Dragon Ascending (Zodiac Dragon Brotherhood Book 1) by Genevieve Jack

Author:Genevieve Jack [Jack, Genevieve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carpe Luna, Ltd.
Published: 2024-08-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

CONNOR

Two hours of chopping wood in forty-degree weather and I still feel like I’m burning up. I’m miserable. If I don’t convince Fiona to be with me soon, I’m not sure I’ll make it through the month. I’ll be the youngest dragon to die of mating sickness.

My phone vibrates, and I set down the axe to answer it.

“Uncle Connor.” Mason’s deep voice comes down the line. He sounds excited.

“What’s happening, Mason? Aren’t you supposed to be training on Cardinal Island or making wedding plans with that girl of yours?” Mason mated Reagan last month. Reagan was raised human, and Mason intends to marry her in a human ceremony this summer.

“Actually, in an indirect way, that’s why I’m calling.”

“Huh?”

“We found the ring.”

“Reagan’s engagement ring? I’ve already seen it⁠—”

“No. Not that ring. The ring. Her father’s ring from when he was initiated into the Saint’s Order!”

“No fucking way!” I lick my bottom lip. That ring is a major boon for the Zodiac Brotherhood. We’ve never gotten our hands on one before. The Order usually guards and retains them after a member’s death. Reagan’s father was an unusual exception.

Richard Bailey knew that Reagan’s mother was a dragon and that she was killed by the Order, yet he still allowed himself to be seduced by the power the society offered him. He traded his daughter for membership in the Order. Reagan was a dormant until the Order used magic to force her shift. Her dad had planned to buy her back at auction, but she chose the hunt. Mason and I barely got her out alive.

Just days after his initiation and Reagan’s escape, he committed suicide. He’d removed and hidden the Order’s ring prior to his death and no one had seen it since. Once the mansion transferred ownership to Reagan, we searched every inch of the property for it. I’d assumed the Order got to it first.

“Where did you find it? I thought you guys searched everywhere.”

“We thought we had too, but we decided to remodel her father’s office because it holds bad memories for Reagan. When we demoed the bookcases, we found a secret room behind them. It was no bigger than a closet, Connor, but he kept a bunch of her mother’s things in there. Reagan speculated that he also kept his wedding ring there because we found her mother’s. He left the Order ring next to it on the shelf.”

“Wow. This is big.” I rub my chin.

“The biggest. Only we have a problem. Neither one of us can touch it. Burns like a son of a bitch. Reagan’s friend Imani helped us move it to the safe. Obviously I can’t take it to Cardinal Island. Even if I could devise some kind of carrying case, who knows what effect it would have on the portal or even if the ancient magic protecting the island would let it in.”

“I agree. It’s too dangerous.”

“So what do you want me to do with it?”

Of course. That’s why he’s calling. For one more week, I’m in charge, which means he’s looking to me for next steps.

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