Page 23

“Then we keep looking,” he answers.

“What will happen with me, then?” I ask hopeful, wanting to be free of them.

“You will remain here with us, where you belong.”

“I don’t belong with anyone.”

“Wrong. Dragons can only procreate with their mates. Even if your magic doesn’t manifest, you will remain here till we break the curse. So get used to the idea, Elora. You won’t be leaving us,” Silas says.

I feel tears brim and threaten to spill over.

“Save your tears, they won’t help you here,” Silas says.

Looking toward Dragus, he averts his gaze. I swallow the lump forming in my throat and close my eyes, willing myself to not break.

“Can I go now?” I ask. Silas removes his hand from my waist.

“You can go. Leave the castle and I will kill Abigail,” he says. I nod, quickly running from the room to go in search of Abigail.

Running to the kitchen, I find only the cooks and Marian.

“Where is Abigail?” I ask.

One cook peers up. “Follow the hall third door on the left,” a man says. He goes back to cutting up meat.

I follow his directions and stop out the front of a heavy door. There are whispers behind the door, and it sounds like she is talking to a boy, pushing it open. I gasp at what I find. Abigail standing holding the boy’s hand. He is clearly in pain. That’s not what shocks me, though. It is that her hands are glowing green. She spins around, her hand instantly stops glowing.

The boy pulls his hand from her grasp, and I recognize him. It’s Peter and I can tell he has burns on his flesh. I step forward and Abigail quickly grabs his hand again when she sees it is just me and I watch his burns heal until they are just a faint red mark.

Peter doesn’t remove his eyes from me, and I can tell he is scared of me telling on Abigail.

“Now go,” she whispers to Peter, and he takes off out the door. I stare gob smacked at what I just witnessed; the only person I had ever seen do magic was my grandmother.

“You can’t tell them,” she says with a worried look on her face.

“You’re a Fae?” I question, shocked. Abigail shakes her head.

“Please, if they find out they will kill me and probably Peter, too,” she begs.

“You have magic,” I state, excited to have found another Fae.

“I’m not a Fae” she whispers, confusing me.

Abigail walks toward the door, closing it tightly and making sure it is locked. “I am a Witch,” she breathes.

My heart skips a beat at her words. A Witch. I didn’t think it was possible to find a Witch. The Dragon Kings wiped them all out, blaming them along with the Fae for the war. They literally dragged them from their homes. Women, children, some weren’t even Witches. They didn’t even care. In their eyes, anyone who caused doubt was killed—murdered just for being near them or speaking to them. The lot of them were turned to ash by the Dragon Lords.

“Please Elora, if they find out they will kill my daughter.”

“I won’t tell them, Abigail, your secret is safe with me.” Although, if they ask, it is going to be painful to refuse. I doubt they will though, as long as they notice nothing off about her.

I didn’t; I thought she was human and it never once crossed my mind she was anything else.