Origin of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Protector #3)(23)

Del was still in her polar bear pajamas, and Cass’s hair was wet. They threw their arms around me.

“We were so worried!” Cass cried.

“Why the hell didn’t you call us?” Del demanded.

They stepped back, brows scrunched and gazes angry. I told them about Elesius—how I’d been so shocked and amazed that I’d been a jerk and forgotten to try harder to get in touch.

“Your family’s alive?” Tears glinted in Cass’s eyes and her voice rang with joy. “That’s so amazing.”

“I’m so happy for you!” Del threw her arms around me. Cass joined in.

Tears pricked my eyes as I hugged them back. I was so lucky. I’d waited the longest to find my family, but I’d found them alive. I pulled back from them. “How are things back in Magic’s Bend? Have you learned anything new about Drakon?”

Cass nodded. “Roarke finally had some luck with a contact in the Order of the Magic, though it took him a little while.”

The Order was secretive. As the governing body of all Magica—magic users who weren’t shifters or fae or vampire—they took their jobs seriously and didn’t hand out information easily. Roarke, who worked alongside them as Warden of the Underworld, was the only one among our number who even had a shot at getting info.

“What’d he learn?”

“Drakon’s compound on the outskirts of Magic’s Bend was bought by a company that paid cash. But their origin is unknown. When they tried to track it, they found nothing.”

I sighed. “Not a surprise, considering that he’s supposed to be a criminal mastermind.”

“But Roarke did learn more from his contacts in the Underworld. Apparently there’s been a call put out for more mercenaries. A lot of cash for anyone who joins up. He doesn’t know who’s hiring, but we bet it’s him. And he’s hiring hundreds.”

Hundreds.

Damn.

Anyone who wanted hired muscle usually went for demons. It was both costly and illegal, but they were strong and had no morals. In order to hire a demon mercenary, you had to perform some pretty complex magic to get them out of hell and onto earth. This guy had that much magic and money? Bad news.

He was building an army and already had the prophecy untangled. Two steps ahead of us.

“Why are we here, anyway?” Cass asked.

“My ancestor was the one who made the vessel of truth. My mother gave me a lock of his hair so that I could use my dragon sense to find him, and this is where it took me.”

“Wow, so this has been fated for a long time,” Del said.

I nodded. “Seems like.”

“So you’ll find him and get the recipe for the potion.” Cass grinned. “Hot damn!”

“Yeah. Or he’s still in Drakon’s clutches.” I frowned. “In which case we’re heading straight for him.”

I wished I knew what we were walking into.

“You said this is Death Valley Junction?” Cass asked.

“Yeah.”

“There’s only one thing this place is really known for,” Cass said. “It’s the starting off point to reach Hider’s Haven.”

“What is that?” Ares asked.

“It’s where you go if you don’t want to be found,” Cass said. “Like, really don’t want to be found.”

“It can’t be that hidden if you know how to get there,” I said.

“I don’t, really. Aidan just told me about it. It’s supposed to be insanely difficult to get to, and this is just the starting off point. You’ll need someone to take you across Death Valley.”

“Death Valley?” Damn. If I was supposed to be Life in the Triumvirate, that was the last place I wanted to go.

“Can we not transport across?” Ares asked.

“No. Death Valley’s magic prevents it, and that’s part of the appeal of Hider’s Haven. You have to go through—and mostly likely die—to reach it.”

“It makes sense that he’s hiding out then,” Ares said. “He must have escaped Drakon somehow and doesn’t want to be re-caught.”

Excitement thrummed in my chest. “Which means we can kill two birds with one stone—learn the prophecy and find out where Drakon is.”

“Exactly.” Cass grinned.

“We’ll come with you,” Del said.

“No.” I shook my head. “We only need a couple people to find him. And fates forbid that we fail.”

“You’ll need to pick up the job if we do,” Ares said.

“We’ll watch your backs as we cross the valley,” Del said. “You need us.”

“No.” I made my voice firm. “You know as well as I do that hunting someone who doesn’t want to be found is best done in small numbers. We don’t need to scare him. Ares and I can take care of ourselves.” I removed the strap that held the box to me and handed the box over to Cass. “And you need to keep this safe, back at our place.”

The last thing I needed to do was carry the beaker through Death Valley. That was crazy.

Cass took the box, but opened her mouth as if she were about to argue.

I held up a hand. “This is my fight, Cass. And right now, this is the best way.”