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"I . . . I don't know. Maybe. Maybe if I take it to Wilbur's, he can help me. Morio, come with? I don't trust his wandering hands."
"Right behind you."
As Camil e headed out with Morio, I turned to see Iris, freshly dressed in a pair of jeans and boots that came up to her knees. She'd put on a long-sleeve shirt and heavy leather gloves.
She grinned. "Snakes have a harder time getting through denim and leather. I'm no fool."
Smoky stepped to the side, discussing something in low tones with Shade. I eyed them suspiciously, but we didn't have time for me to eavesdrop. We'd just finished gathering our gear when Camil e and Morio returned.
"Freshly charged, though it might not be quite as powerful a jolt as the ones the Koyanni threw at us." She handed the gun to Roz, who happily stowed it on his belt. "By the way, we're stil going to have to deal with them after this is done. But if we can take down Stacia, we can take down just about anything."
I slid my arm around her waist. "If we can take down Stacia, then we'l have another wedding reception for you guys--a family one only. And we'l drink ourselves sil y on Riel sring brandy and forget about Shadow Wing . . . even if for just a day."
As we headed out the door to our cars, I steeled my shoulders. I was lean, mean, and had a new hairdo I was quickly growing fond of. And--my gaze flickered to Shade--a new boyfriend who already felt like one of the gang. We were off to defeat Stacia; good times like this didn't come often enough.
The drive over to the Eastside didn't take long; there wasn't much traffic on the 520 floating bridge, and we sped along, late under the overcast sky, dodging raindrops and the occasional shower of hail pel ets. We'd taken three cars--this time Shade and Iris were riding shotgun with me, while Roz and Vanzir caught a ride with Menol y, and Camil e and her men took her Lexus. We were armed to the hilt, and I felt a stirring--always, now, before a battle, my blood began to rise and I felt anxious and eager.
We're warriors now, I thought. Unwil ingly thrust into a war we didn't choose, but one that would risk the world if we let it happen. We were about to face our biggest foe yet, and I wasn't sure how we'd come through. But we were growing stronger and more cunning. We'd learned a few tricks along the way, and we were more ruthless, more wil ing to cross lines that had stal ed us at first. We had to be. The stakes were greater; our enemies were too wil ing to use our friends against us.
As we swung right onto Leary Way, heading toward the Redmond Town Center, I glanced over at Shade, who seemed entirely unperturbed about sitting in the Jeep. "Have you ever been in a car before?"
"Several times." He flashed me a warm, easy smile. "Relax, I've been Earthside quite a bit. I am familiar with the customs. Perhaps more so than your brother-in-law, who's been over here longer. I'm more wil ing to integrate myself when necessary." He paused. "Lady Iris told me what you're facing. I knew about the demons already, but she fil ed me in on the lamia."
One less thing for me to do. "Iris said . . ." I glanced at her through the rearview mirror, and she nodded. "Iris said you're half shadow dragon?"
He nodded. "Aye. Yes. Half black dragon--which is the same thing as a shadow dragon--and half-Stradolan.">Shade nodded to him, taking a seat and motioning for me to sit near him. "Have you told them, my dear?"
"Yeah, I thought it best not to leave you for a last-minute surprise." I laughed. "Of course I told them."
"Already she starts," Shade said. He turned to Iris. "Milady, did you suffer any damage traveling through the astral?"
Roz held out a chair for Iris, and she settled herself into it. "No, I'm fine. And thank you again for saving my life."
"How about you tel us what went down?" I gave her the once-over. She didn't look hurt. Shook up? Yes. But Iris was a lot tougher than she looked.
She picked up her wand, making sure it was al right, fingering the crystal reverently. "I was tending Maggie in the kitchen, when I heard a noise out front.
I had a real y bad feeling, so I ran Maggie to her playpen in Menol y's lair and then came back to see what was going on. I went outside and saw the Tregarts. I raced back into the house to get my wand and cal you when I heard them coming through the front door, so I dropped out of my bedroom window--and let me tel you, that's a long drop for someone like me--and raced into the woods."
She sucked in deep breath, wincing. "I thought I was a goner. One of those beasts saw me. He fol owed me into the woods, and I got myself off the trail.
He fol owed me and was using his fiery breath, but I hit him a good one with frost shards from my wand, and it stopped him. I started to run again but tripped and lost hold of my wand. By that point, he was coming at me again, and I left the wand and ran through the woods. I could hear him as I backtracked, trying to reach the path so I could move faster."
I could see it--Iris, racing through the undergrowth, trying to scramble over the tree trunks that were nearly as tal as she was, with a fire-breathing demon on her tail. The thought made me shiver. We'd lost friends. We could lose her, too.
"I'm so sorry--we should never have left you alone." Rage flooded over me. "Stacia can't have another one of our friends. She kil ed Henry, and it stops there. I promise, we'l make sure we leave you with a guard from now on. And we'l reinforce the house against the demons." A snarl rose up, and I wanted nothing more than to shift back into panther form and go rip up the nearest enemy--which happened to be Kim.
Shade reached over and placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked into his eyes and lost myself in the molten chocolate. His touch was like warm sugar on a cool autumn night.
Taking a deep breath, I shook off the desire to destroy and exhaled in a long, slow stream. "What happened after that?"
Iris bit her lip, drawing blood. "I made it to the path, and as I raced out of the wood, I ran smack into Shade here. I knew who he was immediately--you described him very wel ." She flushed, giving him a shy smile. "And he whisked me up and over to the realm of shadow. Anyway, Master Shade here, he saved my butt, and I wil forever be grateful to him."
"My pleasure, Mistress Ar'jant d'tel." At her sharp look, he smiled gently. "Make no mistake, I see the cloak you wore--and you stil wear in your aura. You cannot wield such power and expect to hide it from Dragonfolk, nor deny you own it. Can she, Master Smoky?"
Smoky let out a harrumph and cleared his throat. "I refrained from bringing it up because I believe it involves some painful memories, but yes. There is truth in what you say. I lived in the Northlands. You are steeped in the energy of the ice and snow, Iris, and anybody who's lived in the high ranges can sense it."
Just then, Vanzir came in, fol owed by Menol y. We al stopped, waiting.
