Page 55 of Dragons Of Shadow and Sea

A hiccup that's half laughter and half the echo of tears escapes my throat.

"How?"

"You know how."

I check the locks again, as if they might have magically opened themselves while we've been talking, but they're as solid as ever.

Mariutza's attention has returned to her palm, where she's shaping the light she's created into flowers and blowing the petals away.

"How?" I repeat.

But the old woman is singing again, her gaze far away, and I'm trying to be patient here, but I'm seriously losing it. Am I crazy to be taking advice from a person who's clearly only partly in control of her faculties?

Would I be even crazier not to listen to her? When she's giving me the first clues I've had about my missing parents in a decade? When she has this magic that stirs lost parts of my soul?

"A door, a door, a door," Mariutza sings, quietly to herself.

That doesn't make sense--until it does.

I've only ever managed to open a portal once before. While most of the magic I've tapped into with my mates has failed me, here in this forsaken citadel, my bracer feels stronger than ever.

If I truly am part Shadow Dragon... If there's more to Shadow Dragon magic than evil and manipulation and darkness... If my portals and my protection spells come from my Shadow side...

Closing my eyes, I do what I did last time. I think of safety and my mates. I think of being wherever they are, and I swear the metal on my arm burns brighter.

Only to fizzle away.

"Can't go there," Mariutza mumbles.

My eyes fly open. "What--"

"In the castle, dearie." When she looks up at me this time, her eyes are lucid once more. "The walls block your magic, but within them, you're free."

Can it really be that easy?

"You know where they are," she reminds me.

And yes. Yes, yes, yes.

I feel out through time and space for my parents once more. The sense of warmth deep within me glows.

"I want to be there," I whisper, rubbing the bracer. "Take me to them."

And I still don't entirely believe that my parents are here. How can they be? But I let the magic course through me.

Before my eyes, the air begins to shimmer. A swirl of purple light forms, and I laugh, scarcely able to believe it.

"That's it, Faltine," Mariutza says quietly, almost to herself.

"I'm not--"

A wry smile curls Mariutza's lips. "You and Pitch made a beautiful girl."

The corners of my eyes prickle. I dart my gaze from Mariutza to Delaynie. "I'll come back for you. I'll find a way to get you out."

"Go," Delaynie urges me, wonder on her face as she wraps an arm around her grandmother.

I nod sharply and blink back the mist threatening my vision.

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