Page 123 of Born in Fire

“I love you too,” she whispers back. I lean forward to kiss her lips.

“Okay, okay, let’s not go down that road again,” Caleb stops us.

“Sorry,” I say wryly, turning my attention back to the matter at hand. “What I don’t understand is how they could be controlling the Shard,” I say. “Because I’m pretty sure they were using it to manipulate Serena. She wasn’t acting of her own accord.”

Caleb shoots a look at Elena, who nods. “That’s what we need to discuss urgently,” he says to me. “Elena thinks she knows how they’re doing it.” He pauses. “They have Lila Ross.”

“Who?” asks Juno.

“My mother,” Elena says hoarsely. “She’s alive. And they’ve got her.” Her throat works.

“Your mother? The one you said was gone?” Juno says.

Elena nods. “I always knew she was still out there. Iknewit!”

“Fuck,” I say. “How did you find out?”

“They told me. When they took me, I said they would never get me to cooperate, and they told me they didn’t need me to. They already had someone who would use the Shard for them.” She pulls in a breath. “That someone is my mom.”

“It could have been bullshit, Elena,” Caleb says. “They might have been toying with you.”

Elena shakes her head. “They have her, Caleb. I know it. Here.” She puts a hand over her chest. Caleb glances over at me, his silent look speaking volumes. Elena so desperately wants to believe that her mother is alive, she might be grasping at straws.

“But if they have your mom, why do they want you?” Juno asks. “Sorry if that sounds callous.”

“It’s a good question,” says Elena.

“Probably so that we wouldn’t be able to use the Heartstone,” I say. “Not as a weapon.”

“They’re preparing for war,” Caleb states flatly. “With both artifacts and two Rossewyn witches, they could control every dragon clan in existence. And even if we had the Heartstone, without Elena, we wouldn’t be able to use it fully.”

“Actually, we would,” I say. “I think Juno can channel it.”

“What?” Caleb says sharply. “How?”

Juno looks down at her hands almost shyly. “I think it’s connected to me. I don’t understand it, but I feel it. Like it’s part of me somehow.”

“That’s impossible,” Caleb says. “The Heartstone responds only to Rossewyn blood.”

“It called me ‘daughter,’” she says, her eyes distant.

Caleb looks disbelieving. This seems to be too much for my big brother to process in one day.

“And I know she can channel it because she used it to save me,” I tell him. “Those fuckers messed me up pretty badly.”

“I thought you were going to die.” Juno’s voice breaks as she says it.

“But you saved me,” I say firmly. “Using the Heartstone.” I turn back to my brother. “I think that if Juno can use it to heal, she probably has other ways to use it too.”

“Youthink?” says Caleb. “You’re setting a lot of stock in guesswork.”

“I suppose we’ll only find out if we try,” says Juno.

“I agree,” Elena says. “Let’s face it, we’ve only scratched the surface of what I can do with it.”

“Okay,” Caleb exhales. “You have a point.”

There’s silence as we contemplate the information that we’ve just shared within our small group. This is a lot to take in. But we don’t have the luxury of time to adjust to it all. We need to take action.

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