Chapter 5

Violet sat across from me, settling herself into a chair that looked like it was made out of glass and released a long sigh. She curled her fingers over the smooth, spiraled ends before facing me. “Okay, we have about ten minutes before I need to take you to the Maestro. Whatever questions you have, we can go over them now, then we don’t talk about it again. There are ears everywhere except in this room. Illy and Tilly chitter chatter so much that the Maestro would get a headache listening in on them all day.”

I frowned as I cataloged my questions, saving the less important ones for later. I fully intended to bring her back here if this was the only place we could freely talk, because I needed a lot more than ten minutes.

“Who are you?” I began.

How she chose to answer that question would determine my others.

She raised a purple brow. “I’m one of the diamond royals, Vivienne. Don’t you know that already?”

I shook my head. “Never heard of them.”

Her eyes rounded before she blew out another breath. Her glittery wings fluttered behind her before settling. “Well, that complicates things. Okay. I assumed you knew who I was because you awakened me.”

I shook my head. “You called me, not the other way around.”

She raised both brows. “I assure you, I didn’t. But that explains why it took so long for you to reach me. Maybe you didn’t wake me up… Maybe, someone else did.”

“Or something else,” I suggested. “Corruption has been terrorizing the realms. My father told me I had to save the Lost Dragon Queens because it was coming after all of you.”

She slowly nodded as if something was starting to make sense. “I see. Then… perhaps it was your father who woke me.”

My heart twisted unexpectedly. Even as a human, even from his removed place in the afterlife, he was still looking after me.

If that was true, I was going to have to trust this diamond royal.

“We’re getting off track,” I said, gearing the conversation back to more pertinent matters. Plus, if we started talking about my father, I was going to get emotional. “What is a diamond royal?”

She toyed with the bracelet on her wrist, then glanced at mine that matched it. “We’re sisters. I’m the oldest, which makes me the leader. We once ruled this realm, but it was so long ago that even the natives here don’t remember it. Illy told you about Companion Faeries, they are the closest they have to the memory of their true history. My sisters andIprotected this world until we were betrayed.”

“Who betrayed you?” I asked, but Violet waved my question away.

“We have eight minutes left, so there’s more I need to tell you. My past doesn’t matter, other than what impacts us now. All you need to know is that I chose to push my sisters into a rebirth cycle. I likewise followed, taking on the shape of a dragon. It’s what we are, natively, anyway. Dragons are the embodiment of magic no matter what realm you’re in. That’s one constant you can count on. And it’s why yours wouldn’t accept the healing concoction. She has more magic in herself than in a little unicorn powder.”

I nodded, starting to put together the pieces now. “So you had enough magic to take on your humanoid form,” I guessed. “Or faerie form, as it were. But, if you changed into a dragon again…”

“I’d be a fledgling,” she finished.

My lips pinched as I frowned. “And your sisters?”

She toyed with the bracelet, turning it over to dip her finger into the empty slots. “I’m afraid there isn’t enough magic to return them to their faerie form. Not yet, anyway. When we find them, they’ll be fledglings and they’re going to stay that way. But, I can safeguard their souls in our bracelets.”

My chest tightened. “You linked us,” I guessed.

She nodded. “I did. It was the only way.”

That explained why I wasn’t healing on my own. “You should have asked before you tapped into my goddess blood like that.”

She winced. “I assumed, but I shouldn’t have. You rescued me, and I thought you had woken me up, and then when you released your goddess magic for me to freely grab onto…”

“You took it,” I said, finishing her sentence this time.

She nodded.

I blew out a breath, then ran my finger over Solstice’s tiny scales. “And what did you do to her? Is she going to return to her normal size?”

She brightened. “Oh, she can return to her natural state whenever she likes. It was just much easier to explain your bond this way. Companion Faeries are accepted here, even cherished. But it can intimidate some guys like Kai. Just be careful who you’re alone with. The faeries are… competitive.”

“Noted,” I said, then built up the courage for my next question. “And Killian? The others? Vern? Do you know what happened to them?”

Violet nodded. “I noticed three signatures when I pulled us through to this realm. But the magic would have only brought anyone you were bonded with. Do you have a Hovakim bond, or a singular one?”

I chuckled, realizing she was asking me if I had more than one boyfriend. “Just Killian,” I said.

She hummed. “Then he’s here, somewhere. My guess is he landed in one of the villages. I wasn’t completely lying when I said that my portal magic was rusty. If the other signature was his dragon, then that dragon will have been reduced to Companion size, too. I worked the spell on your Queen, but it would apply to any dragon within the bond group the moment it took effect.”

That sounded complicated, but I was following. Sort of.

And if that was true, that also meant that Killian was unprotected.

“Then I need to find him,” I said. “He’s going to be confused, Violet. What if the faeries who discover him think he’s dangerous? What if he defends himself?”

I wasn’t really worried about Killian having problems defending himself, based on what I had seen so far. I was more worried about the native population overwhelming him or trapping him somewhere.

Then again, he would laugh at me and remind me that the faeries fought with flutes. What were they going to do, music him to death?

Her purple wings fluttered. “Then he’ll be sent here, one way or another.” Her statement reminded me that the faeries had magic, magic that seemed to reside in the power of song.

Maybe I should be worried about Killian and the flute-wielding faeries.

I didn’t get a chance to ask her to elaborate when the door creaked open and Illy poked her head in.

“Mint tea is ready! This way please,” she instructed with a bright smile.

Violet and I shared a look before we followed her to a room on the other side of the tower.

As I sipped delicious tea, I stared out the window and looked over a shining Academy that looked a lot like a new beginning.

Something I had been craving ever since graduating.

Now, I got to do it all over again.

I just hoped that Killian was okay.

Hang on, Killian. I’ll find you.

Then we’ll figure this out… together.