Her soft voice traveled through the crowds: "They have all been waiting for you to arrive. We have heard many stories of the brave supes who destroyed the threat of Larkspur. You are … somewhat of a celebrity."
We'd done no more than anyone else in our position. It had been our calling, our gift to counter a threat from long ago. Still, the crowds clearly didn't want to hear those truths as they pressed in closer to us. Gifts were presented, both girls receiving huge bundles of wild flowers which grew in the mountainous ranges, their colors ranging from the palest of pink to the most vivid of orange sunset, flowers which I was sure would be nowhere else in the world. I received a dagger from a tiny, wrinkled sorcerer. He must have been many hundreds of years old, the centuries imprinting fine and deep lines across his face.
The dagger was about fifteen inches in length and a few inches wide. It had been handcrafted from a single piece of steel and stone. The hilt was inlaid with diamonds and rubies. The double edges were visibly sharp, and something told me they were enchanted to never dull. This was a gift worth more than money. It was a treasure.
I bowed low and he returned the gesture. "Thank you, I am honored by your gift. I shall use it to govern my community."
His eyes flicked across to Mischa, who was waiting at my side, a genuine smile lighting up her face. He stared at her for a few moments longer than was polite, but there was nothing there to rouse the vampire. His actions were respectful. He spoke without turning away from her.
"Use to protect mate and child. Forged in heart of dragon mountain. Built with tears of fallen souls."
Then he wrenched his gaze from Mischa and turned away, hurrying off with far more agility than one would expect from such an ancient supe. I stared after him for many long minutes.
"Well, that was cryptic," Mischa said.
Cryptic was right, but the words weren't completely foreign to me. I caught Jessa's eye and the glint of recognition was there also. It was written in our early history that the birthplace of the dragon, a giant scaled serpent, was in the heart of a volcano. It was said that the center of this volcano mountain was unique. One side was molten lava and the other was a spring of the purest water. Along the center, the two merged and a crystal crust formed, which led supes to believe the water side was magical, tears of gods, souls of their fallen. The dragons were made of fire and gods.
Braxton liked to point that out regularly – literally born of the gods. Arrogant bastard.
Hadie handed me a scabbard and a thick, woven cream-colored cloth. "Take care with Sersie's weapons. They're known to be magical in nature and sharper than any blade forged. You'll want to wrap it up before placing it close to your body."
Trusting her, I followed those instructions, taking care not to scrape against the blade before I deposited the secured sheath in the large pocket on the side of my army-style pants.
"That's one beautiful knife," Jessa said. She sounded a bit put out. "Why do they always give them to the dudes? I want a knife from the heart of dragons' birthplace. I'm going to ask Josephina next time I see her."
Mischa and I exchanged a smile. That would be Jessa using her contacts to get a weapon better than everyone else's.
Mischa leaned in close and whispered to her sister: "Don't you think the fact that your mate is a dragon shifter, your best friend is a dragon queen, and your children are supposedly going to be the most powerful of all supes, that you kinda have the powerful weapon thing locked down."
Her voice was low in deference to the "secret of Jessa's twins." They were the first trueborn dragon shifters – not dragon mated supes – and their presence needed to stay as hidden as we could keep them. We didn't need a bigger target on our backs. Someone would surely have the genius idea to take them out now when they were vulnerable.
Jessa scoffed. "That's power of others. I like power for myself. I'm feeling decidedly less badass since gaining twenty pounds and losing my dragon. Now I'm almost as useless as a regular supe."
I had to chuckle then, and the dark glare she leveled on me did nothing to halt it, even though it was wise to be very careful of Jessa. She could kick ass with the best of them.
"You've lost nothing, Jessa babe. You're going to be mom to two powerful dragon twins. That honor would not have been bestowed on anyone unworthy."
She looked slightly less put out, but I could tell I hadn't really placated her. "She'll get better once she has the babies," Mischa murmured to me. "It's a big adjustment for most, and Jessa lost a lot."
