“Why did you decide to come out of hiding?”Talia asked.
“As more of the Realms’ citizens become aware—and intermingle—with this world, crossover will become far more commonplace.The dragons came out of the Forgotten Kingdom.So, too, it’s our time to emerge from the shadows.”
“Well, sit down.Would you like some coffee?”Talia asked.
Ash shrugged.“I’ll give it a try.Thank you.”
“I’ll pour you a cup.Pastries are on the counter,” Talia said.“Help yourself.”
As Ash headed over to the counter, I watched her.She moved fluidly, as though she felt at home in her body.No doubt, she was trained in martial arts, and she had some sort of natural magic, though I wasn’t sure what.
“So, what do we do about the boats?”Viktor asked.“There are bound to be more attacks unless those octopuses have fled the sound, and I doubt that’s happened.”
“There isn’t much we can do,” Herne said.“Not until something happens.We could ask Ashera if any other water dragons might want to join her in patrolling the waters, but that’s asking a lot.Especially since we have no idea what the Aqcarians plan to do next.”
“What’s going on?Who are the Aqcarians?”Ash asked, returning to the table with a plate stacked high with three doughnuts.She sipped the coffee that Talia brought her and winced.“Bitter,” she said.
“Try it with milk and sugar in it,” I said.
She added a splash of cream and a spoonful of sugar and tasted it, then gave me a satisfied nod.“Much better.”
Raven explained who the Aqcarians were, and about the giant octopi that Ashera had found in the waters of Puget Sound.“They capsized several boats, and we managed to get recreational boating restricted, but apparently there was too much pressure from retailers down on the piers.The mayor removed the restrictions, and now people will be out boating again.Why couldn’t they just stick to Lake Washington?It’s big enough for a day on the water.”
“Because people are greedy,” Kipa said.“So, back to what we were discussing earlier.Did you say there’s a connection between Jorgununda and Jörmungandr?”
“It’s believed she predates the world serpent and is potentially his ancestor,” Cernunnos interjected.“Regardless, until we know for sure that Jorgununda can’t bring about Ragnarök, we need to gather all our allies.At this point, we do think that she means to hasten climate change, in order to destroy some of the coastlines.Think: if she were to control the oceans, the world waterways would be cut off and international shipping would die.”
I thought about what would happen if we had no commerce via water.It didn’t seem that vital at first, but when you really examined it, the loss would be catastrophic to the world economy.It was far too costly to transport all goods via air travel.
“Well, there’s not much more we can do now,” Herne said.“Though I did get a report that the deaths are starting up again, this time in Cannon Beach, down in Oregon.Erica is looking into it for us.She’ll contact you, Viktor, when she’s found anything.”
“Okay, then.That about wraps it up,” Morgana said.“We found a house for Ash over in the Redmond area, not far from Marymoor Park.16650 NE 48thStreet.We paid for a year’s rent so she won’t have to worry about housing.”
“That’s on my side of the lake,” Raven said.“We’re not exactly neighbors, but I live over there.I can show you around the area.”
“I’d like that,” Ash said.“So, should I start today?”
“Why don’t you take a few days to get settled?Raven, if you want to help her, take her shopping.She’ll need furniture and clothes for this world, and…well…basically, everything she needs to start over,” Morgana said.“I’ll give you my credit card number and you can charge anything.Don’t wipe me out, but spend what you need.”She handed Raven a credit card.
Raven grinned.“You can trust me.Come on, Ash, let’s go.”
“Let me get her paperwork first,” Talia said, motioning for Ash to follow her out of the breakroom.
I sighed.“Well, where does that leave us for now?”
“It leaves us with another new case that came in a couple of days ago,” Herne said.“Another case in UnderLake Park.”
Kipa groaned.“UnderLake Park?Raven’s going to love that.”They lived in the UnderLake Park District in Kirkland, on the very edge of the park.The district was fading, with the majority of the houses in the area weathered and neglected.Raven’s house—and their neighbor’s house across the street—were two exceptions that stood out.But mostly, the area had gone downhill, and a fell energy shrouded the area.
The park had once been home to a monastery and an order of monks, but the order had long left the area, and the monastery itself was crumbling away, in the grips of a number of ghosts that were firmly embedded within the decaying walls.The park also included a parcel of land once owned by the Castle family, of the Castle Hall estate.The owners had been murdered in their home, and while no bodies were ever found, enough blood remained that they had to have died.DNA verified that the blood had belonged to the owners, and the remains of the castle still rested there, under a growing network of brambles and vines.
A number of other gruesome murders had taken place in the park, including Raven’s late fiancé.In fact, that’s how we met her—we took the case when she came to us, trying to find out what happened to him.Unfortunately, he’d been killed, but we took down a serial killer, and made a friend through helping her.And now she and Kipa were together.
“What are we facing this time?”I asked.
“You’re not facing anything—” Herne started to say, but just as he spoke, Wager let out a groan and leaned forward, his head on the table.Talia, who was sitting next to him, jumped up and pressed her hand to his forehead.
“He’s burning up,” she said.
