He shook his head. “Sorry, Jessa, this is not the main entrance.”
Louis tilted his head to capture my gaze. “Don’t forget about…” He trailed off, pointing toward my stomach. He lowered his voice further. “We can be there within minutes, but for our plan to work we must check in to our official appointment.”
Jonathon brushed a hand over my cheek. “The twins explained earlier that if we all followed, there was more chance of us getting caught. Their powers only extend so far.” His blue eyes softened. “We will be close by though, so call if you need us.”
He stepped aside and let Braxton crowd into me. The dragon didn’t look happy. “This goes against my better judgment, Jess, but promise me that you will not let your guard down for a second. Not even with Mischa.”
I bobbed my head a few times. He didn’t have to worry about that. A part of my sister had gone to the dark side and she wasn’t to be trusted.
“I choose you.” I leaned in closer. “I love you.” I’d said it a million times before, but now it meant something more. And I was running out of chances to tell him.
He growled. “Don’t do that. I will see you again very soon.”
“Just in case,” I murmured.
His lips hit mine then, and the kiss held a taste of fear, before it softened up and I could feel his true emotions. That kiss told me he loved me. Desperately. Passionately. Forever.
Somehow I pulled myself from him, turning to face the cliff. Shit, the girls were already halfway up. So much for me following their exact path.
“I can help with that,” Louis said.
My feet were suddenly off the ground. Looked like this wolf was both climbing and flying today. Lucky I was part dragon too.
Despite the strange sensation of floating into the sky, I didn’t flinch. I was hardening myself, to prepare for what was coming. The bad feeling I’d had for days was increasing, my instincts were screaming at me to bail, but unlike my sister I was loyal and wouldn’t throw her off the cliff. Not yet anyway. But she’d better start proving she was worthy of all of us.
My eyes stayed locked on the three men for as long as possible, especially Braxton, who had both hands pressed into the rock as if he was a heartbeat from following me. I had to look away when I reached Mischa; Louis deposited me against the cliff. The magic held long enough for me to find the divots. My gloved fingers slotted into the deep spots, and it was actually pretty easy to scale up. I glanced back down again, but there was no one at the bottom anymore. The ache in my heart deepened.
I again pushed down my sorrow, focusing my thoughts on what the hell the weapon might be; if the twins wanted it, it had to be important.
About halfway up the massive cliff Orange disappeared. Hanging out as far as I could, I tried to see what was happening above, but she had definitely vanished. Then, as soon as the next twin poofed into nothingness, I knew we had reached Krakov’s entry point. I hurried up after Mischa, making sure to stay in her foot grooves.
Five more feet and Mischa was gone, her boots almost kicking me in the head as she shimmied her way into the secret doorway. As I reached for the next handhold, I had to scramble higher to find the opening. I knew it was stupid, but I closed my eyes for the split second it took me to pass through the fake rock wall. I opened them to find my head and upper body in a small cave alcove. I pulled the rest of myself over the edge and stood. The other three waited briefly before they started to move again.
Orange said: “We just came through the back entrance to Krakov. Stay close.”
I didn’t reply, my dirty looks were speaking volumes. Mischa was a little slower to follow. She blinked a few times at me. Either her eyeballs were freezing from the icy cold or she was trying not to cry. I held her gaze until she shook off the emotions and turned away again.
The cave started to narrow into a tunnel of sorts, growing darker the further we got from the secret cliff doorway. Enough light for my wolf eyes, but I think a human would have struggled. This area seemed like every other cave I’d ever been in, but if that was really the case, why was every single hair on my body standing on end? Why were my wolf senses on high alert? – not to mention my dragon, prowling the walls of her cage, almost as if she was on patrol.
I had a sudden thought. And with a burst of speed I grabbed my sister’s hand. The connection between us flared to life, but with no visible energy for the other twins to pick up on.
Did you tell them about my ability to shift to dragon?
I needed to know. I was most probably walking right into a trap, and my dragon felt like a secret weapon of sorts, which it wouldn’t be if they already knew about her.