“Probably not. You should stick with Willard. She mostly stays in the office, and it’s almost never visited by dragons.”
“A good idea. I will still come to your shop for coffee.”
“Dimitri would be crushed if you didn’t.”
“I know. Goblins are his best customers. We don’t destroy anything. And we improved the toilet-paper dispenser in the bathroom.”
“Was the carriage return of a typewriter involved?”
“No. Parts from an old Fourdrinier machine from a decommissioned paper mill. It’s fabulous. The toilet-paper dispensing is fast and easy now.”
I decided not to ask for more details. Or visit the bathroom at the coffee shop any time soon.
The branches continued to weep water, and the flames dwindled further. I kept an eye on the sky and my senses stretched out, but I didn’t sense Velilah and eventually put away Chopper.
When Freysha lowered her hands, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion. Whatever she’d been doing, it hadn’t been easy, but the last of the fire went out. The smoke hung in the air, and I was relieved when she joined me and we were able to continue away from the area. My eyes stopped watering, but I kept coughing, and my throat felt like someone had rubbed sandpaper up and down it a few hundred times.
“Thanks for the help.” I patted her on the shoulder as we walked. “As Gondo has learned, being my acquaintance is dangerous. Being my sibling is probably even worse.”
“You should do your best to avoid that dragon,” Freysha said.
“Trust me. I didn’t seek her out.”
“I know. It is always problematic when we get involved in dragon politics. Our father has felt the pressure of their influence a number of times.”
“Did one of them try to light him on fire too?”
“No, but they’ve used magic to try to manipulate him before. We need to figure out which one of those charms can protect you from that.”
“I’m very amenable to that.”
“I’ll continue to research it.” Freysha looked over at me. “Do you think—I haven’t heard the whole story of how Lord Zavryd claimed you and if it was something you wished. Do you care for him? It might be better for your health if you did as the female dragon asked and let him go—or encouraged him to go.”
Great. Another voice of reason.
“I care for him.” I didn’t respond to the rest. The idea of caving to some bitchy dragon’s demands made me long to punch things, but I wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Zav to figure out how he felt before saying more.
“Oh,” was all Freysha said.
“If you want to start sleeping at someone else’s house, I’ll understand.”
“No. If you care for Lord Zavryd, and he cares for you, then you cannot give in to this dragon. Also, you are my sister. I will stay with you and assist you if more trouble comes.”
This touched me—especially since she was only here on Earth because Eireth had asked or maybe ordered her to come. But it also worried me. What would I say to our father if she were killed because of me?
13
As Gondo and Freysha and I were driving back into Seattle, my phone buzzed. Amber’s number popped up.
I didn’t want to miss her call—the last call I’d missed had been Dimitri wanting to tell me where his kidnappers had taken him—so I took an early freeway exit to pull over and talk.
“What’s up, Amber?”
“They broke up!” she said with an excited squeal.
“Your dad and Shauna?” I assumed she wouldn’t call me with news of some dating drama among her high school friends.
“Yeah. Nobody’s getting a BMW from Dad now except for me.”
“You’re getting a BMW?”
“No, but if someone was going to get one, it would be me.” Amber paused. “He got me a sic bag for school. Pink leopard print. With a phone charger.”
“That’s good.” At least I was fairly certain sic was good.
“Anyway, I just called to let you know we can do the sword-fighting at our house now. I figured you didn’t want her to bitch at you and that’s why you suggested the park, but the teenage guys in the pool there ogle your ass. It’s so gross.”
“My daughter,” I mouthed to Freysha, who was pretending not to pay attention but who no doubt heard everything with those elven ears. Her eyebrows had twitched at the last. Maybe she didn’t talk to her mother that way. “I’m pretty sure you’re the one they were ogling, kid. But if you want to practice in your yard now, that’s fine.”
“Good. No offense, Val, but I’m not going back to your house.”
“You didn’t like Dimitri’s burgers?”
“I didn’t like the orc bodies and dead alien dogs in the yard.”
“Understandable.” An uneasy thought jumped into my mind. “You haven’t seen any dragons lately, have you?”
“No. Why? Are some coming?”
“I hope not.”
