I took a deep breath to calm myself. Both my hands were now practically shaking. “Well, at least we have this much. Half of a map is much more than we had this morning.”

  Hale sighed. “You don’t know me. I can’t drop something halfway—I need to know where that other half is or it will drive me crazy.”

  “What if it isn’t here in Iceland?” I asked. “For all we know, it’s in China.”

  “The dragon tunnels go to China.” She tapped the table. “Wait! I just thought of someone else who might know something.”

  I played with my crumbs as she made her last call.

  She put her phone away, disappointment covering her face. “I’m not sure who else to call. It looks like I’m going to have to start calling people from other places around the world. You could be right about the other half being somewhere else.”

  “We’ll figure something out.” My feet started tapping from all the energy pulsating around me.

  “You okay?” She finished her drink and rose from the chair.

  “Yeah, fine.” I got up, too.

  We headed outside. The air was chillier and the sky was already growing dark.

  “Maybe we should head back to the entrance to the dragon city,” Hale said. “Time to head back to the castle since we’re at a dead end.”

  The vibrations and the warmth were both growing more intense. I struggled to breathe normally. “Sure. Okay.”

  She threw me a curious look. “Are you sure everything is all right?”

  I nodded. “I’m just anxious to find the other half.”

  “Maybe you should call your witches. What if one of them knows something? We’re already in Iceland. I have a feeling we’re just going to have to return if we leave.”

  Could she feel it, too? I nodded and then pulled out my phone, debating who to call. I started to call Frida when a strong pull to the right nearly knocked me over. My feet stumbled and I barely regained my balance.

  “Did they spike your drink?” Hale asked.

  I handed her my phone and then the half-map. “I think I know where the stone is. Hang onto this just in case, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I cried out, and in one quick blur, I shifted into wolf form, shredding my clothes in the process.

  Chapter 118

  Toby

  I rose from the table and thanked Tap for everything. “I’d better get to the castle and try to convince Victoria that we need to forget about the stone. As disappointing as this news is for all of us, I’m sure she’ll understand. After everything we’ve been through, the last thing any of us wants is to awaken another evil werewolf.”

  Tap smiled. “I’m so glad to hear it.”

  My phone rang. “Maybe that’s her.” I answered without looking at the screen. “Victoria?”

  “No, this is Stella.” Her voice was filled with worry.

  “Is everything okay at Moonhaven?” I exclaimed.

  Soleil and Tap both turned to me, wide-eyed.

  “We just heard from Hale. Do you know her?”

  “The vampire queen’s niece?”

  “Yeah. She says she’s in Iceland with Victoria and—”

  “What?” I exclaimed and fell back down into the chair. My mind raced, quickly putting everything together. I wasn’t sure what Hale had to do with anything. Was she after Victoria? Were they working together? This whole thing just kept getting stranger and stranger.

  “They have half a map. It takes both halves to reveal the stone’s location. Hale says Victoria thinks she knows where it is without the other half. She—”

  “Stop her!”

  “Hale can’t. Victoria shifted and ran off before Hale knew what had happened. She tried to follow the scent, but lost it.”

  I put it on speaker and closed my eyes. “Let me get this straight. Victoria knows where the stone is and she’s headed straight for it.”

  Tap swore and stormed around the room, muttering to himself.

  “Yeah,” Stella said, “but we have to find the other half of the map to be able to go after her. All we know is that she’s in Iceland, kind of near some underground dragon city.”

  Tap cleared his throat. “I have the other half of the map.”

  My eyes flew open and I jumped from the chair. “You’ve been holding out on us?”

  “You and every other werewolf who’s come this way looking for that damned stone! I told you to stay away from it. I told her to stay away from it.”

  I brought the phone back to my ear and closed my eyes. “You heard Tap. We’ve got the other half of the map, Stella. I gotta go.” I ended the call and turned to Soleil. “Can you teleport us?”

  She glared at Tap. “You’d better provide some of your extra-rich essence, former troll king.”

  “That’s troll king to you.” He scowled. “And the both of you better stop looking at me like that. The only reason I told you about the map is because Victoria’s in trouble. We have to stop her before she finds the stone and wakes Fenrisúlfr.”

  “Prepare to have your essence drunk.” Soleil stepped toward him.

  “Maybe I should see if one of the witches can get us there with rune travel instead.”

  “You two figure that out—and stay right here.” Tap fled the room. A moment later, things banged around from another room.

  Soleil took a deep breath. “We don’t have time to wait for the witches. I’m here.”

  “And you’ve already teleported the two of us from Egypt. It isn’t fair of me to ask—”

  “I’m not doing it because you asked. It’s because one of my best friends is in trouble. I’ll drink Tap’s essence and be fine. Better than fine, actually. Like I said, his is richer. I could take a village around the world with just a sip of his essence.”

  Tap ran back into the room, holding a rolled up, faded brown paper. “I’ve got the map. Let’s go.”

  “Prepare your essence.” Soleil’s eyes turned electric green and her wings sprouted out, tearing the back of her shirt.

  I stepped away from them.

