“It’s MORNING!” Kinkajou sang, pouncing on Moon’s tail. “Isn’t that WONDERFUL?”

Moon blinked hazily at the RainWing, who was now more pink than yellow, but altogether still too bright. She felt as if she’d only just fallen back to sleep.

“It is the opposite of wonderful,” Carnelian observed grouchily. She flung her wings over her head.

“We get to meet our winglet today!” Kinkajou cried. “Isn’t that exciting?” She nudged Moon’s tail with her own and then plunked herself down on the moss beside her, giving off so much delighted energy that Moon felt both contagiously uplifted by it and exhausted at the same time.

“What does that mean, our winglet?” she asked, hoping perhaps she could fall back to sleep while Kinkajou explained. She missed the feeling of her mother’s scales at her back while she slept. She wondered if her mother missed her, too.

“Oh, it’s the best idea,” Kinkajou said. “I mean, all right, I was a little worried about it at first because I was, like, ACK that means I’ll have to make friends with a NIGHTWING, but now that I know it’s you, there’s nothing more to worry about, because you’re just lovely and not in the business of kidnapping or experimenting on dragons after all. Right?” She poked Moon’s shoulder.

“Right,” Moon agreed. “What?”

“We’ve been organized into five winglets — get it? It’s not a whole wing of dragons, just a smaller group, so, a winglet. Five groups of seven dragonets, with one dragon from each tribe. We’re in the Jade Winglet; my friend Tamarin is in the Gold Winglet. The idea is that we’ll work with the other six dragonets and get to be friends with them and then we’ll totally understand all the tribes and nobody will ever want to go to war ever again. It’s brilliant, I love it. I can’t wait to meet our SeaWing, they sound so weird. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

Kinkajou seized Moon’s tail and tried to drag her to the door.

“All right, I’m coming,” Moon protested, wriggling free. She rubbed her eyes as Kinkajou bounced ahead to the door.

And then, with a horrible jolt, she remembered what she’d heard the night before.

If I kill them …

Moon shivered from wings to tail. If someone at the school was planning a murder, she had to tell Sunny or Starflight. But she couldn’t — not without revealing her own secret.

But I have to warn them, don’t I?

Her mother’s favorite rule rang in her head. Stay secret, stay hidden, stay safe.

And what if I’m wrong? Maybe it was just a dream. My dream, or someone else’s.

But it had definitely felt like two voices talking to each other.

What good is having this power if I can’t do anything about what I hear?

“I have to go to the library,” Moon said. She didn’t know enough about dreamvisitors. All she knew was that there were three of them, created by an animus dragon thousands of years ago. She knew they were sapphires, and she knew any dragon who held one could walk in another dragon’s dreams and sometimes communicate with the dreamer that way.

But she didn’t know who had them now. The scroll she’d read said they were lost centuries ago. Maybe if she could figure out where they were, she could find a way to warn Starflight and the others without giving away her own power.

“You can’t go to the library now,” Kinkajou said. She held up one of the little boards with a message chalked on it. “We have our first class with our winglet this morning.”

The sound of the bronze metal gong being struck reverberated through the halls — BONG! BONG! BONG! — three times.

“That’s the first warning,” Kinkajou said. “Come on, Carnelian!” She grabbed a scroll from one of the racks by the door and threw it at the SkyWing’s head. “We have to figure out where our meeting cave is.”

Carnelian unfolded her wings with a majestic scowl and flowed off the rock ledge like a wrathful waterfall. She stalked past Kinkajou and Moon without a word and turned left, clearing a path through the milling dragonets with the force of her glare.

“Does that mean she knows where we’re going?” Kinkajou asked Moon.

Moon spread her wings with a confused shrug.

“Well, one way to find out!” Kinkajou bounded after the SkyWing.

Moon hesitated. She didn’t want to be late for her very first class, although getting to the library to research dreamvisitors seemed more important. But her teacher and clawmates were waiting … and she could always go to the library after class … and maybe she’d find a way to ask about dreamvisitors during the discussion.

Reluctantly she followed Kinkajou, keeping her head down to avoid the looks from the dragons around her. That didn’t help to block out their thoughts, though. The ones who noticed her definitely remembered the scene from the prey center — there were echoing murmurs of Oh, there’s the weird NightWing who doesn’t talk and She’s the one who tried to steal that IceWing’s scavenger and Seems stuck-up like all the other NightWings, doesn’t want to make friends with anyone.

