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Adrian spent even longer digesting what the blocks said than Collette had. When he finished, his expression was more thoughtful than angry.

“Well that was enlightening,” he said when he put the final block down. “I wonder what scared them so badly.” He took the cup of tea Sonia offered him with a murmer of thanks. “And I see what you mean by having another resonant in the family. I have no idea who that might be, but if these blocked them out then it’s worrying.” He frowned quietly at the blocks. “But to deliberately instigate the purge to cause the creation of dragons? It makes no sense – part of the story is missing.”

“At least you can access them, which is a good sign,” Matthias said. “You have a message from your mirian?”

“Yes. He wants to know if you can make those collars without the controls – well, without all the controls except the hunger repressing and frenzy preventing ones.”

“Huh,” Matthias said. “It’s possible, I guess, but it would take time since I’ve never done it before.”

“Fair enough,” Adrian said. “He wants Earth to be safe for dragons but he’s well aware that requires dragons to be safe for Earth.”

“As soon as the crisis is over, I’m going to look into if there’s a more permanent cure for the dragons problem,” Sarah said.

“They haven’t found one in ten thousand years, Doctor Tyler,” Adrian said.

“All the more reason to look at the problem with fresh eyes, and we may have unintentionally been given some clues by our enemies.” Sarah smiled at his confused look. “I’ll explain later. For now we have more important things to discuss.” She put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “Your family knows best how to conceal us – what sort of state are you in after Marian’s purge?”

“Not good,” he said softly. “Mum really went off the rails after the Core told her about the Warriors being Resonant.” He looked over at Marian who was sitting on one of the sofas with her head in her hands. “Looks like that’s changed.”

“I found out some things.” She held out her hand to him. “Let me show you – you need to know.”

Adrian reached out and took her hand. They had barely touched before his aura flared up in a blaze of white light. He jerked back and started swearing sulfurously. After a moment, he took a breath and grasped her hand again. “There’s more, right? Show me?”

After she had, he ground his teeth audibly. “I want Mitakrian’s hide for what he did to you.”

“You’re the wrong colour, kid,” Lyrrekka said. “Let Sonia do it.”

“Huh?” He looked over at Sonia in time to see her flare her own aura. “Oh my! That’s why he wanted you dead?” He tilted his head at her. “Very well. I’m probably not strong enough anyway.” He slipped on to the sofa by his mother and put an arm around her. “What are you going to do with her?”

“Kill me, I hope,” she muttered forlornly. “Though they keep trying to fix my essence so maybe not.”

“Mum!” he said. “No one is going to kill you! Not if they want my help, anyway.”

“Why? Look at all the damage I’ve caused. I should have known better. I did know better. Before my parents died I argued with them all the time, then I became worse than they ever were.” She gave a wry smile. “Did you know they used to offer resonants a chance to flee into exile when they cornered them? Usually, anyway. Very few refused.”

“I would imagine not,” Matthias said blandly. “But no I didn’t – though somehow it doesn’t surprise me. It seems like something your mother would do. But usually – when didn’t she?”

“Oh that one!” Tara interjected before Marian could reply. “Do you remember that wild resonant who was using his resonant form to… well–” Tara broke off and shuddered.

“I remember,” Matthias said flatly.

“Well she didn’t offer him a chance and when he did try to flee – god knows how he knew it was possible – she went after him and tore his essence apart.”

“Went after him? How?” Matthias said.

“What was he doing?” Lydia asked simultaneously.

“You don’t want to know, Lyd,” Sonia said. “Let’s just say he was a sick bastard and leave it at that.” She looked back at Tara. “And I second Matt’s question. How? Your mother wasn’t resonant so she shouldn’t have been able to.”

“No she wasn’t,” Tara said. “But apparently it’s possible for a non-resonant to train themselves to take resonant form. She didn’t like to do it because she’d be unconscious for a week afterwards, but she really wanted that guy dead.”

“She was a tasaria then,” Tarian said. “That’s pretty impressive. You have to be really close to resonant to train to be one of the tasariri.” He paused and looked at Lyrrekka who was frowning deeply, counting on her fingers and muttering to herself. “Lyr?”

“Caroline was tasaria?” she said with a frown. ” The timing is about right, isn’t it?”

“Lyr?” he repeated.

“Oh sorry.” She took a breath. “How to say this… I have an inkling that Caroline Laverne isn’t as dead as she’s supposed to be.”

 

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