Page 12 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“Spoken like a wyvern truly mated,” I told him, studying Drake. He was now also sipping at the dragon’s blood, and looked more cheerful and less pained.
Bastian’s shoulders slumped for a few seconds. “Wyvern no more, but I do not complain. The Song Tribe is stronger than ever, and we hope to do something with the other tribes not under Xavier’s influence. A collective like the weyr is what Hunter, Archer, and I are thinking.”
“I believe that discussion is best left for a later time,” Drake said, not flickering his gaze toward where Karma was wiping up a couple of scratches on Adam’s chest before assisting him on with his shirt, but all the dragons present understood.
“I think—phone check, if you please, Aisling, since I don’t hear music, and Brom knows full well he’s not to leave before telling us—I think we should fill in the men about what we learned while they were out being primal and dangerous.”
I was about to open up the link to Bastian’s camera, but before I could do so, Brom and Pixie appeared at our end of the restaurant, followed by Allie and Christian, who scooted around them.
“We’re going to the movie now,” Brom announced, looking simultaneously worried and dewy-eyed.
Pixie, on the other hand, bristled with an indignation that I decided was normal for her. She pinned Karma back with a look and said in a haughty tone, “The movie doesn’t end until eleven, so I’m not going to make it back by midnight, because we’re going to have fish-and-chips out of a newspaper, and then may go on for drinks afterward.”
Adam made an odd checking motion but, after sliding a look toward Karma, sat back and tightened his lips.
“Unfortunately, that is not what we agreed to,” Karma said with a collectedness I mentally applauded. “So we will expect you by midnight. Enjoy your movie and authentic fish-and-chips.”
“It’s legal for me to drink beer here so long as you give me permission, and you have!” Pixie said with a slap of her hands on her legs. “You said I could have a shandy. You can’t stop us!”
Karma took a sip of wine before answering. “Do you really want to have this argument right here and now?”
“It’s OK,” Brom told Pixie, putting his arm around her with a slightly red-faced glance at Ysolde and Baltic. “I told Sullivan I’d be back by then because Mondays are my early-class day.”
Pixie, who had frozen when he put his arm around her, slowly turned her head to look at him, her color almost as high as his. “Oh,” she said, then started to leave, but evidently remembered her manners, because she paused to gesture toward the table. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make a scene. Dr. Wellbottom says that making a scene when it’s not warranted is a sign of lying to yourself. Night.”
“Wow,” Adam said after they left. He tipped his head as he looked at Karma. “Is that the first time she’s apologized?”
“Not to me, no, but it is the first time she’s done so in front of other people. Bless Dr. Wellbottom, and may the sun ever rise upon her,” Karma answered, still looking a bit stunned.
While the men recovered from their tension-letting, we filled them in with details on what Jim had told us about its parents. Understandably, they were as gobsmacked as we ladies were.
Baltic, I noticed, didn’t say much when the other men exclaimed, but he did give Jim a long, long look.
After ten minutes of discussion about how the head of the Court and the head of Abaddon could manage to get together long enough to have a child, we returned to more practical matters.
“What do you know about the place where Jim’s dad is imprisoned?” I asked Drake.
“The Thirteenth Hour? I have never heard of it,” he answered, rubbing a finger over his chin as he mulled over the information. The rasp of his whiskers against his finger had me considering sliding my hand up his leg again, but I didn’t want to tease him to the point where the others might notice. “Is it something you are familiar with, Baltic?”
I expected Baltic to make his usual protestation that just because he was a Firstborn didn’t mean he knew everything, but instead, his gaze narrowed on the wall opposite. “Heard of it? Yes. But I did not believe it really existed. It is not something spoken of lightly.”
“Do you know if it’s possible to summon a person from it?” Gabriel asked, gesturing toward me. “Aisling has summoned beings from the Akasha many times. Perhaps, if this is an extension of that place, she could simply have Jim’s father summoned to us?”
Drake’s fire immediately roared to life.
“Calm down, sweetie,” I whispered to him, giving his hand a squeeze, and smiling to myself when he slid his fingers between mine. Normally, Drake disliked public displays of affection, feeling it was beneath wyvernly dignity or some such silliness, but he was also an incredibly loving man, and frequently emotion got the better of his intentions. “It’s not dangerous, but if it were, I’d ask Nora to help me.”
“I don’t think it works like that.” Baltic frowned at the wall, obviously dredging through his substantial memory.
“I have not heard of this Thirteenth Hour, but I must again point out that this problem is one the Moravian Council is dealing with,” Christian protested. “I will repeat that we are grateful you wish to help us, but the problem is not yours.”
“But if they can help, we’d be foolish to not accept it,” Allie told him, her hand on his arm. He took her hand in his, but looked unconvinced. “I mean, you’d take help from a charmer or a Summoner like me, or even a vespillo if it was needed.”
“Such individuals could not help us in this situation,” he told her. “And naturally, I would accept any help to ensure that our ancestor does no harm to anyone in the mortal realm, but it is a problem best left to those who are experts in the matter.”
“Which is us,” I said, beaming at him. He didn’t look reassured. I turned to Jim. “Can I summon your dad out of the Thirteenth Hour?”
Jim shook its head. “Other parts of the Akasha, yeah. But not that one. I told you it was a super-secure part of the underworld. Guardians can’t summon people from there.”
