Page 81 of Dragon Awakened

"The Dragon Moon," I repeat, numb--willing it not to be true.

"When the moon rises and falls in line with the Dragon constellation, as viewed from the altar of the Shadow Queen's tomb. It happens but once in a hundred years," Rook says--as if that's the part I'm questioning.

Rhiannon's voice is sharp. "It happens next month."

"Beware the Dragon Moon," Mariutza quietly sings, "for it will surely spell your doom."

A shiver runs down my spine, her haunting song rubbing up against something inside of me that fills my lungs with dread.

"He's planning a ritual," Rook says. "I don't know the exact nature of the spell, but he's been gathering the ingredients and the talent."

I laugh, the sound scraping my throat and dripping acid onto my tongue. "He's been having his servants in the Air Kingdom gather them as well."

When we weren't running around, chasing Ember, we were being sent on mysterious errands to hunt down obscure, dusty magic tomes and strange vials of vile ingredients that gave off auras that made my skin crawl. Secretly, I catalogued them all, hoping against hope that someone might be able to put the pieces together and figure out what he was up to.

And now here I am. I'm the someone.

"He's going to steal it," I hear myself say. My conviction grows right alongside my horror.

Rook's expression darkens, alarm widening his eyes. "What do you know, boy?"

"I didn't put it all together." I shake my head, my stomach roiling. "Not until you said the ritual would take place on the Dragon Moon."

Ember fixes me with a look that sears right into me. "What is it, Storm? What is he going to steal?"

"The magic." My dragon breathes a hot gust of air into my lungs. "He's going to steal the magic." My hands curl into fists. "From everyone."

Chapter

Twenty-One

EMBER

“What?" I can scarcely hear myself over the static roaring in my ears.

Ever since I stepped forward and called this meeting to order, I've felt something new stirring in my blood. My connection to all four of my mates effervesces through me, giving me a kind of strength I always knew could be mine, but could never touch until today.

But now it falters.

"All of dragonkind," Storm says, his eyes haunted, guilt churning through his side of our bondmate connection. I want to reassure him that this isn't his fault, no matter what he was forced to do while he was under the Shadow King's rule.

But panic is beginning to gather in my chest. I dart my gaze around wildly, looking to Rhiannon, Amy, Grace, Rook. "Is that even possible?"

The lines of worry on Rook's face deepen. "It's even more grave than I had suspected."

That's not a no.

"During the Dragon Moon, dragon shifters across the globe are connected by invisible threads," Rhiannon says, tapping her fingers together in a pattern that seems random but I sense is anything but.

My nerves spiral even higher. "So he could, is what you're saying."

Amy's face is as white as sheet. "Those scrolls you stole--"

"Those what?" Rook interrupts. Fury and fear war in his eyes.

I put my hands on my hips, unwilling to act ashamed. "I may have liberated a few other items from the creepy soul sphere room on my way out."

He rises to his feet. "Ember. Those are incredibly dangerous--"

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