  Tap tucked the map into his jacket and closed his eyes. “Just take a little.”

  “That’s all I’ll need.” She put her hands on his face and opened her mouth. His opened in response, and a moment later, a blood-red mist swirled from his mouth into hers. Every other time I’d seen her drink essence, it had always been purple. Nearly as soon as it came out, it snapped back into his mouth.

  Soleil turned to me. Her eyes were glowing green—brighter than ever before. “Are you ready to go to Iceland?”

  “Yes.” I stepped closer.

  She put a hand on my shoulder and the other on Tap’s. She spoke in a foreign language. The room spun around me. I closed my eyes, feeling like I’d vomit. When salty sea air tickled my nose, I opened my eyes. We were in Iceland. I’d been there enough times to recognize it.

  It took a moment for the dizziness to wear off. I reached for my phone to call Hale.

  “That was a rush.” Soleil shook her head and blinked several times.

  “You’re welcome,” Tap grumbled.

  “Hey, don’t blame me.”

  I reached for my phone. It rang several times before Hale answered. “Toby?”

  “Yeah. Where are you? We’ve got the other half of the map.”

  “You do?” she screamed into the phone.

  “Yes. Where are you?”

  “I’m at the Fyrsturae mansion.”

  “We’re by the dragon city entrance. We need to connect the two halves of the map.”

  “I’ll be right there.” The call ended.

  Tap turned to me. “Do you have any idea how Victoria discovered the location without the map?”

  I shook my head. “She has the fever really bad.”

  “So have many others—believe me, I’ve seen most of them. But none of them have even found out it was in Iceland.”

  “Oh, I think some of them have. She figured out that much online.”

  Tap shook his head. “There's something about everything online these days.”

  Soleil’s eyes lit up, still glowing green. “Maybe it was the combination of having the fever and part of the map.”

  “That’s not it,” Tap said. “I got my half from a werewolf who had the fever worse than anyone I’ve ever seen. He had no clue where the stone was.”

  Hale appeared in the distance. We ran over and met her halfway. She pulled her half of the map out from her purse. “You have the other part?”

  Tap dug into his coat and pulled out his map. They both unrolled what they had and held them together along the perfectly matching tears. The entire map lip up and a bright red line shone where we stood. It grew longer, heading toward the edge of Iceland not too far away. It stopped just before coming to the very end.

  “That’s it,” Tap said flatly. “The location of the stone so many have lost their lives trying to find.”

  “Right by the cliffs and caves.” Hale muttered something about vicious mermaids. “Let’s get to Victoria before she finds the stone.” She patted her overstuffed purse. “I brought some clothes—she’s going to need them.”

  I wished I could shift and run because it would be faster. Part of me worried that I actually could shift if I tried—what if she’d already found the stone and awakened the original werewolf?

  Chapter 119

  Victoria

  I opened my eyes. The cave was cold and dark—it chilled me to the bone as I lay with the cold rocks directly on my just-transformed human flesh. I pushed myself to sitting and gained my bearings. Water dripped from all sides of the cave, splashing into puddles. Some of the icy water splashed onto me. I rose and crept toward the back of the cave. It turned into a tunnel. Cold rocks pricked my feet.

  A faint red light shone at the end of the tunnel, barely visible. I stretched out my hand and kept my fingertips along the damp wall as I tiptoed along. Droplets of freezing water ran onto my fingers and down my hand. Soft whispers sounded from the direction of the light. They seemed to be calling me by name.

  “Victoria.”

  “Viiiictoria…”

  “Victorrrrria…”

  “Victoria…”

  I wanted to run, but didn’t dare. I could barely see two inches in front of me. Breathing heavily and shivering, I kept my focus on the faint red light in the distance. The whispering grew louder with each step I took. Though it was hard to see, I picked up my pace as much as I could with the rocks under my bare feet.

  The whispering continued growing louder. Clearer. I could almost make out a word.

  “Come here…”

  I stumbled, but steadied myself against the wet, chilly wall.

  “Keep coming...”

  My heart raced. I walked as fast as I could without tripping myself up. Finally, I came to an open area. It was still really dark, but I could see the red light brighter on the ground. Or was it under? I moved closer and could see blue mixed in with the red.

  “Victoria.”

  “Viiiictoria…”

  “Victorrrrria…”

  “Victoria…”

  “I’m here.” I knelt on the ground and ran my hands over the light. Rocks covered the glow. I moved some pebbles out of the way. The bigger rocks would take more effort. I wrapped my hands around one that was close to the size of my head and pulled. My hands slipped and flew back. I wiped them on my sides to dry them, I gripped the stone from underneath, and then pulled again. It took a minute, but it finally budged. Then I managed to lift it and set it aside.

  The blue and red light shone brighter, lightly illuminating the area. The whispers sounded like conversation dancing around me. I couldn't make out a single word. I pulled more rocks until I found the source of the blue and red light.

  A large red and blue stone attached to a thick, sturdy silver chain.

  “Victoria.” The whisper came from the artifact.