After a minute she realized, though, that most of the dragonets were too busy worrying about their first class to pay much attention to her. What will they think of me? was the prevailing whisper in all their minds. Will anyone like me? What if I say something stupid?

She didn’t catch any thoughts about strange dreams or murder plots, although it was hard to tell through all the noise.

Carnelian went through the Great Hall — where Fatespeaker was sitting proudly with a mallet next to the bronze gong — and chose a tunnel on the opposite side, slanting up. To Moon’s surprise, this passageway was lined with plants: some with pale green heart-shaped leaves growing out of cracks in the rock, others with vigorous bundles of dark purple leaves, sprouting from small pots of dirt. Green vines covered the ceiling, winding around the green and yellow globe lights, with long blue flowers hanging down like dragon tails. A rivulet of silvery water trickled down the center of the tunnel, carving a small groove in the stone.

As they went higher, the air felt more damp, until finally they ended up in a cave swarming with vines that was open to the sky on one side. Water cascaded down the back wall like a moving, bubbling tapestry, pouring into a small pool that fed into the stream in the tunnel.

Tsunami sat on the ledge with the morning sun shining behind her, grinning at them as they came in. Her royal blue scales looked as if they were made of melted sky.

About time, she thought. Her tail shifted, rustling the trails of leaves that spilled across the floor and out onto the mountainside. My own fault for getting up at the crack of dawn, but really it’s time to get started, let’s GO!

Moon ducked her head. There was something about the SeaWing that made her nervous, and it was only partly the fact that her thoughts were so loud.

BONG! BONG! went the gong, only twice this time.

“Hello!” Tsunami said. “Welcome to your first class. Nice work finding the right cave. Carnelian, Kinkajou, and Moonwatcher, right? Oh, be impressed, I’ve been practicing so hard to memorize all of you. Thirty-five new names! Easy as cows for Starflight, but a whole lot trickier for me and Clay, believe me. I mean, it helps that I knew some of you before, of course.”

“Like ME!” Kinkajou trilled.

Tail kisser, Carnelian thought grumpily.

Someone moved in the tunnel behind Moon and she turned to see a smallish MudWing coming into the cave with a SeaWing close behind him. She didn’t recognize the MudWing, but the SeaWing —

“Turtle!” Tsunami said enthusiastically. “Oh, good, I asked to be given your winglet first. Hey, everyone, this is my brother. Can you believe I have a brother? Or a million brothers, apparently, but I’m just assuming this one’s the best, since he’s here right now.” She slung one wing over his shoulders and gave him a toothy grin.

Turtle smiled back at her. “It’s true, I am.”

Moon studied the green SeaWing dragonet, remembering the vision she’d had when she first saw him — the vision of him attacking Anemone. Could he be the one from the dream last night? Was someone trying to convince him to kill his sisters?

She tried cautiously to reach into his mind, which she didn’t exactly know how to do; it was like trying to listen harder in one direction. Most dragons were constantly broadcasting their thoughts and feelings, but Turtle still had that odd quiet around him, as though his brain were wrapped in blankets. It was almost peaceful, leaning into his thoughts, but also a little terrifying, because Moon had absolutely no idea what was going on in there.

Is there any chance he’s the voice in my head? Are there any SeaWing telepaths? If he can shield his thoughts, maybe he can send them, too…. Mystery voice? Are you Turtle?

He caught her staring at him and smiled, but there was no clear answer in his expression.

“This is my clawmate Umber,” Turtle said, turning to the little brown MudWing.

“Oh!” Kinkajou said. “Clay’s brother!”

Sora’s brother, Moon thought, and realized she’d been hoping Sora would be in their winglet.

“That’s right,” Umber said. His mind rippled with warmth and anticipation in a way that matched Kinkajou’s. Moon could also sense relief — almost an ongoing, permanent state of relief that seemed to have to do with not being at war anymore.

“Ooo, the Jade Winglet is so cool,” Kinkajou said happily. “I wonder who we’ll get for our IceWing and SandWing. Does Sunny have any sisters?”

But Moon could now sense the last two dragonets coming up the tunnel, and her heart dropped.

