Aria's POV
"My father is alive. My father is a Dragon Tamer."
I stare at the photo of the man with golden eyes—my eyes—chained next to my mother. The world tilts sideways.
"Aria, breathe," Kael says urgently, but his voice sounds underwater.
I can't breathe. Can't think. My whole life is a lie.
"My mother told me my father died before I was born. Car accident. She showed me his grave." My voice shakes. "I put flowers there every year on his birthday. But he's been alive this entire time? Imprisoned?"
"The Ashford family has been planning this for over twenty years," Lysander says, his face grim. "They captured your father, waited for him to have a child who would inherit the dragon taming ability, then took your mother to use as leverage when you awakened."
"But why?" Zara demands. "What do they want?"
"Control," Kael growls. "Dragon Tamers are the most powerful beings in existence. If the Ashfords control the tamer, they control the dragons. They control everything."
My phone buzzes again. Another message.
Unknown: Your 24 hours start now. Come to the Ashford mansion basement entrance. Alone. Bring your dragons, and your parents die. Tell anyone, and your parents die. Try to be clever, and your parents die. We've been planning this since before you were born, little tamer. Don't disappoint us.
My hands ball into fists. "They've been watching me my whole life. Waiting for me to awaken. They probably arranged for Marcus to get close to me—"
"To keep you under surveillance," Kael finishes, his eyes blazing gold. "And when you awakened with a 'useless' ability, they thought they could swoop in and take everything."
"Except she bonded with you," Lysander adds. "Which ruins their plan entirely."
I look at Kael through the bond connecting us. Feel his ancient power. His protective fury. His love that's been hiding for ten years.
"I have to go alone," I say quietly.
"No." Kael's voice is absolute. "I won't let you walk into a trap."
"They have my parents!"
"And they'll kill all three of you the moment you arrive!" He steps closer, his human form vibrating with barely controlled dragon rage. "Aria, I've waited ten years for you. Watched you grow up. Fell in love with you. Finally bonded with you. I am not losing you three hours after getting you."
Something warm blooms in my chest despite the fear. "You love me?"
"Desperately. Completely. Forever." His golden eyes soften. "Which is why I'm begging you—let me protect you."
"I can't ask you to risk your life for my parents."
"You're not asking. I'm choosing." He takes my hand. "You're my tamer. My mate. Your family is my family. We face this together, or not at all."
Through the bond, I feel the truth of his words. The depth of his devotion. It's overwhelming and terrifying and the most beautiful thing I've ever felt.
"Okay," I whisper. "Together. But we need a plan."
"I have one," Lysander says. "It's dangerous, probably stupid, and has a sixty percent chance of getting us all killed."
"I like those odds," Zara says grimly.
Lysander pulls out his phone and starts typing. "The Ashford mansion has underground tunnels from the prohibition era. I can get blueprints from my contacts. Kael, you and Aria enter through the front as demanded. That's what they expect."
"And while they're focused on us?" Kael asks.
"I lead the other twenty-eight dragons through the tunnels and attack from below." Lysander's smile is vicious. "They want a Dragon Tamer? Let's give them thirty dragons instead."
"They'll kill my parents the moment they sense an attack," I protest.
"Not if you're already bonded to them," Kael says slowly. "Aria, you can bond with more than just me. Dragon Tamers in history commanded entire flights. If you could bond with your father—another Dragon Tamer—his power would combine with yours."
"Can that even work? Bonding with a human?"
"Dragon Tamers aren't fully human. Your father proved that by surviving twenty-three years in captivity." Kael's expression darkens. "They've probably been draining his power somehow. Using him to fuel their own beasts. But if you bond with him, you could restore his strength."
My mind races. "So I go in, pretend to surrender, get close enough to my parents to bond with my father—"
"Then signal us, and we attack from all sides," Lysander finishes. "The Ashfords won't know what hit them."
It's insane. Risky. Probably going to fail.
But it's the only chance we have.
"How long do we have?" I ask.
Lysander checks his watch. "Twenty-three hours and forty-two minutes before your Council deadline. And probably less before the Ashfords get impatient."
"Then we move now." I look at each of them—Kael, Lysander, Zara. My dragon, my ally, my best friend. "Thank you. For not letting me face this alone."
"That's what family does," Zara says fiercely.
Kael cups my face gently. "I need you to promise me something."
"What?"
"If things go wrong—if they try to hurt you—don't hesitate. Use our bond. Take my power and burn that entire mansion to the ground. Don't worry about me. I'll survive anything. Just promise you'll save yourself."
Tears sting my eyes. "I promise if you promise the same thing. If they try to capture you, you transform and fly away. Don't let them chain you like they chained my father."
"Deal." He leans down and kisses my forehead. Through the bond, warmth floods me. Safety. Love. Home.
Then Lysander's phone rings.
He answers, listens, and his face goes white. "When? How many?" A pause. "Understood." He hangs up and looks at us with wide eyes.
"What?" Kael demands.
"That was my contact inside the Council. They just got a tip about the Ashford mansion. They're sending a raid team—fifty tamers with combat beasts. They'll arrive in one hour."
"What? Why?" I ask.
"Because someone reported that the Ashford family is holding illegal prisoners. Specifically, a Dragon Tamer who was kidnapped twenty-three years ago." Lysander's voice shakes. "Someone just exposed the entire conspiracy to the Council."
"Who would do that?" Zara asks.
My phone rings. I don't recognize the number, but something makes me answer.
"Hello?"
"Aria Winters?" A woman's voice, elegant and cold. "This is Vivienne Ashford. Marcus's grandmother."
My blood freezes. "What do you want?"
"To warn you, dear. My family has been very foolish. They thought they could control dragons by controlling the tamer. But I'm old enough to remember the last Dragon Tamer. I know how that story ended." Her voice drops. "Your father killed three hundred people when they threatened his family. He burned cities. Reshaped borders. The only way they captured him was by faking your mother's death and using his grief against him."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because Marcus is in that mansion right now. My stupid grandson thinks he can force you to bond with him instead of your dragon. He thinks you'll choose your parents over your pride." She laughs bitterly. "He's wrong. You're your father's daughter. And if he pushes you, you'll do exactly what your father did."
"Which is?"
"Burn it all down. Kill everyone inside. And damn the consequences." A long pause. "I'm too old to die in dragon fire, Aria. So I'm giving you this information freely: your parents are in cell block seven, sublevel three. The guards change shift in forty-five minutes. That's your window. Get them and leave before the Council arrives and turns this into a battlefield."
"Why would you betray your family?"
"Because they're idiots who poked a sleeping dragon. And I'd rather lose their lives than face your father's wrath when he discovers what his own family did to his child." The line goes dead.
I stare at my phone, mind reeling.
"Forty-five minutes," I say. "We have forty-five minutes before this turns into a war zone with the Council, the Ashfords, and thirty dragons all in one place."
Kael's eyes blaze. "Then we fly."
He transforms in a burst of golden light. His massive black dragon form fills the training ground.
Climb on, his voice echoes in my mind. Let's go save your family.
I scramble onto his back. Lysander shifts into his silver dragon form. Zara stares up at them with awe.
"I'll coordinate from here," she says. "Go. Save them."
Kael launches into the sky with one powerful thrust of his wings. The city spreads below us—lights twinkling, people sleeping, completely unaware that everything is about to change.
Through the bond, I feel Kael's determination. His love. His promise.
No matter what happens, he thinks to me, I will protect you.
And I'll protect you, I think back.
We fly toward the Ashford mansion, toward my imprisoned parents, toward the confrontation that will define the rest of my life.
Below us, in the mansion, someone screams.
And I realize we're already too late.
My father has broken free.