Chapter 8
I’m pretty sure no one was breathing as we all stood perfectly still as the wall finished opening. A loud click filled the chamber like the starter’s pistol at the beginning of a race.
Everyone jumped. Kai stepped in front of me in full protector mode. I thought about telling him to move, but it felt good. He was my knight in shining armor, and I was… Well, I would never be the damsel in distress, but I was for sure his Mate, and I loved him with all my heart and soul.
Leading the way was my Arthur with his sister by his side. Growling with the hair running down her spine standing on end, Mona was one fierce female. She fit right in.
To Kai’s left, Theresa had her gun drawn. To his right, Zelda glowed a bright, shimmering gold or black, indicating that she was pissed and ready for a fight.
To my left was Otis, and Chewy was hiding behind him, chanting, “I'm too adorable to die.”
“We're all too adorable to die,” Otis grumbled.
To which Maeve sarcastically replied. “Speak for yourself.”
Crossing the threshold into the hidden room was underwhelming to say the least. There was no treasure. There was no growing monster to slay. There was also no throne for the Queen, supposedly me, to sit upon.
“Well, at least there’s no skeleton,” Maeve offhandedly mentioned. “However, there is a tomb.”
“A what?!” I yelped.
Spinning on my toes, I instantly saw what Maeve was talking about. At least four and a half feet high, perched upon a stone dais, sat an absolutely stunning granite crypt.
Five feet by seven feet, it was magnificent and ancient. Inscribed with hand-carved Dragons with sparkling jewels as eyes, they were in every pose imaginable, with a background that had to be the Isle of Skye, the Birthplace of Shifters.
Surveying the entire stone coffin, I got to the other side and stopped in my tracks. The panorama was modern and more like a scrapbook or vision board than a painting.
There was a coffee cup like the ones I used at the shop, and the exact flowers I set on the tables every day, carved into the granite. Beside that were combat boots, a sword, and a few fireballs flying around in the background.
Turning when Maeve gasped, I followed her gaze and did the same damn thing as I read the perfectly stamped words,
HERE RESTS
MARGARET DELLENCOURT
FIRST OF THE DRAGON QUEENS
LAST TO REFUSE THE CROWN.
“Excuse me?” I scoffed.
“Well,” Chewy replied. “That seems important.”
Before I could spit out the sarcastic comment I had locked and downloaded, the journal in my hand started to glow. Flashing and strobe lights shot from the pages, lighting the room in a kaleidoscope of colors before the book quite literally jumped out of hand.
Hitting the floor, the cover flew open, and the pages started to turn. All the way to the end, back to the beginning, then, about three-quarters of the way through, it stopped and fell all the way open.
Kneeling, I noticed it was yet another person’s handwriting.
Block-printed letters, large and small caps, written with a heavy hand that left the words practically embossed on the page, read the words aloud: “The Dragon Queens are not to be feared.
They do not destroy the Bibbidi Bobbidi Bubble unless they refuse the crown.
It is important to remember that the Dragon Queens aren't rulers. They are the seals. They are the anchors. They are the living conduits. If they refuse the crown, the seal will open, and something will escape.”
“Escape from where?” Theresa quietly asked.
The journal pages flipped all on their own. The page it landed on was blank, and then the words "FROM BELOW" appeared.
“Below what?” Kai’s voice was rough and gruff. He was quickly approaching Warrior Fairy, and I was all for it.
Once again, pages flipped. They landed on a blank page, and a single word appeared: EVERYTHING.
Aideen inhaled sharply, and her mind opened wide. Even the places she usually kept locked down became visible, and I quickly put my own mental blinders in place for those mental boxes.
Whispering a sincere “Thank you,” she gasped again.
The bond we shared filled so many emotions, from Dragons I didn’t recognize, that for a brief moment, it felt as if I was drowning.
Pain. Loss. Regret. Great clouds of sorrowful recollections were everywhere as Aideen whispered, “She loved.” Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she went on, “She chose family.”
The Dragon Queen, with whom I shared my soul, paused. I could feel how quickly she was shuffling through the memories of countless Dragon Queens who’d come before. Then she added, “She chose children. She refused."
Heartache and bone-deep sorrow filled Aideen’s mind. For the briefest of moments, I felt how hard it was for her to even draw breath. Way sooner than I expected, she sniffled, “And everyone died.”
“Barney was wrong.” The words were out of my mouth before I even knew I thought them, and I was terrified.
I couldn’t even muster my trademark sass and snark. The shit was real, and I couldn’t find a brave bone in my body. “I don't want this.”
“Neither did she,” Aideen confirmed.
“I don't want a crown,” I lamented, irritated with myself for being scared, but remembering that Momma always said, “Fear keeps you safe.”
“Neither did she,” Aideen said.
“I just wanted...” Taking a deep breath, I spoke the honest-to-the-Goddess truth. “…coffee, Kai, my boys and Mona, my sisters, my bestie, and a wedding.”
“Then have those things,” Aideen confidently stated. “And wear the crown.”
“Martha.” Taking my hand, the best fiancé ever, stepped up. “Sweetheart, you don't have to decide today.” With a little kiss on the tip of my nose, he went on, “And you don't have to decide tomorrow.” He shrugged. “Hell... You don't even have to decide before the wedding."
Smiling that smile I knew was just for me, he kept going, making me feel better with every word. “But one day... You're gonna have to decide. And when you do... I'll be standing beside you.”
Throwing my arms around his neck, I pulled him down to my height and kissed him with all the love and adoration in my heart. Pulling back when Maeve cleared her throat for the third time, I looked him in the eyes, crinkled my nose, and teased, “Barney was wrong.”
“Ugh…” Pretending to be put out, he scoffed, “You just had to bring that up, didn’t you?”
“I…”
The sound of flipping pages drew our attention. Stopping on the very last page, I saw Barney’s grandma's handwriting and immediately started reading. “Queens do not choose power. They choose what they love. Power follows.”
Before I could look away, new words started to appear at the bottom of the page. Fresh, wet, black ink danced across the page, creating beautifully looping calligraphy.
SHE HAS BEEN FOUND
The words stopped us all in our tracks. Until Zelda blurted out, “Who?”
The journal answered with three words: THE ONE BELOW.
The rumbling and shaking from before promptly resumed.
Mona barked and growled.
Arthur howled.
Otis turned in circles, boofing the whole way.
And Chewy yipped, “NOPE!”
“Yeah, bud,” I groaned. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”