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"No they can't," Morio said. "You charmed the nurse and told her not to mention our visit so that Benjamin's parents can't ask any uncomfortable questions."
"No, I told her not to mention it to Benjamin's parents. Let's see… Delilah and Menolly's asses are covered. Iris, too." I squinted, staring at the table. The chicken caught my eye. My stomach rumbled.
"So we can prove your whereabouts. Good. What about the unicorn and the pixie?" Chase was jotting down notes as fast as he could. "Could they have done it?"
That quieted us all down. Feddrah-Dahns was still missing, and we had no idea where he was, or even if he was okay. I was about to say something when the doorbell rang. I excused myself and went to see who it was.
Smoky was standing there. I gazed up at him, and before I realized what I was doing, I was pressed against his chest as he wrapped himself around me. His lips lingered on mine, his tongue toying with them just enough to get me going. The stress from the day made me tremble, and he ran his thumb down my back, pressing my spine taut.
"You see, your body knows where you need to be," he whispered.
With a shiver, I finally let go, trying to catch my breath from between my thighs, where it had spiraled. "We have a problem. Several problems." I motioned him in.
"One of them, I think I can ease your mind on," he said, following me into the kitchen. "Feddrah-Dahns is out on my land, along with the pixie. The unicorn has been hurt, but he'll survive."
Everybody started talking at once, but Smoky gazed around the room, then held up one hand. "Enough."
I waited until everyone quieted down. "Who wounded him? Demons?"
Smoky nodded. "That's what he said. The Raksasa managed to get in a few swipes before Feddrah-Dahns and the pixie got away. Apparently unicorns can outdistance demons. He shook the Raksasa just as I was headed down the trail to speak with him. I hastened him and his pixie away immediately but didn't have enough time to stop and tell Iris."
"And you say Mistletoe is okay?"
Smoky blinked. "What? I don't have any mistletoe out there that I know of. Moss, yes. Lichen, definitely. Mistletoe? None."
Delilah let out a long sigh. "Not mistletoe the plant. Mistletoe, the pixie."
"Ah, I see." Smoky lifted one eyebrow with a quirky grin. "Yes, Mistletoe is fine. Feddrah-Dahns got raked on the side. He has some nasty wounds, but I had a batch of powders and ointments that Titania left with me some time back, and I used those to patch him up. Seems to have stanched the bleeding and slowed down the pain. There's something odd, by the way."
Not another out-of-place puzzle piece. "What?"
Smoky stared at the food on the table. "The dream chaser demon that walks with him?"
"Dream chaser?" I frowned. "I've never heard of them."
"Vanzir, his name is. Dream chasers feed on human energy during sleep—from inside a person's dreams. Anyway, Vanzir apparently stumbled between the Raksasa and Feddrah-Dahns right during a critical swing. Missed getting hurt but foiled the demon's last attempt to kill the unicorn. Apparently his stumble gave Feddrah-Dahns enough time to get away."
I motioned for Delilah to help Iris clear the table. "Somebody just burned down the rug shop that belongs to the demons. You can vouch for Feddrah-Dahns being on your land all afternoon, right?"
Smoky snagged a piece of chicken before Delilah whisked it away. "Yes. He's been out there for several hours. We need to talk about that portal downtown. I hopped through to take a look where it went."
"That's what Delilah said. You're positive it leads into Guilyoton?"
He nodded, biting into the drumstick. I watched as he fastidiously cleaned the bone in under a minute flat, but without ever seeming to chew or drop anything on his bleachy clean trench. The trench covered his usual gray turtleneck and butt-hugging white jeans, doing wonders to beckon my thoughts away from where they should be lingering. Smoky caught my eye and gave me a sly wink and pursed his lips in an air kiss. I weakly slid into my chair.
After he finished eating, he tossed the bone into the garbage and turned a chair around, straddling it and leaning his elbows on the back. "I'm all too aware of the goblin lands over in Otherworld. The creatures are still numerous in the Northlands, and in some of the higher mountain peaks here Earthside. They breed like vermin and taste just about as bad. I had a suspicion that the portal might lead there, and when I jumped through, saw that I was right. The bogs and swamps reek of goblin, and the land feels tainted by their magic."
"That would be Guilyoton, all right." Forcing my attention to return to the matter at hand, I retrieved a notepad and pen.
"Okay, what do we have going here? We have the Crypto problem, which is getting worse. I'm sure the goblin portal isn't the only one working overtime."
"The demons are our biggest concern at this point. Especially since they're well aware of who we are and where we live. And they think we have the spirit seal or know where it is." Delilah pulled out her laptop and fired it up.
"We do know. Now. Another problem—Morgaine and Titania. They're searching for the same cave Benjamin found. I know it in my gut. Which means if they find it before we do, they'll have the spirit seal." I jotted down another note. "Also, I have the unicorn horn, and both Morgaine and the demons would love to have that little goody."
"Don't forget, the demon's shop burned down. Who do you think they're going to blame?" Menolly leaned in. "Even if we have proof we weren't there, they're going to find a way to blame us."
"And Benjamin. We can't forget him," Morio added. "If we discovered that he knows about the spirit seal, my guess is the demons will figure it out before long. What if they tailed us out there? They'll tear him apart to get the information about the cave."
