“Dragon shell,” Eleanor hissed. “Search the rooms. Search the entire house.”
The empress left Aborella behind as she hastened from the room, seething. Ransom bumbled after her. Aborella stayed where she was. Scanning the room, her gaze caught on a splotch of silver wax on the desk, next to an empty candleholder. A breathy laugh bubbled up inside her, and she took care to suppress the sound.
That’s right, Nathaniel, she thought. Keep that with you. I can’t help you without it.
Eleanor’s voice screeched from a room down the hall. “They’re gone! They are all gone!”
Aborella narrowed her eyes in the direction of her empress and dropped her chin. Oh yes, Eleanor, they are long gone. And unfortunately for you, this is only the first in a humbling string of frustrations to come. Well, if Aborella had anything to do with it.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“No, Mom, I’m not coming home.” Avery stood on the bow of the cruise ship with her cell phone to her ear, Xavier behind her. She felt his supportive kiss land on the top of her head.
“I don’t understand. When will you be back?” Her mother’s voice sounded desperate and Avery’s stomach clenched. As usual, she was tempted to appease her. Old habits died hard. It would be so easy to just give in and say two weeks, a month. But the truth was, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever set foot in New Orleans again.
“I need to be very clear about this, Mom, because I think I’ve been too weak to tell you the full truth in the past. It’s unfair to you how I’ve put you off, and I apologize for that. I do. But I’ve done some major soul searching, and it’s time for me to tell you the truth. I’m quitting the Three Sisters.”
Her mother’s gasp filled her ear and then the line went absolutely silent for three long breaths. “You’re quitting for good?”
“Yes. I don’t want to run a bar. I don’t want to serve, or cook, or bartend, or be the manager or even the owner. I don’t want to live in New Orleans. It’s been a good experience and I’ve learned so much from you about business and about people, but I want more. This is my chance to move on, and I’m taking it.”
“So you can work in a bookstore instead?” Her mother’s tone was incredulous.
“No. This isn’t about what I’m going to do instead. This is about what I’m not going to do. I am not going to take over the Three Sisters from you. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do with my life. Maybe I’ll go back to college. Maybe I’ll try something new. What I do know is that I won’t be coming home anytime soon. I want you to hire my replacement. You can’t keep waiting for me. It’s time for you to move on.”
Silence. “I suppose this goes for Raven too?”
“Yes. We’re together and we’re safe.”
“I should have known when she married Gabriel that things would change.”
“This isn’t about Gabriel.” Avery sighed. “Raven spent so many years a prisoner to her illness, and you and I, we lived our lives around Raven. Now that she’s free, I want to be free too. We’re going to travel, and yes, Gabriel is funding it. This isn’t goodbye forever. I just can’t have you holding on, thinking we’ll be back any day now. You need to look out for yourself and your business. Hire my replacement. Move on with your life.”
“So this is what it feels like to have an empty nest.” Her mother released a deep sigh.
“Don’t you think it’s time?” As hard as it had been for Avery to rip the Band-Aid off, now that it was over, a deep sense of relief came over her. “It might not seem like it now, but this will be good for you too, Mom.”
Her mother’s long silence on the other end of the line caused Avery to question if she’d lost the connection.
But then her mother said, “All right. I hear you. I love you, Avery, and if this is what you need to be happy, you have my full support. I do think you’re right on some level, and someday I might feel better about it too. Until then, please promise me you’ll stay safe.”
“I promise.”
“So will you be staying at Mistwood then, for now?”
“No. Actually, we’ve decided to take a cruise to Greece.”
“Greece?” Her mother’s breath caught in her throat. “How exciting!”
“I can’t wait. But listen, the island we’re going to has terrible cell service, so don’t worry about us if you call and can’t reach us, okay?”
“How will I know you’re safe?”
“I’ll call when I can. Maybe I’ll send you an old-fashioned letter.” Avery glanced over her shoulder where the rest of her family was waiting. “I’ve got to go. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, Avery. You know, I never wanted this place to be a cage for you. Every mother dreams of giving her daughter wings and teaching her to fly. I thought this could be your launching pad. I’m happy you’re doing what speaks to your heart, and I hope you find what you’re looking for out there.”
Avery’s eyes filled with tears as she said her goodbyes, hung up the phone, and turned in to Xavier’s embrace.
“I’d like to meet yer parents someday.”
She kissed him gently on the jaw. “I’d like that too.”
They joined the others on deck. Charlie was sleeping peacefully under a blanket in a bassinet that, for the moment, was doing a good job of hiding her wings. After the shadow-mail candle had ignited and the warning had come for them to run, each of them had packed their things in record speed while Sabrina booked this cruise at Nathaniel’s request. They’d barely had time to feed Charlie before they were barreling away from Mistwood.
“Why Greece anyway?” Avery asked Nathaniel.
Nathaniel turned to the others. “When I freed Sylas from the dungeons of Paragon, he told me about a Greek island called Aeaea.”
“Mythology,” Tobias said. “It doesn’t actually exist.”
Nathaniel shook his head. “It does exist. Humans can’t find it, but dragons can. Sylas did. South of Rome, in the Tyrrhenian Sea.”
Raven’s hand went to her throat. “Does Circe still live there?”
“Sylas told me he met her.”
Breath caught in Avery’s throat. Could it be possible? According to Raven, they were descended from the goddess, but she’d considered it only in abstract terms, no more seriously than she had considered tales of Zeus and Hera from her childhood. Could they really be headed to the goddess’s actual home?
