Hidden Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon Book 7) by Genevieve Jack (best ereader for manga txt) 📗

sagged. She spread her arms along the edge and leaned her head back. “Mmmm. Okay, yes, this was a good idea.”

“I thought so.”

Eventually though, the wound he’d opened in Circe’s temple began to ache again and she gave him a somber stare. “Why did you tell Circe that my gift was unreliable?”

“I thought that would be obvious. We talked about it on the way here. Aborella.”

Her breath hitched. He couldn’t possibly think that one misinterpretation would mean all her visions were unreliable, could he? She decided to take a different tack. “Do you remember the story of how I learned I was a seer?”

“You predicted the death of your mother,” he said softly.

Her throat tightened as long-suppressed emotions began working their way to the surface. “I was three. Just a child. I kept having fits. My parents thought they were seizures, but the healer could find nothing wrong with me. Every time it would happen, I’d see my mother dropping out of the sky. I told my father about the visions, but he assured me my mother was fine, completely healthy, and would be with me for a long, long time. He was wrong.”

“No one should lose their mother so young,” he whispered, looking truly sad now. “Or their father.”

“She was shot out of the sky by an Obsidian guard who claimed his arrow had slipped during target practice. He blamed her for flying too close to their encampment. She died and the guard was never punished. My father died of a broken heart a few years after.”

“You’ve often said their deaths were the reason you decided to join the rebellion.”

“One of many. But that’s not my point. My point is that seeing has been part of who I am for as long as I can remember. It’s as much a part of me as my eyesight or my hearing.”

“Dianthe…”

“When you denied my abilities, you denied who I am!” Her voice rose, sounding pinched.

His face remained impassive, but Dianthe got the impression he was holding strong emotions at bay. When he spoke, the words came slowly. “I couldn’t allow the goddess to believe we could rely on your abilities. Not after what happened.”

“Why? I’m still a seer, Sylas. Just because I misinterpreted one vision—”

“You spent hours with her, Dianthe.” His face crumpled into an awful expression of sympathy that made her skin crawl.

“I had to. I was healing her. I cared for her. Of course I spent time with her.”

Sylas frowned. “Aborella is the most powerful fairy sorceress that ever lived. You didn’t just get it wrong about her. You didn’t see the attack on Everfield coming until the Guard was upon us. Your visions have been few and far between since you healed her.”

“I—” He was right. Usually an attack of that magnitude would trigger a vision when it was planned, not when it was executed. The rebellion had thwarted many initiatives in the past based on her early visions. She had no explanation for why her abilities had failed her this time.

“You don’t know why.”

“No… Yes… Maybe. It could be because it was too personal for me to see clearly. Or… things have been tense between us since you came home. My gift doesn’t work well when I’m under emotional stress.”

He scoffed. “You think this is my fault?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“What if it was her, Dianthe? Aborella could have cursed you or somehow diluted your power. You probably didn’t even know it was happening.” He shook his head. “She’s evil. She’s an abomination.”

Dianthe shook her head. She knew Aborella had done evil things in the past, but she’d felt a real connection to the fairy by the end of their time together. “I don’t think that’s true. I don’t feel any different.”

“No. You wouldn’t. She’d want you to feel the same. Think about it. Pretend you are her and you wanted to use a talented fairy to your advantage, what would you do? If she hurt you, she’d hurt only you. But if she planted visions in your head, or worse, planted a spell so she could control what you see…”

Tears broke the dam of her eyelids. This was too frustrating. “You think she cursed me so that she could plant visions in my head?”

“Who knows? We don’t know what she did or what she told Eleanor. You spent days with that snake within striking distance.”

“I don’t think it’s true. I feel fine.” She was trembling now, raw emotion tangling up inside her and forming a lump in her throat.

“Be that as it may, I am the leader of the Defenders of the Goddess. It is my responsibility to ensure the safety and effectiveness of our missions. Which means, until we can prove you haven’t been cursed, you can’t participate as an officer of the rebellion.”

She gasped. “You’re removing me from my position?”

He looked away from her. “I have to. It’s too dangerous.”

“I was an officer in the DOGs before you even suspected that your mother killed Marius! I brought you on, Sylas. You can’t do this!”

He reached for her, but she pulled away, lifting herself out of the water and snagging her dress from where she’d left it.

“I have to, Dianthe. I know you. You might be angry at me now, but you’d never want to put anyone in danger.”

What he said made sense. If Aborella had planted some sort of enchantment in her head, the sorceress had violated her in the worst possible way. But even as she considered that possibility, she just couldn’t accept it. Was she stupid for still believing that when she’d looked into Aborella’s eyes, she’d seen true friendship there?

“How can I prove to you that I am not cursed and regain my position in the rebellion?” She pulled her dress over her head, no longer comfortable being naked in his presence.

He sighed. “I thought we could ask Raven to examine you. She’s a very powerful witch. Perhaps she’d have some ideas.”

Dianthe bit her lip. As a fairy, her dealings with witches