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“Whoa,” Robby said, blinking away the shock of the moment.
“Pretty, huh?” Claire gently held the moon rose up for closer inspection.
“Pretty’s an understatement,” Dawn replied. “It’s the most beautiful flower I’ve ever seen.”
“And it’s about to solve all of our problems,” Madds said, rubbing his hands together as if he were about to throw down the winning dice on a craps table.
Claire turned to the group. Anticipation rolled off each of us. No one else was around this part of the garden except us, giving us complete privacy for the moment ahead. “Everyone ready? She’ll only answer one question, so we have to make sure it’s a good one.”
“Let’s do this,” Maddox said. “We need to save War. We need to save us.”
Claire nodded, moving to the statue, her soft sandals clapping against the smooth brick. Bushels of lavender surrounded the statue, another one of the Huntress Aliana’s favorite flowers. Although, rightfully so, they weren’t in the top spot like the moon roses were.
Claire looked back at us—this was it, the moment that would decide all our fates. I found myself holding my breath as she delicately placed the rose down on the offering plate and stepped back.
And we waited.
And waited.
Waited.
Until Claire shook her head. Until Robby’s shoulders slumped. Until Maddox kicked some rocks at his feet.
Shit.
“We’re sure we don’t need an incantation?” I asked through the heavy silence.
“No, it’s just the offering. It was supposed to work,” Claire said, pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket and furiously dialing someone’s number. “Ryan, did you give me a fake fucking moon rose?” She stomped away, starting to shout into the phone. “I paid over ten thousand dollars for that piece of shit. Now what do I do with it?”
She scoffed. “I swear to the gods, I’ll press your dick in a book before I do it to that fucking rose.”
The statue stayed completely still, as all statues were known to do. I could see Robby slowly start curling inward, like a soda can being pressed down by an angry fist. Maddox leaned against a tree, as stumped as it was.
No. This couldn’t be the end of this path. We were so close. Maybe there was a clue to how the statue worked on the marble itself? I leaned in, touching the smooth surface, trying to sense even a slight change in the stone. Something that I could press or twist. I even pulled at the antlers on the roaring leopards head to no avail.
Wait a second…
There were two subjects in this statue. One was the Huntress Aliana, and the other was her trusted familiar, Rhox. She had loved the beast so much that she requested Rhox to be humanely killed if she were to die first so she would be buried with him. If the stag leopard died first, then Alian would be burned in a pyre, determined to meet him in the afterlife.
So why would only one of them get an offering?
They wouldn’t. Huntress Aliana was said to favor the moon roses over anything else, but what would Rhox favor? A predator who feasted on prey three times his body size?
Blood, flesh, meat.
I put my hand out, fitting it into the leopard’s mouth.
I pressed down. The marble teeth were much sharper than I expected, cutting into my skin with surprising ease. Blood dripped from the cut and onto the glistening white statue, dripping off the stag leopard’s jaw and falling down on the bowl that held the moon rose.
Robby came to ask me what I was doing but got cut off by another voice. One that was melodic, sounding as if there was an entire chorus speaking the same exact words behind her.
“Speak your question,” the statue said, “and I’ll speak your answer, dragon.”
Chapter 19
You’re Formally Invited
Robby
I watched, stunned, as the statue started to move. The stag leopard shifted, his jaw closing as Damien removed his still-bleeding hand. The Huntress lowered her bow, solid stone moving as smoothly as if there were joints and muscle underneath. I could have sworn I saw the edges of her thin lips curling upward.
“Speak your questions, and I’ll speak your answer, dragon.”
This was it. This would be the moment we solved all our problems. We wouldn’t need to worry about prophecies or vampires or the entirety of the dragon species becoming extinct.
I didn’t have to worry about dying. About being sacrificed, the same way my brother had.
The thought cut me as deep as the stag leopard’s teeth would have. I tried to bottle it up—there were more important things to focus on right now—but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking of him. Could we have saved him, too, if he hadn’t been kept hidden from me? Would any of this even be happening?
“Esteemed Huntress,” Damien began. Claire, Maddox, and Dawn were standing around the statue. If I had to guess, I would say that all five of us were holding our breaths. “Thank you for speaking with us.”