Zondia had gotten all my records and researched me thoroughly to find out Amber existed. I hoped Velilah didn’t care enough to bother with that. If she did, and if she tried to hurt Amber or make me choose between her and Zav…
“Are you all right?” Freysha whispered.
“I feel a headache coming on.”
“Maybe you need espresso.” In the back seat, Gondo sloshed the thermos around, but it sounded like very little liquid remained in the bottom.
“Who are you talking to?” Amber asked.
“An elf and a goblin.” I thought about explaining that I had a half-sister and Amber had a half-aunt, but that seemed like a conversation for another time, such as when I wasn’t pulled over on the side of the road with traffic whizzing past.
“Don’t you know any normal people?”
“No.”
“Maybe that explains you. Bye.”
“That’s your daughter, you said?” Freysha asked.
“She’s a teenager.”
That seemed a legitimate explanation, but Freysha’s expression remained puzzled.
I drove us back onto the road and took the side streets to the house. As we drew nearer, I sensed Zav. He was the only dragon I sensed, but I glanced at Freysha for confirmation.
“The other one isn’t lurking around somewhere, is she?”
“No.”
“I hope she left Earth.” The idea of Velilah flying around looking for friends or family of mine to torture had me clenching the wheel tightly and grinding my teeth by the time I parked in front of the house.
Nin’s blue Volkswagen beetle was still here. This had to be the most time she’d spent away from her business all year. I hoped Zoltan or Willard’s doctor acquaintance would be able to bring her grandfather around. Or if Zav could wave a hand and cure him, that would also be wonderful.
“You guys head inside. I’ll be there in a bit.” I climbed out and waved them toward the front door.
My senses told me that everyone, including Ti, was down in the basement, so I headed around the house to go in that way.
“Does this mean we don’t need to go back to work today?” Gondo asked Freysha.
“I am going to return to researching the charms so that Val will be better protected from dragons,” Freysha said as they climbed the steps to the porch. “You can assist me.”
“I don’t know anything about charms.”
“Some of them are goblin charms.”
“I still don’t know anything. I’m a builder, not a shaman.”
The last thing I heard as they went inside was something about LEGOs.
Has everything been all right here while we’ve been gone, Sindari? I sensed him in the living room, standing guard from a reclining position on the couch. There would be silver fur to vacuum out of the cushions later.
It has been disappointingly peaceful, save for neighbors walking their domestic canines past. They sensed me from the sidewalk and insisted on barking.
I hope you ignored them like the mature regal tiger you are.
I roared at them. One wet himself.
So much for mature and regal. We’ll have you to blame if the grass in the front yard dies.
He used the sidewalk, not the grass.
Gross.
I thought so.
I made a note to get a pressure washer for that sidewalk. Renting a house was turning out to be a lot more work than renting an apartment, and it hadn’t even been broken into by my enemies yet.
Can you send yourself home for a while? I didn’t think I could order him to do anything until I got the charm back from Nin. I want to be able to call upon you if trouble more ferocious than barking dogs shows up. I hoped it didn’t. It had been a long day, and I was tired. I needed to figure out how to sleep better at night.
I will be ready, Sindari said before disappearing from my senses.
At the basement door, I made myself knock before entering.
Come in, Zav spoke into my mind. The vampire has ensconced himself.
I entered and closed the door quickly to minimize the pesky infestation of daylight. Inside, Zoltan’s infrared lights were on, and I found Zav with Nin standing over Ti, who’d been laid out on a blanket on the floor. He was still unconscious.
“That’s superior to the guest bedroom?” I asked.
“Zoltan is preparing the formula to administer.” Nin gave Sindari’s charm back to me, as if she’d been keeping it safe in her hand the whole time I’d been gone. Maybe she had.
“That was fast.”
“He had everything ready except for the remaining ingredient.”
Zoltan stepped into the room. “It’s bad enough being awake in the middle of the day, but the constant threat of a light invasion is tedious. When I agreed to swap homes with Jimmy, I did not properly consider how inferior a basement is to a fully underground domicile.”
“Maybe Dimitri can build something like an airlock at the door.” I stood next to Zav and leaned against his shoulder.