“Actually,” Tsunami said, “after yesterday, we decided to switch a couple of dragons around, since you guys seemed like a good match.” She flicked her tail at Winter and Qibli as they stepped into the cave. “You’ve already met, you’re all interested in scavengers — we think you’ll fit well together.”

BONG! went the warning bell one final time.

Moon stared into Winter’s cold blue eyes and felt as if ice was traveling across her scales to her wingtips. How could she hide from him if they were constantly in class together?

It’s her, he thought, and an echo came from Qibli’s mind as well: It’s her.

Now I can keep an eye on her, thought one.

Now I can figure her out, thought the other. Did she just get more tense as we came in? Is it Winter she’s worried about, or both of us? She looks a little scared of everyone. But also like she can take care of herself, if everyone would just leave her alone. She likes that RainWing, though, her clawmate, the one who’s all heart. I wonder if I can get her to like me.

I’ll find out why she knows so much about scavengers, Winter thought. I’ll find out everything about her.

I could protect her. Would she want that? Qibli wondered. It’s what I do best. It’s what I’ve done for Thorn since I was three. She said I need to find something else to do with myself, that I’m wasting my potential and she has enough dragons to protect her. As if I trust any of them. Wonder what Thorn would think of Moon. Is she a threat? Or the kind of dragonet the Outclaws are sworn to protect? Why haven’t I figured her out yet?

And then, more softly, but chiming from somewhere inside both of them: I wonder what she thinks of me.

She didn’t know. She wasn’t sure quite what she thought of either of them; she kind of wanted to hide from them but she also wanted to keep listening. It was hard, actually, to have any thoughts of her own when so many others were crowding in all at once. From across the cave, Kinkajou was brimming with Eeee! The ominous handsome glittery brooding IceWing! Umber thought quietly, Wow. He’s gorgeous. And Carnelian sat down with her wings folded and scowled at her talons: Bah. I hate everyone. All of these dragons would be useless in battle.

Moon found herself edging a little closer to Turtle, who was like a small island of peace in the middle of the crosscurrents. Eight dragons in one small cave, all thinking at the same time. How was she going to get through this?

“Let’s go around and introduce ourselves,” Tsunami said. “I mean, maybe it’s unnecessary, but that’s what Sunny said to do. And then she said I probably wouldn’t listen to her anyway, so I am proving her wrong, so there. I’m Tsunami, if anyone didn’t know. I was going to give myself a title like Commander of Recruitment, but then for some reason everyone voted that I would be terrible at recruiting, whatever that is all about, so they made me Head of School instead. So I’m pretty much the boss. And I’m running your first small group-discussion class, which was Glory’s big idea, so I figure we’ll figure it out together. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” said Carnelian. “Are we stuck with this group?”

“That’s not quite how I would put it,” said Tsunami. “But yes.”

“What if we would prefer to be in a group with other IceWings?” Winter asked. “Such as my sister?”

“That’s not how the winglets are set up,” Tsunami said. “But you’ll be in some bigger group classes with her and have plenty of time to make other friends as well.”

“I love our winglet,” Kinkajou volunteered.

“When do we eat?” Umber asked. “Just kidding. Pretending to be Clay.” He grinned, then shot a look at Qibli. Did he think that was funny? I hope that was funny. Did I sound like an idiot?

Oh, it’s Qibli he noticed, Moon realized, not Winter. It was impossible to ignore how handsome Winter was, especially with Kinkajou thinking about it all the time. But it was true that Qibli was good-looking, too, in a warmer way, now that she looked. His thoughts were so distractingly fascinating that she hadn’t noticed it before.

“Ha! Actually I brought food,” Tsunami said. She cleared aside a tangle of vines and revealed a carved stone bowl full of fish, which she set in the middle of the floor. “Help yourselves.”

“Awesome,” said Turtle.

“Yyyyyyyuck,” said Kinkajou. “I’ll wait and have a banana later, thanks.”

Moon took a step toward the fish, but so did Winter, and she jumped back to stay out of his way. He gave her a curious look. She’s frightened of me. Mother would be so proud. He turned away, skewering a fish on one of his claws. I guess I did threaten to slice off her face.

“Here,” Qibli said, taking a fish and handing it to Moon. She could feel the heat rising from his sand-yellow scales as she accepted it.

