Page 168 of Nine-Tenths

"That every fluid in our bodies has the ability to heal almost every disease suffered by humans? Including age?" Dav asks calmly. He slides his hand down to my leg, grounding himself in touch, and I cup my hand over his. "Can you imagine the horror show?"

"Riots," Onatah says. "Everywhere European Empires have touched—this will benews. Look at how upset you all are, and you're not the kind of people prone to grabbing a gun and shooting up a public place."

"Jesus Fucking Christ," Hadi breathes, as we all envision the outcome of a world full of angry humans deciding that they don't want to be ruled by dragons any more.

All at once.

En masse.

No discussions, or diplomatic talks.

Just… violence.

"And that's not to say what may happen if some humans get it into their heads that they'reowedthis Gift," Dav says. "Allit would take is a few enterprising people with no morals, and dragons could start disappearing. The children—the eggs—"

"You don't know that," Dike says softly. "You don't know that's the choice humanity will make."

"But you can't promise otherwise," Dav says softly.

Pedra turns imploring eyes to Dav. "So what now?"

"The problem is, it'salreadyout there," I explain. A frisson of urgent understanding ripples through the room. "Pedra's already shared it on her research boards. Wecan'ttake it back."

Onatah snarls, her throat clicking.

"Watch it!" Hadi says. "I can't afford to have another dragon burn down my place."

Dav chuckles with strained self-deprecation. Onatah snorts out a plume of blue-black smoke with a smirk.

"Unlikely," Dav says. "Onatah's Favorite would never stand for her being careless."

But all of this banter and joviality is strained. An act.

"If we can't take it back, and we can't tell everyone, whatcanwe do?" Pedra asks, when the silence goes on too long.

"We get ahead of it," Dav says, sitting forward.

See, here's the thing about Dav. I never forget that he was a career soldier—isa soldier, could be called up to serve at any time—but sometimes I need reminding that his medals were earned in tents, and bunkers, and secret meeting rooms, rather than on the field. Sure, he fired guns, stormed strongholds, went over the top, set fire to the Presidential Mansion with his own breath.

But he's really theplansguy.

"What's the best way to negate the power of a blackmailer?" he asks us, his Peter Pan kiss curling deviously into his almost-dimple.

"Don't do shady shit?" Mauli asks.

"Besides that," Dav asks. When no one answers, he says: "Expose the terrible truth yourself."

"But you just said youcan't," Dike protests.

"Not to the humans," Dav agrees. "But we can to the dragons. They have kept this secret for centuries, devoted fortunes to its upholding, believe firmly that it benefits them. But what if we convince them that it'snota benefit to us any longer? That the old ways are harming our greatest resource—humans? What if we can show them that there areotherways, ways that preserve the planet, and our people,andtheir selfish wealth? And what if we get someone powerful on side, someone who can change laws, implement them slowly, thoughtfully, and world wide. So if the research becomes widely known, it will be old news, even if some of it is shocking."

"Think of it like my thesis," I explain. "But not viniculture—for, I dunno, call it sapiensculture, I guess." I spread my arms wide.

Hadi snorts. "As if dragons are factory farming humans when we should be free-range organic?"

"Sorta, yeah!" I laugh. "But we can't just go in and blow up the factories. We gotta convince them to convert. One by one, bit by bit, you know?"

Mauli makes a noise pretty similar to Onatah's frustrated click. "Right, but where are you gonna find someone with that kind of power?"

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