Instead, they looked ready to attack at any moment.
They didn’t trust us.
Raven was closest to us, her sword in hand, and she was the only one who smiled. “Welcome to Aurora, Nebraska,” she said, and then she tossed her sword in the air, catching it with her other hand. “Needless to say, I haven’t missed it.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the abandoned, white farmhouse in the distance. It was the farmhouse where she’d once been held captive by the demons. Her rescue had revealed that the demons were hunting gifted humans, turning them into vampires, and draining them of their blood.
Over the years, the Nephilim army had located some of the bunkers and freed the captives. But they’d yet to learn what the demons were doing with the gifted vampire blood.
Add that to the list of questions I wanted to ask Hecate. If Hecate decided to show up the next time I returned to the Eternal Library. Because we’d used our keys to visit the library every day since returning to the Haven, and she hadn’t been there any of those times.
I had a feeling that getting an audience with Hecate was a lot more rare than it had initially seemed.
One of the witches—a short one with spiky brown hair—stepped forward and smirked. “Are you going to finally show us this dragon magic of yours, or what?” she asked.
Fire warmed my core, the earth grounded my feet, and I smiled at finally being able to sink into the comfort of my elemental magic.
Mira’s face paled in the moonlight.
Fiery sparks of determination flared in Ethan’s eyes.
“Let’s get in formation,” he said, and Raven repeated his statement loudly enough for the Nephilim in the back.
Within seconds, the Nephilim and witches formed a circle around me, Ethan, Mira, Harper, and the witches who had teleported with Ethan and Mira.
Harper checked to make sure everyone was in place, then she closed her eyes and chanted in Latin. It was a spell I knew from our lessons—a boundary spell. It was one of the most advanced spells in the book. I was nowhere close to being able to do it, but magic flooded out of Harper’s hands and surrounded us in a dome. The dome dimmed out, but it was still there, protecting us.
It was a much smaller version of the protection domes around the kingdoms. We would be able to leave and re-enter as we pleased, but no one else would be able to enter unless teleported in by one of the witches currently inside.
The Nephilim faced out with their swords drawn. Raven was the most magnificent of all of them, with orange magic swirling around her sword.
If she were to have an elemental affinity, I had a feeling it would be fire.
“Well?” She tilted her head and smirked. “You ready to get one step closer to magical freedom?”
My fire sparked inside me, as if it could answer her question. But the air around me chilled.
“You really don’t think Lilith will come?” Mira asked.
“No way will she come.” Raven rolled her eyes. “In all the years we’ve been fighting this war, Lilith has never put herself in the path of danger. She has minions for that. Expendable minions.”
Minions she’s been sending to kill us.
The spiky haired witch narrowed her eyes at Mira. “Are you scared?”
“Of course she’s scared.” Ethan came to Mira’s defense. “But she has me. And Gemma.” He looked to me, and I nodded. “We can do this.”
“Yes.” My eyes didn’t leave his. “We can.”
“Then stop staring at each other and do it,” the witch said, and she shivered. “It’s freezing out here.”
“I can do something about that.” I raised my arms, fire erupted from my palms, and I pushed it up, aiming for the stars.
After keeping my elements trapped for so long, it felt incredible to let loose. And while the snow melted around my feet, and the earth filled me with energy, it was my fire that fueled me.
Air circled around my fire—Mira. I glanced over at my twin, happy to see her smiling as the wind whipped around her. Flakes of snow swirled at her feet, flew up into the cyclone, and spiraled around as well.
Then another burst of fire lit up the sky—Ethan. He stood like I was, arms raised, blasts of fire pouring out of his palms. Flames danced across his skin, just like they did across mine.
As if he knew I was watching him, he glanced over and gave me a small, confident smile. The type of smile that gave off the impression that we’d already won… or that we knew we would win.
“We’re waiting, Lilith!” Raven yelled, holding her sword up to the sky. “It’s time to send your friends out to play!”
Her voice echoed across the snow-covered field.
Then, silence.
But the Nephilim and witches stayed in position, so I kept my fire burning, too. I had so much fire inside me—like not using it for so long had stored it up, and it was finally getting the release it craved.
Either that, or I’d been getting stronger.
Suddenly, people appeared out of nowhere around the circle. Some of their eyes glowed red—demons. Like us, they teleported to the field in pairs, each of them holding onto a witch. Many of them had swords strapped to their side.
The Nephilim pounced.
Raven was a blur as she zipped from demon to demon, leaving piles of ash in her path. The other Nephilim weren’t quite as fast, but they seemed to be putting up good fights against the demons and witches.
Mira, Ethan, and I reined our magic back in.
Our job was done.
I looked to Harper and stepped toward her.
But her eyes were dark and haunted as they stared out at the Nephilim fighting the demons and witches, their cries and grunts accompanied by the clashing metal of their swords.
It was chaos.
Then, Mira screamed.
I spun around and gasped at the sight of a demon standing in front of my twin, only centimeters between them.
The demon shouldn’t be in here. It shouldn’t be able to get through the boundary dome.