“Thanks,” she said. He smiled crookedly at her, thinking rushing, busy thoughts about what else he could do to get her to like him, and trying to fit her into a pattern of other dragons he’d known before. She had never met a dragon who had so many thoughts a minute. Consciously he was thinking about her; unconsciously he was observing that Carnelian was the most battle-scarred and probably the most unpredictable dragon in the cave, so he was angling his tail toward her, just as a precaution. And part of him was also remembering what he knew about Tsunami and the kinds of dragons she liked, while yet another part was planning to go out and survey the mountains later.

It was almost like reading a scroll, or maybe like reading five scrolls at once. Moon wished she could escape his attention and just listen to him think for a while.

“Right, introductions,” said Tsunami. “Carnelian? Want to go first?”

No, muttered the SkyWing’s brain. She heaved a deep sigh. “I’m Carnelian.”

There was a pause.

“Anything else?” Tsunami prompted. “What should we know about you? Family, favorite color, anything?”

Carnelian growled, low in her throat. “I’m a loyal subject of Queen Ruby,” she said finally. “I’m in the camp that believes Queen Scarlet is dead, and if she isn’t, I’d be happy to kill her myself to protect my queen’s throne. I’m here because my queen told me to be, although I should be training with my battalion and guarding her palace, not eating slimy wet fish with a bunch of spineless dragonets.” She frowned at them all for a moment. “And my favorite color is red.”

Insecure, Qibli thought, studying Carnelian. Only comfortable when she’s fighting. Worried we’ll think she’s dumb and that Queen Ruby will find out she’s dumb and all her chances of advancing to general one day will be ruined. Is she as stupid as she thinks she is? Have to wait and see.

Moon blinked at him. None of that was obvious, but it was all there in the less conscious parts of Carnelian’s mind. He was right. How could he know all that?

He couldn’t be a mind reader, surely, or she’d be able to tell. Had he figured all that out just … by noticing?

“All right,” said Tsunami. “Good to know. Kinkajou?”

Bright flares of yellow and purple shot across the RainWing’s scales. “Oh, sure; I’m Kinkajou, I’m a RainWing, and I’ve never met any SeaWings or SandWings or IceWings before, I mean, apart from the dragonets of destiny, of course, because I’m really good friends with them. I’m excited to learn how to read and I want to know everything about all your tribes and I think this school is the best idea in the world. And my favorite color is yellow!”

“Of course it is,” Carnelian said.

Should I tell them about being a NightWing prisoner? Kinkajou wondered. No, that’s a little grim for first impressions.

“Your turn,” Kinkajou said, bumping Moon’s side. A flurry of happy thoughts leaped through her scales into Moon, pushing her past her nervousness.

“I’m Moonwatcher,” she said softly, “but please call me Moon.” Or nothing, that would be all right, too. I guess I can’t say, “Please don’t talk to me at all,” can I? “Um. I grew up in the rainforest.” And I’m a mind reader. And I can see the future, and I’m afraid Turtle might kill his sister, and I’m pretty sure someone is spying on our dreams, and that the whole mountain might fall on us one day. Also, I miss my mother. “I like scrolls,” she finished nervously.

How did she grow up in the rainforest? Winter thought, narrowing his eyes at her, but Tsunami had already turned away and Moon couldn’t jump in to explain, in case he guessed that she’d read his mind again. She focused on her talons, avoiding his gaze.

“Me too,” said Turtle. “At least, I like scrolls that weren’t written by my mother. I’ve read way too many of those.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m Turtle, by the way.”

Used to being invisible, Qibli thought, tilting his head at Turtle. Almost prefers it, but not always. Easygoing. Doesn’t want to try hard enough to be noticed. I wonder how much that armband is worth. Don’t recognize the kind of stones. He looks like he wants to go back to bed.

Moon listened intently; she hadn’t been able to figure out anything about Turtle at all. Qibli seemed to think the SeaWing was harmless. She wondered what he’d think if she told him about her vision — not that that conversation was ever going to happen.

“I’m Qibli,” said the SandWing. “I was one of Thorn’s Outclaws before she became queen. My plan is to learn everything as fast as possible and then get back to help her run the Kingdom of Sand.”

“I’m sure she’s lost without you,” Winter said scathingly.

