died when Hawk removed the contents.

      A rock. A plain stone sat in the center of his palm.

      Wide-eyed, Tallon snatched the bag, searching every nook and crevice before chucking the useless fabric across the room. “Dammit, brother,” she shouted, slamming her palms on the table and hunching forward. Grabbing a breath, she blew it out slowly and tried to think. Only one thing came. “He must have it on him, hidden somehow. Somewhere.”

      “Then we go back and get it.” Ash, a young dragon barely out of his shell, jumped to his feet. At his words, Tallon looked up, thinking he had a hard face for one so young.

      “We are finished if they find it first,” Kestrel agreed.

      “If they haven’t found it already.” Hawk released a sigh and smoothed a hand over his bald head before rubbing the tips of his silver goatee in thought.

      “Griffon,” Tallon said. “What if we sent him in after the Queen?”

      Hawk dropped his hand. “The hunter?”

      “No way,” Falcon interjected, rising up to stand, as well. “We’ll not send Griffon. Not until we know what’s going on. A lord he may be, but he’s too dangerous, too reckless.” He set worried eyes on her. “Declan might still be in there. Alive,” he said through clenched teeth, his eyes wide as if telling her some silent message her desperate heart didn’t already know. However, even the hatchlings of their flock knew the tales of Griffon the hunter—the lone scavenger who lived like a ghost among his kin and killed his enemies with unnatural meticulousness at any cost. Using him wasn’t a terrific alternative, but neither was losing her brother.

      “What other choice do we have?” she asked. When no one answered, Tallon’s gaze whirled around the room, taking in each man’s concentrated look. A spark of fear ignited at the plan she saw forming in their eyes. “The horde’s numbers, I’ve seen them,” she stammered. “We are too few to fight them.” She looked at Ash with his wide, eager eyes, his shaggy brown hair still dangling around his shoulders, unlike the full-grown, pure-bred males, who had hair down their backs. “We’re too young to ever hope to win.”

      “Which is why we need that stone,” Hawk said with a growl, hurling the rock across the room. Tallon’s shoulders flinched and she lowered her eyes.

      “Tal, we have no choice,” Falcon said, moving beside her.

      “Yes, we do. We trust Declan. He knows what he’s doing. He must have a plan…”

      “A plan, I wager, that did not include getting captured,” Kestrel said, finally pushing up to stand. His gray eyes fixed on her. The long strands of his straight hair, so like his brother Falcon’s and yet almost white in color, swayed with each hobbled step he took toward her. “Especially not if he had the crystal on him.” He narrowed his wary eyes on Tallon. “You’re certain he had it when you two left the catacombs?”

      She reached him in two steps. Tipping her head back, Tallon met his gaze, hoping he’d read the truth in hers. “I

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