His breath caught. He recognized the shape of the landmasses—the curves of coastlines, the jagged edges of mountain ranges.
“Wait a second…” he murmured, his brow furrowing. “I thought you said this was a map of portals on your world.”
“Not just my world. This shows were our portals overlap, the ones on Earth and the ones here.”
“Wow. I have a book back home about Earth, but there aren’t any of these glowing lines…” Zohar’s finger hovered over a delicate web of light, pulsing faintly like threads of energy stitched into the fabric of the map.
“They’ve always been there. At least, I think.”
“Like the portals you used to bring Mom here,” Juno offered, smiling excitedly.
Zohar’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the familiar shapes. “This is North America. That’s Europe. And right there—” he pointed toward a long, narrow swath of green surrounded by sea, “—that’s Scotland.”
Juno leaned in until his chin nearly touched the parchment. “Look how bright this one is. Where’s this one go to?”
Dolph leaned closer to peer where Juno was pointing. Zohar followed the luminous thread with his fingertip, his pulse quickening as it wound through the terrain like a glowing current of fate—until it stopped at a glistening dot surrounded by hills and water.
“Loch Ness,” Zohar whispered, the name tasting both ancient and familiar on his tongue. “It’s a lake. A big freshwater one. Hidden in the Scottish Highlands near a place called Inverness.” He glanced at Dolph. ”I hope the entrance to the portal on this side is nearby.”
Dolph shifted the view to his world and then looked up from the map. Zohar immediately knew something was coming. That glint in his eye—the spark of mischief mixed with purpose—was unmistakable.
“The portal to Loch Ness isn’t far from here,” Dolph said, his voice hushed with excitement. “There’s a lake inland, close to the western cliffs. That’s where the connection is.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I never kid about portals,” Dolph replied solemnly.
“We’ll sneak you into the palace tonight,” he added, motioning toward the back stairwell. “You can sleep in our room. We’ll leave at dawn—after we gather supplies.”
Zohar arched a brow. “And if your mom and dad find out?”
Juno burst out laughing. “We never get caught! We are so sneaky. The sneakiest princes you ever met.”
Zohar snorted, but the tension in his shoulders loosened.
Dolph rolled his eyes. “Just… don’t talk to our baby sister if you see her.”
“Why?”
“She’s like Roo,” Juno said, beleaguered.
Zohar blinked. “Who’s Roo?
Dolph shuddered. “DJ and Stone’s little sister. They are dragon shifters like you. She is as bad as Roo.”
“How bad?” Zohar asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Juno whispered.
Zohar tilted his head. “I kinda do now.”
Dolph groaned. “Last time we visited the Isle of the Dragons, Roo caught us sneaking out without permission. We thought she was asleep.”
“She wasn’t,” Juno muttered.
“She blackmailed us.”
Zohar stared. “She what?”