“And I’m sure you’re perfectly essential to the operation of your kingdom,” Qibli shot back. Winter frowned, and Qibli thought, Ah, that hit home. I was right; he doesn’t think he’s worth much to his family, although he would like us all to think differently.

“And I’m Umber,” said Clay’s brother. “I think — I think we might have been in a battle together once,” he said to Carnelian. “I mean, you look familiar.”

“Oh,” she said, squinting at him. Her frown softened. “I didn’t realize you fought in the war, too.” Where SkyWings and MudWings were on the same side, she thought quietly. Maybe I do have allies here.

“Yeah, with my brothers and sisters — my brother Reed is our leader,” he said. “But he said Sora and Marsh and I could come to school now that the war is over, since there’s so much we wanted to learn. I miss him and Pheasant, though.” Memories flashed through his head, of flying surrounded by other brown dragons, whisking through clouds and turning and diving all together. Marshes, a muddy swamp camp. A large brown dragon cuffed his shoulder affectionately; another one dropped a pig in front of him and waved for him and Sora to share it. All of them laughing around a fire.

“They can visit anytime,” Tsunami promised. “They can even camp out and live here if they want. The more the merrier.”

“They’re working for Queen Moorhen right now,” Umber explained. “But maybe one day.” His wings drooped a fraction of an inch, and then he pulled them back up.

“Well, I am Winter,” said Winter.

“Queen Glacier’s nephew,” Qibli said at the same time as he did. Winter straightened up and glittered dangerously at him.

“Don’t you mock me,” he said.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Qibli said innocently.

“If you’re the Head of School,” Winter said to Tsunami, “does that mean you’re the dragon to talk to about getting a private cave?”

“Why, yes, I am,” Tsunami said. “The answer is no.”

“See, I’m your destiny,” Qibli said to Winter with a cheerful shrug.

Wish he were my destiny, Umber and Kinkajou thought nearly simultaneously. Moon smothered a giggle and got a pleased look from Qibli.

“Can we get on with the discussion?” Winter asked. “What exactly is the point of this?”

“The point is to talk about anything you want to talk about,” Tsunami said. “To find out what dragons from other tribes think, and see things from a new point of view. I’m sure it’ll be different when you have this class with Starflight or Clay or Sunny, but I, for one, think you guys should pick the topic.”

“All right,” Winter said. “I want to talk about NightWing powers.”

As far as Moon could hear, no one noticed her expression of terror before she managed to fix her face. Except maybe Qibli, who thought, Is she all right? Winter’s such a moonlicking crocodile, picking on her for no reason.

Kinkajou, also, glanced at Moon and thought, Poor thing, she’s not going to enjoy that.

“Maybe we could talk about the war instead,” the RainWing suggested. “I want to know what Queen Thorn is like. You’ve been inside the SandWing stronghold, haven’t you?” she asked Qibli.

“Wait, I’m confused about the NightWings, too,” Turtle said before Qibli could answer. “Is it true they don’t have powers anymore? Just because they moved to the rainforest?”

“I heard a rumor that they never had powers,” Carnelian chimed in, suddenly animated. “That they made all of that up and they’ve been lying to us for thousands of years.”

“But what about the dragonet prophecy?” Umber challenged, flicking his tail. “About my brother and his friends ending the war? That was clearly real, because look, it came true.”

No, it wasn’t, Moon thought. All the NightWings know it was false, because there haven’t been any true prophets in the tribe in forever. But they won’t admit that to anyone outside the tribe. Not even her; she’d figured it out by reading their minds. Most of them are furious that the world knows they have no powers.

“What if they’re lying now and they secretly do have powers but don’t want us to know?” Turtle asked.

Moon shivered involuntarily and focused on the fish in her claws.

Oh, snail droppings, Tsunami cursed inside her head. I told Starflight we’d get asked about this. I never remember our story. And why should I have to lie? To protect the NightWings’ precious reputation, or the worthless Talons of Peace? Who cares if the prophecy wasn’t real, now that the war is over?

“It doesn’t really matter, right?” she hedged. “The war is over. There are no more prophecies. We can do whatever we want, which includes ignoring the NightWings if we want to. No offense, Moon.”

“It matters if they were manipulating us,” Winter hissed. “Do they have powers or not? Or did they when they lived in their secret location? If so, were all of them psychic, or just a few? And how did they lose them?” He shook his head, his icicle-sharp spikes clattering faintly. “There are thousands of dragons who are still terrified of the NightWings — they deserve to know the truth.”

