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

Sylas collided with Eleanor, digging his talons into her back and shifting his weight, throwing her off-balance. Gabriel dodged and Xavier used his hold on Ransom to turn the gray male. In a clever, coordinated move, the two thrust Eleanor and Ransom into each other. There was a flash of purple as Eleanor’s talons, sandwiched between their bodies, stunned both Ransom and herself. The two dragons fell from the sky into dark waters.

Raven cheered along with the others and was relieved when Gabriel, Nathaniel, Xavier and Sylas made a beeline for her. Before long, they stood triumphant on the beach. She pulled Gabriel, bruised and battered, into her arms while Nathaniel and Xavier reunited with their mates beside her.

“Oh my goddess,” Raven muttered. Her hand flowed over Gabriel’s face, his shoulders. “Are you in one piece?”

“Fine.” Gabriel kissed Charlie’s head.

When Raven raised her eyes again, Sylas was speaking to a slender woman draped in a silver toga, her irises so pale they looked white and her hair blond with streaks of green.

“Greetings, travelers,” she said, her silvery voice ringing like a bell.

“A water sprite,” Nathaniel whispered beside her. “Favored companions of Circe.”

A beautiful dark-skinned fairy seemed to appear out of nowhere and fluttered to Sylas’s side. She threaded her fingers into his.

“Sylas and Dianthe of Everfield seek asylum with the goddess along with our family.” He gestured toward the rest of them.

“Welcome back. Circe will be pleased you have returned to us.” Other sprites arrived with clothing for the dragons. “Dress quickly and follow me. I’ll take you to her.” The sprite turned and led the way into the forest bordering the beach.

Clarissa elbowed her side. “Did I hear her right?”

Raven raised her eyebrow. “It sounds like we’re going to meet the goddess herself.”

Chapter Four

All Dianthe wanted to do was curl into a ball and sleep. After watching Everfield burn and then having her mate have to battle his wicked and deadly mother all in the same day, it was all she could do to set one foot in front of the other. Hollow and exhausted, she fell in line behind Sylas as they climbed the path toward Circe’s forest temple.

Circe’s palace wasn’t a white-pillared monstrosity like the ones portrayed in pictures of Mount Olympus. On top of the hill that rose near the center of Aeaea, her sacred house was a massive ivy-enshrined wood cottage covered in blooms. The natural materials reminded Dianthe somewhat of the homes in Everfield, only it was far larger and made from cut wood rather than living branches. Still, it was clear the goddess loved to live among the wilds.

They reached the oversized doors of the entrance and found them open. Illith, the water sprite, welcomed them inside. Dianthe accepted a hug from her old friend as she passed into the homey temple. A fire blazed in the grate in front of a set of comfortable chairs and a spinning wheel that took up an entire corner. The room was otherwise filled with plants, drying herbs, and the sound of wind chimes from a set that hung in the open window.

“Goddess, I bring you weary travelers asking for asylum on your shores,” Illith announced.

The growl of a wildcat cut through the temple and Circe appeared, flanked by two golden pumas that eyed them as if they might be their next meal. Dressed in a white toga, the goddess glowed, her black hair wild around her shoulders.

Dianthe had met Circe before when she was last here with the rebellion, but she didn’t expect the goddess to remember her. An immortal such as herself could hardly be expected to remember a few short encounters. But when Circe’s eyes met hers, the goddess gave her a knowing smile of recognition.

“Captain Dawn?” the one she’d heard called Avery asked from beside her.

Dianthe hadn’t yet been formally introduced to the others, although she felt like she knew them from Sylas’s stories.

The goddess ignored Avery’s question and asked, “Who speaks for you?”

Sylas squeezed her hand and stepped forward. “I do, my goddess.”

“Sylas and Dianthe, welcome back.” Circe tilted her head. “What has brought you to my island?”

“Relations with Paragon have grown far worse,” Sylas said. “Eleanor, empress of Paragon, has burned Everfield, the entire Empyrean Wood, to the ground.”

At that news, Circe scowled in a way that bolstered Dianthe’s soul. She saw in the goddess’s expression the same hatred for Eleanor that Dianthe felt in her heart. It was comforting to be back here, under her protection.

“Do you still lead the rebellion?”

“Yes.”

“And what of your latest mission?”

“I await the return of our emissary to Rogos.”

“You are welcome here, Sylas.” Circe turned her attention to Dianthe. “It is good to see you, Dianthe, as well.”

Dianthe bowed low. “My pleasure, as always, Goddess.”

“I sense your second sight will be useful to the resistance. You are welcome here.” Circe smiled.

Sylas cleared his throat. “Dianthe’s gift of sight has proven unreliable as of late. She is here as my mate, not in her former role.”

All the air rushed from Dianthe’s lungs. If Sylas had turned around and stabbed her in the heart with his own talon, she would not have been more shocked or hurt by his comment. Her ears grew hot with embarrassment and her eyes prickled. Why would he say that in front of the goddess? Even if he believed it to be true! She blinked rapidly against the onslaught of tears.

By a small miracle, the goddess did not react to his insulting comment but turned her gaze to his brothers. Dianthe was relieved. She wasn’t sure she’d survive any scrutiny into what Sylas had said.

“My brothers Gabriel, Tobias, Alexander, Nathaniel, and Xavier, and my sister Rowan,” Sylas announced. They each stepped forward and bowed as he introduced them. “And their mates, Sabrina, Maiara, Nick, Raven, Avery, and Clarissa. They are all here to aid the resistance.”

Everyone but her, Dianthe thought. Sylas’s comment burned in her torso. She couldn’t wait to get him alone. How