The Dragon Realm (Dark World The Dragon Twins #2) - Michelle Madow Page 0,44
Antarctica was apparently not an easy task, despite the fact that our elemental magic made us more resilient to extreme temperatures.
“Gemma, Mira, and Ethan,” Mary said as we joined them in the center of the lobby. “Meet Bella Devereux, your chaperone for the trip.”
“Aren’t you Torrence’s mom?” Mira asked.
“Torrence’s aunt,” Bella corrected her. “Torrence told me all about the three of you. When the Earth Angel told us about your mission, and that you were seeking a powerful witch to accompany you, my niece insisted I go.”
I’d wanted Torrence to come, but one of the reasons for having a witch come with us was so she could pose as my and Mira’s mom. We needed to do our best to blend in with the humans, and three teenagers traveling alone would draw too much attention. It would also be illegal, even though I was confident that Mary could have forged passports for us if necessary.
“You didn’t want to stay with Torrence?” I asked, since they hadn’t seen each other for months. She must have been worried sick about her niece.
“I did,” she said. “But like I said, Torrence insisted. She said it was a token of appreciation for everything you did for her in Ember. And when she put it that way, I agreed. I don’t know how you brought her back from the darkness, but I’ll never be able to repay you. She’s the closest thing to a daughter that I have.”
“Bella’s one of the most powerful witches in the world,” Mary added. “There’s no one else I trust more to accompany you.”
“I’ve heard about this elemental magic of yours,” Bella said. “Can’t wait to see it for myself.”
I immediately called a flame into my hand, and Mira did the same with an icicle.
Bella studied our elements with a determined glint in her eyes. “Neat,” she said. “They’re gonna love you once you get to Avalon.”
“Assuming we get in,” I said. Because if Harper got rejected from Avalon, none of us were guaranteed a spot.
“You’ll get in,” she said confidently, then she looked at her watch. “Anyway, we’ve gotta head out. If we’re going to blend in, we need to try to be on time. Who’s first?”
“I am,” Ethan said, since we’d already discussed this. The first person to teleport out would only be at our destination alone for less than a minute, and he refused for that person to be either me or Mira.
Bella teleported out with Ethan, then with Mira, and then with me. Our drop-off point was a posh hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bella had stayed at the hotel before—she and her sisters used to do some business in South America—so she’d teleported there and checked into the room last night.
Next, Bella teleported in with our luggage. Six large bags for four people. We also each had a personal backpack. Ethan was keeping the gold box with the heart, and another box with the half of the Crown, in his.
“Welcome to the Alvear Palace Hotel,” Bella said after popping in with the final piece of luggage. “Come on. The rest of the group is already gathered in the lobby.”
The ship we’d be going on was small—only 140 passengers—and as part of the vacation package, everyone on the trip stayed in this hotel the night before leaving.
We brought our luggage down into the huge, elegant lobby, which had marble floors and walls. There was a huge wine bar, but it was closed, due to the fact that it was four in the morning. The flight to the city where we’d be boarding the ship—Ushuaia—was ridiculously early.
Our luggage was loaded onto the bus, which took us to the airport, where a plane chartering waited for us. The others on the trip were mainly older couples—probably retired—but in good shape. There were also a few families with kids who looked around our age, or in their lower twenties. They were all eyeing each other, as if deciding if they’d become vacation friends or not.
I looked away whenever one of them looked my way. We weren’t on this trip to make friends. The fewer people we chatted with, the better.
It would make Bella’s job easier after our mission was complete.
The flight was about three and a half hours long. Mary probably could have found at least one witch who’d been to Ushuaia before, but since everyone on the trip was flying there together, going with them on the plane was part of our plan of blending in.