With that, Mary led us back to the main building, so we could learn where she was sending us next.
27
Gemma
I’d expected Mary to bring us to the tearoom. Instead, she led us to the residential area, its streets lined with small, stilted houses.
“I thought we’d chat in my house,” she said, offering no further explanation for her decision.
She led us to a house that looked no different from the others, and opened the door. No key necessary—in the Haven, they believed locks took away the sense of community. Ethan hadn’t been happy about that when we’d been given our rooms in the hotel, but his room was right next to mine and Mira’s, so he didn’t complain too much.
He’d asked for a connecting door, but Mom wouldn’t hear of it.
Mary’s house was the size of an average one-bedroom apartment. The decorations were simple and functional—nothing to make it look like the living space of the leader of the kingdom.
“This is really where you live?” Mira asked.
“Yes.” Mary smiled. “As you know, the Haven shares all of our resources equally. Being the leader of the kingdom doesn’t mean I need more living space than anyone else.” She said it so simply—like it was common sense—and strolled into the small kitchen. “Would you like anything to drink? Water, juice, soda?”
“Coffee?” I’d quickly become addicted to South Indian filter coffee, and intended on adding it to the Twin Pines Café menu whenever Mira, Mom, and I were back home.
If we ever made it back home.
I swallowed down anxiety at the thought. Because with each day spent away, home felt more and more like a distant memory.
A life that no longer belonged to me.
A life I no longer had a place in.
“Gemma?” Ethan’s voice pulled me out of my trance. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just tired from all our training.”
He nodded, although I could tell he didn’t believe me.
Mary brought the coffee into the living room, and we sat down in the sofas and chairs. We all helped ourselves—except for Mary, who’d brought herself a mug of blood. The blood had a distinct metallic scent, although there were also some added spices, since the vampires in the Haven drank animal blood instead of human blood. They said it tasted better that way.
“So,” Ethan said to Mary. “Tell us about this place where the twins and I are going.”
“It’s called Hecate’s Eternal Library,” she said. “And only the twins are going.”
“I’m their protector.” He sat straighter and squared his shoulders. “I go where they go.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” she said. “Hecate is the goddess of witches, so only witches can enter her library. The library is at the top of Moon Mountain. Witches start the journey at the bottom of the mountain and hike up. You’ll be rejected at the first roadblock.”
“Roadblock?” I asked.
“Witches must prove themselves before entering the library,” she said. “And they only have one chance to try.”
Mira’s face paled. “You mean these roadblocks could kill us?”
“No.” Mary chuckled, although I didn’t see why it was funny, since everything in the supernatural world seemed like it was out to kill us. “The mountain’s magic will heal you before you die, and send you back to where you came from. In your case, back to the Haven.”
I sighed, since I had zero interest in almost dying. But I supposed I shouldn’t be too picky.
“What are the roadblocks like?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you,” she said. “You’ll have to find out on your own.”
“But you know?”
“Yes. I went to the Eternal Library, many centuries ago.”
“But I thought you said only witches could go to the library.”
“I used to be a witch,” she said. “Before becoming a vampire.”
“Right.” I nearly smacked myself on my forehead. I should have remembered that from my history textbook.
“Back to the roadblocks,” Ethan said, his eyes blazing with intensity. “I assume they’ll have to use magic to get through them.”
My lips parted when he said “they’ll” instead of “we’ll.”
If he’d stopped fighting to come with us, then he must truly trust Mary, and know this was our final option to figure out who was tracking us.
“Hecate designed the trek up the mountain to test which witches will earn the right to enter the library,” she said. “Take from that what you may.”
“Then we have a problem,” he said. “Because their strongest magic is their dragon magic—not their witch magic. And if they use their dragon magic, they’ll lure the demons straight to the mountain.”
“Unless they can’t track us on the mountain,” I said.
His eyes locked on mine. “Are you willing to bet your life on that guess?”
I pressed my lips together and said nothing. Because no matter how much better Mira and I had gotten with our elemental magic, the demons and dark witches had magic beyond what we understood.
They had magic that shouldn’t exist.
We needed to be as careful as possible. Which meant only using our limited witch magic, and our basic skills with swords.
“What about Harper?” I said. “She was one of the strongest witches in Utopia. She could come with us and help us up the mountain.”
“Not a bad idea,” Mary said. “I’ll send someone to bring Harper here. Then we can fill her in, and see if she wants to join you on the quest.”
28
Gemma
Three witches from the Haven teleported me, Mira, and Harper to the base of the mountain. They flashed out immediately after we arrived.
“Whoa.” Harper’s eyes were as wide as saucers as she gazed over my shoulder. “Look.”
I spun around and gasped.
Ahead of me stood a tall, narrow mountain framed by the purplish-blue night sky. The stars shined like gemstones, and the moon hung so low that it looked five times its normal size.
A tall, slim palace grew out of the mountain’s peak. Wispy clouds surrounded the palace’s base, and its crystal turrets reflected the starlight.
