“Farrah.”
“All right, Farrah,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
Farrah’s dragon form was mostly blue like Topher’s, but with specks of orange scattered throughout. She was a bit smaller—it seemed like a shifter’s dragon form was in ratio to their human form. She showed her razor-sharp teeth in what I assumed was an attempt at a smile and lowered herself down so I could get on.
Climbing onto her back was easy. And judging by the large spike protruding out of the bottom of her neck—right in front of the place where I sat—dragons were meant to have human riders.
I wrapped my hands around the spike, and without warning, she dove into the water.
I sucked in a breath, closed my eyes, and braced myself for the cold.
But there was nothing. No water against my skin.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
I was still on Farrah’s back. We were underwater, inside a giant air bubble. The bubble followed us as she flapped her wings, flying us through the water. It was so dark that I could barely see anything except the outlines of the fish around us.
Then, an orange light glowed in the distance. As we approached, the light grew bigger, until I could make out an entire city at the bottom of the ocean. A domed kingdom with a tall palace in the center and gradually smaller buildings spreading outward into a circle, like the lost city of Atlantis.
“Wow,” I said, and Farrah flew through the water faster as we completed our approach.
We reached the dome, and she flew straight through it. The transition between being inside the air bubble around us to being inside the dome was seamless. Not even a single drop of water touched me.
People walking below paused to stare up at us. The streets were lined with blazing torches, which was why the city glowed orange. Fiery light came out of the windows, too.
We flew to the top of the central tower. There was a landing pad on the top of it—like the ones used for helicopters—and Farrah lowered us onto it.
I climbed off her back, and she shifted into human form.
“Where’s Mira?” I asked.
“Down below,” she said, and I noticed the start of a circular stairway at the corner of the roof. “Where our Elders are waiting to meet you.”
17
Gemma
I followed Farrah down to the top floor of the tower, where Mira, Topher, and two others—an older man and woman—were waiting. Despite their silvery hair and wrinkles around their eyes, they didn’t look weak.
The high ceilinged, circular room was gothic in design, with dark stone walls and floors. Tall windows looked out of all parts of it to the city below, and guards stood silently between them. The city radiated orange light, and the water surrounding the dome glowed blue. Colorful, reptilian fishes swam outside the dome, like a reversed aquarium, with them looking in on us.
My chest tightened at the thought of all the tons of water pressing down on the dome.
“How was the ride?” Mira asked casually.
“Good,” I said. “You?”
“Amazing.”
Torrence and her dragon came down the steps next, followed by Reed, and lastly, Ethan.
The Elders dropped down to their knees when Ethan entered.
“King Pendragon,” they said in unison.
“Darius,” Ethan said to the man, and then he looked to the woman. “Hypatia. It’s good to see you again.”
“I wish it were under better circumstances,” Hypatia said as she and Darius stood back up. “But it’s good to see you, too.”
Ethan simply nodded in response.
Darius, Hypatia, and all the guards watched Torrence and Reed, on high alert.
“I respect your authority as king,” Darius said tightly. “But I expect you have an explanation for bringing two mages into our kingdom.”
“I do,” Ethan said, and he told them everything that had happened since we’d arrived in Ember.
“They’ll be guarded at all times,” Hypatia said once he finished. “And we won’t hesitate to use force against them if they try anything against us.”
“You don’t have to talk about us like we’re not here,” Torrence said. “We can hear you.”
“We will talk as we please,” Hypatia snapped. “The two of you may have strong magic, but you’re outnumbered here. Don’t forget your place.”
“You mean we shouldn’t forget that we’re miles under the ocean, in a kingdom full of dragons who want to kill us?” Sarcasm dripped from Torrence’s tone.
Hypatia didn’t bother with a reply. Instead, she focused on me and Mira.
“The twins of prophecy,” she said warmly, sounding completely different than she had when she’d spoken to Torrence. “The ones who will free our people from their bondage.”
The pressure that I already felt from being surrounded by water grew, and I shuffled my feet, nervous. “That’s what we’ve been told,” I said. “And we’re happy to help in any way we can. But we’re not full dragons. We have elemental magic, but we can’t shift.”
“They also have witch magic,” Ethan added.
“A bit,” I said.
“Interesting.” Hypatia studied us and pursed her lips. “I wonder…” She glanced out one of the windows, then looked to the guard standing closest to the door. “Bring Janelle up to join us,” she said. “It’s time to see if the twins are the solution we’ve been waiting for.”
18
Gemma
The guard brought up a tall, middle-aged woman with long, thick, platinum hair. She was nearly as tall as Ethan—she looked like a warrior princess. Her eyes were sharp and intelligent, but there were shadows underneath them.
She was exhausted.
And around her wrists were matching black cuffs.
I’d seen cuffs like those before.
Isobel—the witch Harper had delivered as a prisoner to the Ward—had worn them. They’d stopped her from performing magic.
