The Dragon Realm (Dark World The Dragon Twins #2) - Michelle Madow Page 0,4

This isn’t a decision that needs to be made this exact second.”

“I don’t know about that,” Raven said. “Even though Lilith doesn’t have a vampire who tracks dragon magic anymore, she’s not going to stop coming after the twins. And Avalon is the safest place in the world. Not even the Dark Wand can break through Avalon’s barriers.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Because if it could, Lavinia would have used it already. Just like she did on Utopia.”

“Unless Lilith has a bigger plan.”

“A bigger plan than taking down Avalon?” Raven scoffed. “I highly doubt that.”

“Raven,” Mary said sternly. “We’re tabling this discussion for now. They’ve been through a lot these past few days. Give them time to process.”

I relaxed slightly, since Mary was right. The past few days felt like they’d happened in a blur. We needed time to think.

And time to talk to Hecate.

“Fine,” Raven gave in. “Take time to think. But during that time, we’re going to continue our training.”

Mira groaned, and I couldn’t blame her. Raven’s sword fighting lessons were exhausting.

“Not as intensely as before, since I’m assuming you’ll also be practicing using your elemental magic,” she continued. “But you still need to train to fight. Because even though you can use your magic now without being tracked, it doesn’t change the fact that the only way to kill a demon is with a holy weapon. Which means you have to get as good at using them as possible.”

4

Gemma

My thoughts were so consumed with my memories of Ethan that I couldn’t fall asleep that night.

No, not memories.

Of my dream of Ethan.

Or my drug-induced hallucination of Ethan.

Whatever it was.

But even though he’d remembered, his memories had slipped away.

Maybe, if we kissed again, they’d return.

But what if they disappeared every time? I’d have my Ethan back for a few minutes, and then he’d disappear, over and over and over again.

It would be torture. Self-inflicted torture.

Maybe it would be worth it for those few minutes of happiness.

Maybe his memories would come back stronger each time, until they were ingrained in his soul as permanently as they were ingrained in mine?

But I’d never find out. Because what had happened in that room could never happen again. We’d both agreed on it.

I couldn’t do that to Mira.

It would be so much easier if I could forget about the Ethan I’d loved, as easily as he’d forgotten about me.

Then, I gasped. Because maybe I could.

I instantly gave up on trying to sleep, got up, and got dressed. Because there was someone I needed to see.

And I needed to see her now.

The doors in the Haven didn’t have locks, but when I held my key up to the doorknob, a lock magically appeared above it. I clicked it open, and stepped into the Eternal Library.

As always, I looked for Hecate.

She wasn’t there.

So I opened the Library door again and walked through, ending up on the front step of the person’s house I was going to see.

I felt bad for waking her up at noon, which was the equivalent to the middle of the night in the Haven, since all vampire kingdoms kept a nocturnal schedule. But this conversation couldn’t wait.

So I knocked on the door.

Rosella answered in a second. She wore Haven whites, and her dark hair was secured in a loose braid that flowed down her back. Her milky eyes were pointed in my direction, although they were blank and unfocused.

“Come in.” She opened the door wider and motioned for me to enter. “I’ve been expecting you.”

Of course she’d been expecting me. I supposed that was one of the perks of having future sight.

I inhaled the sweet, sugary scent of pancakes and syrup, and smiled. The kitchen table was already set for two people, with a plate stacked high with pancakes in the center. I rarely ate pancakes—Mom said pancakes, waffles, and French toast were excuses to eat dessert for breakfast—so I welcomed the treat.

A cup full of blood sat next to Rosella’s water glass, and a mug of white hot chocolate was next to mine.

“Given what you’re going through, I figured you needed some comfort food,” she explained as she sat down.

I also took my seat. “Do I even need to explain why I’m here?”

“Please do. I have a general idea about what’s going on, but only from an outsider’s perspective. For a better understanding, it would help to hear it from you. And since you haven’t spoken with anyone about it yet, I feel like it would help you to