The Dragon Twins (Dark World: The Dragon Twins Book 1)

by Michelle Madow

  “Of course we want them,” I said.

  “As I thought,” she said. “Mira—pick your key first.”

  Confusion rushed through me. Because why did Hecate choose Mira first? Harper had far stronger witch magic than the two of us. And I cared more about being a witch than Mira did.

  Give Mira more credit, I thought. She’s my sister. My twin. She’s capable of just as much as I am.

  “I just pick the one I think is the prettiest?” Mira asked.

  “No,” Hecate said. “Close your eyes. Then focus on your magic and let it guide you to the key that matches your soul.”

  “Right.” Mira sighed and blew a stray bit of blonde hair off her face. “Easy.”

  She pushed her hair behind her ears and closed her eyes. We were all silent as she reached forward.

  At first, nothing happened.

  Then her palm glowed silver, and the magic pulled her forward until her hand brushed against a key in the center. She wrapped her hand around the key and plucked it off the chain.

  She stepped back and opened her eyes. Wonder filled them, as if she’d been touched by Hecate’s magic.

  “Well?” I bounced on my toes, eager to see which key my twin had chosen.

  She opened her palm and revealed a silver key with a sky blue crystal at its head. Decorative swirls curled down its body until reaching the rectangular grooves at the bottom.

  “It’s perfect,” Mira said, breathless.

  “Of course it is.” Hecate smiled, and a delicate chain that matched the key appeared out of thin air. “So you can wear it, always,” the goddess explained. “But be sure to wear it under your shirt. Even though the key will only work for you, and even though only those who have a key know what they can do, that won’t stop others from trying to steal it.”

  “How can you be so sure that only people with keys know what they can do?” Harper asked.

  “Try again?” Hecate raised an eyebrow.

  “Right. No questions.” Harper cleared her throat. “You must have put an enchantment on the keys.”

  “A memory spell,” Hecate confirmed. “You can tell anyone about the keys, but they’ll forget a second later. Only those with a key can retain the knowledge of what they can do.”

  “So, only witches,” I said.

  “Or those who were once a witch and who still have a key,” she said. “Like the leader of the Haven kingdom, Mary. She still has her key, although after being turned into a vampire, she has no more witch magic inside her. So she can no longer use it.” Sadness passed over her eyes, like she was grieving the witch Mary had once been. But the emotion passed quickly, and she was back to business. “Now—Harper. Your turn.”

  Harper closed her eyes, and her palm glowed silver. In what must have been only a second, she stepped forward and grabbed a key near the edge of the chain.

  Her key was silver, with a crescent moon and a small star on its head. A purple gem sat in the center of the star, and more stars formed a helix down its body.

  “Witchy.” Harper’s eyes glinted in approval. “I like it.”

  The key’s chain appeared out of nowhere, and Harper draped it around her neck. The gem pulsed with magic, and she played with the bottom of the key with her fingers, looking thoroughly satisfied.

  “Finally, Gemma.” Hecate looked to me. “Step forward and select your key.”

  42

  Gemma

  I looked at the keys hanging from the chain, sizing them up. They were all intricate and beautiful, but some had bigger, brighter gems that sparkled more than others.

  I wanted a sparkly one.

  “You don’t choose your key,” Hecate reminded me. “Your key chooses you.”

  “I know.” I stepped forward, closed my eyes, and focused on my witch magic. It flared to life, and I could practically see its bright orange color dancing like a flame inside me. But when my hand tingled, it was cool, not hot.

  Hecate’s silver magic. It pulled me forward so strongly that there was no point in trying to resist. The keys’ magic pulsed outward, like each key was a living, breathing thing.

  But one of their heartbeats was louder than the rest.

  That one, I thought. It’s mine.

  I reached forward and wrapped my fingers around the key. It was warm, and the pointy edges of the metal dug into my skin. Its magic rushed through me and down to my core, binding itself to me like a breath of fresh air.

