“Yes, she does. As entertaining as it sounds to turn things to bananas, I don’t see that the bad dragons are going to have a whole lot of respect for that.”
He ground his teeth for a moment. “I will
My hopes were dashed on the rocks of despair.
“However, I will temporarily bestow upon her the Grace of the Magi. That should allow her to perform such magic as is necessary to free Maura from the hold of the ouroboros tribe.”
He made an intricate gesture over my head, bathing me in a blue light that skimmed along the surface of my skin until it disappeared with a residual tingle. I took a deep breath, aware of a warm sensation that seemed to wrap around me. “Without intending to sound ungrateful, I’d rather have the interdict lifted.”
His eyebrows bristled at me. I had the feeling I was just seconds away from total annihilation.
“Er . . . that is to say, thank you. I’m sure your blessing will help. Violet, if you would please give me all the information you have about Maura and these unknown dragons, I’ll add her to the list of things I must take care of.”
Dr. Kostich, still muttering, shot me a look that for ten seconds held me frozen in time, my heart stopped, the air locked into my unmoving lungs, my blood slowing until it lay limply in my veins. He released me just as he left the room.
I sank into a chair, raising a shaky hand to my throat. “I really hate it when he does that.”
“Stop your heart? He does it just for effect, but I’ve told him many times that he doesn’t have to be quite so extreme to get his point across.” Violet sat down at an elegant antique writing desk and made a few quick notes. “Last I heard, Maura was in Germany. Here’s the address I have for her, but I will warn you that she’s fairly resistant to being helped. She claims she can handle the situation, but things have gone from bad to worse, and I think it’s long past the time when she can hope to escape without the direst of repercussions.”
I took the sheet she handed me, wondering if Baltic would know about this group of dragons. “What are they doing that puts your daughter in such dangerous circumstances?”
Violet stood, clearly ending the conversation. “They attacked Suffrage House, and stole several items of immeasurable value from the L’au-dela vaults.”
“They stole from the headquarters of the Otherworld?” I shook my head. “How is that possible? I thought the security there was impossible to break.”
“That’s exactly what Father wants to know.” She looked down at her hands for a second before leveling a steadfast gaze at me. “He’s had to put out a price on all their heads, Maura’s included. But that’s not the worst.”
“I’m fairly certain I don’t want to know what could be worse, but go ahead—I’m braced.” I got slowly to my feet.
“The artifacts they stole are theurgical in nature.” She waited a moment for that to sink in before nodding. “Yes. Clearly they intend on challenging the powers of the L’au-dela itself, and we both know how that’s likely to turn out. Save my daughter, Tully. Save Maura from what will surely be her destruction, and Father will lift the interdiction. I will see to it that you can name your reward, as well.”
A vision of the light sword danced in my mind. I straightened my shoulders and gathered up my things. “I’ll call you when I have some news.”
“Tully . . .” She bit her lip. “Maura believes she is stronger than she really is.”
I gave her hand a squeeze. “Don’t lose heart. I may not be much of a mage, but dragons are very hard to kill, and with your father’s blessing, I’m confident that I’ll be able to get Maura back to you without too much trouble.”
Don’t you hate it when your words have a way of haunting you?
Chapter Five
“This is so
The expression on May’s face was completely missed by her oblivious twin. “Er . . . yes. Aisling, what do you see?”
“Two guards along the south side, just as Drake said there would be.” Aisling lowered the night vision goggles and lifted her wrist to press a button on her watch. “The new shift should be coming in another fifteen minutes.”
“Are you sure this is the time to be doing this?” I frowned into the darkness. The house loomed up as an inky shape against an only slightly lighter sky. Fantastically shaped blobs of darkness lay scattered between us and the house, giving the eerie sensation that the house was guarded by more than just a handful of dragons. I eyed one of the shapes, convinced I had seen it move, but I knew it must just be a trick of the dim moonlight.
“True, but the shift change gives us a couple of minutes when the guards’ attention is on each other, rather than the house,” Aisling pointed out. “That’s the best time to make our move.”
“Don’t worry, babe, we’ve done this before,” Jim said, snuffling my leg. “When Ash and May broke into the vault at Suffrage House, they did it right at a shift change, too. Worked like a charm.”
“I don’t mean to make trouble, but I’m a bit worried about my magic. It was never very reliable, and I haven’t had a chance to try it out since Dr. Kostich gave me the Grace of the Magi. I used to suppose things went wrong because I lacked the skills to control the magic, but now I gather that’s because I’m not supposed to be able to use magic at all due to the dragon inside me. Did that shrub just move?”
The three women turned to look where I pointed.
“I don’t think so. Do shrubs move on their own?” Cyrene asked doubtfully.
“No, of course they don’t,” May said calmly.
“Not normally, but what if those aren’t ordinary shrubs?” I asked, watching one of the dark blobs with suspicion. “What if Drake did something to them?”
“Man, someone’s going to give me the heebie-jeebies if she doesn’t stop with all the inanimate-objects- moving-on-their-own bit,” Jim muttered.
Aisling snorted. “I assure you he hasn’t done anything other than make sure there’s round-the-clock security on the house, and let me just add that it wasn’t easy getting details on exactly who is here on guard duty, and when the shift change happens. I had to pretend I wanted to stay at this house in order to get the details, and even that wasn’t easy. We’re just lucky he had to go to Budapest for a couple of days to take care of some business concerns, because there is no way in Abaddon I could have slipped out without him knowing I was gone. Jim, stop leaning so hard on me. The bushes aren’t evil. Ysolde is just seeing things.”
“I’m sure it’s just the moon going behind the clouds,” May said after giving the shrub in question a considering look.
“Hmm.” I looked at my own watch. Twelve minutes to go. “Is Gabriel away from home, as well, May?”
She smiled. “Home as in his house in Australia? No, we’re still here in London until a few things are taken care of.” She gave her twin an odd look, but Cyrene, sitting on the ground with her back to a tree, was too busy sending a text message to notice.
“Actually, I meant is he gone from your London house, so that you could help me out with this project.”
“Oh, no. He’s in England.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Did you have to go into the shadow world to sneak out?”
“I didn’t sneak out.” Her smile widened. “Gabriel’s here. Well, in Reevesbury, not out here with us, obviously.”
Both Aisling and I gawked at her.
“He’s right here?” Aisling asked.
“That Gabe’s a deep one,” Jim said as it wandered over to Cyrene, where it peered across her shoulder to read what she was texting. “Whoa, you’re saying