Tsunami looked calm, but Moon could hear her squirming on the inside. I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU, the SeaWing thought.

“Well, nobody’s sure what the truth is,” she said finally.

“Nobody’s sure?” Winter swept one glittering, pale blue wing toward Moon. “We have one right here. This is all about understanding other tribes, isn’t it? Can’t we ask her?”

Three moons, the horrible force of seven pairs of eyes staring at her — green, amber, black, blue, orange — ranging from curious to hostile with matching tidal waves of emotion behind them. Moon wondered what anyone would do if she bolted from the cave. And maybe flew all the way back to the rainforest without stopping.

“Moon doesn’t know anything,” Kinkajou jumped in loyally. “She wasn’t raised with the other NightWings; her mother hid her in the rainforest. She’s been told all the same lies as everyone else.”

Moon thought perhaps she loved Kinkajou at that moment more than any other dragon she’d ever known. Please, please believe her, she prayed. Don’t ask me any more questions.

“Oh.” Winter gave Moon that look again, the one like she had shifted her scales and turned out to be a different dragon than he’d expected, or possibly a howler monkey and not a dragon at all. Maybe I don’t have to hate her after all, he thought. But still … a NightWing’s a NightWing, and none of them can be trusted.

Aha, Qibli thought. That explains some things. She doesn’t have the same beaten-down yet insufferably smug aura of the other NightWings. Does she miss the rainforest? Or is she happy to finally be with other dragons? Was she lonely? Must have been alone a lot. Maybe she prefers it. Or maybe she’s not used to making friends. I could be her friend. Careful, Qibli. Figure her out first.

“Look, the important thing is that if the NightWings ever did have powers, they don’t anymore,” Tsunami said, spreading her wings so the sun shone through her royal pattern of phosphorescent scales. “As long as everyone knows that, the NightWings can’t manipulate the other tribes ever again. So just remember that there’s no mind reading, and there’s definitely no seeing the future. NightWings are not these all-powerful mystery dragons who know everything. And if someone ever tells you you’re in a prophecy, tell them to eat their tails. I wish I could have done that to the Talons of Peace a lot sooner.”

She wouldn’t believe me, Moon realized. If I went to Tsunami about the voices I heard, or my vision of Jade Mountain collapsing — she’d think I was lying. She doesn’t trust NightWings … or anyone who tries to tell her what to do, or what her future will be.

“But —” Winter started to protest.

“Who wants to go hunting?” Tsunami nearly shouted. “I know I do! Great idea, Tsunami! No arguing with the Head of School; off we go!” She shot off the ledge and whooshed away into the clouds.

Carnelian snorted. “I guess that discussion is over,” she said.

Moon let herself smile at the fact that fearless, awe-inspiring Tsunami had been the one to bolt, not her.

But her smile faded as Winter paced across the cave and stopped right in front of her. He studied her with his piercing gaze, almost as if he could read her mind if he just stared at her long enough. His scales were so bright and so cold, his eyes so weirdly blue and suspicious and angry and sad all at the same time.

“Hey, Winter, leave her alone,” Qibli said, sliding up next to Moon. “She’s not the enemy.”

“Pyrrhia is at peace now,” Turtle agreed. “There are no more enemies.”

Because the queens signed a peace agreement and accepted Thorn as the new SandWing queen, Winter thought. But there are some things that cannot be forgiven. That should not be forgiven. And we’re supposed to just sit back and let the NightWings get away with it?

It wasn’t her, though, whispered another part of his mind.

But she’s still one of them.

“You say you don’t know anything,” Winter said, settling his wings. “But you know the other NightWings. You can find out the truth and come back to tell us. Right?”

Ha. They’d probably tell an IceWing all their secrets long before they ever trust me, Moon thought. “Um,” she said. “Maybe?”

“I want to know everything about their powers,” he said. “Were they ever real? How do we know they’re gone? What else are they lying to us about?” He cleared his throat. If I’m scary enough, she’ll do what I want, his mind whispered. That’s what Mother would say. “I mean you. What else are you lying to us about?”

“Hey, igloo-face, that’s not cool,” Qibli barked.

“Yeah, Moon’s in our winglet,” Kinkajou said, bristling. “We’re supposed to support each other.”

