Page 44 of Wings of Ebony
I give her the look that says,Say the word and it’s a done deal. I’ll handle his ass.
“It’s fine. We’re fine. It’s just little stuff. I’ll give you all the details later. I promise!”
“Aight, holding you to it.”
“So back to the tattoo.” She grabs a bag of gadgets she brought with her. “We can probably do an image scan. That way we can see all the locations where that same snake image appears. Depending on the technological advancements here, of course.”
“I mean, we just Google everything,” I say.
“What’s a google?” she asks.
“That’s actually a good question. No idea, but it’s where—”
“Found it!” A box lands on the table with athunk.Ms. Leola wipes her forehead with a satisfied smile. “Tucked it away real good, apparently. Almost put my back out on that one. Take a look, baby. I’ma get my peach cobbler out the oven.”
Bri lifts an eyebrow, so I catch her up to speed on all Ms. Leola told me. The coins intrigue her the most, but Ms. Leola said they disintegrated into thin air after she used them.
“It’s dagvaar.”
“A what?”
“Dagvaar. A one-use sort of magical ritual. It’s usually attached to an object that ties the giver to the receiver in some sort of pact. It’s supposed to notify the owner when activated and self-destruct moments later. So it can only be used once and never be traced.”
“So it’s a device that summons its creator?”
“Exactly,” she says. “I wish I could’ve seen it.” She rests her chin in her hands. “I’ve only read about them and they’rehardto make.That’s really complex old magic, Rue. Like, how would Aasim even…?It takes an old type of Ghizoni magic that they don’t teach anymore.” She taps her lip. “Actually, I don’t know if they ever taught it. And of course all the books on ancient Ghizon were lost when the Chancellor took ru—” She’s such a magpie, I swear.
“Bri, back to Earth, we don’t have a lot of time to figure this out.”
Had I not skipped History class back in Ghizon so much, maybe I’d have some idea of what Bri is talking about. Girl’s easily distracted, but a walking talking Ghizon encyclopedia.
“You know you’re the shit, you know that?”
She appears flabbergasted.
“Girl, get up on some slang. It’s a compliment.” I slap her shoulder. “To be so book smart, when it comes to some things, you dingy as hell.”
I laugh. She laughs too. “Well, that’s probably true.”
I nudge her. “You’re still a keeper though.”
“I think I’ll keep you, too. If only so I can eat Ms. Leola’s food again.”
“Deal.” We laugh and do our special handshake thing.
“So your mother gave Ms. Leola dagvaar, which she got from your dad—”
“Aasim.”
“Sorry… she got them fromAasimto notify him if something ever happened to her.”
“I mean yeah, that’s what it sounds like.”
“So he wanted to keep an eye on things here? Hmm.”
I guess. I dig my toe into the carpet.
She chews her lip, piecing together clues of a puzzle I’m notinterested in. “It makes sense. I mean, coming here, touching people, let alone having a full-blown relationship, a kid… I mean that’s, like, super risky.”
