“I’ll bring him to you if I can,” I said. “Even if I don’t make it, though, I think I can manage from here thanks to you. The Sword of Damocles can’t be removed, anyway, so it’s not as if I can make things worse.”
“I don’t think you’d make it worse,” Peter said with a smile. “Your magic looks completely different than the last time I saw you. Good different.” He smiled wider. “Dr. Kowalski is a miracle worker, isn’t she?”
“She is, indeed,” I agreed, downing the last of my coffee before standing up. “Thanks a million, Peter. You are a lifesaver.”
“That has yet to be proven,” he told me sadly. Then his smile returned. “But I pray it works. I don’t know him as well as you do, but even I could see that Nik wasn’t himself after you vanished. The two of you have been through a lot between this and—” He tilted his head pointedly at my father’s shade. “You deserve a break.”
“Man, tell me about it. If I can pull this off, the first thing we’re doing is taking a vacation.”
“You’ll save him,” Peter promised. “As I said to Nik when he came here searching for you: no one can be truly lost when others look for them so diligently.”
“Such wise, priestly advice,” I said, laughing. “I should take notes.”
“Many years of practice,” he replied beatifically. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
I shook my head and pushed my empty coffee cup across the table. “You’ve already given me more than I could ask. Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome,” Peter said, standing up to see us out. “And good luck.”
I thanked him several more times as we made our way to the door. Peter bore it well, but I could tell that I was making him uncomfortable, so I made myself shut up and just let him say goodbye, promising to keep him updated as I closed the gate behind us.
“He was very pious,” my father said as we stepped back onto the sidewalk. “Priests are always priests, it seems. Only the gods change.”
“He’s a good man and a good friend,” I said warningly. “Leave it.”
Yong scowled. “I was trying to pay him a compliment.”
“Yeah, well, you might want to try a less condescending tone the next time you….” My voice trailed off. Peter’s prosperous street was as empty and quiet as ever, but I suddenly had the feeling we were being watched. Not that you weren’t always being watched by someone in this town. If one of the millions of private security cameras didn’t pick you up, the DFZ herself saw everything. This was different, though. There was no one on the road, but I could feel the predatory malice sliding over my skin like teeth. My father must have caught it, too, because he stopped in his nonexistent tracks.
“Opal.”
“I know,” I whispered, striding quickly across the road toward the park where we’d come in. It probably would have been smarter to run back to Peter’s, but I didn’t know what this was yet, and Peter had done enough for me already. Leading an unknown attacker into his lovely little house would have been a fine thank-you for all the help he’d given me, and I could handle this on my own. I was a (temporary) priestess of the DFZ, dammit. I would not be intimidated in my own city.
“It’s probably just a rat,” I said as we stepped onto the grass that was thriving under the tiny spot of open sky.
My dad shook his head. “Sounds a lot bigger.”
I snorted. “Have you seen a DFZ rat? Bastards can be the size of Dobermans.”
“Don’t exaggerate.”
“I’ll take you to one of the unlicensed Underground zoos, and then we’ll see who’s exaggerating,” I replied, but I was only half-arguing. The feeling of being watched had lessened for a moment when we’d crossed the street, but it was back stronger than ever. Fortunately, we were almost safe. The park we were in had a playground with several structures, one of which was a toy house whose plastic door—though sized for a five-year-old and covered in stickers—would work splendidly for my purposes. I was stepping off the grass onto the woodchips to grab the handle when the dragon appeared in front of me.
I wished I knew how they did that. Dragons couldn’t actually teleport, but you’d never know it from how they acted. Even my dad used to pop into hallways unexpectedly, nearly giving me a heart attack every time. I think it was because they were so much faster than the humans they pretended to be, they never actually moved the way my brain assumed they would. However they did it, though, this one clearly had the trick down pat.
He wasn’t quite as tall as my father, but he still towered over me by a good ten inches. That was pretty average by dragon standards, though. I was much more interested in his eyes. Eyes always told the dragon, but this one’s silvery-gray color didn’t match any of the clans I knew. His human form looked like a Viking with thick red hair, a full beard, and a pale sneer. A Nordic dragon, perhaps? Last I’d heard, the Arctic seas were ruled by White Witch and her sisters. They would never tolerate a male this aggressive in their territory, which might explain why he was here. Or I could be totally wrong. Only one way to find out.
“Who are you?”
“It’s not your place to ask such questions, mortal,” the dragon sneered, taking a threatening step forward. “But I know who you are. You’re Yong of Korea’s brat.”
“How dare