Hecate’s Eternal Library.
Mist cleared around our feet, revealing a dirt path lined with moon-colored stones. A muffled howl echoed through the air, followed by another, and another.
Dogs.
Or wolves.
Shivers ran up and down my spine. I wanted to call on my fire magic to warm up, but of course, I resisted.
“Looks like we’re supposed to follow the path,” I said. “Come on. Let’s go.”
I’d been nervous about being around Harper—after losing her mom and her home, I didn’t want to say anything that upset her. But Harper was as talkative as ever, peppering us with questions about the Queen of Swords as we walked down the moonlit path.
She looked so different in her Haven whites than she did in the animal skins worn in Utopia. Softer, and younger.
“Did the Queen of Swords say anything about the Angel Trials?” Harper eventually asked.
“Nothing more than I read in the history book,” I said, and Harper sighed in disappointment. Because the Angel Trials—the test a person took to see if they were worthy of entering Avalon to join the Earth Angel and her army—were as mysterious as the journey up Moon Mountain. “From what Raven said, she doesn’t remember much. Most people who complete the Angel Trials remember nothing.”
“I can’t believe you’re on first name basis with the Queen of Swords,” Harper said.
“She’s pretty relaxed about formalities,” I said. “Not so much with training.”
“I’d love to take a lesson from her when we’re back.”
“Sure. I’ll ask.” I had a good feeling Raven would say yes—she loved showing off her abilities with a sword.
The moonlight beamed down on us, its energy like whispers brus
hing my skin. I gazed up and took a deep breath, drinking in its magic.
Then I glanced at Mira, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet. “Hey,” I said to my twin. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, although her ocean blue eyes were dark and moody, a storm raging within them.
Something was upsetting her. And it was really upsetting her, because she wasn’t usually one to hold her tongue.
It had to do with Ethan. I could feel it. Mainly because I also felt like he should be with us, helping us on this quest.
I felt safer with him nearby. As distant as he could be, he’d slowly become a steady force in my life, and I trusted that he’d do anything for me and Mira.
“Are both of you gonna be all broody the whole way up the mountain?” Harper asked.
“No.” I immediately felt bad, because if anyone had a reason to be broody, it was Harper. “Sorry. I think I’m just tired. Training with Raven was exhausting.”
“Sounds like it,” she said as we turned around a curve in the path. “But it might be time to put that training to use. Because I think we’ve found our first roadblock.”
29
Gemma
A neon blue river wound like a moat around the mountain. The path led to an arched wooden bridge… and a black wolf sat calmly in the center of it. It was way larger than a normal wolf—it was about the size of a car. Its eyes glowed white, and the blue light from the river reflected off its sharp, pointed teeth.
We stared at the wolf, and it stared straight back at us.
Challenging us.
I took a deep breath and reached for the handle of my sword. “I guess we’re supposed to fight this thing.”
“Hell, no, we won’t,” Mira said. “The bridge isn’t the only way across.” She stepped over the stones that lined the path and walked to the river.
Of course.
Why fight our way past a monstrous wolf when we could swim instead?
Harper and I looked at each other, shrugged, then hopped over the stones and followed Mira. Pink lily pads covered the water, and purple frogs ribbitted as they leaped from pad to pad.
“Are you sure it’s safe to go in there?” I eyed the strange, glowing water. “It looks toxic.” I looked to Harper, since she had far more experience with witchcraft than I did.
Mira looked to Harper, too.
“How would I know?” she asked. “This is the first time I’ve seen neon blue water, too.”
“Maybe there’s some sort of spell to test—”
Before I could finish the sentence, Mira kneeled down and dipped her hand into the water.
“Mira!” I grabbed her arm and pulled her hand out of the water. “We can’t use our elemental magic.”
“I’m not using my elemental magic.” She narrowed her eyes and yanked her arm out of my grip. “But I’m naturally in tune with water. I can already feel that the river forms a ring around the mountain. If any of us can get a sense of if we can swim through it safely, it’s me. Besides, it’s less dangerous than going past that thing.” She glanced at the wolf, which was sitting down and watching us curiously.
The wolf didn’t look as dangerous now that it was sitting with its head tilted to the side—like a dog more than a wolf.
But I’d seen those pointy teeth.
“Go ahead.” I nodded to Mira, although her hand was already submerged in the water again.
She closed her eyes, and all was still. I didn’t want to breathe—the only sounds were the ribbiting frogs and the distant howls of wolves.
“The water’s safe,” Mira said. “It looks strange because of the color, but otherwise it’s no different than regular water. We can swim through it.”
She removed her slippers and put them inside the small satchel along her weapons belt. Then she jumped into the river like a cannonball. The water splashed up and hit me in the face, and I backed away on instinct.
She resurfaced and treaded in the water. “Come on in,” she said with a giant smile. “It’s the perfect temperature.”
