“I should probably tell you that I’ve been having some strange dreams,” I say.
Axel straightens.No.His command is stiff and made on our private channel.
“It might be because of the strange Icelandic climate.”I shrug.“Moving to Australia might be just the thing I need.”Great.Now I sound like a total idiot.I turn to glare at Axel.Why not?
Tension pulses through the bond.I miss the colors I could feel when we were entwined, but even without them, I can tell he’s serious.He must be worried Hyperion will chuck me right back in the volcano if he knows I saw the heart and it’s a stone.“Alright everyone, let’s talk more about Australia when we get back from saving Mom.It’s—we have less than an hour.”
“Talk about cutting it close,” Jean says.
“Whoa.”I look around.“Are you all here because—the rest of you aren’t coming.”
“We are,” Norm says.“I’ve met your mom.”
“This is extremely likely to be a trap,” I say.“Think about it.They know you’ll want to save the blessed they’ve been torturing, and they have to guess I’ll come for my mom.They know now that Azar didn’t die, and they saw us recruiting humans.”
“Isn’t that more reason you might want people you can trust to come along?”Norm asks.
“Don’t deny us our first quest,” Jean says.“Please.”
I grit my teeth, but they’re right.They aren’t my siblings.Every dragon going is already risking their life—I can’t expect all the humans to stay home, safe, while the dragons take every risk.“Fine.”
As Hyperion’s talking to them about the details of our plan, I pull Axel aside.We didn’t have much time to talk.My dreams—if they’re real, and they feel real—the heartstone turned Freja the vanir into the same Freya that I met in that volcano—a human.
And could she shift back again?
I’m not sure,I say.I mean—I just don’t know.
Was she like the earth blessed, perhaps?
I shrug.When I woke up from my dream, she was still stuck as a human.She didn’t seem able to shift.In the volcano, I’ve never seen her shift either.
My father would never have married a human, so it can’t be my mother if she can’t shift into a blessed form.He frowns.For now, let’s keep this between us.
The private channel’s so tiring.Fine.
But Liz, this is precisely the sort of thing you can’t tell Hyperion.He’s too hasty.We need more information before we do anything about it.He’d try to?—
Throw me into the volcano again?
Axel’s going to need dragon botox if he’s not careful.
If Freya still has the heart and we recover it, we might be able to restore the earth dragons’ ability to shift.Or maybe that’s just my delusional hope.
I never really understood its benefit.
Of course he doesn’t.You liked it well enough before you forgot me.I can’t help my smile.I imagine you’d appreciate it again.
Why don’t I remember?You know, don’t you.
I could lie.I should lie.Hyperion’s trying to get my attention.They’re ready to go.My mom could die if I delay.But thisfeelsjust like that moment in every movie where theydon’ttell the big secret, and it always comes back to bite them.
I do know,I confess.When you died, when Azar died,I amend,you could have released your bond to me—your memories, all of it—and you’d have survived.It was your refusal to give up on me, on us, that killed you.When I escaped from the humans and returned, only Axel was alive.
He doesn’t get it.He looks totally confused.
I was with the humans—Gideon killed me and brought me back to break our bond.When I escaped and returned, you bonded me again—just Axel.Azar was dead, and it was all my fault.
Emotions are flying across Axel’s face so fast that I can’t make them out, even with the bond helping.
