Page 42 of Dragon Fires Everywhere
Frost begins to slowly nod.Yes, I remember something about an adze fang someone I knew claimed to have seen. Among other things.
I straighten because I heard a rumor about an adze fang when I was in Ghana, gathering one of the keys.
We procure one of these, claim it has the magic of a fabulae imbued on it, and then the spell can go off without the Joywoodsuspecting a thing, Azrael says, sounding even lazier, probably because that’s actually malice and aimed at Frost.
But it’s also a great idea.
Wouldn’t they suspect something since even knowing we need an artifact means we know we need a magical creature?Zander asks.
Georgie will tell everyone she’s been researching.Azrael sounds impatient in our heads, but all I can think about is how strange it is that he called meGeorgieinstead ofGeorgina.It makes me feel funny.
I don’t like it.
As she has, in fact, been lost in her research, she can simply say she discovered references to the powers imbued in theseartifacts. That’s the sort of thing that’s in Frost’s library, isn’t it?Azrael looks at me, almost accusingly. “Everyone knows Georgie’s penchant forfairy tales and other such stories. Why wouldn’t she discover these things?”
I don’t like him calling meGeorgieany better out loud, I find. So much so that I barely have time to worry over the fairy-tale reference and the image of thatnew cover in my mind.
Goddess, what I would do to feel his mouth on my—
But we don’t have time, Jacob says, snapping me back to the here and now.How can we find out where these artifacts are, go get them, and bring them back so fast?He shakes his head. “The ritual must be done tonight.”
“Hello, we could lie.” Rebekah rolls her eyes. “There are no points for purity in a fight for the fate of the world, are there?”We conjure something up. Have Azrael give it some magic. Done.
“I support this plan completely,” Ellowyn says, her eyes narrowed in the direction of the Joywood.
But I’m shaking my head, because we don’t need to go to such lengths. “It’s okay. I know where they are.”
Everyone’s gaze moves from Rebekah—and Azrael—to me, and suddenly I wish I still felt that sense of dislocation. Instead ofbeing in the hot seat.
Every single library or archive I visited to get the keys had its own rumor about magical artifacts. That’s how I trackedthem down so quickly. I just mapped out all the ones that I could find rumors about and went there.
But it dawns on me that when I mapped them all out, my travel route formed an eight, an infinity... with St. Cyprian atthe center.
I thought it was just a number then, but now I realize it’s not.
It was a message. One about true covens.
The Joywood are watching, Zander points out.They’ll notice if one of us leaves. Worse, they’ll follow, and we don’t want them figuring what we’re up to.
But we have a secret weapon, don’t we? I look up at Azrael.“They’ll pay attention tous, but not to Pete from London.”
Azrael’s grin is slow, and maybe only I can see the dragon flickering behind it. “I’m a tiny Anglo-Saxonish human, pale andwan and easily overlooked as I wander about, doing incomprehensible British things.”
Zander laughs, then frowns like he didn’t mean to.
All right. We’ll split up, Emerson says, laying out the plan.Do rounds. Dance. Enjoy. Azrael will slip away once he’s sure no one’s paying attention to him, get an artifact, and bringit backbefore midnight.
We all nod in agreement, then begin to pair off. Jacob and Emerson go out and dance. Zander heads off to get Ellowyn foodbefore she incinerates someone with her hangry gaze—or her inability to speak anything but the truth. Rebekah sits with herwhile Frost stalks about the perimeter, clearly intimidating everyone he passes.
It occurs to me that he enjoys it, that this is what Rebekah means when she claims he’s funny. He’s like Darcy at the countrydance and everyone flutters about in his wake—and he knows it.
I’m almost smiling myself when my scan of the party leads me to my parents.
I haven’t spoken to them since I got back. I could pretend I’ve been busy. Ihavebeen busy. But more importantly, I’ve also been avoiding them.
Tonight’s a good night to approach them, I think. We’re in public, and Pendells don’t draw attention to themselves in public.
“My parents are here,” I say to Azrael. Excuse me, toPete. “I should go say hi.”