So damn understanding. Always worrying about others. It was time someone started worrying about her. We were distracted then as more of the town pressed in to greet us. It took an hour or more to speak with them all and continue on to the prison.
"Thank you for that," Hadie said. "It means a lot to them that you took the time to stop. Most leaders don't. They simply breeze through, have their meeting, and leave."
"It was our pleasure," I said.
Hadie said no more but I sensed an approval in her gaze which had been missing earlier. Nice to see the diplomacy was strong with me today. I had no doubt the calm in my soul had everything to do with having Mischa at my side. She soothed my inner demon.
The entrance to Sinchin was dark and cool, a cave which led straight into the base of the mountain. It was against this mountain that the community of Shanjoin was built, and right at the top was the prison.
We had to pass through several layers of security. Magical essence tested us for deception, revealing our true selves – no magical disguise would work here. A scanner for weapons picked up my blade, but Hadie overrode that to allow me to keep it with me. It also picked up four knives and some throwing stars on Jessa. That was my girl.
The next few levels tested a variety of other magical things, and then finally we had to donate a drop of blood to cross the final threshold. Sinchin was a living entity, and once it had your essence it would always be able to find you. None of us were particularly happy with this part, but there would be no entry without it. This prison, of any around the world, was the most entrenched in magic. This was the reason there had never been an escape.
As soon as our blood sank into the stone at the end of the entrance tunnel, an elevator door appeared. Somehow, in the center of a mountain, there was a stainless steel box which was going to take us all the way up the middle of the prison.
My eyes flicked across to Jessa and I wasn't surprised to see a blade in her hand. Like most shifters, steel boxes made her uncomfortable. Mischa too, but they'd be okay for a few minutes. The view at the top would be worth it.
As we stepped inside, I drew each of them into my side and draped an arm across their shoulders. Hadie said nothing as the three of us remained locked tightly together during the ascent. My vampire almost purred at the contact of having my pack close. Should have guessed I was part shifter. I had so many of their instincts and pack-like tendencies. It all made sense now.
It took only a moment, despite the fact this mountain was practically miles in the air, to reach the top. With an almost silent whirr the doors slid across and the cool air washed in.
"Please give yourselves a few minutes to adjust to the altitude," Hadie said. "It can be a little disconcerting, especially when pregnant."
Jessa and Mischa both ignored her warning. Looking very much the twins they were, they marched out together, crossing over the large expanse of grassy hilltop to reach the closest edge. Both of them were wide-eyed and slack-jawed as they stared. I had to hold back my grin; at times there were worlds between their personalities – which was understandable, they had very different upbringings – and at other times they were so similar.
I understood why they didn't wait though, there was no way to stop yourself from crossing the huge space to stand on top of the world. The Sinchin prison was set atop one of the largest mountains in this region of China. On top here, it was about three miles total in diameter, shaped like an elongated egg. The views on all sides went on forever – mountains, greenery, urban landscape – even the sea could be seen at some points. It was almost as if this was the center of a million worlds and there was so much for the eye to see.
As I stepped to her side, Mischa turned sparkling green eyes on me. "This is so incredible. I can see everything."
She spoke quietly, almost reverently. Standing here was like standing amongst the gods. Very spiritual and mystical in nature.
As she turned to the view again, a sigh left her. "I wish I had my paints. I'm not sure I'll be able to truly capture this back home."
I straightened. "You paint?" There were so many things I didn't know about her.
Originally I hadn't wanted to know her too deeply. I'd felt as if the more pieces of herself she gave me, the more I'd want to keep them.
Everything was different now. Now I wanted every single part of her.
Jessa spoke up before Mischa could. "She's amazing, Max, you should see her paintings. She's taken over my room at Dad's and has turned it into an art studio. Misch definitely sucked up all the artistic talent in this twin genetics, that's for sure."