“Indeed?” Both of Nadia’s perfectly-arched eyebrows rose now as she stared at Layla with astonishment. “Did he say how?”
“No.” Layla shook her head. “He said there was stillmuch I had to learn, and that I had to go back – to seek my balance by finding my father and my ancestor, you. And then he sent me through here, and said we would speak again when the time was right.”
Digesting Layla’s words, Nadia sat perfectly still for a long moment. At last, something in her golden eyes seemed to clear. Taking a deep breath, she sat tall like a queen, as if passing judgement on Layla’s predicament.
“I believe you cannot stay here, Layla.” Nadia spoke softly, her words carrying a knell of doom to Layla’s ears even though her gaze was infinitely kind. “I wish with all my heart that you could, but this place will never be a refuge to you, for Orrin will never cease hunting you now that he knows you have a gift he desires. He will use his every resource against you as he once did to me and your father; tearing down everything you love until you break to him. Because your friends include humans, the Paris Hotel, and so many others, we cannot bring them here to keep them safe. I believe your only option is to return to the Ascendant and seek his guidance in how to fully mature your power and bring your drakaina back – and how to understand this deep attraction you feel to Orrin as a mate. It just so happens I can show you the way to the Ascendant. If bringing your Dragon back and fighting Orrin is the path you desire.”
Taking a deep breath, Layla nodded. Though her heart twisted in knots from Nadia’s words, she felt a deep strength inside her now from understanding her father’s Ice Dragon bloodlines and Nadia’s also. It helped her come to terms with what she was, and as Layla digested Nadia’s advice, she felt her drakaina roil deep within. She and her drakaina were both in agreement as Layla nodded once more, then spoke with a firm determination.
“Show me the way back to the Ascendant. And I will figure out how to get my Dragon back and stop Hunter’s games once and for all. I swear upon everything I love, I will.”
CHAPTER 21 – ALONE
It was only a few hours later that Layla was ready to travel through the desert with Nadia. As the sun set over the canyon walls, Layla stood with Heathren and the others in the Hidden City’s last garden to the west, before an immense stone arch that marked the city’s egress. Deeply carved like ancient Greco-Roman temples, the arch was a formidable gateway and seemed to menace the impending night as their position before its colonnades became swallowed in deep blue shadows.
As the sun set, Layla shivered in her skinny jeans, boho silk shirt, and red tassel earrings, but not from the cold. Outfitted with a Dragon-made silk shawl over her head and shoulders that would be warm for the chill desert night, she’d also gotten tall brown Dragon-leather boots for walking the desert from Nadia. Though her new items were warm, it was sadness in her heart that cooled her as she held hands with her father one last time.
His calm, strong gaze knowing as he drew her into a massive embrace.
“Be well, my littledraghkna,” Ruslan murmured as they hugged. “My strength goes with you in your formidable veins, and I have no doubt you will have your Dragon back at its fullest soon. Hunter is a vicious adversary, but your determination knows no bounds, just like mine. Stay close to Nadia as you travel the sacred desert; take everything she says to heart, as she gives wise counsel. I will see you again soon. And we will have more time to enjoy each other’s company as father and daughter, I promise.”
“I hope so.” Layla hugged him back, relieved that her father was both a wise man in his later years but still had the fierceness of a warlord. In some way, Layla felt like his ferocious energy protected her; as if having his blood in her veins helped her stand strong against their enemy, even though she didn’t have her drakaina back yet. As Layla pulled away, her father beamed at her, while Nadia waited patiently in wrapped emerald silks, tan cargo pants, and boots similar to Layla’s.
All around, a small crowd had gathered to watch them depart. The Royal Dragon Binds were quiet as they watched Nadia and Layla, and Layla felt a pang in her heart as she watched them also. It saddened her to be leaving the Hidden City, just as she had found so many other Binds she never knew existed, and her father. But since Nadia was taking Layla to the sacred site where she had first met the Ascendant, no one was allowed to come with them – and someone strong in etheric magic had to stay behind to guard the Hidden City, so Ruslan was not coming either.
As Layla’s father gripped her hands supportively, Layla suddenly caught a snippet of argument coming from over by the archway’s colonnades – Heathren speaking over his small white and gold communicating-stone.
Talking to Adrian.
“Yes, Adrian, I know.” Heathren spoke curtly as he sighed, his seven-layer wings already spread from his back and flexing hard as he tried to maintain his patience. “Nadia is of the opinion that Layla must engage her path of searching quickly in order to get her Dragon back – which is just as I felt, and you before me. It has become clear that Hunter’s games concerning Layla will not stop, nor will they relent – they will only grow more challenging if we delay.”
Pausing, Heathren cocked his head, listening to something Adrian had to say. “Yes, I believe Hunter’s games will only continue, Adrian. Always his pattern has been to do things to push Layla to mature her magics faster, and now his game is this – he will torment her with visions of him until she figures out a way to make peace with her Dragon and get it back, then master etheric magic and stop the visions. We cannot risk another night of what happened at my apartment; she was nearly trapped in the ether because of his recklessness. She must speak with this Ascendant now – and the only way to ensure contact with it is to enter this sacred place just as Nadia did long ago.”
