Hidden Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon Book 7) by Genevieve Jack (best book club books .txt) 📕

prophecy, isn’t Charlie supposed to be a weapon? Months ago, Tobias warned me that the child of a dragon and a witch could flatten cities.”

Gabriel scowled. “Folklore. Brynhoff demonized the witch queen of Darnuith and her dragon mate. He murdered their unborn child along with the queen. It would make sense that he’d spread rumors that their progeny was a monster, otherwise the other four kingdoms might denounce what he’d done.”

“But do you think there’s any truth to the prophecy? Obviously we three sisters are playing a role in bringing Eleanor down. We hope to bring an end to Paragon as we know it. That part is true. And if that part of the prophecy is true, then maybe…” She stopped short. If Charlie had any deadly power, she would have done something to protect them from the sea monster that almost tore them apart. She was probably worrying over nothing.

“Our daughter is not a monster.” Gabriel rolled the ball back to Charlie. “Besides, we won’t know what magical talents she might have or not have until after she shifts for the first time.”

“Not have? Do you think it’s possible she has no power?”

“Her wings are different, Raven. And she was born looking more like you than me. It isn’t unheard of for dragons to be born in their soma forms, but much more commonly, they look like whelps, er, baby dragons. They look like this after their first shift. Will she have the ability to make herself invisible?” Gabriel shrugged. “We’ve seen hints that she’ll be able to breathe fire. What magic will come naturally to her? We won’t know until she’s older.”

Everything was changing. It was like Raven was standing in the middle of a river, time rushing by her. Already Charlie was growing and changing at an alarming rate. Raven could only speculate what she’d become when she grew up. That was much farther down the river. The hard part was enjoying the temperature of the water right where she was. How could she stay in the moment and enjoy every second of her baby’s existence when every day brought her closer to something big, something that could change everything? How did she enjoy where she was when something big and dark was careening toward her at a high rate of speed?

Charlie giggled and patted the ball.

“Can you say mama?” Raven cooed at her daughter, kissing the top of her head.

“Ma. Ma,” Charlie said with some effort, her huge blue eyes blinking up from a face framed in downy white curls.

“Oh goddess, she said it!” Raven swept her up and kissed her chubby cheek.

Gabriel grinned proudly. “As I said, our daughter is absolutely brilliant.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Aborella hated Eleanor. The emotion came from a deep well of pain and regret that she sank deeper into every day and night she spent in this infernal cell. Other than her visions, all her magic had been drained from her. The sun hadn’t touched her skin since Eleanor had arrested her. Her normally dark purple complexion had faded to lavender. She was sick. Weak. Underfed. And the empress was to blame.

“I am losing my patience, Aborella.”

“Unchain me and I’ll help you find it.” Aborella’s head snapped to the side as Eleanor’s palm shot out and connected with her cheek.

“My men have sifted through all the ash in the Empyrean Wood. There is no box. There are no documents.”

“I must have been mistaken. Visions are open to interpretation. Maybe the buried thing was metaphorical.”

Fury rang through Eleanor like a bell and her claws raged forward. Slashing talons sliced Aborella’s wing asunder. Intense pain stabbed through her back into her heart, stealing her breath. Her eyes spread wide. When she finally succeeded in sipping air into her lungs, all she could do was scream. Aborella was no stranger to pain, but this was intolerable. Her back pulsed and bled, her torso burned. Her stomach tried to empty itself, but there was nothing inside her. With the chains shackling her, there was no way to turn for comfort.

“My wing,” she sobbed. “You took my wing. How could you?”

Eleanor pressed the bloody wing against the wall across from her, tore a nail from the wooden windowsill, and spiked it through the wing and into the wall. Aborella’s sobs intensified at the cruelty. She’d be forced to stare at the missing wing as she suffered from its loss.

“You took my wing,” she cried through gritted teeth. “You evil fucking bitch!”

Eleanor whirled, her frame looking bonier and more angular than ever. Her black eyes bore into Aborella, and her red lips pulled back from her teeth. “Tell me what the rebellion is up to, Aborella, or I will take the other wing. And once I’ve taken your wings, I’ll take your limbs, one by one. We already know you can survive it. I will take you apart like an insect.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

Eleanor’s talons shot from her knuckles again, and Aborella cringed against the wall, away from her reach.

“I’ll tell you what I know.” Aborella squeezed her eyes shut. She was truly the lowest form of life now, no better than a worm plucked from the soil, but she simply could not stand any more pain. She was weak. She admitted it. Eleanor had won. She’d broken her spirit.

“Well? Start talking.”

Aborella stared down at a smattering of her blood across the stone as she spoke. “There are five orbs, one hidden in each of the kingdoms. The rebels are trying to find and collect each of them.” Aborella leaned her good side against the wall and curled into a ball.

“Why? What do these orbs do?”

“They were created centuries ago by Medea, the witch queen of Darnuith. Each one contains a piece of a key. If all are collected, together they form a way to unlock a hidden vault that contains the most powerful grimoire known to have ever existed.”

Eleanor grew suspiciously silent. Aborella peeked at her to find her statuesque, perfectly still, as if in