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

to be free. I can’t wait to feel their warmth on my skin. Thank you, Dianthe. Thank you for coming for me. Thank you for being my one true friend.”

“There’s still time for you to make other friends.” Dianthe tried to be positive. She didn’t like the look on Aborella’s face. “Once people get to know you, how you’ve changed, some may forgive you. Some may become friends with time.”

“I’ve had another vision.”

The way she said it, almost absently, gave Dianthe a hollow feeling. Not exactly sad, but empty, resolved. Whatever Aborella had seen weighed heavily on her soul.

“What of?” Dianthe asked.

Drawing in a deep breath, Aborella turned to her again, her face brightening. “It has to do with the three sisters. I wonder if you might wake Avery. I have a message for her.”

Dianthe balked. “Clarissa too? She’s also one of the three.”

Aborella shook her head adamantly. “No. This is just for Avery. You’ll understand once I share it. Tell her to bring her sword.”

“Okay.”

Ice seemed to form in Dianthe’s stomach at Aborella’s tone, but she did as the fairy asked. Tiptoeing around sleeping bodies, she crouched beside Avery and shook the woman’s wrist, careful not to wake her mate. She held her finger to her lips. Avery carefully extricated herself from Xavier’s arms. The dragon gave a few warning snorts but then fell back into a rhythm of rumbling snores.

At least she didn’t have to ask her to bring her sword. It appeared Avery had slept with it on her back. Dianthe motioned for her to follow to Aborella. Light shone on her face now through the window. The suns must have broken past the mountains.

“What’s this all about?” Avery whispered once they were all huddled together.

“Aborella had a vision. It has to do with you,” Dianthe explained.

“With me?” Avery’s eyebrows lifted in surprise and she crossed her arms, seeming suddenly uncomfortable.

Aborella pulled the blanket she was wearing tighter around her shoulders and gestured toward the door. “Come outside so that we don’t wake the others.”

“Are you sure? It’s freezing out there.” Dianthe didn’t wish to go outside, but visions were a tricky thing. The expression on Aborella’s face told her this was necessary. There was a secret, one she could only share with Dianthe and Avery. She’d been there before. Seen things she couldn’t share widely.

Avery leaned to whisper in Dianthe’s ear. “Should we trust her?”

She nodded. “Absolutely.”

Aborella opened the door and slipped out into the snow. Dianthe followed and so did Avery, albeit reluctantly. She closed the door behind her.

“So what’s this vision?” Avery asked.

Aborella took a few steps into the bright sunlight. “I’ve seen where the last orb is hidden. It’s not far from here, but if you are to retrieve it, you must go soon. If you wait too long, you will miss the opportunity.”

Dianthe’s heart leaped. “Where, Aborella? You have no idea how important this is to the cause—”

“It is in the Ice Forest in the belly of Skelna, the frost demon. You will have to kill her to extract it. It won’t be easy.”

“Where do we find her?” Dianthe asked.

Aborella folded her hands. “If you go to the Ice Forest, she’ll find you. She is its protector.”

“I thought you said your vision was about me.” Avery hugged herself against the cold.

Aborella gave her a slow nod. “The reason you and your sisters are having such trouble translating the scroll is that you don’t have the tools your ancestors thought you would have.”

“Tools… What? How do you know about the scroll?” Avery shifted uneasily.

Dianthe gripped her hand in support. It wasn’t always easy to be in the presence of a seer, especially when their vision was about you.

“Your ancestors left you the tanglewood tree. They assumed you would have it. You need it to focus your power or you won’t be able to do what you need to do to stop Eleanor. You will need what remains of the tree to do that.” Aborella’s expression was gravely serious.

There was more to this vision. Dianthe’s stomach sank as she waited for the other shoe to drop.

“The tanglewood tree?” Avery shook her head. “It was chopped down and used to burn one of my ancestors at the stake. It no longer exists.”

Aborella stared at Avery as if she were looking into her soul. “Parts of it do exist. They’ve been carefully passed down from generation to generation. Think, Avery. What have your ancestors ensured would come to you in this time?”

The witch’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my God. Not my mother’s bar! Are you telling me that part of the tanglewood tree is there?”

“I have seen it. In my visions, it grows there at the heart of the building. I don’t think this is to be interpreted literally. I see it hazy and glowing, a representation of something rather than a living tree. I suspect the original three left you a piece or pieces. Maybe a seed.”

Avery shifted as if the news agitated her.

Dianthe desperately wanted to ask for more of an explanation about what the tanglewood tree was and what bar Avery was talking about, but the revelation seemed to have struck Avery mute. She rubbed her head as if it hurt.

Aborella spoke again. “There is one more thing, Avery. Now that you know, you must kill me.”

“No!” Dianthe’s voice came out high and sharp. She shivered against the cold, but it was nothing compared to the ice that had formed in her stomach. “Aborella, what are you saying?”

The fairy turned her face to the sun, her skin already growing darker from the healing light. “I asked Avery to bring her sword for a reason. She must kill me, and then you all must leave this place as soon as possible. Eleanor knows where we are. The only thing delaying her is the vampires. They surrounded Paragon last night, threatening revenge for Eleanor’s raid on Nochtbend yesterday, but now that the sun has risen, she will be selecting her troops and coming for you.