  “Well?” Mira asked. “What’d you get?”

  I opened my eyes and looked down at the key in my hand.

  Disappointment coursed through me.

  Because I’d chosen the plainest key in the bunch.

  Its gold color was all right, although it was a dull compared to the other gold keys. And it didn’t have any crystals. Instead, its head was a clock with two large wings coming out of the top, and two smaller ones coming out of the bottom.

  “I guess you’ve always been good at keeping time,” Mira finally said.

  “I don’t understand.” I looked to Hecate, who was clasping the chain back around her waist. “Shouldn’t I have gotten one that has to do with my magic?”

  “Are you not pleased?”

  The key’s magic dimmed, like it was disappointed with my disappointment. And I immediately felt bad. Because while it wasn’t sparkly, the metalwork was still pretty. At a closer look, it was actually more intricate than the others. The attention to detail was extraordinary.

  As if the key could read my thoughts, its magic hummed to life again.

  I put on the necklace, and the key fell happily onto my chest, like it was making a home there.

  “I just don’t understand what the key means,” I said. “I was expecting something to do with my elements, or with witchcraft.” I glanced at Harper’s pretty moon and stars key.

  “A key can reflect its wearer’s magic,” Hecate said. “But not always. I’m sure its meaning will be revealed in time.”

  I pulled at the key, and the chain stretched like a rubber band. When I let go, it returned to its original size.

  “Cool spell,” Harper said.

  “I figured it would be inconvenient to have to remove the necklace every time you needed to use the key,” Hecate said. “And I didn’t want any witches to choke themselves if they needed to escape a situation quickly.”

  I glanced at the door that led to the Ivory Hall. “So I just stick this key in the keyhole, think of the Haven, and the door will open to the Haven.”

  “That’s how the keys work,” Hecate said. “But before you go, you still need one more key. Since Ethan isn’t here, I’ll pull his key for him.”

  “You can do that?” I asked.

  “I’m the goddess of witchcraft,” she said. “My magic is connected to all the witch magic in the world. Of course I know which key is his.”

  “And you knew which keys were ours before we pulled them?”

  “I did.” She didn’t explain further. Instead, she picked a key hanging from her belt and held it up. “This one is Ethan’s.”

  My lips parted as I took in its beauty. It was such a bright gold that my key looked dull in comparison. A gemstone with orange and green swirls took over the majority of its head, and above it was an intricately carved dragon with strong wings spread high.

  “He’ll love it,” I said, and I stepped forward to take it.

  Mira’s hand pushed mine out of the way. “I’ll take it for him,” she said snidely.

  I dropped my hand and let Mira take the key, crushed by the reminder that Ethan was with her and not with me.

  Hecate looked at me with pity.

  Does she know…?

  It was a question I’d have to ask another time, since I’d already used my question for today. Besides, what did it matter if she knew about my dream? Her knowing about it wouldn’t make it real.

  It would never be real.

  Agonizing grief pulled at my heart again.

  “Gemma?” someone said—Mira. “W
hat are you doing?”

  I blinked, realizing I’d been staring into space. “Just… thinking.”

  “I’m sure you have a lot to think about.” Hecate smiled in understanding. “But now that you’ve asked your questions and have received your keys, it’s time you leave my library and return to the Haven.”

  43

  Gemma

  We walked to the door, and Harper volunteered to go first.

  “Go ahead,” I told Mira after Harper was gone. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Mira clicked her key into the lock, and its blue gem glowed. Then she turned the key and opened the door. It looked like it led back into the Ivory Hall, but when Mira stepped through, she disappeared.

  I reached for my key and looked to Hecate, who was watching calmly by my side. “Thank you. For everything,” I said. “Hopefully I’ll be back soon.”

  “I’m sure you will,” she said. “And Gemma?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do yourself a favor and put more trust into Fate. She’ll show you the way in time.”

