“Opal!” he cried, squeezing me tight. “I’m so happy you’re safe!”
I hugged him back, too shocked to speak. I’d been so worried about dragons and gods, I hadn’t stopped to think how my normal friends would react to my disappearance. Nik I’d expected to be upset, but Peter’s emotional reaction caught me totally off guard. I knew I was awful for making him worry, but it was hard to feel properly bad about it when the rest of me was so touched. Selfish as it was, it felt good to know I’d been missed, and I let myself enjoy it for a few moments while I hugged him back.
“Sorry I didn’t call.”
“I’m just happy you’re not dead,” Peter said, letting me go with a relieved smile. “Please come in.”
I stepped into his house gladly. Like the front yard, his living room was small but neat as a pin and bursting with color. There was a bright-red couch and a worn leather chair covered in a striped Navajo blanket. The walls were decorated with textured multi-media pieces from local artists. Not always talented ones, admittedly, but the colors were fantastic. Lots of the stuff in here looked local, actually. There was more of the pottery I’d seen out front and a cloth bag from a popular weekly farmer’s market on the breakfast bar that separated the living room from the equally tiny white-tiled kitchen.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Coffee would be great,” I said, closing the door behind me.
Peter nodded and strode into the little kitchen, pouring me a cup from the pot that was already waiting. “I put some on as soon as Carol told me you were coming,” he said with a smile, handing me the mug.
“My vices are well-known,” I replied, accepting the caffeine with the same care I would a sacred talisman. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for not being dead,” he said in all seriousness, resting his elbows on the breakfast bar that separated us. “I was worried sick when you disappeared. I knew you weren’t Forgotten Dead, but that would have been obvious even if I wasn’t a priest given how much Nik was freaking out. I heard a few weeks ago that you’d become a priestess of the DFZ, but we both know that doesn’t necessarily mean you were alive.”
“The DFZ doesn’t let little things like death get in the way of recruitment,” I agreed, sipping my coffee, which was freaking delicious. “But how did you hear I’d become a priest?”
“The Empty Wind told me.”
My face must have been a sight, because Peter rushed to explain. “My god and the DFZ have always been intertwined. This city is where the Empty Wind first rose, called by all the people who’d perished in Algonquin’s flood and all those who still die here with no one to mourn them.”
It could be a very lonely city. I totally understood why the Empty Wind would call it home. “I’m not a full priest yet,” I explained, eager to head off any misunderstandings. “Not like you, anyway. The DFZ made the offer, but there’s still too much of my old life left to deal with before I can decide if I’m ready to dedicate myself fully.”
That felt like a very proper, priestly answer, but Peter’s reply caught me totally by surprise. “Does it have to do with the ghost that’s following you around?”
I narrowly avoided spilling my coffee all over the counter. “You can see him?”
Peter gave me an incredulous look. “You remember what I do for a living, right? Of course I can see him. The only reason I haven’t greeted him yet is because I don’t want to cause alarm. Ghosts get used to being invisible. Being noticed often makes them upset, so I’ve learned to play it casual.”
I stood there for a moment wondering just how many ghosts Peter saw on a daily basis that he’d developed a protocol for approaching them. I was boggling over it when I realized he was still waiting for an answer.
“You don’t have to worry about him,” I said, pointing over my shoulder at Yong, who was examining the art in Peter’s living room with a critical frown. “That’s just my dad, and he’s not actually a ghost.”
Peter’s dark eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What is he, then?”
“Not sure, to be honest,” I told him with a helpless shrug. “He was in a coma, but then the Spirit of Dragons helped me wake him up, and he ended up like this. We’re currently working on getting him back into his body full-time.”
“You met the Spirit of Dragons?” Peter asked with a look that was equal parts terror and envy. “I’ve heard so many stories. What was she like?”
“Scary,” I replied. “And drunk.”
“That sounds about right,” he said. Then his eyes flicked back to my dad. “So what would you like me to do? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but you’re not normally one for casual visits in the middle of the night. I’m happy to help however I can, but I’ve never worked with a dragon ghost before.”
“No, no, no,” I said quickly. “I’m not here because of him. I came to ask for your help with Nik.”
Now Peter just looked confused. “What’s the matter with Mr. Kos? I talked to him several times a month ago when he was looking for you. He seemed perfectly fine then, other than being greatly upset about you, of course.”
Hearing how much Nik had worried over me sparked that selfish happiness again. This time, though, I squashed it mercilessly. “He was fine,” I said. “But he got himself into some trouble on my account and ended up with a curse.
