Page 4 of Bottoms Up
“The pendant you have is a small part of the gold from the original necklace. I do not know where the rest of the gold and silver is. Also, the being you met does not own all three gemstones from the original.”
“Can we take it to the dwarves’ realm and deconstruct what’s left of it?”
He shook his head. “It was made by magic. A fire may or may not have been involved. You’d need to deconstruct the magic, and I’m not certain that’s possible. Your idea of dilution could possibly work, but I don’t think the necklace will let us do so.”
“It makes sense. It can teleport itself, and it seems to be able to read my mind, so it isn’t likely to let me plan to destroy it and then just sit idly by while I carry out my dastardly plan.”
He smiled, and I had the idea he found me amusing.
“Okay then, how about a Plan B?” I asked aloud, and then telepathed,What if I had it melted down and reformed into something no one would recognize?
I have a few torcs, so I actually know what they are. What if I had this one formed into a ring that resembled a torc? I sent him an image of what I was thinking, and the necklace vibrated on my neck.
“Kirsten said vibrating is a warning,” I told him.
“Usually, yes, but I believe the necklace likes the idea of looking similar to how it once looked.”
He waved his hand at me, and I felt clothing on my body. I looked down to find myself in jeans and a T-shirt, and my favorite dressy athletic shoes. Something caught my eye off to the left, and I looked to see a matching ball cap on the table beside me.
“I can pop us to Italy to a jeweler I trust. You should leave your phone here.”
I was about to ask him to let me talk to Kirsten when he telepathed,It’s best we don’t talk too much about this. I’ll need you to stand up, if you’re amenable.
I reached for the ball cap, stood, and the next thing I knew, we were somewhere else entirely, the air around us cooler and smelling faintly of ash and iron. We faced each other, Mordecai steady and unmoved while I blinked, off-balance from the abrupt shift in scenery. Old buildings surrounded us, made of handmade brick, the alley too tight and too close after the spacious suite. The ground under my feet was uneven — cobblestone edged with the same kind of brick, and I took a slow breath to ground myself while I followed Mordecai out onto the street and into a squat, low-roofed building. If this was Italy, it was an old section. Was it modern-day, or had he taken me back in time? Could he do that?
“Do you have time to rework some metals for me?” Mordecai asked a man with his back to us.
A short, skinny old man turned and smiled at Mordecai. “For you? Of course. What have you brought me?”
I noted electric lights above us, so we hadn’t gone back in time.
Mordecai motioned toward my neck. “The pendant and the chain, so it’ll be a mix of gold and titanium.”
The old man looked at my chest and then frowned at Mordecai. “It can be done if the fire’s hot enough.”
Mordecai was silent, and I got the idea he was still waiting for the elderly man to come to a decision. While no one was talking, I telepathed,Where are we? I thought we were in Europe, but he speaks English.
Italy. I worked some magic so you can understand him. He’s speaking Italian but you’re hearing it in English. He won’tunderstand you, however. I’ll need to translate if you want to speak to him.
Well, that was a handy trick.
The wizened old man returned to his bench, head bent over a pale blue stone while Mordecai and I telepathed. It looked like he was cutting, or perhaps sanding or polishing the brilliant gemstone — peering at it through a microscope while he turned it, carefully deciding before he put each surface to the wheel.
Finally, he turned and stood again. “My granddaughter hasn’t been able to get pregnant.”
Mordecai was silent a few moments, and inclined his head. “The problem is with her husband, not with her. There’s a one-time solution.”
“What do you want the finished product to look like?”
Mordecai motioned to the table beside the old man, and he lifted a piece of paper with a sketch, studied it a few seconds, nodded, and walked out of the room. Mordecai motioned for me to follow, so I did, and felt the giant man walking behind me. I mean, Julian is really tall, but he isn’t terribly muscled. Mordecai’s muscles have muscles.
What are you?I asked him.
When he didn’t answer, I telepathed,Your brother is a demon. Logically, that would mean you’re either an angel or a demon.
Your logic is based on writings you’re familiar with and is completely logical, but I am neither.
So the Bible is wrong?