  “Viiiictoria…”

  “Victorrrrria…”

  “Victoria…”

  Heart racing, I reached for it. The whispers grew louder. Deafening. I picked up the heavy stone and held it up to get a better look. The stone was half the size of my palm with a red and blue swirling pattern.

  “Put me on.”

  I froze in place, staring at the beautiful artifact.

  “Wear me.”

  My hands shook, making the light bounce around.

  “Victoria.”

  I slid my fingers underneath the chain. My pulse raced through my body. The light grew brighter as I moved it closer to me. The whispers continued dancing around me, begging me to wear the beautiful gem.

  “Slide me on.”

  “Over your neck.”

  “Wear me.”

  “Put me on.”

  My mouth gaped slightly in wonder. I couldn’t resist the soothing whispers.

  Finally, I pulled it over my head and let the icy metal rest against my bare flesh. The light from the stone shone bright enough to light up the entire area. A locked chest and a bed sat at the far corner.

  The icy metal grew warm, first just enough so that it wasn’t cold against me, but then it warmed so much that I was no longer chilled in the freezing cave. The stone continued glowing. I rose to check out the ornate trunk, but the light intensified, glowing brighter and brighter until the light shot out of the stone, swirling and dancing toward the nearest wall.

  The light turned into a mist, which then appeared to be hardening into something solid.

  No, it was forming into someone. The outline of a large man appeared from the red and blue mist. My mouth gaped as the form continued turning into a person.

  He stood with his back to me. His form was far taller than average and extremely muscular. His arms and back were covered in tattoos. They appeared to be Nordic symbols and letters. His thick dirty blond hair fell to his shoulders. The scent of werewolf drifted my way. Like me, he wore no clothes. He stretched his arms and his neck before he slowly turned around.

  Our gazes locked. He stared at me with unnaturally bright blue eyes as though entranced. “You freed me.”

  My mouth wouldn’t form any words. We continued staring at each other. The room seemed deafeningly silent after all the loud whispering. At last, I found my voice. “Who are you?”

  “Fenrisúlfr. How long have I been in the stone?”

  “I-I don’t know. Centuries, probably.”

  He twisted his neck, popping it. “It feels like it.” He shook his hair and looked around the room, studying it.

  “How is it you speak English?” I asked.

  “The world created in the stone was made to match the outside world as it changed through the years—only without any other people. If a new house was built in your world, it showed up where I was in the stone. As new books appeared in stores and homes, I read them. Studied them. Then came the talking box. It was the only way I could see others, but never get close. The screen kept me from them.”

  The stone continued growing warmer. It was hot, but not excruciating. Rather, it felt powerful.

  He turned back to me. “How did you know to free me?”

  I cupped the stone. “It seemed to call to me.”

  “Nobody’s been to this cave the whole time I’ve been here.”

  “That’s because no one knew where the stone was. Plenty have searched for it, most have gotten killed.”

  He swore. “That stupid witch! How did you manage?”

  I shrugged. “I really don’t know.”

  We studied each other again. My mind raced. With him free, did that mean all wolves could shift at will now, or would more be required?

  “Perhaps we should get some clothes.” He turned and walked toward the chest. “I want to see the actual world for myself.”

  “Okay. What did you say your name was?”

  He turned back to me. “Fenrisúlfr. Have you not heard of me?”

  I shook my head no.

  “I’m the original werewolf—accidentally created by a careless witch.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “I had a pet wolf, and that made everyone in my village nervous. The witch tried to make me disgusted by the animal, instead, my pet and I became one, shifting from one form to the other.”

  I took a moment, letting the story sink in. “That’s how we came to be?”

  “Yes. Let’s get some clothes. I want to see the world for myself.” He turned around and yanked the lock from the chest.

  “Can I call you Fenri? Or Fen? Fenrisúlfr is a mouthful.”

  He turned back to me. “It means Hell Wolf.”

  My blood ran cold. “Oh.”

  “Call me what you wish.” He turned back to the chest and rifled through some fabric.

  “What do your tattoos mean?”

  “Warnings to stay away.”

  “Why?” I stepped closer, curious. He didn’t seem dangerous.

  “After I shifted into a wolf and then back to human, the village leaders restrained me with ties and marked me with these permanent warnings.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “It is what it is. They’re all dead now.”

  My eyes widened. Dead from natural causes, or because he killed them all?

  He held up a deep blue regal robe. “This should fit you. Come here.”

  I walked over to him and he slid it over one of my shoulders and then around to the other.

  “It ties in the front.”

  “Thanks.” I found the small pieces of string and tied the robe from top to bottom.

  Fen turned back to the chest and found a red robe for himself. “This’ll do.” He eyed the stone. “Are you going to keep wearing that?”

  “If it’s okay with you.”

  His face contorted. “I want nothing to do with that. Beware that a witch can lock you inside. It’s a horrible, lonely world—even with the talking boxes.”

  I gasped and reached for the stone. “I heard it’s supposed to be able to break the curse of the moon so we can shift whenever we want.”

  “I know nothing about that, but I can’t wait to shift and run free. I don’t suppose it’s the full moon?”