Simon's mind was quiet, but agitated. His thoughts jumped so fast, I couldn't track exactly what was bothering him. He and his brother had mentioned the artreans several times, but I had not found the right moment to ask who they were, exactly.

No matter. It would be better to form my own, unadulterated opinions, as much as I could.

Several humans were approaching the Alpha's house from the opposite direction and arrived at the same time as Simon. They greeted each other politely, the eldest offering a shifter's greeting to Simon, and then Simon led them inside after alerting his brother of their presence. 

I took the opportunity to examine them. They were certainly human, and not gifted like the children the shifters were housing. 

They have some kind of power though, Simon interrupted, surprising me. I hadn't been aware I'd been broadcasting my thoughts. The people who... who the dragon killed—they all had some kind of power. One dude was a super inventor. Another controlled elements. I couldn't tell you if they were any different from this group, though.

I looked more closely at them and noticed that while their bodies' auras simply read as human, each of them possessed an item or two that glowed lightly with power.

I don't see any glows, Simon said.

Perhaps my control had weakened in my years of captivity. I'd never had a conduit so in tune to my thoughts that they could hear me when I wasn't intending it. Auras, I corrected. And your human eyes would not be able to see them. 

But you're in my body. Using my eyes. How do you see them?

I had never stopped to consider that. It had never mattered how it worked, simply that it did. 

Do you mind if I take control for a second?

Be my guest.

I pushed Simon out of the driver's seat, mentally speaking, and told him to look at the leader's necklace. Do you see anything?

No—wait. It's faintly orange? Does it look brighter than that to you?

No, that's exactly what I see. I almost missed it, it's so faint. Interesting... so it seems the ability to read auras is an ability innate to my soul or mind, not my body. Tell me, Simon, do you not remember the aura surrounding Della when we attacked her?

Not really, Simon said wryly. All I remember was thinking "Oh god, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, please let it be painless."

I slid out of the way and gave him back control. I suppose that is a fair excuse. We should probably turn our attention to the event at hand.

I had been too busy contemplating the mechanics of seeing auras, and we had missed a good portion of the introductions. Alpha Asher was expressing the pack's shared grief at the artreans who had been killed. The old man nodded gravely as the Alpha spoke.

That's Elder Talon, Simon provided. 

When Asher finished, the Elder addressed the group. "We have sat with our grief, given it time within our souls, and its weight has lessened, though we keep the memory sacredly in our hearts. The time for grief has passed, however, and the time for responsibility is upon us. We are prepared to accept the burden of our responsibility for the phoenix once more, and trust that no dragons will prevent us today.”

I'm half-tempted to introduce Ryeth now, Simon said, and when Asher gave him a warning glance, I realized it had not been just to me. 

This is a tenuous moment, Simon. At least out of respect for the dead, can you real it in for an hour?

I felt Simon's frustration under his brother's approbation.

Your brother is corr—

I know. Simon's curt tone rejected any further comment from me on the matter.

I'd never had a conduit cut me off like that before. I'd never had a conduit like Simon, period. While the conduit relationship was beneficial to both, I had always held more of a mentor position to my conduits, and they treated me with the respect I deserved. Simon did not. He wasn't disrespectful—he treated me more like an equal. Which was laughable. I was thousands of years older than him. He was but a child. 

Other than the brief glance at his brother, Asher did not betray any sign of their conversation. "I'm afraid there has been a change of plans," he said to the artreans, standing tall and bold. He was the epitome of a leader. 

Everything I'm not, Simon muttered.

“Phoenix will be remaining with us.”

Before I could begin to address that, if I even knew how, the emotional temperature of the room dropped suddenly. 

"That is a drastic flip from your former position in a very short time frame. What has changed?"

A large, dark man stepped forward. I pulled the name from Simon's surface thoughts—Ryan. "He is my mate."

A golden-skinned and red-haired man with a flaming aura joined him. "And I have remembered my past."

If I had not kept the majority of my attention on the Elder, I would have missed the tiny twitch of his eyes. He wasn't surprised... but... disappointed? It had been so fast, I wasn't entirely sure.

"How can you be certain?" the Elder asked.

"We are fated mates." Phoenix's words were quiet sparks against the Elder's doubt. "I could no more betray this pack than I could die."

"Much has changed in the past few days." Asher quickly relayed the events while the mated couple stepped back once more.

He kinda left you out, Simon said.

Really? My voice was dry with amusement. I hadn't noticed.

Simon's surprise shifted quickly into pleasure, warming me. He had a pleasant soul, and it had been a long time since I had felt truly warm.

"And the dragon's daughter?" The Elder's solemn openness had chilled, leaving him simply grave. 