“Twenty years ago, Janelle and three others were rescued from the Dark Mage kingdom,” Hypatia said. “It’s the only rescue mission of our generation that’s been successfully completed. But, just as the dragons before them who’ve been enslaved by the Dark Allies, we’re unable to remove the cuffs that bind their magic. As long as the cuffs remain on their wrists, they’re unable to shift or use their elemental magic.”
“They say you can set me free.” Janelle held up her wrists, her sharp gaze on me and Mira. “Want to have a go?”
“I don’t know if we can,” I said, and I looked to my twin. “But we can try.”
“How?” Mira asked.
“With our intuition. Let’s touch the cuffs and see what we can do.”
Mira looked doubtful.
“Those cuffs were created by a Supreme Mage,” Reed said simply. “You can’t dismantle them.”
“They’re the dragon twins,” Janelle said. “Of course they can dismantle them.”
“Let them try.” Reed shrugged. “It won’t work.”
Janelle glared at him, then faced me and Mira. “Come on,” she said. “Prove him wrong.”
All eyes were on us, and more pressure mounted in my chest. I couldn’t look at any of them. All I could do was focus on the cuffs around Janelle’s wrists.
How were we supposed to do this? There wasn’t a spell like this in any of the books Mira and I had studied. There’d been no mention of magic binding cuffs at all.
“You can do it,” Janelle said, although she didn’t sound as confident as before. “Right?”
“We’ll do our best.”
I gave Mira a look that said, you better try your best, then stepped forward until I was standing in front of Janelle.
Mira joined me. She wouldn’t meet Janelle’s eyes. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, either.
“I’ll take one cuff,” I told my twin. “You take the other.”
I placed my fingers on the cuff closest to me, and Mira did the same with hers. The cuff hummed with magic, although the magic
felt dark and draining. Like it was trying to suck out my soul.
No wonder Janelle looked so exhausted.
“I’ll follow your lead,” Mira told me.
“All right.” I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.
Hecate, I thought, and I pictured the goddess, imagining she was there with me. Guide me on what I need to do.
I waited for something to click.
Nothing happened.
Silence hung heavy in the room.
“Gemma?” Mira asked, and I opened my eyes. My twin watched me, waiting.
“Focusing on neutralizing the magic.” I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt. Because I’d totally made that up. “Draw it out of the cuffs.”
“Okay.”
I closed my eyes again, and pictured the magic flowing out of the cuffs and into my body.
Nothing happened. So I pulled at it harder.
Still, nothing.
“It’s not working,” Janelle said, her voice flat. Defeated.
I opened my eyes and took my fingers off the cuffs. Mira did the same.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I want to help. I promise I’ll figure it out.”
“How?”
My hand went to the key around my neck.
Add this to the ever-growing list of questions I had for Hecate. I needed to write down the questions sometime. List them in order of importance. Otherwise, I was never going to be able to keep track.
“I know someone who can help,” I said. “I can’t say any more than that, but I need you to trust me.” I glanced at Mira, then at Ethan. “To trust us.”
Hypatia watched me curiously. “Who’s this ‘someone?’” she asked.
“Someone who has answers—to everything.”
“Hm.” She pursed her lips, studying me. “When will you be able to get these answers?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’ll do my best to get them as soon as I can.”
“You do that,” she said. “Once you do, you know where to find us.”
We all watched each other warily.
The Elders were losing their belief in us.
“We will help the enslaved dragons,” Ethan said confidently. “You have my word, as your king. But unfortunately, we can’t stay here for long.”
“You brought the twins here safely,” Darius said. “You returned to the kingdom you’re destined to rule. Where else do you need to be?”
“We need to return to Earth.”
“Now?”
“As soon as possible. As you know, demons threaten their realm. The supernaturals there are fighting, but they’re losing.”
“What does this have to do with us?” he asked.
“There’s something here we’ve come to get—something we believe can turn the war in our favor,” Ethan said.
“Our favor?” Hypatia raised an eyebrow. “You speak as if you’re one of them, and not one of us.”
“Our interests align with the supernaturals on Earth,” he said, unfazed by Hypatia’s doubt. “Like I said, there’s something here we’ve come to retrieve. This object could be the key in beating the demons. But more than that—if freed, the dragons can help the supernaturals on Earth defeat the demons. We’re stronger than any of their species. If we join them, their army will be nearly unstoppable. So it’s in their interest to help us free our people—if we agree to help them in return.”
“You’re proposing an alliance with the supernaturals on Earth,” Darius said.
“Precisely. And they’ll be more likely to hear us out if we bring this object back to them.”
“And what object is that?”
Ethan braced himself, held his gaze with Darius’s, and said, “We’re here for the Holy Crown.”
19
Gemma
“I’m afraid I can only halfway help you,” Darius said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Come with me and I’ll show you.” He glanced at Torrence and Reed. “The mages will stay here.”
“The mages will come with us,” Ethan said.