  I nodded and said okay, since I wasn’t going to say no to a goddess. But internally, I cursed Fate. Because if Fate were on my side, wouldn’t she have had Ethan stay with me that first day at the cove? Like he had in my dream?

  Unless Ethan and I weren’t supposed to be together.

  Maybe he was meant for Mira. And maybe I was so torn up about it because I was the one who’d always longed for a fated romance—not Mira. I’d been waiting to meet my One for as long as I could remember.

  Maybe I was just plain jealous.

  Disgust at myself prickled through me. Because Mira was my twin. My true loyalty was to her—not to Ethan.

  I straightened and focused on the door.

  When I walk through, I’ll leave my feelings for Ethan behind.

  I had to do it. Because if I sat around pining for a version of Ethan that didn’t exist, I was going to make myself miserable.

  And I deserved so much better than that.

  Satisfied with my decision, I slid the key into the keyhole. Its wings moved up and down, and the clock rotated in a circle.

  The key clicked to the side, I swung the door open, and stepped into the tearoom in the Haven.

  44

  Gemma

  Hecate had sent a fire message to Mary to let her know we’d be arriving, so Mary, Mom, and Ethan were already there, along with Mira and Harper. Mira was already at Ethan’s side.

  His familiar hazel eyes were the first ones I saw.

  The eyes I’d looked into every time he’d told me he loved me. Everything about him was as I remembered from the dream, down to the curve of his lips and the wave in his hair.

  Except he’d always been happy when we were together.

  Now, his expression was hard, and angst darkened his eyes.

  But when he saw me, he lit up with the adoring smile I remembered, and love for him consumed me. It caressed my skin like a gentle breeze, and ignited like a flame inside me. It crashed down like a wave and settled on my soul like sand at the bottom of the ocean. And, whether those months with him were a dream or not, I knew I’d love him for all of time.

  I froze, overwhelmed with emotions, and someone engulfed me in a hug.

  Mom.

  “Gemma?” She pulled away and placed her hands on my shoulders. “Did something happen?”

  “Yeah.” I blinked to bring myself back into focus. “A lot happened.”

  “Clearly. But you look…” She paused to contemplate it. “Something’s different.”

  I lived through an alternate past few months that only I remember.

  “I’m fine.” I shrugged off her hands and looked to Harper. “What have you told them so far?”

  “We got here less than a minute before you did,” she said. “We haven’t told them anything yet.”

  “But that’s about to change,” Mary said, and she made herself comfortable on one of the colorful sofas. “Because we need to discuss everything you learned from Hecate. Assuming you asked the proper questions?”

  “You knew,” I said.

  “I did. But I trusted you’d know what to ask, and I didn’t want your mind to be on anything else but crossing the roadblocks while you hiked up the mountain. Because if you didn’t make it to the Eternal Library, we wouldn’t be any closer to getting answers than we were when you left.”

  I felt Ethan’s heavy gaze on me the entire time she spoke, so much that I could barely focus on what she was saying. And I couldn’t help it—I met his eyes again.

  He was totally still. And he was looking at me like I was the only person in the room. Like he was longing for me. Yearning to hold me.

  My heart stopped, pain crashed through me, and I looked away.

  Because Ethan looked at me that way whenever he told me he loved me.

  “Gemma?” Mom yanked me out of my thoughts again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah.” I forced a small smile, despite the hollow cavern expanding in my chest. “Just thinking about everything that happened on the mountain.”

  I also felt the weight of someone else’s stare—Mira’s. But I couldn’t bring myself to meet my twin’s eyes.

  “We have so much to fill you in on,” Harper said, although her voice was tight, like she also knew something was off. She sat down near Mary, and the rest of us followed.

  It took every conscious cell in my body not to look over at Ethan again.

  “It started soon after we were dropped off at the base of the mountain,” Harper said. “We didn’t have to walk far—” She stopped speaking mid-sentence and reached for her throat. “Why can’t I keep talking?”

