Free Fire of Stars and Dragons by Melissa Petreshock

leans back in the chair opposite me at the desk, crossing his legs. “It seemed prudent. She’s quite confused regarding the predicament she finds herself, Theo, and I know there is little you can tell a ward regarding your actions pertaining to their destiny.”
    “And you felt it your duty to explain my involvement in your arrival.” It isn’t a question. I’m assessing what he has done, seeing the pieces of the chessboard, my ward’s paths, the endgame per se, and how this may affect her destiny, yet nothing appears clear.
    “She responded favorably.” He’s quiet, distant. “I believe she may choose me.”
    Attempting not to scowl, I cross my arms over my chest. “The idea displeases you?” I cannot say it displeases me to think he may reject her, though she would feel pained. I’m feeling quite selfish regarding Cait, incomparable to any other ward.
    His attention returns to the conversation at hand. “On the contrary, I find myself unfathomably excited by the prospect. Caitriona remarked how my pursuit of knowledge is quite admirable, yet… somehow, in all this time I have never pursued an interest in love, and have failed to learn such a simple thing.”
    “I do not believe it is so simple for some of us, Dante.”
    He waves me off with a shake of his head. “My mother did not create dragons for emotional entanglements, Theo. I am pleased you called, as I would not have otherwise arrived for some months.” Picking up an origami crane from my desk, he tosses it up where it remains, suspended in the air. “You have many responsibilities, every Dracopraesi does, making decisions of ethics and morality, darkness and light, to destroy a soul or protect its innocence. Walking with one down their destined path is, in itself, a destiny to which my own existence pales in comparison.” With a snap of his fingers, the paper crane becomes a dove, flying around the room, perching on the lamp by my reading chair. The demigod looks to me, eyes glowing, allowing his power to radiate throughout the room. “Won’t you share how I am involved in this?”
    “You know I cannot. I may see the potential outcomes and know which the Goddess desires, but each must choose the path they take, the destiny they find.” What I refuse to tell is how distorted the vision of Cait’s destiny is, and the paths she should take to achieve it. I do not know his place, nor mine.
    Frowning, he releases a sharp breath. “I believe Corrin will be a problem.”
    “To Cait?” I’m on my feet, unable to sit still. Taking the bird in my hand, I open the window and set it free. “I didn’t want a pet, Dante, but thank you.” My sarcastic remark goes ignored. “Why do you say that? Have you spoken to Cedric?” Given their relationship, it is not unthinkable to believe he would.
    “No. I haven’t the time yet, but I intend to go tonight while she sleeps.” He casts a glance over his shoulder toward her room, as if he can see through the walls to know she is well and comfortable in her slumber. “We both know he is ill. I am unsure whatever sense of reason he had remains intact. The boy is most intolerable. A repugnant, disreputable, arrogant vampire.”
    “He has not always been so.” I must give my brother’s ward some measure of credit where due.
    “No, but he was much the same in his early years as you see him now. I should have destroyed him when intended, but I allowed Cedric to sway me. He was convinced his child would grow into the prophecy of the Fourth Oracle of Argia and would be capable of ruling.” Stopping, he takes a paper rose from the pile I’ve now made, squeezing it in his hand before opening it again, presenting a real rose. “But I should have known. Not all things change.”
    Staring hard into my eyes, Dante drops his fangs, and a shudder runs through me at the recollection of millennia the vampiric demigod reigned over shadows and night in the Earthen Realm with bloody chaos and terror—a far cry from