Page 38 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“I don’t know yet, but when I do, you’ll be the very first one to hear,” she said with what I thought of as her smug-ass tone.
“That is not acceptable,” Christian said, bending upon her a stern look that I wouldn’t want to have directed at me. “We will not agree to such a vague definition.”
“Take it or leave it,” she answered in the same annoying tone. I fought to keep from grinding my teeth at her. “I will help you for an as-yet-unnamed boon.”
“Done,” Ysolde said quickly. “We agree to your terms.”
“No, we don’t. Rather, the Moravian Council does not agree to such nebulous terms.” Christian was clearly fired up now, his eyes almost glowing with ire.
“His eyes are almost as bright as yours,” I whispered to Gabriel. “But yours are much, much warmer.”
“That’s because I have a mate who keeps my fire burning hot,” he answered, sliding one hand down my back until it curled under my left butt cheek.
“I believe that since this is a joint project between the dragons and Dark Ones, it would be fair to divide the responsibility for fulfilling the terms of the boon between us.” Aisling nodded toward the screen. “Since Drake isn’t here to speak for the green dragons, I’ll leave it to Gabriel and Baltic to decide if that sounds reasonable and fair for everyone.”
Sally had been looking at her phone during the last few comments, and said quickly, “I’ve got to take a quick call. I’ll be right back.” Her square went black as she dropped off the call.
“The Dark Ones will, naturally, assume full responsibility for payment of any kind,” Christian said sternly. “There is no question of sharing the burden.”
I looked at Gabriel, since Baltic—now back next to Ysolde—was being his usual silent self. Gabriel said, “I believe Christian has the right to assume the debt if the release of Jim’s parents was solely to benefit the Dark Ones, but as it is possible that they might also be of assistance to the dragonkin, then it makes sense to share the cost of freeing them.”
“How would Jim’s parents help us?” Aisling asked, texting what I suspected was a message to Drake.
Gabriel said nothing.
“Don’t even start thinking you can be as inscrutably annoying as Baltic,” I told Gabriel.
“Hey, now!” Ysolde said, glaring at me.
Gabriel laughed, and pinched my butt. “I have no intention of annoying anyone, let alone my mate, but I don’t know that I can answer Aisling’s question. It’s merely a thought I had regarding the likelihood of Jim’s parents having the desire to assist us with Xavier and Deus.”
To the obvious surprise of everyone, Baltic nodded at what Gabriel was saying. “That thought was on my mind, as well. Not that I wish to involve the light dragons, but Ysolde will not let us live a life of peace and happiness, and must have us involved in all weyr business.”
“That’s right, and we both know it’s good for you, if only to stop your father from popping in and throwing cryptic demands at me before poofing into a fine sparkle of gold. I can’t tell you how frustrating those damned cryptic demands are.” Ysolde was evidently riled up, because Baltic pulled her up against him again before whispering something in her ear.
Christian’s frown was prodigious. “Again, I must protest that this is an issue for the Moravian Council and Dark Ones to deal with—”
“I think now is the time to let go of a little of your pride and accept that our new friends are going to help us whether or not you want them to,” Allie said with laughter lacing her voice, but it quickly took a more somber tone. “I, for one, am happy to get help dealing with someone who could do irreparable damage to the mortal world. I couldn’t stomach the thought of innocent people suffering because we were too proud to accept the offer of help.”
Christian turned an irritated expression on her. For a moment, he said nothing, although Allie smiled again, so I assumed he was mentally speaking with her. “I dislike it when you use logic against me,” he finally said, then grimaced when he heard the words. “And now I sound like the worst sort of supercilious fool. Very well, since Allegra has pointed out that I can’t think only of the Dark Ones, I will gracefully accept the aid that you dragons wish to offer.”
“I’m so glad that’s finally settled,” Aisling said with a bright smile. “Now we can go ahead and book—”
“My apologies. I had to see if someone was available. But all is well there, so I just need the go-ahead to put things into motion.” Sally popped back onto the screen, winking at us all, although the last sentence and gesture were clearly directed at me.
“Oh, OK,” I said. Christian and Allie were momentarily absorbed looking at a text on his phone, but no one else spoke up. I slid a glance to my side. Gabriel told me earlier that since I felt strongly about helping the vampires, he would remain in a support role unless I asked him otherwise, which mean I might as well answer Sally. “We have indeed agreed to your terms, although it goes without saying that we’d appreciate a heads-up when you know what it is you want from us.”
“Excellent!” she said with a clap of her hands. “I look forward to seeing Desi again. I will need exactly twenty-eight minutes; then I will meet you at the public toilets in Hyde Park. The one near the Princess Diana memorial.”
“My apologies,” Allie said as Christian tucked away his phone. “The kids are being absolute monsters...well, we won’t go into that. I think they’ll leave us alone for a few minutes.”
“If you don’t mind—” was all Christian got out before Sally logged off. He swore in what I thought was German. “I am not comfortable with this plan to put members of the dragon septs at risk. The point of this being our problem aside, I, like you all, do not wish to place others into situations of peril.”
“If you are concerned about Sally not being able to get Jim and the reaper out, you can rest your mind,” Gabriel answered after a nod from me. “Both May and I are familiar with Sally’s abilities and have full confidence in them.”
“OK, Mabel says she’ll meet us at the bathroom in Hyde Park.” Aisling tapped an answering text. “I told her we had a former Sovereign to help get everyone out if Jim’s parents don’t have the oomph or desire to do so. She’s impressed with our connections.”
“Why the bathroom?” Allie asked, hurriedly turning off her phone when a video popped up showing a dark-haired boy of about ten who had the same mismatched eyes that she had. He was doing an odd wiggly sort of dance that I suspected had its origins in popular gaming.
