Page 1 of Owen

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“Let me get this straight.” I looked around the library, where dragons and witches were gathered. If anyone had ever told me we’d be working together like this one day, I would’ve told them they were daft. Or worse.

Iris lifted an eyebrow. “Go on.”

I tilted my head to the side to get a better look at the symbols in the book. Faded, all of them, some more so than others. How Electra and Iris hadn’t gone blind yet was a mystery, as they’d spent hours poring over the books, even while Dallas and the others were still halfway down the mountain.

No wonder they both seemed to be in poor spirits. Then again, Iris generally had a chip on her shoulder.

With this in mind, I chose my words carefully. “You told us the runes lay out a story of the witches running from those who wished them harm. They were in danger; they were being burned and otherwise murdered. They had no home.”

“That’s right,” Electra agreed. She looked exhausted, the circles underneath her eyes pronounced after so many hours of studying. At least Pierce and the other dragons who called this particular mountain home had placed extra lamps around the room, so the witches could read more easily.

“They owned treasure which they needed to store someplace.”

“Also right.” Iris rubbed a hand over the top of her head. “It doesn’t say anything about what the treasure was, not specifically. And that’s as far as we’ve gotten up to this point. But we know there was a treasure, and they needed help with it. As well as help in keeping themselves safe from those who would do them harm.”

Hecate leaned over the thick tome with its time-weathered pages, so delicate and thin. “I always wondered about the history of those in the coven which left for the New World. We lost all contact with them and have no record of where they went or what they did after arriving here.”

“Now we know—to a degree,” Callie murmured, sounding mournful. “Poor things. Our sisters, all of them, and they suffered so.”

“You’ve made a great deal of progress.” Hecate beamed. “I’m really proud of you. I know Mother would be, too.”

“I still don’t understand how you can possibly understand this. ‘Tis nothing but a bunch of symbols.” I tilted my head this way and that, studying them.

“No written language is anything other than a bunch of symbols.” Iris smiled. “You do know that, don’t you? The only difference is you were taught to read English.”

“And Gaelic,” Dallas added.

“All right, all right. I give.” I turned away from the book. “What’s next?”

“We keep studying.” Hecate put a hand on Iris’s shoulder and squeezed. “You need the break, and I feel like I’ve been slacking on the work that needs to be done.”

“You were trapped in the storm,” Iris reminded her. “I would hardly call that slacking. If you were sheltering in a fabulous hotel…”

“The last time I checked, there aren’t any such places along the mountainside. Though we did find a cave. Not quite the same.” She kissed Iris’s cheek. “Go rest. You too, Electra. Your eyes will cross soon if you don’t take a break.”

This left me with Dallas, Hecate, and Calliope. The witches exchanged a look. “I suppose this means we’d better get to work.” Callie shrugged. “It’s why we came, after all.”

“You need more rest, too.”

“No, I don’t. Remember? I’m practically healed, and my energy is already better now that I’ve eaten and slept. I feel much better.”

Hecate stroked her sister’s hair. “If you’re sure. I’ll shower and have something to eat, and then I’ll join you.”

I eyed Dallas. “What of yourself?” With his new mate working, he would be unable to engage in the sort of activity new mates normally busied themselves with. Something told me we might have interrupted them.

Well, we hadn’t been called across the ocean just to mate up and get tangled up in sheets together.

He shrugged. “I thought I might take a look at their communications setup. There’s always room to learn about new equipment.”

I’d already done so when we arrived, while he was busy falling in love with Hecate and sharing his blood with a wounded witch. “I might patrol a bit. Or do some exploring. Couldn’t do that during the storm, naturally.”

“Naturally,” Dallas grimaced. “The mountain did not look so lovely from our perspective.”

“I can’t imagine. We barely made it up, ourselves.” I had to get away from him. I could hardly stand looking upon him and Hecate after nearly killing them.

But Callie was the worst. It was Callie who might easily have died in the crash, who suffered crushing injuries as a result.

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