“There’s more,” Nathaniel said. “Sylas told me the island is a bridge between worlds. It connects Earth and Ouros, the realm of the five kingdoms.” Nathaniel rubbed his forehead as if his head had begun to ache. “Sylas sent us that message, and I believe he will be there, waiting for us. It’s the only place where we can hide and be safe while we decide our next move.” His gaze fell on Charlie.
Xavier wrapped his arms tighter around Avery. “Well, with a goddess on our side, I predict we’ll have Gabriel back on the throne in no time.”
No one said a word, but one by one, they looked out across the ocean and toward a future Avery thought even Nathaniel’s tarot cards could not predict.
Epilogue
Far above this world, in the palace of the gods on top of Mount Olympus, Hera sneered into her looking glass. Eleanor should have wiped out her filthy progeny by now, but instead the Treasure of Paragon traveled for the safety of Aeaea. If they made it there, they would be out of Eleanor’s reach. Out of her reach. Even Hera would be helpless to interfere. The Titans had gifted the island to Circe as both her jail and her sanctuary, and although she suspected the goddess occasionally used her magic to venture out of her wall-less prison, only one god of Olympus had successfully broached her shores.
“You tell that yellow-eyed witch that if she allows the dragon spawn onto Aeaea, she will have to answer to me.” Hera turned to Hermes, pointing at the table where her looking glass showed her the six dragons and their mates barreling across the ocean.
The messenger of the gods inspected his nails. “It seems she already has you to deal with. A
ren’t you the one who secured the tonic from Hades that is even now being used to keep the goddess of the mountain sedated? You know Circe and Aitna are cousins and quite close. Circe is within her rights to retaliate.”
Hermes passed his hand over the mirror, and a warrior woman dressed in flowing red magma appeared in the glass. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell in a soft, slow rhythm.
“I had every right to act against the Mountain. She hides my book of magic within her boundaries.” Hera bared her teeth and pointed at Hermes’s face. The god was much too attractive for his own good. How she’d love to ruin that pretty face and teach him a lesson. “And Circe… Do not tell me about that sorceress’s rights. She hid her children in my garden, and one of her brats seduced my dragon and stole my book of magic! They must pay. That book was given to me by Zeus himself.”
Hermes crossed his arms and returned her explosive tantrum with a look of utter boredom. “There is no proof the book is even within the realm of Ouros. The three sisters might have hidden it anywhere.”
“It’s there. The witch queen of Darnuith admitted as much before she died.”
Hermes shrugged, a barely perceptible grin turning the corner of his mouth. He was always sickeningly smug.
Hera perused his golden skin and ivory tunic with contempt. “You only resist me because you’ve taken Circe as your lover.”
He rolled his blue eyes. “I have had many lovers, Hera. I cannot be expected to favor every one of them.”
Hera rushed him, lightning crackling in the air around her. She fisted his tunic. “Take my warning to Circe, messenger, or I will inform Zeus of your dereliction of duty. Tell her I have ways of making her suffer that do not involve Aeaea.”
Hermes jerked away from her and smoothed his tunic. He offered her an exaggerated bow. “As you wish, Goddess.”
The wings on his shoes began to flap, and he moved for the edge of the palace balcony overlooking the worlds below.
“Oh, and Hermes”—Hera straightened, her pupils burning with her anger—“tell Circe her protection is only worthwhile if the dragons actually make it to Aeaea.”
Thank you for reading HIGHLAND DRAGON. If you enjoyed Xavier and Avery’s story, please leave a review.
When Dianthe’s misinterpreted vision leads Everfield to ruin, Sylas feels he must take decisive action to protect the Defenders of the Goddess from exposure. Only cutting off his mate from her work for the rebellion drives a personal wedge between them, one that threatens to destroy Sylas from the inside out. It’s all made more complicated when his siblings arrive and his plans to take back the kingdom must be accelerated.
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Meet Genevieve Jack
Award winning and USA Today bestselling author Genevieve Jack writes wild, witty, and wicked-hot paranormal romance and fantasy. Coffee and wine are her biofuel, the love lives of witches, shifters, and vampires her favorite topic of conversation. She harbors a passion for old cemeteries and ghost tours, thanks to her years attending a high school rumored to be haunted. Her perfect day involves the beach, her laptop, and one crazy dog. Learn more at GenevieveJack.com.
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The Treasure of Paragon
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Windy City Dragon, Book 2,
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The Dragon of Cecil Court, Book 5
Highland Dragon, Book 6
Hidden Dragon, Book 7
The Dragons of Paragon, Book 8
The Last Dragon, Book 9
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Knight Games Series
The Ghost and The Graveyard, Book 1
Kick the Candle, Book 2
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Acknowledgments
When I outlined Highland Dragon over a year ago, my plan was to visit the Scottish Highlands in June of 2020. In 2019, my husband and I booked a ten-day tour where I intended to sample the local dialect, get a lay of the land, and learn about Jacobite and Clan Campbell history firsthand.
Then the pandemic happened. I watched my plans to research this book go up in flames as we all were locked down and masked up. On top of losing the trip, I now had family home and wrestled with distractions galore. Then one of my children caught Covid and everything became more complicated. She recovered, but I had to start the book anew, having lost my momentum.
I’d originally planned to release Highland Dragon in October, but after turning to nonfiction books and videos for research and working my writing around the effects of the pandemic, I had to change those plans. I am so thankful that Highland Dragon is finally here.
To the fans of this series, thank you for coming along with me on this journey and being patient as Highland Dragon came to fruition. Thanks to Victory Editing for helping me create a book I’m proud to share under less than ideal circumstances. Also, a big thank-you to the authors of the High Tea Society for your long-suffering support and encouragement.
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