But it says that there were dragons in Shadowick.
Page after page of half-finished thoughts, theories, warnings.
And on the last page:
The Wards are failing. If they break completely, I don’t know what will happen to the Academy.
The final sentence was a name. Half-crossed out.
Elira.
My breath caught.
Elira. My grandmother.
I touched the name like it might vanish.
She knew. She’d hidden this, and for good reason, probably. But why? Why tuck these away, forgotten, behind stone?
I looked at the third book but didn’t open it yet. My hands were shaking. My mind wouldn’t settle.
And something told me that I hadn’t just stumbled on Shadowick’s records.
I’d been meant to find them.
Chapter Thirty-Three
I didn’t go looking for Bella.
I should have. She’d brought me here, cleared the path, held open the door. She deserved answers just as much as I did. But no one could know about the dragons. Not here and not in Shadowick.
Only one person could tell me the truth, and she was already buried beneath layers of time, memory, and whatever promises she'd made to the Academy.
Grandma Elira.
And I was going to find her. Just… not yet. Not until I’d sorted through the mess in my head.
Why didn’t she tell me Shadowick had dragons, and she knew what Gideon had been after? Could that be true?
The corridor to my old room was darker than I remembered. Shadows clung to the corners and followed behind me like quiet company.
My door creaked as I pushed it open. The room was exactly as I’d left it.
The velvet coverlet on the bed looked lush, which looked extremely inviting. Maybe I could just dream away all I’d read. With the embroidered cushion and curled legs, my favorite chair leaned against the far wall like it was waiting for me to flop into it and read something I wasn’t supposed to.
I shut the door behind me, not because I was worried about being followed but because I needed the barrier. I needed the room to settle around me like armor.
I thought about all the conversations I’d had with my grandmother since I’d arrived at the Academy. She spoke of the Academy’s traditions, secrets, and failures, but never once had she mentioned that she knew what Gideon wanted.
Never once did she tell me that Shadowick, too, had dragons.
Why keep that from me?
Was it protection? Shame? Guilt?
Or had she simply thought I wouldn’t understand?
I stopped pacing and ran a hand through my hair. I needed a shower. I needed a change. Something clean. Something that didn’t carry the weight of everything I’d just learned.
