“And then what?” he said. “They’ll track it down with that dragon heart and destroy the Vale like they destroyed Utopia?”
His words were a jolt to my heart.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
I swallowed down my grief. “I know you didn’t,” I said, then quickly returned to the subject at hand. “But they haven’t tried attacking any other kingdoms now that we have Nephilim patrolling the borders.”
“True. But they probably want that Sword more than they wanted the twins,” he said. “If they know it’s here, they’ll figure out a way.”
“So what if we don’t keep it in the Vale?”
“Do you think you can convince the Ward to take it?”
“Not the Ward,” I said. “It would be safest somewhere the demons and dark witches literally can’t reach. Which means we need to find that Sword, and get it to Avalon.”
25
Gemma
Standing in the empty ivory hall of the Eternal Library, I pulled off my key necklace and threw it on the marble floor.
I’d been coming here every day for a week.
Each day, Hecate wasn’t there.
What use was endless knowledge when the person who was supposed to give it to you was never available?
I was so angry that I wanted to blast fire at the key. I wouldn’t actually do it—I wasn’t stupid—but it was probably a good thing I couldn’t access my dragon magic while in Hecate’s realm.
I glanced at the door to the hall with the endless shelves of books. Because I’d seen the book that had talked about the Dark Objects. I’d seen it when Hecate had told us about the Dark Wand.
Maybe I could find it again.
No, I thought, remembering the blank expressions of the others who were trying to find books in the shelves, and had gotten stuck in the Library for years. Don’t go there.
Not wanting to risk giving into temptation, I picked up the key and returned to the throne room in the dragon kingdom where the others were waiting.
Mira frowned when she saw me. “She wasn’t there,” she said.
“Nope.”
Darius’s expression went blank. “Where were you?”
“Left something in my room,” I said. “Sorry.”
Everyone without a key nodded, easily accepting my excuse for leaving and returning. None of them thought to ask what I’d “left in my room.”
A second later, they forgot it had happened entirely.
Such was the magic of the key.
“This isn’t working.” Ethan ran his hands through his tousled brown hair in frustration.
The motion made me remember how silky smooth his hair had felt when I’d kissed him.
Guilt twisted my heart at the thought.
“We need to figure out another way to find the second half of the Crown,” Ethan said, focusing on Mira as he spoke.
Ever since we’d gotten to Ember, he’d been back to ignoring me. Whenever I was around him, I felt like I didn’t exist. He was always near—he didn’t like to leave my and Mira’s sides—but he always spoke to Mira instead of me.
It was clearly on purpose, and it took all my effort to resist throttling him and demanding to know why he hated me so much.
“I could try another tracking spell,” Torrence said.
“And what would you do differently this time?” Hypatia asked.
“Try harder?”
“It wouldn’t change the fact that tracking spells only work for people—not for objects.”
Torrence frowned, which was apparently as close as she’d get to admitting that Hypatia was right.
“There is another way for you to find the second half of the Crown,” Hypatia said. “Landon—step forward.”
A male guard with wild, dark curls walked from his post by the window to the center of the room. He kneeled down in front of Hypatia and met her eyes.
Hypatia gave him a knowing look, reached into her cloak, pulled out a gold dagger, and handed it to him.
I watched, not understanding.
Was that a magical dagger that could be used to find the second half of the Holy Crown? And if it was, why hadn’t anyone said something sooner?
Landon looked to Ethan. “King Pendragon,” he said. “This is for you—and for the future freedom of our people.”
He raised the dagger to his throat and slashed it across his skin.
Blood poured out of the open wound and onto the stone floor.
It was like I was watching what had happened to Harper all over again.
I didn’t move.
There was nothing I could do to help him.
The dagger slipped out of Landon’s hand, and he collapsed to the floor, into the puddle of his blood.
Then, it hit me.
“His heart,” I said, slowly and quietly. “You want us to use his heart to track the second half of the Crown.
Hypatia nodded. “He sacrificed himself so you could do so.”
“We’ll get to work immediately,” I said. “His sacrifice won’t be in vain.”
“But why was his sacrifice necessary?” Mira asked. “Landon was young and strong. Surely you have the hearts of those who have already passed? Or someone older who could have made the sacrifice. Someone who didn’t have so many years ahead of them.”
“The stronger the dragon, the stronger their heart will be for tracking,” Ethan explained. “And the heart must be fresh. Once it dries up, its magic is gone.”
“But rest assured—we’ll have a ceremony in three days to honor Landon and his sacrifice,” Hypatia said.
However, I wasn’t focused on a ceremony. My thoughts went to Lavinia, who was using Ethan’s father’s heart to locate the Dark Objects. “How long does it stay fresh?” I asked.
“A heart that’s well taken care of can last for months,” answered Hypatia.
I nodded and inhaled the intense, spicy scent of Landon’s blood.
His heart would certainly be fresh.
I’d cut it out myself, except I had no experience with anything resembling surgery. The last thing I wanted was to mess up and accidentally slice the heart, making it useless.
