Page 57 of Guardian of the Cursed Egg (Dragonis Academy #2)
“Have you heard from the others?” he asks, his voice low and steady, a stark contrast to the sharp click of the blades cutting through the wooden arrow shafts.
“Abraxis sent me away when the fighting started to get to Mina.” I pull out my phone with trembling fingers, the screen casting a faint glow in the darkness.
The smooth glass feels slippery against my clammy skin.
“Mina is at Shadowcarve, Vaughn is in the apartment, and Leander…” My stomach tightens as I reload the app several times.
Each time, his name refuses to appear. “He’s not coming up.
” I hiss through clenched teeth as Balor yanks the arrow shafts free.
A fresh wave of pain blooms in my arm, and I bite down hard, tasting blood where I’ve accidentally nicked my lip. Balor works quickly, the scent of antiseptic and coppery blood mingling as he patches me up. The pull of the bandage across my skin is tight, uncomfortably snug, but necessary.
“There are only two places on campus where the signal won’t work: the dungeons and Lysander’s office,” I say, my voice tight.
“With everything that’s going on and what we suspect, he shouldn’t be in either place.” Ziggy’s voice carries a faint edge of worry as he hands Balor the tape. The adhesive tears with a sharp rip, the sound too loud in the stillness.
“Ziggy, get Callan home. I’m going to hunt the catacombs for Leander.
After Callan is safe, go to Mina. I’ll meet you there.
” Balor’s eyes flick toward the looming silhouette of the academy, its spires barely visible against the cloudless sky.
He shakes his head, his expression grim.
“If the known mates are being hunted, that means we’re safe. ”
Ziggy nods, but the weight of his gaze lingers on me, his glowing eyes piercing as if he’s trying to read my thoughts. The forest feels colder now, the shadows darker, as if the trees themselves are holding their breath.
“Just the way I like it. Being the wild card has its perks.” Ziggy says as he takes ahold of me again and we vanish from the forest to arrive in our apartment.
The front door hangs wide open, creaking faintly in the night breeze.
The air is sharp, carrying the scent of stone dust and something faintly metallic—blood, maybe.
The first thing we see is Vaughn, frozen mid-stride in his gargoyle form, trapped in stone.
The overhead light pours over his unmoving figure, highlighting every crack and ridge on his hardened body.
The broken chain lies at his feet, glinting faintly, and the amulet he always wears is nowhere to be found.
“Look…” Ziggy’s voice is barely above a whisper as he points toward the wall.
My gaze follows his finger to a painting that wasn’t there before.
The cute cow painting Mina liked now lays discarded nearby, the glass shattered.
I step closer, my boots crunching against the broken shards, and study the new painting.
It’s Mina’s dragoness, laying down with its four hatchlings, their scales gleaming in vivid hues. My pulse quickens as I notice the names scrawled on the back after I pull it from the wall. Mina listed the hatchlings by color and their fathers: Vaughn, Balor, Klauth, and Abraxis.
A cold knot forms in my gut. I glance at Ziggy, and he looks as shaken as I feel.
We exchange a look that speaks volumes—confusion, unease, and the unspoken fear of what this might mean for the rest of us.
Can Leander and Ziggy have hatchlings with her, even though their species aren’t born from eggs?
Four eggs already seem like a lot for such a young dragoness.
I flip the painting back over and examine the structure in the background.
It’s unmistakable—the same mountains Mina painted months ago when she told us where she wanted to build her nest. My chest tightens as Ziggy snaps several photos, the faint shutter sound of his phone slicing through the oppressive silence.
He sends the pictures to the pre-Mina chat without a word, the typing sound quick and urgent.
None of us expect a response right away, but it’s there for when they check.
We move through the apartment carefully, each creak of the floorboards sending a jolt of tension up my spine.
My senses are on high alert, scanning for anything out of place, listening for the faintest sound of an intruder.
The air smells faintly of Mina’s perfume—amber and something wild—but there’s an underlying sharpness, like ozone after a storm.
Once we’re sure no one is lurking, we head to the mini poison herb garden.
The smell of the plants hits us first—bitter, acrid, and cloying all at once.
My throat tightens slightly, and I make sure to keep my breathing shallow as we step inside.
In the back, beneath the twisted vines of nightshade, rests the black egg, exactly where Mina left it.
The faint sheen of its surface catches the dim light, looking as cold and unyielding as Vaughn’s stone form.
I glance at Ziggy, who’s already shifting uneasily. “You better go to Mina, just in case.” My voice is steady, but the weight of everything we’ve just seen presses on my chest like a stone. Ziggy doesn’t hesitate. In a blink, he’s gone, leaving me alone with the questions swirling in my mind .
The biggest one claws at me, gnawing at the edges of my thoughts: Who will make it home tonight, and who will we have to say goodbye to forever?