truly see me. I have so many questions, and that look only gives me more.
Whose side is Titus on?
His own? Ours? It’s clear it’s not Amos’s.
So if all of the council members are not in on this, then I need to find out which members are before we kill them. My job just got a whole lot harder.
When I cannot drive any longer, I take to the sky, flying the remaining distance to Rejek. I text Jean Paul and Nos beforehand to let them know where I am going. I hear back from neither, but then again, I am impatient and only give them thirty seconds.
I soar over the frozen tundra, mountains, and fields. Civilization is left behind as I head to the very peak of the country, an unforgotten corner too dangerous for humans and most supernaturals. It doesn’t help that the mountain is believed to be cursed, which I suppose makes sense as a council location. They are the oldest of us, after all. One is awake at all times to rule over the others and step in only in dire circumstances. They are relics of lost years...yet now we need them. More than ever.
Let’s hope they don’t kill me on sight.
The flight takes over two hours before I see the first stirrings of the mountain. The air starts to get thick and cloudy until I can barely see in front of my face, and I am forced to glide lower, almost touching a frozen lake surrounded by trees. Even then it is foggy, an unnatural fog. I feel it passing over me, judging me for what I am.
A security measure, no doubt.
I soar above it and over the trees, and then a black shape comes in to view ahead. I turn that direction, knowing it must be the mountain. I can feel the old magic there, pushing me away, warning me to leave.
It forms through the clouds and fog, stretching so far into the sky I can’t see the tip of it. Flattening my wings, I push higher and higher, climbing through the clouds until I reach the peak, which is an open top, giving me a clear view downwards into the base of the mountain that is far, far down.
It’s a volcano.
A dormant one, clearly, and I can feel the net over the top to protect the opening from attack. To keep things in...or out? I’m not sure, but I can’t get in that way, so I tuck in my wings and dive, flying around each side as I try to find an entrance.
I have to circle three more times and open my mind, pushing out my powers to search the thick, black rock until I locate the opening the ghosts mentioned. A concealed entrance sits at the base behind it, hidden by the edge of the cliff it stands on. If you didn’t have the power or knowledge of how to look, you wouldn’t find it. They really were not taking any chances.
I set down on the edge of the cliff and change back, lifting my head as I reach for Dawn.
I will be there soon, hold on.
Let’s hope the sleeping council doesn’t try to kill me. It would be horrible to explain to my mate why we have the whole supernatural world hunting us down if I murder them.
Sucking in the cold air one more time, I head into the carved black doorway. I feel a boundary pass over me instantly and I drop to my knees in agony. I can’t breathe, can’t see, or even hear. I lose track of everything, and I seem to be spinning, but I could be wrong. Heat starts at the soles of my feet and travels through my body like lava erupting from my head.
The sensation surges repeatedly until I am screaming. At least I think I am, it’s hard to tell. But I am a dragon and this is fire. I let the change flow through me, and the cool feeling of the souls trapped in my dragon sooth the burn until I flick open my eyes, my tail dancing behind me as my mouth expands to eat whoever did that to me…
But there is no one there.
Surely that couldn’t be a deterrent to get out? If so, what else will be lingering the closer I get…that one nearly killed me as it is. And Griffin said I was antisocial, these guys take it to a whole new level. Forcing the change when I realise I