“I don’t think Landon would want us to waste any time,” I said, since it seemed like the most diplomatic way to say, what are we waiting for?
“He wouldn’t,” Hypatia agreed. “Guards—take Landon’s body, remove the heart, get it cleaned up, then bring it back here. As quickly as possible.”
Two guards picked up Landon’s body and carried it out of the room. Another two followed them out, then returned with cleaning supplies and got started on cleaning up the mess.
“How long will it take for the heart to be ready?” I asked.
“They’ll work efficiently,” Hypatia said. “It won’t be long.”
The guards finished cleaning up, and Hypatia and Darius gave me and Mira tips on how to use our elemental magic. Up until getting to Ember, Ethan had been the only person who’d been able to help us learn to use our dragon magic. And while Ethan was strong, it was helpful to learn from others, too. Especially ones who were so much older, simply because they’d had more time to master their skills.
Torrence and Reed watched from the side, both of them smart enough to know to stay quiet and in the background, to make sure the dragons didn’t think they were any sort of threat.
A little over an hour passed before the guards returned. One of them carried a small gold box. He approached Ethan, kneeled, and held it up to him. “King Pendragon,” he said.
Revulsion crossed Ethan’s eyes as he stared down at the box.
Does he need me to take it for him?
I nearly did just that.
Then, I stopped myself.
Of course he’s having a tough time, I thought. This probably reminds him of what happened to his dad.
“Thank you,” Ethan finally said, and he took the box from the guard.
The guard stood and resumed his post by the wall
.
Ethan opened the box and stared at the contents inside, his expression neutral.
“When you’re ready, pick up the heart and think of the object you seek,” Hypatia said. “If it locates it, you’ll get a general sense of where it is. The fresher the heart, the more accurate the location will be.”
Ethan took a deep breath, then removed the heart from the box. His hand covered most of it, sparing us the gory details. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
We watched him silently, waiting for him to locate the second half of the Crown.
After the longest minute ever, he opened his eyes and looked to Hypatia. “Nothing’s happening,” he said, and disappointment filled me to the core.
So much for that plan.
“I thought that might be the case,” she said.
Mira’s bright blue eyes widened. “If it might not work, then why did you let Landon sacrifice himself?”
Why did she care so much about Landon? She hadn’t known him. And he hadn’t been murdered. He’d chosen to sacrifice himself.
You’d think we’d seen enough death by now for her to start growing numb to it.
Like I have.
“A dragon heart can only track an object if that object is in the same realm as the heart,” Hypatia explained. “If Ethan feels nothing, then the second half of the Holy Crown likely isn’t in Ember.”
“We’ve only been to two other realms,” Ethan said. “Earth and the Otherworld.”
“We’ve been to Mystica,” Torrence chimed in. “Although after our experience there, I have no intention of ever returning.”
“How many realms are there?” Mira asked.
“The only known realms are Ember, Earth, the Otherworld, Mystica, and Hell,” Hypatia said. “And Avalon, although Avalon is anchored to Earth. But, might I suggest you start with the most likely one of the bunch?”
“You mean Earth?” I asked.
“Precisely.”
“But if the second half of the Crown is on Earth, wouldn’t Lavinia have found it already?”
“To find an object, you have to focus on what is it you’re looking for,” Hypatia said. “Lavinia doesn’t know the Crown has been split into two. She doesn’t know to look for half of it. She cannot find what doesn’t exist. And the Crown in its entirety doesn’t exist.”
“But she can locate the other three Holy Objects,” I said. “So why didn’t she use the heart to track down Annika, Raven, and Selena?”
“Who says she hasn’t?” Torrence chimed in.
Hypatia looked at her calmly. “Go on.”
“Lilith has been extremely strategic in this war for the sixteen years she’s been on Earth,” Torrence continued. “We know she’s on a mission to find all four Dark Objects, and that she hasn’t acquired all of them yet. We also know she’s been hunting gifted humans, turning them into gifted vampires, and draining them for their blood. We still haven’t figured out why she’s doing this, but it has to all be for some greater plan. She’s probably waiting to attack until she has all her pieces in place.”
“A logical conclusion,” Hypatia said, and Torrence looked pleased with herself for getting the dragon Elder to agree with her.
“So it sounds like we should get going,” I said. “Get our pieces in place before Lilith gets hers.” I turned to Torrence and Reed. “Before we came to the Otherworld, the Empress’s advisor gave us these.” I removed the portal tokens from my pocket. “The only two tokens that can bring you out of Ember.”
Suspicion dawned in Torrence’s eyes. “How’d she know you’d need them?”
“Prince Devyn gave them to her.”
Torrence nodded in understanding. She knew all about Selena’s dad, and his gift of omniscient sight, so mentioning him was the only explanation necessary.
“Any chance she told you where they’d bring us?” she asked.
“They’ll bring you to the Otherworld,” I said.
