Page 10 of Dragon Charmed

An oracle born

Templars united

Blood will be shed

Forgiveness and Sacrifice

Magic restored

“Again.”

She didn’t question his gruff command, instead repeating the verse slowly.

“What do you think?”

Silence.

“John?”

“It sounds like it could be the steps…” His voice died out.

Her hand tightened on the receiver before she finished his sentence. “To break the curse.”

“How did you translate the words?”

Up to this point, Tessa had been free with her answers and opinions, but his question threw her for a loop. “The how isn’t important.”

“The hell it isn’t. Why would these words suddenly appear? What aren’t you telling me?”

Now it was her time for silence.

But he barreled on. “You said Eric and Megan aren’t home, so they must not have discovered the verse. So how did it suddenly appear? Wait…Arabella?”

Crap on a cracker.

“Did she touch the scroll? It would make sense that it would appear to her since the first line refers to an oracle being born.”

“What does that mean?” Tessa apparently could growl as well.

“Calm down, protective one. Megan and Eric told me about Arabella. Megan was worried. Unfortunately I didn’t know much to lower her anxiety. Centuries ago an oracle female was born to each dragon clan. As far as I know, Arabella is the first to be born in generations.”

“It has to mean something, right?” Tessa asked.

“I hope it means the beginning of the end to this curse.”

Tessa’s heart started to tap-dance. “Well, I’m not one to sit around and wait.”

“I figured as much since you called me before you told Megan and Eric.”

“I wanted to give them a night to themselves. I’ll tell them about it tomorrow when they return home. What do you think the rest of the paragraph means? What are Templars?”

“Centuries ago, Knights Templars were a military order—religious guardians who worked for God.”

Tessa frowned. “How does that play into witch and dragon lore?”

“I don’t know exactly, but at least I have something to go on now.”

She nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “Maybe Megan will know more about it. I wish she was able to reach out to her old professor.”