A frail woman in a white dress stood next to the demon. Her skin was as pale as the snow, and her hair as black as Hecate’s. She held a long, silver wand by her side, and the crystal at the top of it glowed red.
She smiled wickedly, spun around, and blasted red magic at the witches surrounding us.
Mira’s mouth was still open, and blood dripped out of the corner of her lips.
“NO!” I yelled, and before I could think twice, I pulled the dagger out of my weapons belt, jumped at the demon’s back, and rammed the dagger though its heart.
The demon disintegrated to a pile of ash at my feet.
Mira collapsed into my arms, narrowly missing my weapon’s blade.
Something pressed into my stomach, and I looked down to see what it was.
The steel handle of the demon’s dagger.
It was sticking out of Mira’s stomach. Blood leaked out around it, staining her white tunic red.
I fell to my knees, tears streaming down my face as I cradled my twin in my arms.
She didn’t cry.
“We’ll get you out of here,” I said. “You’ll be okay.” I held her tighter, my heart racing as I looked around for someone—anyone—for help.
Ethan emerged from the fighting—he’d been helping the Nephilim and the witches—and rushed to our side. He was all business as he examined Mira. “Leave the dagger where it is, and don’t move her,” he told me, and then he rushed for the nearest witch—the one who’d brought him here—and pulled her down to kneel next to us in the snow. “Bring her to our destination and get her to a healer.”
The witch created a boundary dome around the four of us, grabbed Mira’s hands, and flashed out.
I stared down at Mira’s blood on my palms, shocked and unable to move.
Ethan reached down and took my hands. “Gemma,” he said my name calmly. “We have to get out of here.”
“I don’t have strong enough witch magic to teleport. And what about the oth
ers…” I looked out to where the pale witch had been blasting our witches with that wand.
It had to be the Dark Wand.
Many of our witches were collapsed onto the ground. Some of their eyes looked blankly up at the stars—dead. Others kept jumping out of the way of the wand’s blasts.
I let out a breath of relief when I didn’t see Harper amongst the fallen.
The witch with the wand strode forward, to where Raven finished off two demons at once.
Raven spun to face her. “Lavinia,” she said. “I should have known you’d come.”
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for years,” Lavinia said. I could only see her back, but the red crystal in the wand glowed as she spoke. “When I can finally take down the indestructible Queen of Swords.”
She raised the Dark Wand and blasted red magic at Raven.
Raven held up her sword with both hands and blocked the wand’s magic. The magic reflected off the blade and up into the sky, where it disappeared into nothing.
Lavinia kept the magic aimed at Raven, and Raven continued to hold it off with her sword, although she trembled from the effort.
“I have the Dark Wand.” Lavinia took slow, forced steps toward Raven, like she was walking through sludge. “I’m stronger than you.”
“No. You’re. Not.” Raven narrowed her golden eyes, then rotated the angle of her blade and redirected the wand’s magic so it knocked down one of the demons fighting a Nephilim. She did the same to another demon, and another. Once there were no more clear targets in range, she turned back to Lavinia. “Where’s Lilith?”
“As if I’d tell you.”
“I didn’t think you would. But it was worth a shot.”
Lavinia threw more red magic at Raven, and Raven stumbled back, although she quickly found her center again. “My wand is more powerful than your sword,” Lavinia said. “You can’t beat me.”
“Watch me.” Raven changed the angle of the sword so the magic bounced off right above the original beam.
Lavinia’s own magic struck back at her.
The witch slammed backward into the snow.
Raven ran toward her and jumped, her sword raised and ready to strike.
But when she was mid-air, Lavinia flashed out with the Dark Wand.
Raven’s sword struck the snow instead. She cursed, then looked around at the Nephilim and witches still fighting the demons and dark witches.
Lavinia had killed too many of our people with the Dark Wand. The demons and dark witches outnumbered us.
But Raven was quickly moving again, and before I knew it, she’d already turned four more demons to ash.
I rose to stand, and Ethan did, too. I called on my fire, ready to char a demon or dark witch, but they were all fighting our people. And while Raven had supernatural reflexes with her sword that made her fast enough to aim at our enemies while they were engaged in combat with one of our own, I wasn’t comfortable risking it.
So I reached for my dagger instead.
Ethan wrapped his fingers around my wrist. “What are you doing?”
His touch warmed my skin, but I forced myself to focus. “They need help,” I said.
“The Nephilim have it covered. And Mira needs you. You can’t risk yourself.” He paused, his voice strained, and he added, “I need you.”
I swallowed and focused on breathing, even though it was close to impossible with him looking at me like he valued my life more than his own. “So what do you want to do?” I asked. “Stand here and watch, and do nothing?”
“That was always the plan.”
I sighed, since he was right. With Lilith tracking our dragon magic, the three of us were the Nephilim army’s best bait to find the greater demon.
Our job was to stay alive. Because bait was no use if it was dead.
Like Mira…
No, I shook the thought away. She’s getting treated right now. The knife was still inside her, so she didn’t lose too much blood. She’s going to be okay.
