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

The wind and snow picked up outside the window, howling against the walls. She started opening cupboards. “Don’t thank me so quickly. I don’t see the food or drink my vision promised.”

Sylas frowned. “Aborella is resting. She’s very weak. Any other fairy—”

“She’s survived worse.”

“With the help of a zum zum tree and an apothecary of healing herbs.”

A dark, cold feeling overcame Dianthe, and she pressed her hand into her chest. Grief and loss seized her as if they’d been waiting in the wings for a sliver of an opportunity to take over. A soft mewl escaped her lips.

“I don’t think the loss will ever get easier.” She wiped away a stray tear. “It could take hundreds of years to regrow that forest. Even if the fairies sprout new oaks, maples, and redwoods, do you think there are any zum zums left? They were already so rare.”

Sylas frowned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to reopen the wound.”

What could she say? The wound had never closed to begin with.

Three hard knocks interrupted their conversation. Sylas flashed her a worried look and crept toward the door. He peeked out the window, squinting into the storm.

At once his eyebrows shot up and his mouth widened into a grin. “The rest of your vision has arrived.”

“Excuse me?”

He threw open the door, and Nathaniel, Clarissa, Avery, and Xavier entered, laden with supplies.

“Bloody hell, it’s a blizzard out there,” Nathaniel said. “If I’d had any common sense before coming here, I’d have lost it to frostbite while waiting at the door.”

“Aye, pure Baltic. ’Tis cold enough to scare yer skin right off yer body.” Xavier gave Dianthe a friendly nod. “Gud thin’ for Avery I’ve fire in my blood or she might not ’ave made it.”

“What are you doing here?” Dianthe asked happily.

Avery shook the snow from her hair and walked to the fire. “Nathaniel, Clarissa, and I used magic to teleport us here once Sabrina and Tobias told us what happened. We thought you’d probably need our help.”

“How did you know where we were?” Sylas asked.

“Nathaniel’s cards,” Clarissa said. “His tarot cards were screaming not to leave you to your own devices.”

“Mum isn’t the only one with a bit of magic,” Nathaniel said.

Clarissa spread her hands. “It takes three witches for this type of portal, so we all had to come.”

“And I go where Avery goes.” Xavier pointed his chin at his beloved.

“Raven sends her love. It was too risky for her and Gabriel to leave with Charlie,” Avery said.

“Colin was in a sweat over splitting up the three sisters, but given the possible scenarios, this one was the least unfavorable,” Nathaniel said. “The resistance needs both of you. Be prepared for a proper chewing out upon your return. It was very stupid doing what you did.”

Dianthe looked around the room, which had quickly filled to the brim with dragons. She could cry from the relief. She’d had no idea what she and Sylas would have done tomorrow if they were on their own.

“Speaking of what you did, were you successful?” Clarissa asked.

Without even thinking about it, Dianthe had moved in front of Aborella when the others came in. The injured fairy was curled beneath a blanket in the corner of the sofa, and up until that point, no one had seemed to notice her. Dianthe moved aside now to reveal the fairy whose skin was an awful shade of gray, her silver eyes looming too large in her starved frame.

“By the Mountain, you’ve got her,” Nathaniel said, the same way you might comment on the successful trapping of a rat. His mouth twisted in disgust. Avery reached for the hilt of the sword on her back. Dianthe held up a hand, stepping between Aborella and the others.

“It’s not what you think. She’s helping us. Sylas, show them.”

Sylas retrieved the orb from the place he must have put it after setting Aborella down and held it up between them. In the candlelight, a cogwheel, a piece of the key, floated in a milky wave of twinkling stars.

“Good God,” Nathaniel said. “You’ve found the fourth orb.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

In her vision, Dianthe hadn’t seen the others arrive, only a bright light, a feeling of warmth, and a table laden with food. Now the vision made sense. The others had brought provisions, including a cauldron of beef stew that they warmed over the stove, along with several bottles of strong wine. Before long, the cabin filled with laughter and merriment. She ate and drank late into the night, detailing her adventures with Sylas in Everfield and Nochtbend. They also told the others everything they’d learned from Aborella, who said very little but ate well.

After dinner, each of them found a place on the bed or the floor to take their rest. They’d polished off a fair amount of wine, and it wasn’t long before Dianthe slipped into happy oblivion. She wasn’t sure exactly what woke her—she’d been having a wonderful dream about flying through the Empyrean Wood in the heart of summer—but she opened her eyes to see Aborella staring out the window. Dianthe took a moment to come back to reality, pushing aside the grief and disappointment that her forest home was indeed still gone, then slipped out of Sylas’s arms and approached her.

“Can’t you sleep?” Dianthe whispered, trying not to wake the others.

Aborella blinked at her. “Seeing your friends, I am reminded of my greatest regrets. I’ve done some horrible things, Dianthe. Things for which I can never make amends.”

Dianthe rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “No one can take back what is done, but you can do the right thing going forward. You’ve already started. You’re helping us.”

Wistfully, Aborella stared out the window. “The suns are rising. Can you feel it?”

“In my blood, yes.” All fairies did. Even though the black mountains still blocked their rising light, she could feel the sunrise in her veins, anticipation of the day zinging through her.

“It’s pure joy