Page 36 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“He is needed,” Baltic said, and, when we all looked at him, donned his inscrutable expression.
“Needed—oh, Xavier. I can’t believe I forgot about him for a moment.” Aisling rubbed her forehead.
“What we need is yet another demigod,” Ysolde said, oofing a little when Anduin clambered across her to Baltic, where he galloped his horse up and down Baltic’s leg. “One who can make sure that everyone who goes in comes out ... with Desislav the Destroyer.”
“There are no more demigods,” Allie said, then gave a little head tip. “That is to say, I’m sure there are oodles more of them, but none that we know. Although ...” She stopped and glanced at Christian. “What about that woman who helped Alec and Cora? She was pretty powerful, Alec said. I mean, she and Cora banished Bael to the Akasha. That takes pretty big chops to do that.”
Christian’s expression shifted into one almost identical to Baltic’s. “Sally was the Sovereign. That is why she was able, with the help of the Tools of Bael, to banish him.”
“Sally,” Gabriel said with a lot of speculation, his gaze resting on me. “She certainly once had the power to do what we’d need, but does she still?”
“On it!” Aisling said, picking up her phone, then hesitated. “Does anyone have her number?”
“I did, but the last time we called her—when we were all looking for Asmodeus’s ring—it apparently was mysteriously disconnected.”
Jim got up and, without a word, walked over to where it had a plush dog bed, alongside a low table containing some of its magazines, a tablet, and console game controllers, and returned with a phone. “I got it. Here.”
Aisling stared at her demon. “How on earth do you have Sally’s phone number?”
It cocked a furry eyebrow at her. “How do you think I have it? She gave it to me.”
“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask, aware that, despite my better intentions, I was mildly annoyed that Sally would rather let Jim have her number than us.
“We go way back, Sally and me,” was all it said before making faces at Aisling’s laptop, which in turn made Anduin (now back on Ysolde’s lap) laugh hysterically. “She helped me with a problem a while back and got the job done so well that we still laugh about it today.”
“What problem did you have?” Aisling asked, clearly concerned. “Was it after I summoned you?”
“Naw, this was before we met.” It gave her a long, considering look. “But Sally did good. She could totes handle stuffing us into the Hour.”
“We will circle back to your problems that only Sally can solve when we’re alone. Right, I’m sending her a text asking her to talk to us. ... What’s the link ... ? Got it. OK, fingers crossed she gets this and can chat or, worst-case scenario, will talk to us later. What’s next on our Catch the Thane Increasingly Complex Plan?” Aisling asked, looking at me.
“I got nothing,” I said, holding up my notebook to show her a blank page. “Although I do have to say that I have some issues with us asking Sally to help. For one, she isn’t at all straightforward. She’s as twisty as they come. And for another—”
“She’ll want to touch Gabriel, yes, we know,” Ysolde said. “But you won’t let that happen, so it’s a moot point. Are there any other objections to asking Sally for help? Baltic?”
“What?” he asked, once again in possession of their son, along with a massive picture book.
“Do you think Sally has the ability to help us?” she asked.
Baltic lifted one shoulder a fraction of an inch. “As a Sovereign? Yes. That doesn’t mean she will, however.”
“Handsome as the day is long, and so smart.” A light, annoyingly chirpy, and extremely Southern gracious-lady voice filled the room at the same time a new square popped up on the call screen. “I tell you, if I wasn’t romantically entangled with a deliciously wicked unicorn, I’d search through the dragonkin for one of you sexy dragons. May, darlin’! And you have the delectable Gabriel sitting right there where anyone can ogle his manly thighs. What a charming meeting. Please do invite me to more.”
“Hello, Sally,” I said, trying to keep my voice even and not in any way reflecting the irritation that seemed to dog her appearance in my life.
“Welcome,” Ysolde said, momentarily distracted when Baltic took a couple of obvious sniffs as their son wrestled with the book, then turned to her. “Nope. I’m busy with the meeting. You can help him use the potty.”
“You asked me to be here, as well,” Baltic pointed out, grimacing when Anduin climbed over him, evidently hitting tender parts in the process. “You said my insight was invaluable.”
“So is potty training. We’re at the cusp. He’s almost there. He just needs a little more attention, and then it’ll click,” she answered.
With only the barest hint of an eye roll, Baltic snagged his son and, tucking him under one arm, marched off-screen with him.
“I have to say, having seen firsthand just how ... intense ... Baltic was before he found you, the sight of him doing diaper duty is ... well, it’s kind of weird,” I admitted. “I mean, he was the dread wyvern. Now he’s a dad.”
“Eh,” Ysolde said, waving it away. “He’s still the baddest of all the dragon badasses. He simply values family over everything else. But we got off the point. Sally, it’s always nice to see you, but this time, we have a very particular situation, and we think you could be of vital assistance.”
“Really?” She tipped her head to the side, her eyes bright with speculation. “Does it have something to do with the silent vampires and their Beloveds?”
