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T hree rhythms pulsed inside my bracelet, each throb matching the beat inside my chest until they sped up with a tempo that my heart couldn’t keep up with.
Not good, I thought as I panted onto the floor. Nera was talking to me again, Killian was making threats, and Kai was struggling as two dragons added to the symphony of noise, but I could barely discern it all above the beats .
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
They stirred inside of me, too much for one body.
“You won’t win,” I said, forcing my face up to glare at the possessed Maestro.
Because Nera was inside of this faerie, somehow. And I would find a way to push her out.
“You think corrupting everything around you makes you strong,” I spat.
“How little you understand me,” she sighed.
“I don’t want to be strong, I have to be.
The only way I can fix the wrongs that have been done are to have the control that I need to be a queen.
” She leaned in, her eyes sparkling with manic logic.
“If I have to burn everything down because it’s broken beyond repair, then that’s what I’ll do, Vivienne.
And you can help me in my quest, or you can get out of my way . ”
She sliced her hand through the air and the red egg pulsed.
The heat in my bracelet exploded, forcing me to cry out as the third soul surged its power up my arm and directly into my mind.
It wasn’t subtle like Violet had been.
It didn’t ask.
It demanded.
Fire licked at the edges of my vision. The weight of memories that weren’t my own pressed in on my psyche.
Blood,
Shattered glass.
Limbs and wings twisted with Wrath.
A scream built behind my teeth, but I clamped it down.
“Vivi!” Killian shouted. “Don’t let her in!”
I’m trying, I thought back, but I knew it was only resistance. I couldn’t keep this up.
I gasped as I clutched my wrist and light poured from the bracelet.
The chamber vibrated as if in tune with the mayhem.
The pedestals gave and cracked.
Nera’s smirk flickered.
And then…
A tone.
Clear. High. Beautiful.
And one I had heard before—when we’d first encountered the golem.
But now it was unmistakable.
It rang through the crystal walls like the first note of a symphony. A harmony—one that didn’t come from the bracelet, the tower, or even from me…
It came from below.
From the ley lines.
Nera stumbled back a step as her hand recoiled. The red egg dimmed for a moment as the third soul seemed to hesitate.
It was enough.
The pressure in my chest released and I collapsed to my knees as I gulped in cold air.
Kai was at my side in an instant, as if he had just been released from a hold. “That wasn’t you,” he whispered. “That note… it wasn’t from any of us.”
I didn’t answer, because I was staring at the pink egg.
It was glowing brighter.
Responding
The second Queen was waking.
And she was choosing one of us in this room.
My eyes flashed up to Kai’s.
Are you ready for this?
Nera hissed as if she knew what was happening. “No!”
She stepped toward the pedestal, but the floor between us shattered in a prism of light. A web of glowing crystal formed between her and the eggs, cutting her off.
She couldn’t cross.
She wasn’t in control like she wanted anymore.
At least, not fully.
Someone had intervened.
And I had a feeling I knew who.
See who is Vivi’s new ally in Dragonrider Academy: Episode 12 !