Night World : Witchlight Chapter 13

Unfortunately, Keller didnt. Well just have to work some amour out, she give tongue to to her team. turn over it as safe as possible, and stick by her ein truth minute.Winnie and Nissa exchanged unhappy glances. plainly they didnt say any amour.Keller looked at Diana. The one thing is, you have to be at the Solstice Ceremony at midnight Theyre meeting in Charlotte, so thats about 20 minutes drive, and wed better leave plenty of time for safety. Say an hour at the least. If youre not at that place, where the shapeshifters and the witches ar meeting, at exactly midnight-My coach turns into a pumpkin Diana said tartly. She swabbed her nose with a tissue.No, the shapeshifters walk out, and any chance of an trammel is gone forever.Diana sobered, st ared at the table. thus she met Kellers eye. Ill be there. I know it, and you know why? Because youll get me there.Keller stared at her, astonished. She heard Winnie give a short yelp of laughter and saw that Nissa was hiding a smile.Th en she felt a smile pulling up the tree of her own lip. Youre justifiedly I will. eve if I have to drag you. Here, shake on it. They did. And then Diana turned to Galen. She had been watching him out of the corner of her eye ever since shed send-off initiateed talking. And now she looked hesitant again.If theres anything-any reason I shouldnt do it.. . She fumbled to a stop. Keller kicked Galens mortise joint unstated.He glanced up. He dormant didnt look like the Galen she knew. Talking about the flying lizards had done something to him, thrown a shadow across his face and turned his eyes inward. And Dianas announcement hadnt lightened anything.Keller stared at him intently, wishing she had telepathy. Dont you dare, she was figureing. Whats wrong with you? If you potbelly this up, after only the work weve done and with so much at stakeThen she realise something. Before, when hed been telling the history of the calculuss, Galen had looked brooding and a little scary. no wadays, he dummy up looked brooding besides indescribably sad. Heart-stricken-and full of such regret.She could close to hear his voice in her head. Keller, Im sorryDont be an idiot, Keller thought, and maybe she wasnt telepathic, but she was certain that he could take up her eyes. What have you got to be sorry for? Hurry up and do what youre mantic to do. Her heart was pounding, but she kept her breathing tightly controlled. Nothing mattered but Circle Daybreak and the alliance. Nothing. To think of anything else at a time like this would be the height of selfishness.And whap is for the weak.Galen dropped his eyes, almost as if he had lost a battle. Then he turned slowly from Keller to Diana. Who was standing with tears about to fall, break like diamonds on her lashes. Keller felt a twisting inside her chest. merely Galen, as always, was doing exactly the right thing. He took Dianas hand gently and brought it to his cheek in a gesture of humility and simplicity. He could do that without stopping looking noble for a moment. after all, he was a prince. Id be very recognise to go finished the promise ceremony with you, he said, looking up at her. If you endure knead yourself to do it with me. You understand everything I was telling you before- about my familyIliana blinked and breathed again. The tears had magically disappeared, leaving her eyes like violets freshly washed in rain. I understand all that. It doesnt matter. It doesnt change anything about you, and youre still one of the best the great unwashed Ive ever met. She blinked again and smiled.Nobody could have resisted it. Galen smiled back.Not nearly as ethical as you.They collared that way for a moment, looking at to each one otherwise, holding hands-and glowing. They looked perfect together, silvery and gold, a fairytale picture.Thats it. Its done. Shell have to go done the ceremony now, Keller thought. As yen as we can keep her alive, weve recruited a Wild Power. Mission accomplishe d.Im really happy about this.So why was there a heaviness in her chest that hurt each time she breathed?It was late that good afternoon when the second call came.Well, they plunge the driver of the car, Nissa said.Keller looked up. Theyd moved the box full of squiggles to Dianas bedroom when Mrs. Dominick came back from shopping. Now they had them untidily spread out on the floor while Iliana lay on the bed heavy-eyed and almost asleep. She perked up when Nissa came in.Who was it?A shapeshifter. Name of Fulton Arnold. He lives about ten miles from here.Keller tensed. Arnold. Eagle ruler. She glanced at Galen.He nodded grimly. The eagles are going to have some explaining to do. Damn it, theyve always been hard to get along with, but thisSo it was connected with the Night World, Winnie said. besides did Circle Daybreak figure out why?Nissa sat pig on the chair in front of Ilianas gold-and-w ca-cae vanity. Well, theyve got an intellection. She looked at Galen. Youre not going to l ike it.He practice refine a piece of scroll and sat up very straight, bleak and self-contained. What?You know all our theories about why shapeshifters are attacking humans? Whether its just the common shifter on the highway or orders from the premiere House and so on? Well, Circle Daybreak thinks its orders, but not from the First House.The shapeshifters wouldnt take orders from vampires, Galen said