AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I halted. “How did you open the trap doors?”
“We asked Tyren to try it,” Killian answered. “It turns out the alpha’s blood isn’t just in the alpha.”
I wasn’t sure what to feel about Tyren being brought into this. I had promised him I would let him help me more, but it was so damn hard when all I wanted was to keep him safe.
“We tried taking the crystals out with magic,” Lavinia said. “And by force. Nothing works.”
I hadn’t even decided what I would do about the crystals and the dragon, and now another impossible task had piled up on top of the rest. If we couldn’t take the crystals out, the land would die, and the dragon would remain deep in the earth. Would the poison kill him too?
I ran a hand through my hair. “There has to be something we can do.” I glanced at Raika. “Maybe a book in the library about magical poisons?”
“There are a few, but I haven’t read them all,” she said. “I’ll take a look at them.”
“That’s a good idea,” Almae said. “Meanwhile, Lavinia and I will continue trying anything we can think of. But if Raika doesn’t find anything, I suggest we call Thea and other witches. We might need more help to solve this problem.”
I considered this. Hadn’t my father said we would probably need a powerful witch coven to reactivate the crystals? This wasn’t much different.
I nodded once. “Do whatever you have to.”
Beside me, Raika tilted her head. “Almae, you said you were on your way here when Lavinia called you. Why is that?”
Almae’s lips turned down. “I had a vision.”
“A vision?” I asked, confused.
“Almae has the gift of foresight,” Lavinia explained.
“Well, it can be a gift or a curse,” Almae added. “And it doesn’t always work how I want it to. Visions come when they want to, not when I ask. Anyway, I saw a vision of a great evil showing itself here, in the center of the Nightshade pack.”
“A great evil?” Raika asked. “What does that mean? Did you see any details?”
Almae shook her head. “The vision wasn’t clear. I couldn’t see much, but I felt it.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Right here. It’ll happen soon.”
I frowned. A great evil? “It can only be the dragon. The crystals aren’t working. The dragon isn’t contained anymore. It’ll wake up.” Shit, one more problem to add to the list.
“It could be,” Almae said, though she didn’t know about the dragon yet. “If I see more details, I’ll let you know.”
I headed back to the Jeep and said, “All of this … the crystals, the poison, the dragon. It stays between us. Killian, make sure no one comes this way when patrolling. Last thing we need is people finding out about this and panicking.”
16
SHANE
That night,I barely slept. I was glad to be home with Minsi and Tyren. I would have felt even better if Raika had come over, but she had retreated to the library to research the poison and hadn’t emerged since.
I stopped there before going to sleep and told her I would spend the night with her, but she threatened to un-mate me if I did. At least that brought a smile to my lips.
She promised to go to bed soon too, though I knew she would lie down on the rug and pillows in the center of the library, nap for a short while, and then continue her research. Nothing I said or did would change her mind. I trusted her and let her do her thing.
I had also called an alphas’ meeting. I insisted we all meet on neutral ground today. It was urgent and no one could miss. If someone was traveling, they needed to come back ASAP. I didn’t want to be accommodating or nice. They were older and more experienced than I was. I couldn’t show them an ounce of weakness.
We agreed to meet two hours south of here, away from the pack lands, early in the afternoon. I sent Dom and Vallin there first to prepare the place and to erect a tent big enough for six alphas and their betas, with six chairs in the center.
Killian insisted he come with me. He promised he would stay in the car, far from the meeting, but he would keep his senses open and if he heard anything strange, he would come to help.
I prayed it didn’t come to that.
When I arrived at the tent in the middle of the forest, I wasn’t the first one there. Besides Dom and Vallin, Delco, Ironfang’s alpha, and his betas were here.
