Bitten in Two

happens when you battle dragons, right?”

“What?”

“Your tiara fal s off and the monster stomps it into pieces. After which your mother refuses to buy you another one because they’re too damn expensive, even though you know she got the first one at a yard sale because you saw her peel off the masking tape.”

Vayl patted me on the shoulder. “Madam Berggia, I know you must be worried after what Sister Hafeza said to you, but please let me assure you that I wil protect you with my very life.” In other words, Stop acting crazy, lady. You’re starting to scare the natives.

I sighed. “Okay.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Our cease-fire lasted exactly ninety seconds. And then we began to argue. Ignoring the balmy night, the crowds of people out for a strol , the ancient residences with their towering wal s and exotic gardens loaded with palms and lemon trees, we hissed at each other like a couple of pissed-off geese.

“Hafeza said to use Sterling,” I reminded him, real y warming to my lie now that he’d annoyed me. “I told you he’s an old acquaintance that Berggia cal ed in when he realized Roldan might catch up to Helena after al . But he’s not going to do us much good in a fight if he has to worry about protecting her ass at the same time!”

“I must ask you to please refrain from using such language! What if Helena—never mind, you clearly do not care anymore!” he repeated, like he, too, thought I’d gone deaf. “I cannot, in good conscience, leave Helena unguarded in the riad while we men go chasing after some mystery mage. That is why you and her maid, Kyphas, must join us as wel . I am thankful Berggia taught you how to shoot.”

“Oh, yeah, that’l come in so handy against a mage!

Vay—I mean, Lord Brancoveanu! We—”

“I wil hear no more on the subject. Helena wil remain under my watch because I am the only one qualified to protect her!”

“You say that, but you react just like any other guy when you get kicked in the nads!”

Silence until we stepped up to the riad’s doorway. And then Vayl asked, just as he opened the door, “What are nads?”

Cole stood in the foyer, staring, having heard Vayl’s question. His expression caused a smile to sneak onto my face. Waving at Cole I said, “Have Berggia tel you. I’m going to get Helena ready to go.”

But before I did that I had my own preparations to make.

I stepped into my room and raided the worn black pack I used to tote weapons in. Ten pounds of gear later I whispered to myself, “Okay, so am I ready to move?” I touched Grief, stil holstered at my shoulder. Practiced pul ing the bolo that had saved my ass enough times I’d begun to consider giving it a name. Because holy water would only piss the mage off, I’d unstrapped the syringe that contained my mobile supply from my right wrist and belted on a longer contraption that held what looked like a chrome pipe. Spring-loaded just like my syringe, it was built to telescope from each end when the hilt hit my hand, so that within seconds of activation I held a stainless-steel staff almost exactly my height. Usual y it rol ed around in the bottom of the bag, used only on hand-to-hand workout days because it was great for bashing if you had to fight in close.

But girls my size tend to avoid those situations like we skip closing time at seedy bars. So I only brought it out when I needed to defend against spel s from men whose magic hated the taste of refined metal. As soon as I spun the staff, the protective runes along its length added even more oomph to the shield, al owing me time to activate my second line of defense.

On my left forearm I’d wrapped a guard that ran from elbow to wrist. Stainless steel wrapped by leather, it provided practical protection against weapon strikes and fanged or clawed attacks. Upon a specific set of hand signals, it also sent a suggestion to my attacker that he should back off before I separated his head from his shoulders. Since Sterling had designed the piece, I trusted that it worked, though I’d never needed to activate it before.

Knowing Cole, Sterling, and Kyphas were also preparing to go up against the mage, I took my time deciding whether or not Vayl’s cane should make the trip with us. It stil lay inside my trunk like a lost treasure. Final y I nodded. “Might as wel assume we’re going to succeed,” I said as I picked it up.

Holding the cane in the middle so that its blue jewel seemed to light the way, I ran to Bergman’s room and pounded on the door. “Miles! Get off your fat ass and lemme in! Work to do!”

Nothing for maybe a ful minute, during which I made intermittent loud sounds and escalating threats. And then, shuffling and whispers. Who was he talking to? Had Raoul returned Astral already? The door opened a crack. His eyebal said, “I’l be right down.”

“Okay.”

The door closed. I backed up, leaning against the wal , crossing my ankles and arms until I was comfy for the wait.

When the door opened again Monique came out, so busy rearranging dishes on her tray that she didn’t notice me.

But Bergman did. He jumped and yelped, slamming the door behind them so hard that I heard a picture fal off the wal inside his room.

Bergman and Monique looked guiltily into my grinning face.

I said, “This place has excel ent room service.” They replied at the same time.

Bergman: “We were just talking! About winter, because it’s been so long since Monique has seen snow. And sheet

—I mean sleet! Not sheets! No sheets were discussed in there!”

Monique: “He is so thin! I just wanted to offer him nourishment!”