Page 82 of Dragon Tempted

Mia stopped pacing and faced her. “You found the actual curse, didn’t you?”

Marcus spoke in her ear. “Be careful.”

Mia’s eyes tightened on her. “You’re either having a conversation with yourself or someone on your earpiece on how much to tell me.”

Why wasn’t Sienna shocked that Mia knew that. “Are you wearing a listening device?”

“No. I’m here on my own. Do you want to check me over? Have me strip? I will if you’re willing to tell me the truth.”

If she answered truthfully, there was no going back. But they needed to move forward. “We found a scroll hidden in the frame that was enlightening.”

Mia’s eyes tightened. “Is that something you planned to share with me?”

Sienna crossed her arms, hoping her gut was right about what she was about to say. “I wouldn’t get too outraged about me keeping things from you. I have the feeling you already know what the scroll says.”

Surprise flashed on Mia’s face. “I know bits and pieces from conjecture and stories passed down from the other witches in the village. I didn’t realize it was actually part of the painting.”

“Which is why you know about oracles. And that Lily is one. Why are the Templars after oracles?”

Mia blew out a breath. “When the oracles seemingly died away, the Templars took this as a positive sign that magic was fading. To have oracles being born now is setting off alarm bells. It’s possibly the first sign that magic is restoring itself. I assume there’s a reference to oracles in the scroll? And Templars as well?”

“Yes to both.”

Mia tilted her head. “Does the scroll tell you how to break the curse?”

Sienna glanced at Ryan before continuing. “It’s more like a ten-thousand-foot view of what’s happening as the curse plays out. It doesn’t give us details on how to end it.”

Mia tapped her fingers on her leg again in a rhythm only she could understand. “The storybooks talk about what’s happening, but in a fantastical way so that someone who reads it wouldn’t know it was written by an oracle. We really need that third book.”

Sienna’s chest tightened, but she didn’t volunteer anything about the Evie story they had already found.

Mia bunched her hands into fists. “Will you tell me what the scroll says?”

“If you share your research as well. Other than some vague explanations, you haven’t given us anything to work with.”

“And you don’t trust me. Even though I gave Adam the first storybook and told him about the curse?”

Anger bubbled under Sienna’s skin. “You mean the book that was stolen from my mother to begin with. And by your own admission, you told Adam about the curse to trick him out of more information. I’m not feeling very thankful right now.”

Mia smirked. “I like you, Sienna. You don’t hold back. But I don’t trust you either. You’ve been mostly truthful with me, but you aren’t telling me everything.” Her watch buzzed and she turned off the alarm. “I’ll send you some of my findings to show you I’m sincere about our partnership. Then we can discuss what was on that scroll.”

If she was going to go all in… “As long as you deliver something we can use, you have a deal.”

“I think there’s something important about Evie giving her brother the sentry shield. To me that means that you’re going to play a part in bringing back the dragon sentries and reversing this curse. We need to stop hiding things from each other. We’re running out of time. If their hired guns are following you and showing themselves, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to keep the truth from the Templars.”

“And what truth is that?” Sienna pushed.

Mia’s body tensed as her eyes sharpened like a predator. “That I’m going to destroy them. And nothing will hurt them more than breaking this damn curse and bringing magic back.”

Chapter 28

John stood on the stone ledge overlooking the valley. He’d felt the need to escape the small cabin, but he couldn’t escape the thoughts crowding his brain. Listening to the meeting between Sienna and Mia earlier had his nerves pulsing like static electricity. Sienna hadn’t pulled any punches, which didn’t surprise him, but that didn’t lessen his concern for her. Mia’s belief that Sienna would be at the center of breaking this curse had his protective instincts kicking in. In the past nothing would have distracted him from his main goal. But back then he hadn’t allowed himself to be close to anyone either. Now when he thought of breaking the curse, instead of blurry images of future dragons he saved, he saw Bella and Lily’s shining faces as well as their aunt, who had taken up residence in his chest alongside his eerily quiet dragon of late.

It wasn’t like he heard from his dragon any longer other than some minor rumblings and grumblings in his chest. When he’d lost his full dragon form, he’d also lost the ability to talk to him. Which made him truly alone in the world. Not something he would wish on his worst enemy. And yet, all the dragons alive now had never experienced their full dragon form or consciousness. Which made him push even harder to save magic.

Something in the sky caught his eye, and he focused on it. At first he thought it was just a guard making their rounds, but when she drew closer, her pale-yellow wings catching the currents, his heart sped up. Sienna was beautiful on a normal day. But in the air? Ethereal. Had his thoughts conjured her?

She landed next to him. “Would you like to fly with me?”