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

He was her partner again. Whether through their physical connection or their emotional one, after Sylas had shared his secret, all the walls between them had crumbled into dust. How could she have ever believed they were insurmountable?

“I suppose I owe both of you another note of thanks for saving my life yet again,” Tobias whispered.

“Both of us?” Sylas shook his head. “I can’t take the credit for this. Dianthe showed us the way out. If it had been me leading the way, we’d likely be worm fodder. And she was the one who saved you from the sprites as well. I can’t take credit for that one either.”

Tobias’s low chuckle came over Sabrina’s sleeping body. “No, I mean from before, how you warned the rest of us that Eleanor was coming to London with the shadow-mail candle.”

Dianthe exchanged a glance with Sylas, who shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. How would I know Eleanor was in London? It’s true Nathaniel gave me a candle, but I have never used it.”

Tobias looked utterly confused. He adjusted Sabrina in his arms, and she released a broken snore. “The shadow-mail candle that Nathaniel gave you was used. Someone sent Nathaniel a message that said, ‘She’s coming. Run.’ That’s why we all left for Aeaea together when we did. Nathaniel assumed the message came from you. He said you told him you’d be there.”

Dianthe watched the exchange between the brothers, trying to remember what the shadow-mail candle even looked like. “It wasn’t me,” she finally said, shaking her head. “I don’t even know what a shadow-mail candle is.”

“The silver candle I brought home after Nathaniel rescued me. I kept it on the bookshelf.” Sylas tipped his head in her direction. Everything about that emotional time was a blur. They’d spent so little time together with Aborella in the house.

“Our bookshelf? I hardly remember it.” She tried to picture it in her mind and couldn’t.

“What are you saying? If neither of you sent it, who did?” Tobias squinted. “That message likely saved our lives. Nathaniel received word from his oreads that Eleanor had all but destroyed Mistwood Manor looking for Charlie. They missed us by a matter of hours.”

Dianthe could not imagine who had sent the message or how they’d accessed the candle until a thought wrapped around her heart and squeezed. All the blood seemed to drain from her face, her cheeks growing cold, and she felt like she might be sick. “It was her.”

Sylas shook his head. “Her who?”

“Aborella.”

Tobias made a noise like a snort. “That would be the day. Why would Aborella warn us Eleanor was coming? She’s helping Eleanor.”

A strange tingle started at the back of Dianthe’s skull. “No, she’s not. She’s pretending to help Eleanor, but she’s really helping us.”

Dianthe’s vision had shown Aborella helping the rebellion. How she would help was open to interpretation. “It was her. I know it was,” Dianthe said. “My vision wasn’t wrong, Sylas. She went back to Eleanor, but she hasn’t been helping her; she’s been thwarting her.”

Tobias shook his head. “No way. That fairy is evil to her core.”

“No one else had access to the candle. She must have taken it. She must have sent the warning.” Dianthe was sure now. She’d been right about Aborella. She’d just misinterpreted the details.

Sylas gave a slow and reluctant nod. “It would explain why the Obsidian Guard raided the Empyrean Wood instead of coming directly to our cottage. Eleanor probably knew a fairy had helped Aborella but didn’t know who. Perhaps her spies saw her leave the kingdom.”

“Eleanor must have sent the Guard to search the Empyrean Wood rather than Solaris Field based on a false tip from Aborella,” Dianthe said. “She’s telling Eleanor half-truths, bringing her close to her goal but not close enough to be successful. Even her attack on Aeaea was late. Eleanor came herself. If she’d had time to plan, she would have brought the Obsidian Guard with her.”

Sylas winced. “The night Aborella left and I confronted her about possibly joining the rebellion, she said something that has always confused me. When she was about to leave, she said, A seer is never wrong, but a picture only shows part of the story.” A low growl rumbled in Sylas’s throat. “I hate being wrong about this, but I have to admit it’s possible. It makes sense. She is the only one who could have used the candle.”

“But the Obsidian Guard is here now,” Tobias pointed out. “If your theory is true, how does Eleanor know we’re here?”

“When I saw Mother at the gate, Aborella wasn’t with her,” Sylas said. “When was the last time you saw Eleanor do anything without her? She used to bring her everywhere.”

Understanding dawned as if the light was shining directly on Dianthe’s face. “Aborella is a powerful seer. Her visions are usually of the future,” Dianthe said. “She would have seen us collecting the orb from Demidicus last night. The fact that Eleanor is here today and not yesterday means Aborella is delaying information. Maybe she thought we’d be gone by now. Maybe…” Dianthe closed her eyes as if she were in pain. “I have a terrible feeling about this. If Aborella isn’t here with Eleanor—”

Dianthe’s eyes rolled back in her head and her body went stiff. She felt Sylas steady her.

“She’s having another vision.”

Images flooded her mind, and she rattled them off as they came to her. “Silver wings nailed to a wall. Blood. Aborella in chains.” Tears cut trails down Dianthe’s cheeks. “Oh goddess. I see her. I see her, Sylas. Eleanor is torturing her. Aborella is trying to help us, but she can’t hold out much longer. It’s too painful. She’s a prisoner in the palace.”

Dianthe snapped out of it. Sylas’s face had gone pallid and slack, horrified. All at once, she sensed he was back in Eleanor’s ritual room. His mother knew how to cause pain. If she was torturing Aborella the way she’d tortured him, the fairy