“Figured,” she said. “Good thing we’re on good terms with the fae. We shouldn’t have an issue getting back to Earth from there.”
“What’s your plan for when you’re back?”
“We’re going home—to Avalon,” she said. “The Earth Angel needs to know what happened to her daughter.”
I couldn’t imagine how difficult that conversation was going to be. “Then I guess this is goodbye,” I said, surprised by the twinge of sadness I felt at the thought. Even though Torrence had been dark when she’d saved us from the mages, there was a certain bond you developed with someone when they saved your life. And ever since the Crown had brought her back from the darkness, she was actually pretty cool.
“Goodbye for now,” Torrence said. “You never know where the future might lead.” She took the tokens and handed one to Reed. “Now, where’s the nearest fountain?” she asked. “Because I’m ready to get out of here.”
26
Gemma
After Torrence and Reed left, the Elders brought us the half of the Crown. Ethan took it for safe keeping. He didn’t explain why, but I guessed he didn’t want to have to choose between giving it to me or Mira.
It was definitely the right call.
We said goodbye to the Elders, then used our keys to enter the Library.
As had been the case recently, Hecate wasn’t there.
I walked back to the door and brought out my key.
Mira and Ethan didn’t move.
“Are you guys coming?” I asked.
“There’s something we need to talk about first,” Ethan said.
I stilled, not liking his serious tone. “And what’s that?”
“Ever since touching that piece of the Crown, you’ve been different.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
It was a lie. I knew exactly the moment he was referring to—it was when I’d handed the Crown to Torrence.
It was the ice that had flooded my veins when she’d touched it and returned from the darkness.
But I didn’t mind. In fact, I liked it.
It numbed the pain I’d felt every time I looked at Ethan and remembered what it felt like to kiss him.
Whatever had happened when I’d touched the Crown had made me stronger. Less emotional. Less vulnerable.
“When Torrence touched the Crown, it brought her out of the darkness,” he said. “But when you touched the Crown, it put darkness into you.”
“When I touched the Crown, it gave me purpose,” I said. “It gave me something to fight for.”
“It changed you,” Mira said. “And don’t try to argue with me. I’m your twin. I know you.”
“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
She backed away, like she’d been slapped. “You never would have talked to me like that before.”
“Things change,” I said. “Besides, you touched the Crown, too. Nothing happened to you.”
“We have a theory about that,” Ethan said.
“Now you’ve been ‘theorizing’ about me behind my back?”
“The change happened when you and Torrence were both touching the Crown,” he continued. “We think some of your light magic went into her, and some of her dark magic went into you.”
“That’s impossible.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if we go in there and ask one of those witches wandering around the shelves if she’s willing to try taking the dark magic from you? A more experienced witch, who’s able to handle it?”
“It would be a waste of time. We need to get back to Earth and find the second half of the Crown.”
“Wrong,” Mira said. “We need to get you back to normal.”
“I am normal.”
“Then prove it.”
“No,” I said, and I walked up to the door, stuck the key into the lock, and left the Library before they could argue with me further.
The Haven’s tearoom looked the same as when we’d left. I picked up the pad of paper and wrote to Mary to let her know we were back.
As I was writing, Ethan and Mira came in to join me.
They looked pissed.
But it was more than that. They also looked worried. They cared about me. Mira loved me. Ethan… I didn’t know what he felt for me. But he cared about keeping me safe.
I straightened and took a deep breath. They weren’t going to drop this. I wouldn’t have dropped it if the situation were reversed and Mira had absorbed some of Torrence’s dark magic.
I’d do everything I could to get that darkness out of my twin.
It was only a small bit of dark magic. Not nearly enough to consume me, like how Torrence had been when we’d met her.
But I was strong enough to handle my emotions without the dark magic numbing them. It was harder, but I could do it.
Because the most important thing was finding the second piece of the Crown. If getting rid of the dark magic meant it would be easier to work as a team with Mira and Ethan, then I guessed that was what I was going to have to do.
“Fine,” I admitted. “You’re right.”
Mira looked stunned. “So you’ll try getting rid of it?”
“How would you suggest I do that? Bring Mary in here and ask if any of her witches would mind absorbing some dark magic that accidentally got transferred into me while we were in Ember?”
“We already told you how we think you should do that,” she said. “Most of the witches wandering around the Eternal Library are basically catatonic. You could transfer it to one of them.”
“I won’t do that,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Because like you said—they’re basically catatonic. And like I told you, I can control the dark magic. I won’t force it on someone who can’t.”
“Then we’ll go with your idea,” Ethan said. “We’ll ask Mary.”
“Deal.” I finished up the letter I’d been writing to her, folded it up, and sent it as a fire message.
Mary came alone—as we’d requested—and listened to everything that had happened to us on Ember. Including how I’d accidentally siphoned some of Torrence’s dark magic.
“I don’t think you should try giving that magic to another witch,” Mary said once we were done.
The Dragon Realm (Dark World: The Dragon Twins Book 2) Page 11