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When we were out of Wilbur’s earshot, Camille asked, “Just how are we going to make sure he keeps quiet about this?”
I frowned. “I hate to do this, but Vanzir, can you get into his dreams and eat his memory of this? He’s a wizard so—”
“Wizard, witch, mortal, it doesn’t matter. As long as he’s asleep and not sequestered in a warded area, I can slip into his dreams.” Vanzir looked pained. “I never thought I’d have to feed like this again, but I suppose my talents are useful in situations like this.”
A hungry look washed over his face, and I remembered what he’d told us. He’d tried to quit stealing life force and memories from people, but then Karvanak, the Raksasa, had forced him to feed. And now we were doing the same. I let out a little groan.
“I wouldn’t ask, except . . .”
“Except a lot rides on him not remembering anything he hears or sees. All right. But you’ll have to knock him unconscious.” He gazed down at me, then lifted his hand and barely grazed my chin. “I’ll do it for you, and I’ll do it to thwart Shadow Wing.”
I nodded, lightly biting one of his fingers as it passed my lips. “Thank you. We’ve all been forced to do things we don’t like in this war.”
“Look,” Camille said, pointing toward the bay window overlooking the amphitheater. Wilbur and Morio were doing something, all right, because the inky black gate into space suddenly exploded in a white-hot flash that had us all dropping to the floor. As I slowly came up from my crouch and peeked through the window again, the room had cleared. Wilbur and Morio were standing there, and the Demon Gate was gone.
“A few more things, and we’re done,” I said softly. “I’ll go get Wilbur.”
Vanzir nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
It didn’t take long then. A quick knock on the head, and Wilbur went out like a light. Vanzir spent fifteen minutes on the astral, and when he returned, he promised that Wilbur wouldn’t remember a thing from the moment before he opened the door to find Camille and Smoky standing there.
We found the keys to the van sitting outside the house and carted the men out to it under the cover of darkness. I ran back into the tunnels to retrieve Sabele’s remains and Claudette’s clothing. Dawn would break in a couple of hours, and by the time I returned, I was exhausted, as was everyone else.
When we lumbered into our driveway, Yssak and a group of Des’Estar Guards were waiting for us. They took the frat boys into custody and followed Camille and Morio to Grandmother Coyote’s portal, where they transported them back to Y’Elestrial. Camille and Morio went with them to visit Queen Asteria in Elqaneve and give her the fifth spirit seal for safe-keeping. They also took Sabele’s remains with them and the wounded elf.
Vanzir headed out, taking Roz and the van with him. “We’ll take care of the house in the next couple of hours,” he promised. “You have my word.”
I looked at the two of them and gave him a tired nod. “Thank you. Thank you both for all of your help.”
Smoky made sure everything was all right, then headed up to Camille’s room after dropping the still-slumbering Wilbur back at his house.
Delilah and I sat there, a bowl of chips on her lap, Maggie on mine, staring numbly at the television.
“I’m not sure what to tell Chase,” she said.
“We can’t tell him about taking those men back to Otherworld. He’s on our side, but what he doesn’t know, he doesn’t have to worry about.” I frowned. “Give him the videotapes. At least he’ll know that whatever happened, it was the right thing to do.”
Delilah thought about it for a moment, then let out a long sigh and shrugged. “Yeah. I guess. We have four spirit seals. Shadow Wing has one. If we can manage to keep the other four out of his hands, we might be able to push back the threat and win this war. But with a new demon general in town, things are going to be a whole lot harder.” She stuffed a potato chip in her mouth and rested her head against the back of the sofa.
“I know,” I said. “I know.” I glanced out the window. “First light’s coming. I’m heading to my lair. With a little luck, nothing horrible will happen today.”
Delilah shook her head. “No. Just a hell of a big house fire that’s going to burn all inhabitants to ashes.”
And then she took Maggie and cuddled her, watching the flickering images on the screen as I dragged myself to bed. I started to pray for a dreamless sleep but remembered I’d turned my back on the gods. They wouldn’t have listened, anyway.
CHAPTER 28
Three nights later, the night after the full Moon, we decked ourselves out in high gear and headed toward Woodbriar Park to witness Tim and Jason getting married.
The frat house was a memory. It had burned to the ground without so much as a timber left. Whatever portals to the underground bunkers there were had been cleanly sealed so that the fire department never even suspected they were there. And though there were questions—How had the fire raged so hot it consumed every speck of bone and flesh?—the answers were scarce, and the case would go down as unsolved.
Chase had viewed the tapes. He knew what we’d been up against. And he wasn’t asking any questions. Vanzir was good to his word. Whatever they’d done had left a very clean path leading directly down a dead-end road.
As we sauntered toward the chairs that lined the wide, neatly trimmed lawn, I looped my arm through Camille’s. She was wearing a plum-colored floral halter dress that barely contained her boobs, but she looked perfectly attired for a summer wedding where there would be a drag queen revue for entertainment—a gift from Tim’s old colleagues. She’d draped a silver and black lace shawl around her shoulders and was wearing stilettos with laces that wound up her ankles.
“How do I look?” I asked, nervous. This was the first time that I’d worn something that publicly showed my scars, and I felt mildly queasy.
“I’ve told you five times. You look gorgeous. What does Nerissa think?”