“You don’t trust us with them?” Hypatia asked, and from her tone, it was clear that we shouldn’t trust her with the mages.
She’d probably bring them to a torture cell, like the ones in the Ward.
“Quite frankly, no,” Ethan said. “And I don’t blame you for that. But I promised them that I’d do everything I could to get them back to Earth, and I intend to stand by that promise. So, they stay with us, wherever we go.”
“As you wish.” She sighed. “You are, after all, our king.”
She didn’t sound happy about it.
Darius led us to a lift that reminded me of the ones in Utopia and took it to the lowest possible floor—the basement.
We stepped out into a small room with stone walls, a sand floor, and a single steel door.
Darius removed a skeleton key from his robes and used it to open the door.
It swung open, revealing a huge room full of gold, gems, crystals, and more, in piles up to the ceiling and spilling out everywhere possible. It was like stepping into the Cave of Wonders.
“Are these all magical objects?” I asked, looking around in amazement.
“Mostly, no,” Darius said. “They’re treasures, but they’re not magical. You see, dragons love beautiful objects. We keep them here and gift them to citizens who earn them. A reward system, per se. It gives everyone something to focus on—something bright and shiny to look forward to in such dark times.”
“You’re hoarding worthless treasure in your basement,” Torrence said, like it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
“These treasures are our currency. They ensure that everyone does their best to contribute to the kingdom. But not all of the objects here are non-magical.” He spun around and led the way through the vault, meandering around the piles of treasure overflowing onto the path.
We followed him, and I definitely spotted Torrence eying up some of the bracelets. Mira, too.
Then I spotted a gold pen inlaid with rubies, and slowed down to stare at it. I’d love to write in my journal with that pen…
“Dragons,” Reed muttered from behind us, and I quickened my pace.
Darius eventually stopped in front of a small, unremarkable wooden box with a tiny keyhole in the front. “Here we are,” he said, and then he kneeled down, removed a tiny key from his robes, and opened the box.
Inside were clear crystals about the size of my pinkie finger, tied together at the bottom with wires of gold, in the shape of a half circle. At the end was a taller crystal and half a crescent moon, sawed off in the center.
“Half of the Holy Crown,” I realized, and Darius nodded. “Why only half?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But we’ve kept it safe here for centuries. Waiting to give it to you.”
Mira’s eyes were as wide as they’d been when she was looking at the bracelets, and she stepped forward to take the Crown.
Darius handed it to her, and I frowned at the fact that Mira got to hold it first.
She gasped as she took in its beauty, and her skin looked more radiant than ever. Her hair looked shinier, too.
It was like the Crown’s light had rubbed off on her.
“Wow,” she said. “What does it do?”
“No one knows,” Darius said. “We thought you could tell us.”
Another question to add to the list of things to ask Hecate. I was seriously going to lose track.
“We don’t know yet,” I said. “But we’re going to find out.” I reached for the Crown, prepared to pull it out of Mira’s hands.
She grudgingly handed it over.
The moment I touched it, I was flooded with warmth. With magic. It was like a golden glow came out of the Crown and flowed through me. Pure, light, holy magic that filled me to the core.
“How do we know it’s real?” Torrence asked.
“It’s real,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Because I can feel it.”
Before I realized what was happening, Torrence reached forward and wrapped her hand around the big crystal at the end of the Crown.
Ice rushed through my veins.
And Torrence fell to her knees, crumpled into herself, and cried.
20
Torrence
Agonizing pain hit me so hard that it knocked me over, like I’d been run over by a truck.
Selena was dead.
Julian was dead.
All of those hundreds of men who Circe had turned into pigs on the island were dead.
The only person I was happy to see dead was Circe.
Selena had risked her life to save me. Just like I’d risked my life to save her after the fae had taken her to the Otherworld. She’d trusted the Supreme Mages to help her find and free me.
But she was dead. I was never going to see my best friend again.
Because the Supreme Mages had killed her.
They were going to pay for this.
I needed to get to Avalon. Because Selena’s parents—the leaders of Avalon—needed to know what had happened to their daughter.
And then it was going to be war against the mages.
But the need for revenge didn’t cloud my grief. My heart ached with it. Selena was more than a best friend—she was like a sister to me. With her gone, I’d never feel whole again. A piece of my heart was gone forever.
Someone kneeled down next to me and wrapped his arms around me.
Reed.
I leaned into him, feeling more grounded with him holding me.
“Torrence?” He spoke my name like a question.
With eyes full of tears, I looked up into his dark, concerned gaze.
My heart burst with emotion.
I love you, I remembered him telling me, right before the mages had thrown us down the portal to Ember.
At the time, I’d felt nothing.
Now, love for him crashed over me like a tsunami.
“Reed.” My voice cracked when I said his name. “I’m so, so sorry.”
The Dragon Realm (Dark World: The Dragon Twins Book 2) Page 8