The Dragon Realm (Dark World The Dragon Twins #2) - Michelle Madow Page 0,39
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.”