“Yeah, all right, I like to talk; especially smack-talk,” Cerberus conceded. “Nothing wrong with that. It's called being social. You should try it sometime.”
“As you like.” Verin sighed and seemed to consider Cerberus a moment; a pensive finger tapping his lips. “Does your Hellhound form require three heads because they're each as dumb as you or because you can't stop licking your balls and talking long enough to tear someone's throat out?”
“What the actual fuck?” Cerberus gaped at Verin while the rest of us laughed hard enough to bring tears to our eyes.
“You said you preferred smack-talk,” Verin reminded him. “I was merely obliging you.”
“Fuck, dude, I like you better when you just grunt,” Cerberus grumbled.
Verin grunted with satisfaction.
“If we could get back to the business of saving our brother?” Torin asked as he tried to hide his amusement.
We settled down and gave him our attention.
“I brought thirty knights with me but I can summon more if necessary,” Torin said.
“I'll call for thirty as well.” Declan got up to use his charm.
“And we will bring forty,” Darc said to me. “That'll give us our hundred soldiers.”
“And how do we catch Gargo once he comes out to face us?” I asked.
Verin grunted again but this time it was accompanied by a deadly grin.
Chapter Forty-Seven
My contact charm chimed again; it was Odin.
“Elaria, did you perhaps forget about something?”
I blinked, cursed, then groaned. “We were supposed to return to Coven Cay after speaking to the Jinn.”
The men around me mimicked my groan; all but Verin and Cerberus, who merely looked curious.
“I'm so sorry, Odin. We got distracted. There have been some well, not developments so much as revelations. Slate isn't possessed by a Jinn, it's Gargo. We think he's been in Slate since Lucifer pushed him out of Poseidon.”
“What?!” Odin roared.
“I—”
“Get your ass over here now, Elaria Tanager!”
“Yes, Sir.” I had to stop myself from saluting even though I'd never served in any kind of military.
Odin hung up without another word, and I grimaced at the men.
“He wants us to go to Coven Cay. Now.”
“Yes, we heard,” Darc said dryly.
“What about these?” Declan lifted the bag of bombs.
“For fuck's sake do not bring those things to the Witches,” Cerberus growled. “Don't even tell them they exist.”
“I trust the Witch Leaders—most of them—but I agree with Cerberus,” I admitted. “We can't tell anyone about the bombs unless we absolutely have to.”
“And what of the knights you'll bring to the Zone?” Verin asked.
“If they ask—which I doubt they will dare to—we'll tell them we're using a Witch weapon,” Torin suggested. “They would never question their royals and Shining Ones have a long history with Witch devices.”
Verin grunted in agreement.
“Come on, we'd better not keep Odin waiting longer than we already have.” I got up.
“I'll stay here and guard the bombs,” Cerberus offered. “I could use a drink anyway and, honestly, I don't want to let those things out of my sight.”
“Thanks, Cer. We shouldn't be too long.” I headed out of the room and to the elevator.
Most of Kyanite Castle's towers—I'd say about two-thirds of their length—are comprised of stairs that spiral around elevators. Only the topmost bit—a bulging, bud-like portion—was used for living quarters. The elevator was quite large though, what with all the space it had to work with, and we were able to make it down to the ground floor in one trip. We strode out to the gate, past groups of training soldiers, and once we were beyond the wards, we traveled to Coven Cay. I took Verin since he'd never been there before.
“Don't think I haven't noticed your excitement,” I whispered to Verin after we reformed.
Verin gaped at me then recovered enough to ask, “What do you mean?”
I frowned at him. “Dahabi and now, Coven Cay. You're getting to visit a lot of Beneather places you've never seen before. I'm glad you're finding some joy in this.”
Verin's expression melted into his usual steady calm and he grunted.
“Come on, little boy blue, we're off to see the Wizards.” I headed into the manor.
We had arrived in our usual place; the front courtyard with the fountain. The courtyard—and the manor, for that matter—had taken a lot of hits in recent years—from a basilisk to Maya Gods to the walking dead—but Witches are a resilient lot and they recovered rapidly; everything looked as it was meant to. Water bubbled over a stone statue of stylized flames wafting in a breeze; every elemental family represented.
A young Witch met us at the door, bowed, and offered to escort us to the Witch Leaders. I guess Nigel was busy. That wasn't surprising; he was far too important to be showing guests around. Still, it would have been nice to get a warning of what we'd be walking into. I couldn't believe we'd forgotten to return to the Witches. Yes, we'd been under a lot of strain and distracted, but the Witches were trying to help us alleviate all of that. Even if they couldn't do anything about Gargo, a spell to subdue the RS was just as important.
The boy left us at the door to the usual meeting room. I didn't bother to knock but went right in. The heads of the four elemental families sat at the massive table in a focused discussion. They trailed off as we stepped up to them.
“You brought us a Dragon?” Glinda sat upright and scoured Verin with her gaze. “Welcome, King... Verin, isn't it? You're the Azure Dragon, correct?”
Verin inclined his head.
“I remember you from the Zone battle,” Glinda went on. “You were rather... vigorous. Very vigorous.”
The other Witches gave Glinda an astonished look but she only grinned wider.
“Please, join us. All of you,” Glinda added when she saw Gage lift a teasing brow in question.
Verin also lifted a brow but he directed it at me. I shrugged and smirked. In response, he took my arm and escorted me to the table; the side furthest from Glinda.
Glinda pouted. “Have you already added him