stiffly. So the Night World Council is out.They think its the dragon.Keller shut her eyes and hit herself on the forehead.Of course. Why hadnt she thought of it? The dragon giving direct orders, setting himself up as a legendary ruler who had returned to save the shapeshifters. Its like King Arthur coming back, she muttered.On her bed, Iliana was frowning in shock But you said dragons were evil. You said they were cruel and horrible and tried to destroy the world.Right, Keller said dryly. Only Iliana would think that this constitute a reason not to follow them. They were all those things. But they were also strong. They kept the shapeshifters on top. Im for sure there are plenty of shifters whod welcome a dragon back. She looked at Galen in growing contact as she figured it out. Theyre going to think it means a new era for them, maybe point a return to shapeshifter rule. And if thats what they think, nothing the First House says is going to make any difference. Even the mice are going to rally round Azhdeha.You mean the promise ceremony is no good? Iliana sat up. The interesting thing was that she didnt look particularly relieved-in fact, Keller thought, she looked positively dismayed.No, so dont even get that idea, Keller said shortly. What it means is- She stopped dead, realizing short what it did mean. What it means isGalen said, We have to kill the dragon.Keller nodded. Yeah. Not just fight it. We have to get rid of it. Make sure its not around to give orders to anybody. Its the only way to keep the shapeshifters from being split.Iliana looked down b adly at the snowstorm of paper that covered her floor. Does any of that stuff tell you how to kill a dragon?Keller move a piece of parchment, dropped it. So far, none of this stuff has told us anything useful.Yeah, but we havent even looked through half of it, Winnie pointed out. And since you and Galen are the only ones who can read the writing, the parts Nissa and I have gone through dont really count. at that place was definitely a lot of work left. Keller stifled a sigh and said briskly, Well, we dont need to worry about killing the dragon right now. If we can fight him off long enough to get through the promise ceremony, we can worry about destroying him afterward. Winnie, why dont you and Nissa start act to figure out a way to protect Iliana at the party Saturday? And Galen and I can stay up tonight and read through these scrolls.Winnie looked concerned. Boss, youre move to do too much. If you dont sleep sometime, youre going to start cracking up. Ill sleep on Sunday, Kell er said firmly. When its all over.Keller had meant that she and Galen could study the scrolls separately that night. But when everybody else headed for their bedrooms, he stayed in the family room with her and watched the eleven oclock news. More brute attacks.Keller pulled out her pile of scroll fragments. It was her way of saying good night, and much easier than looking at him.But he just said quietly, Ill get my half, and brought them out.Keller felt uncomfortable. It wasnt that she could rally any fault with what he was doing. He was studying his pieces of scroll intently and letting her do the same.But every now and then, he would look at her. She could feel his eyes on her, feel that they were practiced and steady and that he was waiting for her to look up.She never did.And he never said anything. After a while, he would always go back to his parchments. They worked on and on in silence.Still, Keller was aware of him. She couldnt military service it She was a panther she c ould sense the heat of his body even three feet away. She could smell him, too, and he smelled good. Clean and a little bit like the soap he used, and even more like himself, which was something warm and well-to-do and healthy. Like a puppy with a nice coat on a summer afternoon.It was very, very distracting. Sometimes the words on the scrolls blurred in front of her eyes. But worst of all, worse than touch his heat or smelling his scent or knowing his eyes were on her, was something more subtle that she couldnt exactly define. A connection. A sense of tension between them that she could almost touch. The air was buzzing with it. It lifted up the little hairs on Kellers arms. And no matter how she tried to will it away, it only seemed to grow and grow. someways the silence make it worse, made it more profound. I have to say something, Keller thought.Something casual, to show that Im not affected.She stared at the scrolls, which she was beginning to hate. If only she could find so mething useful Then she saw it. Right there on the scroll she was studying.Galen. Theres something here-in a copy of the oldest records about dragons. Its talking about what the dragons can do, what their powers are besides the dark energy.She read from the scroll, hesitating on words that were less familiar to her. A dragon has only to touch an animal and it is able to assume that animals form, know all that the animal knows, do all that the animal can do. There is no-I think it says jump-on the number of shapes it can master. Therefore, it is a true shapeshifter and the only one worthy of the name. I told you this stuff was old, she added. I think the original was written by the dragons press agent during the war. No limit on the number of shapes it can master, Galen repeated with growing excitement. That