“I’m with igloo-face,” Carnelian said. She stood up and stretched her massive wings, making Umber duck so he wouldn’t get whacked in the head. “If we’re supposed to get all snuggly with each other, there shouldn’t be any more secrets. Let’s make her tell us everything.” Her orange eyes glared at Moon, and an ominous image flashed through her head of Moon pinned under her talons.

“I wasn’t joking!” Tsunami yelled, swooping by outside. “We’re going hunting! Come on!”

Carnelian stalked to the ledge and leaped out. Umber glanced at the others — Poor Moon, he thought, but I want to know the truth, too — and then hurried after her.

Turtle shrugged. “Whatever you guys decide.” And a moment later he was gone as well, leaving Moon, Kinkajou, Qibli, and Winter facing off.

I’ll fight him if I have to, Qibli was thinking fiercely. He curls his claws like he relies on his front talons in fighting, so I’ll go for his shoulder first, slow him down without doing too much damage. Have to disable his snout to stop his frostbreath, too. Will Moon like it if I fight for her? Or is she the kind of dragon who would rather see me try a peaceful argument first? Kinkajou would like me either way. I like that about her. But I can’t even guess about Moon. Doesn’t seem like a fighter but she’s not scared in a normal way. Hope she stands up to him. She can’t let him get away with intimidating her like that.

On Moon’s other side: It is SO WEIRD that I can’t tell what he’s feeling by looking at his scales! Kinkajou thought, watching Winter. His shiny, shiny, gorgeous scales. Don’t get distracted! No being mean to my new best friend, no matter how dazzling you are!

Moon blinked at Kinkajou, her fear shrinking. New best friend? Did she mean that? Or was Kinkajou the kind of dragon who had a new best friend every two minutes?

Either way, for these two minutes, at least, she had backup, even if she hadn’t done anything to earn it.

She turned and met Winter’s eyes, which felt a little like staring into a glacier. “All right,” she said. “But please stop trying to scare me.” She hesitated, and then, riding one of Qibli’s sharp observations, she added, “You are not as terrifying as you think you are.”

He took a surprised step back, his mind whirling.

Nice, Kinkajou thought, grinning. Take that.

Knew she was cool, thought Qibli.

Stop liking her, Winter ordered himself with an internal growl. Remember what Father said: They’re all liars. Be strong, be vigilant, strike first. Trust nobody. Not even interesting NightWings with silver teardrop scales.

“Fine,” he said. “You find out the truth about NightWing powers …”

“And you stop threatening everybody,” Kinkajou said.

He paused, and then an unexpected expression creased his face. “Hey, I didn’t promise anything about everybody,” he said. “Just her. I have an IceWing warrior mystique to maintain, after all, come on.” He looked at Moon again, and then he turned and jumped out into the sky, flying after Tsunami and the others.

“I’m probably wrong,” Qibli said, “but I think my clawmate just made a joke. Is that possible?” Inside he was thinking, Yes! I knew that dragon was in there, if I can just drag him out.

Moon returned his smile.

“You were totally hallucinating,” Kinkajou agreed. “Too many smokeberries.”

“Are you all right?” Qibli asked Moon.

She nodded. She was more all right than she’d been in months. Mind reading was one thing — one awful thing — when you were surrounded by dragons who hated you, as she had been in the NightWing village. But when you were with dragons who actually liked you, or wanted to like you, for whatever mysterious reason … well, she didn’t expect it to last (What happens if they find out the truth about me?), but for now, it was kind of great.

“What’s a smokeberry?” Qibli asked Kinkajou as they started toward the ledge.

“Oh, they’re crazy,” Kinkajou said. “I had some while the RainWing healers were working on my wing injury. They gave me the wildest hallucinations — flying panthers, quetzals the size of dragons, scavengers with superpowers. You name it, I saw everything.”

They soared into the sky. Moon started to follow them, but stopped on the ledge, feeling the wind whip around her. Up in the clear, cloudless sky, her new friends were diving and whirling like flower petals in a rainforest storm, gold and scarlet and green and pale blue.

Don’t get too comfortable, little Moon, said the whispering voice softly. Even mind readers can be taken by surprise when they think they know whom to trust.

The dragons who like you now are the ones most likely to betray you.

Believe me. I know.