  Mary simply smiled. “The journey up Moon Mountain is something only witches who’ve done it are able to know,” she said. “Rachael and Ethan haven’t hiked up the mountain. You’re unable to speak of your journey in their presence.”

  “So should they leave…?”

  “No,” Mary replied. “Because it isn’t the journey we’re concerned about. It’s what you learned from Hecate in the Eternal Library.”

  “Of course.” Harper sat straighter. “We were only allowed to ask Hecate one question each. Gemma went first.”

  We each explained what we’d asked, and the answer we’d been given.

  “We came back using our keys,” Mira finished, and then she removed Ethan’s key from around her neck and handed it to him. “This one’s yours.”

  He took it and studied it, looking pleased. “It’s perfect,” he said, and he looked to Mary. “But there’s no witch magic in my heritage. I don’t understand why Hecate gave it to me.”

  “It’s very pretty,” Mom chimed in from next to me. “What does it do?”

  “We just told you,” I said, but I didn’t continue.

  Because Hecate’s words echoed in my mind.

  You can tell anyone you want to about the keys, but they’ll forget a second later. Only those with a key can retain the knowledge of what they can do.

  Mom didn’t have a key. And she’d already forgotten what we’d told her about them.

  “It’s a token from Hecate,” Mary said. “She’s done Ethan a great honor by gifting it to him.”

  Mom nodded, but her eyes were blank. It was like everything we said about the keys went in one ear and out the other.

  Ethan was focused on her, concerned, and Mary explained Hecate’s memory spell on the keys.

  “Got it,” he said once she was done. “But I still don’t understand why I have a key. I have no witch magic.”

  “Hecate doesn’t make mistakes,” Mary said. “There must be something you don’t yet know.”

  Ethan frowned, but he didn’t say any more.

  “The Dark Objects,” Mary continued, and she shook her head, like she was still getting it through her mind. “No one’s ever spoken of such things in the entire thousand years I’ve been alive. And as far as I know, there’s no record of them in any archive. Surely if ther
e were, someone would have mentioned it by now.”

  “Their existence could have been covered up,” I suggested.

  “Perhaps.” She nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll inform the other kingdoms. As for this gifted vampire in Lilith’s lair…”

  “I have an idea about how we can find her,” Harper said.

  “You have an idea about how to find the greater demon we’ve been trying and failing to hunt down since before you were born?”

  “Yes.” She actually smirked at Mary. “It’ll be dangerous. But if we can pull it off, I think it just might work.”

  45

  Gemma

  After hearing Harper’s plan, Raven got to work sorting out the details. Four days later, we were about to turn the plan into reality.

  Harper stood across from me, bundled in a jacket and wearing winter boots that had no place in the mountainous, Indian jungle.

  Since my fire kept me warm even when I wasn’t actively using the element, I wore regular Haven whites. No need to get bogged down in extra clothing when it wasn’t necessary.

  The others had already teleported out. Me, Harper, Mira, Ethan, and the two witches transporting them were the only ones left.

  I checked on Mira, and her eyes were wide in terror.

  I’d tell her to stay behind, but both of us were essential to the plan.

  “You good?” I asked my twin.

  “No,” she said, and she swallowed down her fear. “In and out. Right?”

  “Yep,” Harper chirped, although from the way she bounced on her toes, I could tell she was anxious, too. She took my hands, and said, “I’ll go when you tell me to.”

  “Let’s do it.” The words left my lips before I could think twice.

  The ground disappeared, my stomach swooped, and then, I was standing on land again. But when I opened my eyes, it wasn’t the mountains I was looking at.

  Packed snow blanketed the plain for as far as the eye could see. Our group of Nephilim and witches stood together, about fifty of them in all. The Nephilims’ tight black Avalon uniforms stood in stark contrast against the witches’ Haven whites. And while the golden-rimmed eyes of the Nephilim all watched us, none of them spoke.