makes sense, you know. Thats what the First House has inherited, only in a diluted form. Being able to pick whichever shape we want to become- but only the first time. After th at, were stuck with it, of course.Do you have to touch an animal to learn its shape?He nodded. Thats how we choose. But if a dragon can touch anything and assume its shape- and change over and over His voice trailed off. Yeah. Its going to be awfully difficult to spot them,Keller said. The tension in the air had been somewhat discharged by talking, and she felt a little calmer. At least she could talk without the words sticking in her throat.But Galen wasnt helping. He leaned closer, peering down at her scroll. I wonder if it says anything else, anything about how to identify wait. Keller, look down here at the bottom.To do it, she had to bend her head so that his hair brushed her cheek. What?Horns, something about horns, he muttered almost feverishly. Youre better at translating than I am. Whats this word? Regardless? No, its more like no matter. She began to read. But no matter what form it takes, a dragon may always be known- By its horns, he chimed in, reading with her. They finished together, helping each other. A dragon has from one to three horns on its forehead, and in some rare cases four. These horns- both(prenominal) their voices rose- which are the pose of its power are most cruelly removed by the witches who capture them, to steal from them the power of changing.They both stopped. They kept staring at the parchment for what seemed endless minutes toKeller. Galen was enthralling her wrist so hard that it hurt.Then he said softly, Thats it. Thats the answer.He looked up at her and gave her wrist a little shake. Thats the answer. Keller, we did it we found it.Shh Youre going to wake up the whole house. But she was almost as shaky with excitement as he was. Let me think. Yeah, that guy Azhdeha could have had horns. His hair was all messy, covering his forehead, and I remember idea that was a little strange. The rest of him looked so neat.You see? He laughed breathlessly, exultantly.Yes. But-well, do you have any idea how hard it would be to try and take off a dragons horns?No, and I dont care. Keller, stop it, stop trying to dampen this The point is, we found it. We know something about dragons that can hurt them. We know how to fightKeller couldnt help it. His exhilaration was infectious. All at once, all the bottled-up emotions inside her started to come out. She squeezed his arm back, half laughing and half crying.You did it, she said. You found the part.It was on your scroll. You were just about to get there.You were the one who suggested we look at the scrolls in the first place.You were the one- Suddenly, he broke off. He had been looking at her, laughing, their faces only inches apart as they congratulated each other in whispers. His eyes were like the woods in summertime, golden-green with darker green motes in them that seemed to shift in the light.But now something hike pain crossed his face. He was still looking at her, still gripping her arm, but his eyes went bleak.Youre the one, he said quietly.Keller had to brace herself. Then she said, I dont know what youre talking about.Yes, you do.He said it so simply, so flatly. There was almost no way to argue.Keller found one. Look, Galen, if this is about what happened in the library-At least youre admitting that something happened now.-then I dont know whats wrong with you. Were both shapeshifters, and there was a minute when we variant of lost our objectivity. Were under a lot of stress. We had a moment of visible attractive feature. It happens, when you do a theorize like this you just cant take it seriously.He was staring at her. Is that what youve convinced yourself happened? A moment of physical attraction?The truth was that Keller had almost convinced herself that nothing had happened-or convinced her mind, anyway.I told you, she said, and her voice was harsher than shed heard it for a long time. Love is for weak people. Im not weak, and I dont plan to let anything make me weak. And, besides, what is your problem? Youve already got a fiance. Dianas brave and kind and beautiful, and shes going to be very, very powerful. What more could you want?Youre right, Galen said. Shes all those things. And I respect her and admire her-I even love her. Who could help loving her? But Im not in love with her. Im-Dont say it. Keller was angry now, which was good. It made her strong. What kind of prince would put his personal happiness above the fate of his people? Above the fate of the whole freaking world, for that matter?I dont he raged back. He was speaking softly, but it was still a rage, and he was a little bit frightening. His eyes blazed a deep and endless green. Im not saying I wont go through with the ceremony. All Im saying is that its you I love. Youre my soulmate, Keller. And you know it.Soulmate. The word hit Keller and ricocheted, clunking inside her as it made its way down. When it hit bottom, it settled into a little niche made especially for it, fitting exactly.It was the word to describe what had really happen ed in the library. No stress-induced moment of physical attraction and no simple romantic flirtation, either. It was the soulmate principle.She and Galen were soulmates.And it didnt matter a bit, because they could never be together.