The Dragon Realm (Dark World The Dragon Twins #2) - Michelle Madow Page 0,28

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,