Listening to something Adrian said on the other end of his communicating-stone, Heathren soon spoke again. “No, I cannot simply shove Layla out into the ether via meditation and hope she makes contact with this Ascendant, and no, I’m not allowed to go with her – it’s a Dragon sacred site, and I can feel the power of it hammering me already here at the city, protecting it from outsiders. No, neither you nor Dusk or the others can go, either – Nadia was very clear that Layla must enter the site alone in order to resonate it to her consciousness. Besides, Nadia is a stronger Dragon than anything I’ve ever seen, and has resisted Hunter for millennia. If anyone can keep Layla safe as she travels, it’s Nadia – not us.”
As Layla watched, Heathren stood very still at the arch. Shaking his head at something Adrian said, he raked a hand over his long silver hair, then saw Layla watching and ceased. It was obvious Adrian was far from pleased about her next step. But Heathren seemed to trust Nadia, and had acquiesced to Layla’s upcoming journey. Now Adrian and Heathren were arguing about it, and Layla was fairly certain she was going to hear it from Adrian and probably all her men once she returned. As Heathren listened over his stone with a ferociously dark gaze, Layla had no doubt Adrian was giving the Ephilohim a blistering earful.
That no one but Nadia could go with Layla now.
But it couldn’t be helped, and as Layla gave her father one last heavy smile, he reached out, squeezing her shoulder. Turning to Nadia, Layla nodded at the arch that began their path to the sacred Dragon-site. With a knowing golden gaze, Nadia turned, heading to the archway. Layla followed and as they passed Heathren, he reached out, snagging her hand. Holding Layla’s gaze with vast import in his silver-white eyes, he lowered the white stone from his lips.
“Go with grace, Layla.” Heathren spoke softly, solemn. “I feel that Nadia has no lies in her heart and no darkness in her soul; you may trust her as your guide through whatever comes next. Though I wish I could accompany you, this sacred site is a place even those with my power cannot penetrate. It has been consecrated by Dragon-magics for millennia, a raw brutality that keeps out the ephemeral vibrations of my kind. All except those who can penetrate any vibration – true Ascendants – and hopefully, you shall return having communicated with the one you seek.”
“Thank you.” Lifting up, Layla placed a kiss on Heathren’s lips, feeling so much stretch between them as his many-layered wings curled softly around her. “I will be as careful as I can be, I promise. I know how much of a risk you are taking with Adrian, letting me do this on your watch.”
“I think he may just use all his resources to hunt me down until the end of my days, or his.” Heathren smiled wryly at Layla, and she felt how true his statement was as they regarded each other. “But for now, this is how your journey must be.”
Layla felt so much in Heathren’s succinct words; everything he wasn’t saying. Like Rake André, the Fallen Ephilohim had a weakness for her, and as they gazed at each other, Layla saw Heathren’s dark brows furrow as if he wanted to say more. But in the end, he simply let her go. Lifting an eyebrow at her with his exceptionally dry humor, he began speaking to Adrian through his stone again. Layla couldn’t hear Adrian’s side of the conversation as she turned away.
Following Nadia out through the vaulted portal and into the canyon beyond.
Immense magics whispered over Layla’s skin as they left the Hidden City. She suddenly felt an enormous urge to scream and dance and roar all at once as she passed through Nadia’s ancient protective barriers. They were the most immensely subtle magic Layla had ever felt, and she shuddered to the roots of her bones as she felt it, slipping over her and deciding if she was a threat. But at last, those viciously awful magics relented, and as Nadia turned back, watching Layla with a knowing gaze, Layla shook the sensations off.
Continuing on, they took a winding route through the narrow canyon as the setting sun stretched over the red walls, their way through the canyon’s bottom buried in blue shadows. At the first turn of the narrow space, the vaulted archway to the Hidden City was lost behind them, and Layla felt claustrophobia as the slim canyon closed in all around. But their canyon remained open to the sky above, and Layla watched the sky darken into cerulean and gold as they continued on, the canyon’s floor smooth beneath her feet. Imprints of human-sized feet and massive Dragon-sized ones could be seen here and there in the hard-packed dirt. Clusters of desert flowers and draping succulents clung to the rocks, growing up wild from rockfalls as they navigated bend after bend. As their way darkened to the point Layla could barely make out her boots, Nadia lit a swirling blue-white fire in her palm.
And they continued on.
They had been walking for over an hour when they suddenly rounded a turn in the canyon and Layla saw two massive columns flanking the canyon walls, topped by a fantastic arch. As large as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Layla saw Dragons writhing and whirling, roaring and diving as they twisted through the enormous edifice. Though the colonnaded arch was grand, it was also somehow terrifying – and as Layla and Nadia approached and she gazed up at the enormous structure, she saw why. The entire thing wasn’t carved from the stone of the canyon.
