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According to the information from Kim's mind, Stacia was staying on the Eastside again--she apparently preferred it to Seattle's more crowded streets.
Only this time instead of being near Marymoor Park, she had holed up in a house on the outskirts of Redmond, on three acres.
Roz picked up the magical stun gun from the table. "Is there a way we can recharge this without having to go down to the Energy Exchange? Camil e?
Can you do it?" He turned it over, stopping when he came to a panel on the bottom. As he flipped it open, we saw some sort of wiring, along with a mixture of various powders. "Holy crap--this isn't an Earthside weapon. Not total y. Whoever made this had to be from OW."
Camil e took it, looking closely. "Correct. These compounds aren't found Earthside. That means somebody's come over here and set up shop sel ing a hybrid--the material this gun is made of definitely comes from over here. Who the hel would do that?"
"We don't have time to find out now, but we'd better mark that down on our ever growing to-do list." I regarded it quietly, then said, "Wel , can you?"
"Can I what?" She gave me a quizzical look.
"Can you recharge it?" The stun gun was a powerful weapon and just might help us take down the Bonecrusher.
"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."
"What's a Stradolan? I want to know what you can do. It might be important in the upcoming fight."
Sucking in a deep breath, he let it out in a long, slow stream. "I can walk between worlds. I can move through the astral and the etheric without a problem, though I'm not very adept at shifting into the Ionyc Lands. I can enter the Nether-world and return. My powers are dilute because of my half-breed heritage, but I can, my lady, work with some forms of magic--shadow and il usion."
"Like the coyote shifters?"
Shade laughed. "They work with il usion, yes, but not to the extent I can. However, as I said, my magical powers are limited. I'm one hel of a fighter, though." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Oh, yes. I can shift into dragon form, but only during the night in which there are shadows."
I glanced over at him, my heart swel ing. Something about him spoke to me. He was a half-breed, like me. His powers were slightly skewed. He could transform, but he wasn't a ful dragon nor ful Stradolan. He was, for al intents and purposes, a misfit. Like me.
Turning right onto Eightieth, we fol owed the road as it wound through Redmond, then into the suburbs of the city, final y merging into 172nd. A few winding S curves, and we were nearing the address. Stacia stil lived in the suburbs, but the house had a nice piece of land attached to it.
I pul ed to a stop a house or two away and waited for the others. As I stared over at the lot where Stacia and her cronies were hiding out, I knew in my gut this was it. Tonight would be the end. For her . . . or for us. She'd kil ed Henry, she'd destroyed Camil e's shop, she'd subverted Kim and left Carter heartbroken, she'd taken control with Trytian's army, and while they might be working together against Shadow Wing, she was out for our blood.
And we . . . were out for hers.
