AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"We go home. We bind up Camille's wounds. We figure out what the next step is in our war against Shadow Wing." I turned to find Morio, but Roz reached out and caught my arm.
"I'm going with you. There's something you need to hear. About Shadow Wing. About the demons."
I started to ask what, but he moved too fast and before I knew it, he was gone, out of the room and down the hall. As we gathered up whatever we could find that had belonged to Dredge, I asked Morio to go explain what happened to Exo Reed and send us a bill for the damages.
Just what did Roz know about Shadow Wing, anyway? And what about Dredge? He was toast, but what was that grin and salute from the lord of chaos?
As I lifted Camille to carry her down to the car—it was easiest for me to carry her, and the blood seeping from her leg didn't even make my nose twitch for once—I realized that a little part of me would always be afraid that Dredge might find a way to return. Some wounds are forever, I thought. Even when you drop the baggage, the claim ticket's still burned into your soul.
CHAPTER 20
Iris was waiting in the kitchen. She looked up as we entered and burst into tears. "You're alive," she started to say, but then she saw Camille's legs and gasped. "Oh my stars, what happened? Let her rest on the sofa and I'll get the first-aid kit."
As she bustled out of the room, Tim looked up at me. "Is he dead?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Dust and shadows. All that's left of Dredge is a memory…" But as I spoke, I thought that there was one thing left of Dredge—his soul, locked forever in the grasp of someone even more sadistic than he had been. The karma police in action? Maybe. Or maybe just the universe, having one last laugh at his expense.
I glanced at the clock. Three-thirty. I'd visit Erin the next night. For now I was so exhausted, I just wanted to hide out in my lair, to shut out the world. But there were things to attend to first. I headed to the living room, where Iris was stitching up the gashes in Camille's calves.
"They'll heal better with a bit of thread," she said.
Chase watched, his face greenish. "Do all you women have a way with needle and thread?" he asked.
"I'm better at it than the girls. Comes from years of attending to the Kuusi family. No doctors near enough to fetch during times of emergency. And I could always heal wounds better than they could anyway." She bit through the thread and tucked the spool away. "Now, ointment, a bandage, and you should be just fine in a week or so. You'll have scars, but they'll be faint."
Camille shook her head, grinning. "They'll match the ones on my arms," she said, glancing up at me. "Irony, huh?"
"Irony like that, we can do without," I said, wondering when to tell her that Trillian was hurt, too. She wouldn't be too happy when she found out I'd kept that news from her, but it no longer mattered. "So, is Roz here?"
"He is now," Roz said from the doorway. He slipped out of his duster and carefully hung it over the back of a chair, then sat down, his pants tight around his legs in all the right places. His T-shirt was nice and form fitting, too, and I found my thoughts wandering in a direction I never thought they'd meander. Perhaps Roz would make a good playmate, at least for someone like me. I dallied with the thought, then pushed it aside. Perhaps… but not anytime soon.
"So what is it that you have to tell us?" I asked.
"I brought someone with me." He motioned to the door. I jumped to attention. Who the hell had he invited over now? But as a cloaked figure stepped through the arch, I recognized the energy. Elfin blood. Heavy, ancient Elfin blood. Not Trenyth this time.
Camille squinted, then gasped. "Your Majesty!" she said, struggling to stand up.
Iris pushed her back on the sofa. "I don't care if it's the Queen of Hearts, you just sit back down and don't move. You don't want to rip those stitches."
The figure pushed her hood back and I jumped, along with Delilah.
"Your Majesty! Great Mother, what are you doing over here?" I almost expected the world to implode. Asteria, the Elfin Queen, had made a trip to our home? What the hell was going on? "Is everything okay?"
"Father—has something happened to Father?" Delilah burst out, managing to drop into a curtsey and break into tears simultaneously. I hastily followed suit, sans tears, motioning for Morio and Chase to bow.
"Enough with the amenities," the ancient queen said, waving off our genuflections. "I don't want to be away from Elqaneve for long. But there are things we must discuss and better I come to you than wait for you to visit my city. Tell me first, though—what of Dredge?"
We filled her in on the fight, and the fact that he'd been aligned with Loki, not Shadow Wing. She took everything in stride, nodding quietly as we unraveled the chaotic mess he'd left in his wake.
"Dredge has always been steeped in mayhem and delighted in causing confusion. I had hoped that Jareth could help him, but no wonder it didn't work. With Loki behind him, it's a wonder Jareth survived the ordeal. None of us knew. He managed to fool us all until the end." She paused, looking over at Camille. "My girl, you've been wounded. Does Trillian know? I was so sorry to see him hurt—"
"What? Trillian's been hurt?" Camille managed to get to her feet. This time I shoved her back on the sofa.
Iris broke in. "He's going to be fine. He just won't be running to OW anytime soon, especially seeing that he's been outted as a spy." She stood, hands on her hips. "He's tucked away in your bedroom. You two can convalesce together, and may the gods take pity on you both. I certainly hope they do on me because I'm going to be the one stuck waiting on you." She rolled her eyes.
"That's why I'm here," the Queen said. "I wanted you to hear what I have to say directly from my own lips." She motioned to Roz and he moved to stand beside her.
"Rozurial is my new message runner. I didn't expect Trillian to be hurt, but since he's injured, Roz will take his place for now. And he will be my go-between for things I choose not to entrust to the Whispering Mirror. It's too dangerous to send Trenyth to you now—my aide is far too important to me to put in jeopardy."
