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“You will want Silas, too,” Matitus says as if reading my thoughts. I go to say no when Dragus saunters over, shaking his head.

“Deny it all you want, Lora. We smelled how aroused you got when you saw him get out of the shower, last night. It’s okay to hate him and still want him,” Dragus says. Dragus looks to Matitus, and I hear him sigh, making me look at him.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Silas wants to see us, come on,” Matitus says, holding his hand out to me. Hesitating, I feel my heart race at the thought of having to go be in the same room as Silas.

“You will be fine, I promise,” Dragus says. I nod, placing my hand in Matitus’s. His fingers are long and the size of his hand is double mine as it encases my small one, I stare at the tips of his fingers knowing how quickly his fingernails could turn to sharp talons if he deemed fit to use them.

I expect him to let go, he doesn’t. Even when I try to pull my hand from his as we enter the library, Silas sits at his desk. His eyes dart straight to our hands, and I feel Matitus squeeze my fingers gently.

Silas stands, grabs a wooden box off the shelf, and places it on the desk. He opens it, pulling out three black spheres. I stared at them, wondering what they were.

“I want every female brought to the kingdom tomorrow morning.”

“Why, what are they?” I ask, looking at the three black balls in his hand.

I notice a fourth white ball sitting in the box still and he grabs it, holding it in his other hand away from the black ones held in the opposite.

“These are seer stones, they detect magic,” he says, opening both his hands. The white ball zooms to the other side with the black ones moving to the center, while the three black balls orbit it. Then the black balls turn red and flames appear inside them, turning transparent and revealing the power of the beholder. The balls spin fast, hovering above his hand.

“Why only females?” I ask curiously.

“Because the Oracle said the Chosen One would be a female from one of the royal Fae families,” Matitus answers beside me.

“Why do they do that when you’re holding them?” I ask, staring at the spheres. Did Dragons have magic for them to react like that to him? Silas hands the balls to Dragus, and they repeat the same action. Only with the flames, the balls light up and a moon appears inside them. The moon is bright and blistering, as though it is on fire.

“We have Dragon magic, not like Fae or Witch magic; still we have other abilities,” Dragus answers. His words make my heart rate erratic. Abigail, these stones could pick up her magic and that of her family. Silas takes the stones from Dragus, and I feel all their eyes on me noticing my reaction. I know they could hear the change in my heart rate.

I quickly ask another question, distracting them. “What will you do if you find someone with magic?” I feel like I know the answer.

“Make them break the curse,” Silas states.

“And if they refuse?”

“We will make them, by any means necessary,” Silas answers.

I know if they discover Abigail is a Witch, they will kill her and her entire family. I pray there is no Fae in the city to be found.

“I think I am going to go to bed,” I tell them.

I can feel their eyes scrutinizing me. I turn to head to the door.

“It’s not even late,” Silas says, making me look at the window. The sun has started to slip down, but he is right, it isn’t even dark, the sun casting the sky into a beautiful shade of pink. I stop, realizing how suspicious my actions are.

Silas returns the balls to the wooden box, closing the lid and placing it back on the shelf.

“How about we go for a walk?” Silas says, staring at the three of us.

“Do you want to go outside?” he asks, making me glance toward the window.

“Okay,” I tell him, dragging my eyes back to his.