Fire Breather

84.

Garrick's POV

   BEING Xaden's best friend had its perks but also its annoyances, like sitting in nearly all the meetings he had to be involved in.

Right now, I should have been hanging up the last of my clothes before Blaine returned so she wouldn't lecture me about my mess again. But it was kind of hard to do so when her brother made me join him in this meeting that I had been zoning in and out of for the last hour.

"We can't exactly speed up the amount of sheep being born," Axel muttered, seated beside me with his booted feet kicked up on the table. "Any of you able to impregnate a sheep yourself?"

"Why is your son here, again?" Flexi shook his head, waving him off.

Across from me, Leonie rolled her eyes. "Because usually he makes valid points."

"Then we need to figure out another way to feed the dragons," Brennan cut in, bringing the topic back on track before more time could be wasted. "According to Blaine's numbers, we are feeding the dragons more sheep than we can breed."

"Please tell me someone checked over those numbers." Xaden sighed, running a hand through his hair from where he sat at the head of the table. "My sister is horrible at math."

"Which is why I checked over them," I spoke up, lacing my fingers together on the table. "Just don't tell her that."

Axel chuckled, raising a brow at me. "Worried she will feel offended?"

I snorted then, nodding my head. "She would—"

"Just let me in!" a raised voice sounded behind the closed doors to the room and we all collectively looked over, going quiet. "I need to see Xaden Riorson and Garrick Tavis!"

Furrowing my brows, I looked over at my best mate to see him already rising from his seat.

The doors shook like someone tried to run through them before another shout sounded, then a struggle. "Fucking let me in! It's about Blaine Riorson and Violet Sorrengail!"

That had my heart galloping, my throat tightening with rising anxiety, and I knocked my chair back, quickly standing up. What happened to Blaine? How had I not—

My shields disappeared a second later and when I reached out to Blaine's bond, all I could feel was an eerie stillness that sent nausea rolling through my whole body.

Before I even took a step, the doors burst open and Ridoc fumbled over his feet, eyes wide and darting over the whole Assembly until they landed on me. "Violet's recovering but Blaine's been hurt," he stated, his voice cracking with my heart. "I-It's bad, Tavis. She's healing too slowly."

I didn't have to be told twice or even note his sickly pale skin complexion before I was sprinting past the Assembly who quickly pushed their chairs out. Ridoc had already taken off, leading the way toward the stairs.

"What the hell happened?" I shouted down the bond I shared with Chradh who was terrifyingly quiet, worry radiating from him. "Chradh!"

"They were in a cave for a mission," he cautiously started to explain while I shoved a trio of first-years out of my way, rushing up the stairs while taking two steps at a time. "Solas somehow found them, and Blaine tried to distract him—"

"Kill him," Nim snarled, the promise of violence laced in her tone. "Vicious Thing does not distract. She kills."

"I don't care what she does or doesn't do!" I snapped, reaching her floor and passing Ridoc. "Did Solas..." Gods, I couldn't bring myself to ask.