"She is here." Asher motioned to a door. "We've had to keep her sedated."

The Elder drew his shoulders back and looked down his nose at Asher. "I am disinclined to convict anyone without talking to them. Least of all a young girl."

Asher ignored his posturing. "You are welcome to rest with us until the sedatives wear off, but I cannot guarantee your safety. Phoenix is the only one who did not fall prey to her power."

Simon's festering resentment toward his brother broke through. "That's not true."

Remember who is watching, I cautioned him, though I empathized with his frustration. How could I not, having such an intimate look into his soul? Though the pack seemed to have a fairly close relationship with these artreans, the reserved Elder notwithstanding, it would not do for him to undermine his brother here, in this moment. It wouldn't be just his brother he was undermining, but the entire pack's position.

"Caspar and I were also immune."

Asher nodded at his brother, and I breathed—metaphorically—a small sigh of relief that he did not seem to think Simon had stepped out of line. "That brings us to another issue... my brother was able to overcome the girl because he has a connection to a... being."

Simon nearly jumped on his brother, but I laid a mental hand of reservation on him. He knows damn well you're a dragon.

He knows what I have said, I corrected him. He is hesitant to espouse my words as known truth.

"A being?" The Elder turned to Simon, a crafty look in his eyes that did not endear him to me. 

You better talk, then, Simon growled. I'll just end up telling my brother off.

Are you certain that is wise?

Yeah, if you don't want this to end in a childish wrestling match to settle things.

He was so young. We swapped control once more, the transition becoming more and more natural to him.

"I am Ryeth, the Sapphire Dragon. Alpha Asher has spoken nothing but the truth, though perhaps he has altered the order slightly." 

Simon's smug sense of satisfaction distracted me. It is not my intention to challenge your brother.

Yeah, but you did anyway.

The humans accompanying the Elder drew back visibly. Humans were always so fearful of dragons. And with good reason, especially after recent events. At least these humans knew to fear dragons. Perhaps they would be more prepared to face those who did not follow the strict moral code I did, like my brother. How would the general populace react? Dragons must have faded into myth by now.

"How did you escape from your bindings?" the Elder asked, the only one of the humans to lean toward me in interest.

This one might not be a wolf, but his hunger was showing. Knowledge was his goal, and he would track it and attack it as fiercely as any member of this pack would their prey. What I had seen cross his face earlier had been disappointment. Disappointment at securing the knowledge of Phoenix for himself. Of course he would have no interest in the girl. She was a child, both in my estimation and his. What did she know? If I did not put him in his place, he would attempt to do the same with Simon and me.

"Are the safeguards failing? Why do you choose to approach us in this way? We have no proof that you are who you say you are."

I drew as much power as I could spare from my body and infused Simon's body with it, causing even the fierce Elder to recoil under its presence. "I am the Sapphire Dragon, Member of the Council, Lord of the Sky Mountains, Keeper of the Words of Peace and the Hand of Retribution. and I do not report to you, youngling."

Simon cheered as loudly as he wanted, safely ensconced within our shared mind. The Elder bowed with an apology.

That should keep him contained for a while, I said, passing control back to Simon. The less I was present to remind the Elder of the knowledge that was locked away from him, the better.

"We will take the girl," the Elder said abruptly. "We have ways to keep her contained but cognizant. Even should she prove innocent, perhaps having been under the control of another—" the slight did not go unnoticed "—she will still need guidance and protection, which we can provide."

Asher dipped his head fractionally. "You have our appreciation."

The Elder hesitated, waiting for Asher to say more, but the Alpha held silent. I approved. He avoided placing himself in the artreans’ debts in any way. I could not fully dismiss them, as Simon's memories were full of their aid, but I had no high opinion of the upstart humans who seemed not to know their place.

Yet when the pack retrieved the girl, Della, from behind the closed door—an office—I felt a twinge of guilt. Through no fault of her own, this child was of my blood. And I did not trust these artreans.

Do they truly have the ability to care for her without falling prey to her gift?

Simon shrugged mentally. More than we do.

If I were free, I could handle the girl. Rehabilitate her. The powers only knew what kind of poison my brother or his kind had filled her head with. I could not put that burden on Simon, though, and I could not act on my own. I felt Simon's thoughts sharpen their focus on mine and drew up a gentle screen. I did not want him to bear my guilt, and he'd been too perceptive already. 

Simon recoiled at the sudden sense of distance. Did I do something wrong?

Not at all, I assured him. I simply need time to think.

My answer didn't satisfy him, but his discomfort would pass. There was so much Simon had to get used to with this new bond.