“Actually, Zav adores barbecue.” I liked it, but I wasn’t the one who’d eaten eight servings of ribs on our first date. Not that anyone except the staff at that restaurant would know that. And his sister. Zondia had been spying on us that night. But would she send poisoned ribs to her own brother? That didn’t make sense. She cared enough about him that she’d been determined to save him from me. Maybe this was just someone’s guess. It couldn’t be a secret that dragons liked meat. “Does someone want to poison you, Zav? Like one of those Silverclaw dragons?”
“No dragon would resort to such a cowardly way of attacking a rival,” Zav stated.
“Are you sure? Because we’re planning a mission to rescue a whole passel of dragons who were poisoned and stored in a magical cavern.”
Zoltan lifted a finger. “It’s a bacterial infection, not a poison.”
I walked over and took the bags from Dimitri—I had to tug because his fingers were slow to release the prizes. “Test these for signs of the bacteria, Zoltan.”
“That is a menial task for an alchemist of my caliber.”
“Does that mean I’m going to have to pay you to do it?”
“You’re a much swifter robber than I guessed when we first met.” Zoltan smiled and took the bags.
“You thought I was a dummy? I’m offended.”
“You did barge in looking like the female version of Rambo as you assaulted my guard tarantula.”
Hm, Amber had also compared me to Rambo. Maybe my wardrobe needed an overhaul.
Zav watched as Zoltan unwrapped racks of barbecue ribs from tinfoil, and the delicious scents of smoked pork filled the basement. He wasn’t drooling, but he had to be close.
“We have food upstairs if you want something,” I told him. “Nin brought all that beef and rice. Same goes for you, Dimitri.”
He also appeared to be on the verge of drooling. “I know. I’ll heat some up.” With a wistful look toward the bags, he headed back upstairs.
I patted Zav’s arm. “Do I need to drag you out for your own safety?”
“No.” He folded his arms over his chest again. “I will wait for the results of the test before consuming anything. And I will make sure my blood sample doesn’t get secreted away in a vault.”
“Blood samples go into refrigerators, good dragon,” Zoltan said. “I’ll text you the results of the test, dear robber.”
“Great.” I headed back upstairs to sleep while I could.
Freysha stepped out of her room as I passed it. It wasn’t dark as one would expect at this hour. A desk light was on and books filled the area, along with some charms from the Weber collection.
“Val? I believe I’ve identified what another one of these trinkets does. I suspected from the beginning, but I wasn’t able to activate it, so I wasn’t sure. It’s one of the dragon-crafted ones.”
“So, it’s super powerful and would allow us to defeat a horde of dragons?”
“Not quite. But I believe it could allow you to hide from a horde of dragons.”
“I’ve already got a charm that lets me do that.” I waved to my thong.
“I know, but I thought you might want another one for your mission, so Ti or someone else can also hide.”
“Ah, good thinking. And yes, I’m sure that would be useful.”
“It may even be able to hide more than one person. The activation term I tried that finally worked roughly translates as let us disappear. Us.” She stepped back into the room and grabbed a note with a word written on it.
“So, our whole group could be camouflaged from dragons?”
“From everyone, yes. A small group. I believe everyone has to be touching the charm for it to work.”
I imagined Ti and Dr. Walker advancing through a cavern, clasping hands with the charm pressed between their palms. Very intimate for near-strangers. Though I supposed that since Walker had inserted a catheter for Ti, they’d already trodden the path of intimacy.
“Are you sure one person can’t just grip the shoulder of the person holding the charm?” I asked.
“I am not. It didn’t come with instructions.” Freysha handed me the charm and the paper.
“Hence the research. Right. This is what I say to activate it?” I tried it and mangled the word. Naturally, anything in the dragon language was unpronounceable.
It took more than ten tries and corrections from Freysha before she said it was working. She took several steps back and nodded. “At this distance, I can no longer see or sense you.”
“Good. Thanks for doing all this research. I know that wasn’t part of the deal.”
Freysha shrugged. “You are my sister. Also, I like research and books of all kinds.”
“As much as you like plants?”
“Equally. Books about plants are my favorites. Also books about engineering. And oh, books about engineering with plants.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest and oozed adoration for this notion.
“I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of those.”