Suddenly, somebody appeared in front of me, on the opposite side of the boundary dome.
Harper.
And she looked… happy.
“Did you do it?” I asked.
“I found the perfect one.” She smiled wickedly. “When I brought her in, the witches were already getting started on healing Mira.”
Relief rushed through me, although I wouldn’t be completely relaxed until Mira was in the clear.
Harper looked around at the battle still happening on the field. The numbers were smaller—on both sides—but the Nephilim appeared to be getting an upper hand on our enemies.
Whenever it looked like one of our people was about to lose to one of theirs, Raven zipped to their side to take over.
“We need to get out of here,” Harper said. “Gemma, I’ll bring you first.”
I looked to Ethan. “Promise you won’t do anything stupid?”
“Like jump back into the fight once you’re gone?”
“Yeah.” I lowered my eyes, my cheeks feeling hot, then looked back up to him. “I need you, too.”
My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my head. And despite the battle around us, it felt like Ethan and I were the only ones on the snow-covered field.
I felt like I’d just poured out my soul to him.
“My job is to protect you and Mira,” he said. “With neither of you here, I have no reason to stay. Besides, Raven has it covered.”
I glanced at the Queen of Swords just as she turned two more demons to ash.
“Good.” I smiled, relieved. “I’ll see you soon?”
“See you soon.”
I took Harper’s hands, nodded to let her know I was ready, and she flashed us out.
46
Gemma
We landed on the outskirts of an African village, where the soft pinks and oranges of sunrise bathed small huts with straw roofs pointed up like teepees in its light.
A barrier dome separated the village from the tundra beyond it. And three black women in jeans and colorful tops stood inside the dome, waiting for us.
They teleported to our sides and smiled warmly. One of the women was older, although I could only tell by the strands of gray in her hair. Her skin barely had any wrinkles. All three of them wore wood bangle bracelets up their arms, and the distinct, floral smell of witch radiated off their skin.
The older woman introduced herself as Makena. The witches with her were her daughters, Lissa and Kessie.
“You must be Gemma,” Makena said, then she looked to Ethan. “And you are…?”
“Ethan Pendragon.”
I startled at his use of his true surname. He’d mentioned that he’d only taken the surname of Walker to better fit in on Earth, but he’d never said his true surname until now.
“Ah, yes.” She smiled. “A descendent of—”
“Never mind that,” Ethan cut her off. “Where’s Mira?”
“She’s recovering in her room.”
I looked to the closest hut and shuddered at the thought of my twin being treated in such a primitive structure.
“And the witch?” Harper asked.
“In an inquisition cell. Now, come inside.” She walked to me and held her hands out, and the other two witches walked to Harper and Ethan. “We’ll bring you to your sister.”
I took her hands, and she teleported me to the center of the village, in front of the largest hut there. Although that wasn’t saying much, since none of the huts were particularly large. And the hut didn’t appear to have an entrance. In fact, none of the huts had doors or windows.
“This is the guest hut?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound rude.
“No,” she said with a small, knowing smile. “This is the entrance to the kingdom.” She stepped forward, and metal probes came out of the straw roof, directly at eye level. Laser beams shot out of them and into Makena’s eyes.
“Identity confirmed,” a robotic voice said from somewhere near the scanner.
Th
e roof twisted up and around like a corkscrew, revealing a thick steel tube beneath it.
I stepped back and stared, my mouth open in shock. Because that thing belonged on a space station—not in a village in Africa.
It creaked as the roof continued to move upward, then stopped at the top. The door in front of us whooshed to the side automatically, opening into a giant, industrial elevator.
Makena strode inside. “Gemma, Ethan, and Harper,” she said, looking at each of us as she said our name. “Welcome to the Ward.”
The elevator took us down a few floors, and opened into a steel hall.
Makena exited the elevator, although her daughters stayed inside. “Lissa and Kessie have business to attend to,” she said. “But first, hand them your weapons.”
Harper’s hand went protectively to the handle of her sword. “Our kingdoms are allies,” she said. “You can trust us.”
“And we’re offering you safety,” replied Makena. “In exchange, we ask that you trust us in return.”
I handed over my dagger first, in a gesture of good will. Ethan handed over his weapons next, followed by Harper, although Harper looked less than pleased.
“My daughters will ensure your weapons are stored in a safe space. When you leave, we’ll return them to you,” Makena said. “Now, come with me.”
I exited the elevator, then looked back at Makena’s daughters. Neither had said a word since we’d met. “Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Have a safe stay,” Lissa replied.
Kessie remained silent.
The doors hissed shut behind us, leaving us with Makena in the cold hall.
She’d looked so friendly up in the open air. Now, her strong cheekbones were as hard as the metal walls surrounding us.
“This is the guest hall.” She spun around and led the way, the taps of her clunky boots echoing with each step. “You’ll each have your own room for the duration of your stay.”
The Dragon Twins (Dark World: The Dragon Twins Book 1) Page 17