“Every temperature of water is perfect to you,” I said, since she’d be comfortable in water that was nearly freezing—or boiling.
“You know what I mean,” she said. “It’s like a bathtub.”
Harper and I removed our shoes and tucked them away.
Then Harper jumped in just like Mira had done.
I sat down on the edge and dipped my feet in, so the water lapped around my knees. Mira was right—it felt no different from regular water. And it was the perfect temperature.
Slowly, I lowered myself into the river so I was treading water with Mira and Harper. My white top bubbled up around me, and my sword was heavy by my side. But with my new supernatural strength, it didn’t drag me down.
Something rubbed against my ankle, and I flinched my foot away. A pink lily pad floated next to me. A vine curled down off of it into the water near where my foot had been. The purple frog sitting on the lily pad stared at me, then it ribbited and shot its tongue out to catch a fly.
“Everything okay?” Mira asked.
“Yeah. There’s just stuff at the bottom of the river.”
“You mean the vines?” Harper asked, and I nodded. “But isn’t earth your element?”
“It just caught me by surprise,” I said, and then I pushed off to swim across the river.
But I couldn’t swallow past the tight unease in my throat. Because Harper was right—earth was my element.
And something about the vines didn’t feel right.
We swam around the lily pads, but no matter how much we tried to keep our distance from them, their vines kept creeping around my ankles. Judging by the way Mira and Harper occasionally paused, they were having the same problem.
We were nearly to the center of the river, where the lily pads got the thickest. They continued in both directions, so there was no getting around them.
Mira led the way, pushing through the blanket of lily pads.
They surrounded her, like she was a lily pad magnet. She stopped moving forward, and from her jagged movements, I could tell she was thrashing with her ankles.
She looked around, panicked.
“Mira!” I called, and I swam as quickly as I could to reach her.
But the vines curled around my feet until they were so tight that I couldn’t move. My heart raced, my pulse quickening. I treaded water to keep afloat, swallowing the least amount of water that I could, and tried pulling my feet free. But the harder I pulled, the tighter the vines became.
Harper stayed back where the lily pads weren’t so thick. “There’s no way through,” she said. “We have to turn around.”
“They’re not letting us move.” I tried to pull one of my ankles free again, but it was useless.
“They’re enchanted. They don’t want you getting to the other side,” she said. “Tell them you’re turning around. See if they listen.”
“You want me to talk to the lily pads?” Mira asked.
Before Harper could answer, I closed my eyes and reached out to the pink plants. Not with my magic, but with my thoughts.
We mean no harm. We just need to get to the library. Let us go to the other side. Please.
A vine wrapped around my waist and tightened so much that it hurt to breathe.
Panic shot through my body, and I opened my eyes.
Sorry, I thought this time, desperate for any way to get free. We’ll turn back around. Just let us go.
The vine loosened around my waist, followed by the ones around my ankles. I sucked in a sharp breath of relief at no longer having to fight to stay afloat.
But Mira was still struggling.
I touched the lily pad closest to me, and its neon pink color pulsed slightly, as if it was telling me it was listening.
Mira, too.
My sister’s thrashing stopped.
She swam back to the shore like a bullet through the water.
Harper and I followed, and we pulled ourselves up out o
f the river, where Mira was already standing.
My twin gathered her hair over her shoulder and squeezed out the excess water. “What did you do?” she asked me.
“I tried to get the lily pads to let us across. But Harper was right—they’re enchanted not to let anyone through. So I promised them we’d turn around, and they let us go.”
“You used your magic?”
“No,” I said. “I might have been able to control them with my magic, but I didn’t do that. I just talked to them. Like Harper said.”
“Hm.” Mira didn’t look convinced.
Then a breeze blew past us, and suddenly, we were dry.
“Did you just use your magic?” I asked my twin.
“No.” She held her hands up in defense. “I swear it.”
“It’s the mountain,” Harper said. “It’s enchanted. It was telling us that we did the right thing by turning around.”
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“I’m a witch,” she said simply. “So are you. Push aside your frustration about not being able to use your elemental magic, and focus on your witch magic.”
I closed my eyes, centered myself, and took a deep breath.
Warmth tingled in my core and spread to my arms and legs.
Magic.
It was everywhere.
I smiled, content for the first time since arriving at Moon Mountain. When I opened my eyes, Harper was watching me with approval, like she had every time I’d successfully completed a spell in Utopia.
Mira looked more at peace, too.
Harper glanced at the bridge. “With swimming across the river out of the question, it seems like there’s only one way to the other side.”
“The wolf.” Dread filled my stomach.
“I don’t think it’s just any wolf,” she said.
“No kidding,” Mira muttered. “It’s a monster.”
“It’s Hecate’s,” Harper said. “All her animal familiars are black. And it’s just been sitting there—it hasn’t moved to attack.”
The Dragon Twins (Dark World: The Dragon Twins Book 1) Page 11
