Page 21 of A Vampire in a Pear Tree
Jim, knowing full well that Drake would never harm it, curled a lip at him.“Yeah, yeah, but do you know how fast a demon in fear of its magnificent coat can move?Faster than any dragon in human skin.”
“And that’s enough with the trash-talking each other,” I said, stopping Drake before he could respond.“The evening event sounds like fun, Becket, and I’m sure everyone will enjoy it.Do we get to watch?”
“Yup.We decorated the entire barn for the holidays, so the pillars are wrapped like candy canes, and there are foam truncheons in the shape of festive gnomes.Yrian is particularly looking forward to dual wielding gnomes against his brother.”Becket turned when Christian, who had his phone out and was consulting with Yrian, hurried over to where the rest of us were clustered.
He stopped next to Allie, his silver eyes glittering with what I assumed was excitement.
“I am pleased to tell you all that I’ve received word from Finch that he and Tatiana have not only returned to the mortal world, but their lives have been restored.”
“Whoa,” Ysolde said, a crab-and-cheese-stuffed mini pepper halfway to her mouth.“How did they pull off that miracle?”
“They were removed from the Hour by its previous lord,” Christian answered, moving aside when Allie reached for white cheddar and applegougèresthat instantly had me salivating.
“That sounds both annoying in that they set the place up the way they wanted and then got the boot, but on the other hand ...yeah.Life and back to reality.That’s hard to beat.”I took a second Parmesan and pesto twist, since I’d gobbled down the first, broke up into smaller chunks one of the plain cheese twists that Becket had made for Jim, and placed it on the plate it was happily cleaning.
We spent a pleasant (if nippy on the nose despite the roaring fire in the pit) ten minutes while Finch and Tatiana’s recent adventure was recounted.
“And I have further good news,” Christian said, bowing his head to Yrian.“They will be joining us shortly, thanks to Yrian’s invitation, and a portal shop in Cardiff.”
Becket froze midway through chewing a small thumbprint chorizo pizza, her eyes calculating.“Of course your nephew and his wife are welcome.”Her gaze met that of Yrian for a few seconds.“Thank god we had all the bedrooms renovated when we did the rest of the house.I’ll go mention it to Ayo and will check that the yellow room has linens on the bed.”
My phone dinged at me when she hustled into the house.“May is calling.No doubt to see if we all survived two days of excited children hopped-up on sugar.Hello, May.”I moved off a short distance in order to speak with her.
“Are you at Becket’s place?”she asked, her voice sounding both excited and breathless, as if she was running while speaking.
“Yes, we’re all here.Well, all as in Ysolde and Baltic, and Allie and Christian.Evidently, Christian’s nephew Finch and his wife are on the way, as well.They’re out of their Hour.”
“Oh, good, that’s going to make things so much easier.No, I gave the passports to Maata.Should I close up the safe?”
I gathered from the male rumble barely audible in my phone, and the fact that May was obviously speaking to someone else, that Gabriel was with her.
“Are you guys leaving?I thought you were spending Christmas with Kawaa and your nieces?”
“We are.We will.But we’re heading to the airport to fly to England.I hate to be so fast, but we’re in a rush to close up the house since Maata and Tipene are coming with us.We’ve heard from Savian.”
“OK,” I said, not sure what had her and Gabriel in such a fuss, but a cold, clammy feeling started to grow in my stomach.“Is something wrong?Should I warn Drake?”
“Gabriel is texting the wyverns as soon as we are in the car,” she said, now definitely short of breath.She murmured something about that being the last of the luggage.“Savian called to wish us a happy holiday, and to thank us for the presents for him and Maura and the kids, and mentioned that his cousin has taken on the job of thief taker for Dr.Kostich.Oh, coats!”
“Coats to you, too,” I said, half startled, and more than a little confused.
“Gabriel, we need coats!It’s cold in England now.Aisling, apologize for me to Becket for foisting two more people on her, but there really was nothing else to be done.Where?Oh, hell’s bells.No, I’ll get them.”
“You mean Finch and Tatiana?”I asked, turning to look back at everyone.“I think that’s cool with Yrian and Becket.”
“No, Savian’s cousin.Sorry, I know I’m being incoherent, but there’s a storm rolling in, and we’re trying to get to Gabriel’s shiny new plane before we get grounded for a few hours.Savian’s cousin Berry is a thief taker, and she was hired by the vampire thanes’ mom to find him.The guy who Finch let out of the Hour.The dangerous guy that Christian and all the vampires are worried about.”
“Holymerde,” I said, my eyebrows rising as I tried to piece together her explanation.“So, this cousin is coming here?Did she find the thane?”
“Yes, he’s with her.From what Savian said, he’s not evil, but they are being pursued, and worse, they are insisting they get Desi’s blood moon.”
“Oh, lord,” I said, smiling broadly at Drake when he cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at me.
Unfortunately, our time together gave the man annoyingly accurate perception into my attempts to defuse his suspicions, and he instantly set down his plate of snacks and started toward me.
“Gabriel says we need to be there to help the weyr with the thane, since we promised to help Christian, as well as a feeling he says he has that the thane has something to do with the dragons.And before you ask, he doesn’t know what, exactly—he just says it’s a feeling that’s getting stronger each day.Ready?Yes, I have everyone’s coats.”Murmured voices and the thumping of car doors told me the silver dragons were on the move.“I’m going to hop off the call, Aisling.Gabriel is texting the wyverns now.We should be in England sometime tomorrow afternoon.If we’re needed sooner, let me know and we’ll stop somewhere and take a portal.”
Drake, about ten feet from me, paused when his phone pinged, followed shortly by Baltic’s and Yrian’s phones also alerting them to an incoming text.
