The Dragon Realm (Dark World The Dragon Twins #2) - Michelle Madow Page 0,52
believe we had magic inside ourselves after seeing so much magic in the world around her.
Why was one so hard to believe, and not the other?
“What do you think?” I asked Ethan, since there was no point in continuing this conversation with my twin.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But the heart directed us here, which means the Seventh Kingdom must have the second half of the Crown. We need to go with Queen Katherine, whether we can trust her or not. If she tries anything, we’ve trained enough that we should be able to handle ourselves. Plus, we have our keys. I’m going to assume there are doors in the Seventh Kingdom. If things get bad and we need to leave, we’ll use our keys and go to the Haven’s tearoom.”
“Assuming she doesn’t compel us to forget about the keys and what they can do,” Mira muttered.
“She won’t,” I said. “She can’t. The keys are Hecate’s magic.”
“You have no idea what Queen Katherine can or can’t do.”
I took a long, slow breath to calm myself, since telling Mira to trust Hecate would be pointless.
Instead, I changed the subject, and we discussed the possibilities of what type of magic the Holy Crown might be able to do. The Holy Grail turned deserving humans into Nephilim, the Holy Sword increased fighting ability, and the Holy Wand amplified magic.
What could a crown do?
“Maybe it enhances intelligence,” I suggested.
“Or allows mind reading,” Ethan said.
I frowned at the thought. A lot of people would love the ability to read minds, but I’d always imagined it would be terrible. Thoughts were supposed to be private. A person’s character should be judged on what they chose to say and do—not on their thoughts.
If anyone knew my thoughts about Ethan, they’d think I was a terrible person.
Maybe I was a terrible person. But I was doing my best to not let my heart control my brain, no matter how difficult it was. And that had to count for something. Right?
“Maybe mind control?” Ethan said, a moment before Queen Katherine popped back in.
She looked us over and nodded. “I told you you’d be safe.”
“How’d it go on the ship?” I asked.
“Perfectly well. No one on board knows you were ever there.”
“And what about Bella?”
“She’s returned to Avalon. She’s looking forward to being in warm weather again, so she can wear more flattering clothing.”
I smiled, because that sounded like something Bella would say.
“Now, let’s hop on board.” Queen Katherine motioned to the iceberg she’d arrived on. “And I’ll take you to the Seventh Kingdom.”
33
Gemma
The iceberg wasn’t slippery—probably thanks to some type of spell. But the moment I stepped onto it, the gentle rocking made my stomach cramp up. I wrapped my arms around myself, swallowing down nausea as the iceberg floated away.
We’d only traveled for about five minutes before the outline of a boundary dome shimmered in the open ocean ahead.
“This iceberg has been enchanted by our witch,” Queen Katherine said. “Anyone on board can pass through the boundary.”
Sure enough, the iceberg slipped through the boundary with us on it. As we went through, a tingle passed over my skin.
A small, deserted island had been hidden inside the dome, with a snow-covered log cabin in the center of it. No penguins waddled down to the water, and no seals laid on the ice floating nearby. There wasn’t even a breeze. It was so quiet that I could physically feel the stillness.
The iceberg docked into the side of the island. It fit perfectly into the ground, like each were pieces of a puzzle.
I hurried onto solid ground, then looked up at the cabin in question. A soft, orange light glowed out of the windows, the same color as the orbs in Utopia.
I’d expected something grander, like an ice palace.
Maybe, like the huts in the Ward, the cabin was a cover for an underground kingdom.
Without a word, Queen Katherine led us up the snowy path to the cabin. Once we were close enough, I noticed a thin layer of frost covering every bit of the wood.
Queen Katherine reached for the frosty handle of the door, turned it, and walked inside.
I toyed with the chain of my necklace as I stepped through. Because where there was a door, there was a way out.
Three women in heavy animal skins who looked around Queen Katherine’s age—in their mid-twenties—sat around a small dining table. By their scents, I could tell that one was a witch, one a vampire, and the other a dragon.