The Dragon Realm (Dark World The Dragon Twins #2) - Michelle Madow Page 0,1

sheathed by his side. “She’s going to pay for what she did,” he said, his voice dark and deadly. “I’m going to carve out Lavinia’s heart and make sure she’s awake to feel every excruciating moment of it.”

I wished so badly that I could take his pain away. Instead, I swallowed, unsure what to say.

“I’m the ruler of my people now—no matter how few are left of us.” He still wasn’t looking at me. It was like he was talking to himself, figuring out his thoughts aloud. So, despite my multitude of questions, I did what I thought he needed, and waited silently for him to continue. “I need to go to them. I need to free them. And then, we’ll attack the demons. Rip them apart until there’s not a single one of them left. They’re going to beg for mercy, and they’ll curse the day that they thought they could get away with bringing the dragons into this war.”

He spun back around, and I flinched at the vengeful glint in his eyes.

Then he shook it off and was back to the warm, caring Ethan I knew and loved. “But first, we need to get back to the Ward.”

I nodded and reached for my key.

The longer we stayed here, the more I feared that Ethan might want answers so badly that I’d lose him to the Library’s endless halls.

“And Gemma?” he said, and I froze, waiting for him to continue. “Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Don’t tell Mira. If she finds out, it’ll break her.”

“I know,” I said, since while my twin was strong, she had one major weakness.

Ethan.

And I was going to make sure she never found out that he was my biggest weakness, too.

2

Gemma

I stepped through the library door first, and emerged in the guest common room of the Ward.

As we’d discussed, Mira and Makena were waiting for us there. Mira paced around, running her fingers down a strand of her short blond hair. Makena sat at the head of the table, perfectly still.

Mira stopped walking, and her wide blue eyes met mine.

Guilt washed over me again. My chest hurt—it was like someone had taken a belt, wrapped it around my ribcage, and kept tightening it until I was going to explode.

I’d never be able to look at my twin the same way again. And if she knew about me and Ethan…

She’d hate me.

I wished I didn’t think it possible that my twin could ever hate me. But she’d become so obsessed with Ethan that it was like she loved him more than me.

I didn’t have much time to continue spiraling in my downward thoughts, because Ethan entered the room a few seconds after me.

Mira’s eyes lit up, and she ran into his arms.

He hugged her back, but his eyes were blank, as if he felt nothing.

Finally, after a few painful seconds of watching the two of them together, Mira pulled away and looked up at Ethan. “Harper?” she asked, and she glanced to me, waiting for one of us to answer.

I shook my head no, unable to say it out loud.

Harper’s dead.

I couldn’t save her.

We left her behind.

But Harper had already stopped breathing when we’d left her. And she’d chosen to fight those demons, even though we had a clear path to the door.

Still, I should have reacted faster to help her. If I had, maybe she’d be here.

“Let’s sit down.” Ethan led Mira to the table, and they sat side by side.

I sat across from Ethan and stared down at my hands, unable to look at him. If I did, I was sure my sister would see my love for him splattered across my face.

Makena cleared her throat. “Explain what happened,” she said.

Ethan took the lead, telling them everything that had happened from the moment we’d been dropped off in Lilith’s lair.

“I’m sorry to hear about your father,” Makena said once he was finished. “From what I’ve heard, he was an excellent king.”

Ethan nodded. “His footsteps will be impossible to fill.”

“It will be difficult,” Makena said. “But every leader brings his or her people in a new direction. I have confidence that you’ll make your father proud.”

“I’ll have to, eventually,” he said. “But the Elders lead our people—my people—whenever my father’s gone. And he was gone more than he was there, so he could be here on Earth looking after me and my sister. We were always his priority.” He looked to Mira, and then to me. “Because my job is to look after the two of you.