Dragon: Allie's War Book Nine by JC Andrijeski Page A

mostly lost. However good I’d gotten in learning to decipher Feigran-speak, it always seemed to break down at the critical moment.
    “In through the out door?” I said, my voice softer still. “Like with Revik?”
    Feigran shook his head, clicking, but I honestly couldn’t tell if that was a no or not.
    I pressed him again.
    “Feigran…are you talking about Revik?”
    “The Sword, yes. It is always about the Sword. And the Bridge.”
    “What is? What is about us?” Hesitating at his blank look, I bit back my reaction as well as I could. “This seer. Does he have something to do with Revik, Feigran?”
    “He is the anchor,” Feigran said. He looked up at me, still leaning his head against my chest as he enunciated carefully. “He keeps it alive, sister. It is most important to him…most important. He is the anchor…”
    “What does he keep alive, Feigran?” I said, fighting for patience.
    “The world.” Feigran looked up at me. “The world, sister Bridge. He is Dragon. He is life.”
    I fought to make sense of that too, couldn’t.
    So I tried a different tack.
    “Is he in Beijing?” I said. “This ‘Dragon’…he’s in China?”
    “No.” Feigran shook his head, his eyes distant once more. “No, no. He is under the rocks. Later, he will come for his brother…not before. After he is free.”
    Once more, I could only stare at him.
    I hoped like hell he’d elaborate. Preferably in English.
    He didn’t.
    “Feigran.” I bit back frustration. “What does any of that mean?”
    But the seer only gave me one of those infuriatingly conspiratorial smiles. I was still looking at him when he raised a charcoal-smudged finger to his lips, still smiling up at me when he reached past the sight restraint collar and the tank and directly into my mind.
    Shhhhhh… he sent to me softly.
    I have no memory of an image being sent, or any more subtle, more deeply packed thoughts, but somehow, I felt a second meaning communicated in Feigran’s light. There was a secret here, yes…but Feigran wasn’t warning me to keep it from just anyone.
    He was specifically warning me to keep that secret from Revik.
    Even as I thought it, Feigran smiled wider.
    He looked almost comically relieved as he clasped my hand with his charcoal-coated fingers, leaning deeper into my chest. I knew I wasn’t really touching him, but it felt like I was. I even felt the warmth of his skin, the slight scratchiness of the layer of charcoal on his fingers, the softness of his hair and pajama top.
    I barely noticed.
    I thought about why Feigran might be warning me. I didn’t get the sense he feared for his own life. Nor did I get the sense he feared Revik particularly. But then, I rarely got the impression Feigran thought much about his own life at all.
    It was a pretty big difference between him and Terian, actually. Terian had been equipped with an almost preternaturally fine-tuned survival instinct.
    More and more, I suspected Feigran didn’t think in those terms at all.
    I thought about what he’d said, that second, cryptic reference to the trigger in Revik’s light. I couldn’t help wondering if the “brother” Feigran mentioned was Revik, too.
    Feigran could get very affectionate with Revik at times…unnervingly so.
    He definitely saw me and Revik as family.
    Regardless, I had no idea what this specific warning meant. I just knew that Feigran didn’t want to answer any of my questions about this Dragon where Revik might be listening. And wherever this Dragon was, it sounded like he was being held underground…and not in China. But maybe he would be in China.
    I was about to release Feigran, to rise back to my feet…when the auburn-haired seer gripped my hand tighter.
    Look for the book… he whispered in my mind.
    When his amber-colored eyes met mine, they looked almost clear. I could see a man behind them, an actual person. The difference shocked me more than his actual words.
    I knew what book he meant, though.
    There could