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"Which reminds me," Iris said, "have you thought about hiring a few guards for the house? When you're al home, everything is dandy, but during the day, when you're out, with just Maggie and myself here--and Menol y asleep--we're perfect targets. And I don't mind helping out, I don't mind fighting in this war, but it would seem a wise precaution."
"I'l get on it," Camil e said, jotting down a note on her steno pad.
I covered my ears and rested my head on the table, not wanting to think about al the crap we were facing. After a moment, a hand ran down my back, patting me lightly. I looked up, glaring, and found Roz staring down at me, a soft smile on his face.
"Too much?"
I nodded. "Too much of everything. The past few days have been insane. The only good thing that's come out of it has been Camil e's wedding." As I glanced over, staring at her sitting with her husbands, a thought occurred to me.
"Smoky! You could solve one of our minor problems for us." I beamed at him. "Make your sister-in-law happy, would you?"
"How so?" He looked worried. "You don't want me to start catching game for the house or anything, do you? Because dragon-scorched meat doesn't taste so good to humans and their ilk."
"That steak you caught me when I first came to your barrow was delicious, sweetheart." Camil e patted his hand. "He's lying--his game is always prime choice--"
"Oh for Pete's sake . . . no, I am not asking you to play mighty hunter. But Camil e and I promised a dryad we'd find her another home--one with more wild land she could spread out on. What say we turn her loose on your land?"
Camil e stared at me. "You're right--that would be perfect!"
"Hold on--both of you. What are you up to now, and what sort of creature do you want to turn loose on my land? I just got rid of Titania and that insufferable Morgaine." Smoky looked ready to take a bel igerent stance on the subject.
"She's not a Fae Queen, she's just a dryad looking for a wilder place than Rodgers Park. You could make her happy--and help us fulfil our promise." I snickered as Camil e grinned and lightly rubbed her hand along his arm.
"Smoky, love, it would make me so grateful if you'd do this," she said.
Smoky let out a low rumble that sounded al too much like a growl and gazed at her hand. "You aren't above bribing me, are you?" he asked, his voice husky. The glacial chil of his eyes swam in a whirl of ice floes and ocean mist. Camil e leaned in and kissed him, her lips lingering over his. After a moment, she pul ed away, wincing.
"Damn these cuts . . ."
"My love, you never have to hurt yourself to ask a favor from me," he said, wrapping his hand around hers and holding it against his shoulder. He turned back to me. "You have your wish, as long as the Fae understands it's my territory, and she's a guest there. You may take her there whenever you like. Also: I've insured that Georgio and Estel e are taken care of by . . . a couple of my friends. Warn the dryad not to come close to the house."
"Trust me, Bluebel isn't like Wisteria was. That veg-head was a freak." The floraed--an offshoot of the dryads--had been out to kil anybody who stood in the way of wiping out humanity so the plants could take over the world again.
Which brought up thoughts of the demons and the spirit seals. Again. "Tril ian, Vanzir, Morio--what did you find out about the address Marion gave us for the coyote shifters?"
Morio pul ed out a digital camera and handed it to me. "Can you download these pictures? We thought it might be easier than just going by description."
I grinned at him. "Geek boy! I'l teach you yet."
Pul ing out my laptop, I fired it up. As they continued to chat, I plugged in the USB cable to one of my ports on the laptop, then into the camera and punched the "On" button. We'd picked up several cameras of the same type so we'd only have to deal with one brand of software, and kept one at the house, one in each of our cars, and one stayed in Morio's SUV. I was determined that we'd learn to use technology along with our innate magic--it would be the only way we could survive in this society.
As the pictures downloaded, I motioned to Iris. "How long til sundown?"
She glanced at the chart we had tacked up on the wal . "Another two hours--shortly after five. In a week or so, we'l be switching back out of daylight saving time, and she'l be able to get up an hour earlier."
"Then maybe we'd better get some rest. As soon as I finish downloading the photos, we'l take a nap, then go over them when we get up. Menol y wil be awake then."
I opened a window and pul ed up the folder into which they'd downloaded. The JPEGs were huge, but my computer had been upgraded to handle bigger tasks, and I opened them up, zooming out so I could line them up side by side. Then I plugged in the wal monitor we'd had instal ed to yet another USB port so the images would feed onto it instead of just my smal er screen. That way everybody could see them.
"Okay, this is al set up for when we need it. Nobody touch my computer, got it?" After they al nodded, I said, "So let's hit the sheets for three hours.
Wake-up cal at seven P.M., Iris. Camil e--you be sure to get some sleep."
And amazingly, they listened to me, and we trudged upstairs for a catnap.
I looked around and realized I was roaming through the streets of Seattle. It was late, and a cold wind was howling in off the bay. I pul ed my leather jacket closer around my neck. The stars shimmered overhead in the chil night, and I wished that I'd asked Menol y to come with me.
I was heading toward a building up ahead--why, I wasn't sure, I didn't remember ever seeing it before, but I knew that there was something waiting for me, and I had no choice.