“They are rare, usually written by half-bloods. Elves who married dwarves or gnomes and wanted to help others bridge the cultural divide. Half-bloods do have purpose.” She smiled encouragingly at me.
“Does that mean I’d be more welcome in Elf Land if I wrote books?”
“It could. Helping the Stormforge dragons and defeating the Silverclaws would likely also earn you a place of honor in the city.”
“Sounds like less work than writing a book.”
“More dangerous though.” Freysha lowered her hands. “I am worried about your mission.”
“Me too.”
“Do you want me to come to help? I am not a warrior, but I have a few tricks, as you have seen.” She wriggled her fingers.
Yes, the fire-retardant plant barrier had been handy, as had been the vines that had grown up and grabbed that creature’s feet. I was sure she could help on this mission, but…
“Are you like the heiress to the elven kingdom? Would Eireth be pissed if I let you get killed?”
“He would be distressed if I died, because he is my father. I am his only full-blooded child at this time, so it is likely I would one day be considered to rule after him, but blood is not everything among our people. Positions can be hereditary, but if the people don’t agree that the heir or heiress is a good leader, that person will not be chosen. Also, the ruling dragons on their council have a say these days in who they want to deal with as the leader of the elves.”
“So, he’d miss you, but the elven kingdom wouldn’t necessarily fall apart without you.”
“Correct.”
I closed my eyes, imagining myself returning to Veleshna Var and telling Eireth that I’d survived but that Freysha hadn’t made it. The thought was horrible, and given my luck, it was exactly what would happen. I’d survived before when people close to me had died. I already hated the idea of taking Dr. Walker and risking his life.
“You better stay here.” I opened my eyes. “This isn’t really your fight.”
“Is it yours?” Freysha raised her eyebrows.
“Since those Silverclaw dragons are a threat to Earth, and since I want to shag Zav, yes.”
“What is… shag?”
“You better look it up in one of your books.” I squeezed her shoulder and waved goodnight. “The Urban Dictionary, if you have a copy.”
“Colonel Willard did not give me that book,” Freysha called after me.
“Strange.”
22
I managed to sleep until almost dawn, when the creak of my bedroom door opening and the aura of a powerful dragon entering woke me. My lungs were tight, and my first instinct was to reach for the inhaler in the drawer of my bedside table, but my ongoing reluctance to use it in front of others—in front of Zav—kept me from making the move.
He came in and sat on the edge of the bed and stroked the side of my head. Did he have randy thoughts in mind? Maybe not. His touch was gentle, not provocative, and the sweetness of the gesture, especially coming from my haughty dragon, warmed my heart. It also made me wonder if he had bad news, since he didn’t usually pop into my bedroom before sunrise.
I reached up and laid my hand on his. “Is everything all right?”
His face was shrouded in the pre-dawn gloom. “The meat was tainted. Infected with the bacteria.”
I sat up and swore.
“You were wise to question it,” he added.
After all the times I’d been called unwise this summer, I should have been delighted at the compliment—and I wasn’t unappreciative—but I was too busy being concerned to bask in it. Someone had tried to take out Zav.
It was possible the tainted meat had been meant for me, but two racks of ribs were surely designed to tempt a dragon more than a half-elf. Maybe our enemy had hoped everyone in the house would eat from the free meal and die.
No, not die. At least not right away. But if we’d gotten sick and passed out, we would have been easy targets for whatever whims our enemies had in mind.
The swirl of emotions made my chest even tighter. I was going to have to use the damn inhaler if I didn’t want to end up wheezing in front of Zav.
“I’m glad none of us ate it.” I leaned against Zav’s side and surreptitiously tried Mary’s 4-7-8 breathing technique to try to calm my body—and my lungs—while he wrapped an arm around me.
“Yes. I believe Shaygorthian was responsible.”
I debated whether I agreed. It did seem like a scheme one of the dragons would have arranged, since their kind wouldn’t be fully familiar with how food delivery worked on Earth. They wouldn’t have known that we would be suspicious of pre-paid food arriving late at night out of nowhere. If nobody else had been in the house, would Zav have been suspicious? Or would he, taking for granted that dragons were superior beings destined to be served by lesser species, have believed it normal for some admirer to send him a gift?