Page 35 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“Er ...” I slid a glance toward Gabriel, but he looked as confused as I felt. “Is he doing something to find Xavier and Deus?”
“I have no idea,” Ysolde said brightly. “I assume Baltic knows, because he usually knows things like that, but since he’s not being at all forthcoming to the woman who he claims is the air in his lungs and blood in his veins, I couldn’t say for certain.”
Baltic looked like he wanted to sigh, but managed to keep hold of the urge. “I told you that I did not yet know what he intended to do, but that I was willing to discuss the situation with him when he was ready. He has not contacted me since; thus, I do not know.”
The strident noise of a smoke detector started up behind them.
“You say that, but then you leave out big wads of information like what sort of person he is, and why the First Dragon went and routed him out of his purgatory, and just what he is supposed to do to help us, other than the fact that two Firstborn have to be better than one Firstborn, but I suppose that’s a matter to be left until we’re happy with the thane situation.” While she spoke, she had been typing on her phone, no doubt to text Brom, because after almost a minute of the siren, it suddenly quieted.
“Um ...” Allie held up her hand. “I hate to sound ignorant, but I thought dragons were masters of fire. You need fire extinguishers?”
“Need? No,” Baltic answered, leaning back and pulling Ysolde tighter against him. “We can control our fire as well as mundane fire, but Brom is still learning control, and forgets that dragon fire left to burn on flammable material will ultimately destroy it.”
Ysolde snuggled into Baltic. “With Brom, it’s all emotion-based, which is yet another thing I’d like to point out to the First Dragon. He couldn’t have waited until Brom was past this stage and a bit more emotionally mature, oh no. He just had to make him a dragon when he was at his most volatile.”
Baltic looked thoughtful for a moment. “Recall the years when Brom was between thirteen and fifteen, Mate.”
Ysolde shuddered. “I retract my statement. Those were definitely worse years, emotionally speaking. Well, enough about us here at Dragonwood, and the ever-engaging drama of Brom and Pixie. I take it you found Jim’s mother?”
A few minutes were spent catching everyone up to speed; then we settled down to make plans.
“So, I have done my homework,” Aisling said when I’d finished reading out the notes. “I talked with both the head of the Guardians’ Guild and my mentor, Nora, who has made a study of the history of Abaddon. Evidently, even though the Thirteenth Hour is located in the Akasha, mere Guardians can’t send anyone to it. That requires what Nora described as an almost impossible level of power and coordination to achieve.”
“That’s what Baltic said, although he wasn’t absolutely sure that someone of your abilities might not be able to do it,” Ysolde said with a cocked eyebrow.
“I mentioned that to Caribbean Battiste, the head of our order, and he said that although he thought that a savant like me might actually be able to pull it off, it would come at a seriously high cost. Think proscription level of cost.” Aisling made a face. “Been there, done that, don’t want to have to go through it again. Not to mention the fact that Drake would never allow me to do anything so risky. So, we’re going to have to rely on Mabel to transport Team Parisi into the place, since reapers can access any underworld, and the Thirteenth Hour is definitely one.”
“Which means getting out is going to be even harder,” I said thoughtfully before turning to Gabriel. “Would we be able to help?”
He thought about it for half a minute before shaking his head in obvious reluctance. “I wish I could say that the dragonkin were a match for whatever security measures are in place in that Hour, but would be foolish to doom us.”
“This is not a dragon fight—” Christian started to say.
“But Rowan and Sophea fought all those challenges in the Egyptian underworld—my apologies, Christian.” Aisling made an apologetic gesture. “I didn’t mean to run over your objection, but I wanted to point out that at least in the Duat, dragons reign supreme.”
“The Thirteenth Hour is not the Duat,” Baltic said in his usual cryptic manner. “But that is not the biggest issue with this plan.”
Christian gave him a quick nod of approval. “The dragon speaks correctly. Getting into the Hour is not the problem.”
“You mean that getting out is the problem. We’ll have Parisi and Desi to get them and Jim and whoever else helps out of the Akasha,” Aisling pointed out. “In other words, very respectable powerhouses. I think the two of them joined together should be able to do the job.”
“Whereas I feel the real difficulty lies in the fact that you are not certain they will work together,” Christian argued. “And if they do not, then whoever you send with the demon’s mother may well be trapped there.”
Silence, thick and uncomfortable, fell over the room.
“Well, hell,” Aisling said.
“Abaddon,” murmured Jim, now leaning into my leg, moaning softly as I scratched under its collar.
“I hadn’t thought of that, but you are absolutely correct,” Gabriel said, his brow furrowed. “And no, May, you will not be part of any group that attempts to rescue Jim’s father.”
I pinched his thigh. “You know better than to tell me what I can and can’t do.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me, and allowed one of his dimples to deepen.
“Dammit, you also know I’m helpless against your dimples,” I told him, and gave him as chaste a kiss as I could manage in front of the others. “I admit I wasn’t looking forward to going to any part of the Akasha, but I am happy to help in any way I can.”
“What about Hunter?” Ysolde asked, having been momentarily called upon to admire her son’s toy horse. “He said he’d help.”
