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Camil e shook her head. "No, I don't think any of us were. What happened with the Tregart you took down to the Wayfarer?"
Vanzir shook his head. "You don't want to know. We had quite a fight on our hands, but we might have managed to obtain some useful information."
"Such as?" I handed them the platter with the scrambled eggs and bacon.
Roz speared four sausages and scooped some of the eggs onto his dish and offered the rest to Vanzir. There were plenty of pancakes left, and when their plates were ful , they leaned back, eying the three of us.
"Stacia Bonecrusher is so deep in hiding, I don't know how we're going to find her. But there are apparently rumors going around that she's running a training camp for recruits. And you can bet that Trytian's recruits are there, too." Vanzir bit into the pancake, which he ate without syrup, and chewed thoughtful y.
"Where's it supposed to be located?" A long shot, but I had to ask.
Swal owing a mouthful of eggs, Roz shook his head. "Are you kidding? She's not stupid. I have no idea, and neither did the Tregart we captured last night. He wasn't part of the Bonecrusher's army . . . he managed to cross through the Demon Gate when Stacia entered Earthside. He and his buddy went AWOL from the Subterranean Realms. I suppose we should start searching for the camp."
"But is that a good idea?" I asked.
Camil e pushed her empty plate to the side and leaned her elbows on the table. "Um, how is it not a good idea, Kitten?"
I frowned. "The thing is--we waste time on chasing her training camp right now, we lose time on finding the sixth spirit seal. You know as wel as I do that Stacia's cloaked. Not to mention, say we find this camp? We're going to need more help before we can take on a camp ful of demons. She's out to annihilate Shadow Wing, so right now she's focused and centered and not paying attention to us. Shouldn't we quietly go about finding the sixth spirit seal? She may be looking for the seals, too, but I guarantee you, her attention is centered on building up her army against her boss."
Camil e frowned but nodded. Roz and Vanzir looked at each other like I'd just grown another head.
"Don't be so surprised. I do have a brain, you know."
Roz laughed, then leaned back. "Good observation, Miss Kitty. And might I say, you don't reek quite as bad this morning."
"Stick to the point, bud. Stick to the point." I wrinkled my nose. "I'l be getting the deodorizer from Luke today. But seriously, what do you guys think about tracking down the spirit seal first?"
Camil e sucked on her lip. "That's a tempting idea. Only then we have to turn it over to Queen Asteria, and with her new idea to use them with the Keraastar Knights, I'm afraid of what's going to happen."
"What do you think she's doing with the seals?" I asked. Camil e was the only one who Queen Asteria had told about it, and I stil wasn't clear on the plan.
"She's up to something. Like I mentioned before, she's gathered Venus the Moon Child, Tam Lin, and Benjamin to her to form the basis of what she's cal ing the Keraastar Knights. From what I can tel , she's giving them back the seals and means to create some magical warrior force to fight against Shadow Wing. I'm not sure what prompted her to do this, but whatever it was, it had to be big. I'm almost afraid to find out."
"That's right." I almost wished I hadn't asked. The idea was insane, but you don't tel an Elfin Queen she's nuts.
"She shook her head. "The whole thing scares me, actual y. But back to the matter at hand. Vanzir and Roz, can you spend the day researching any potential place where we should begin looking for the next spirit seal?"
She paused, then looked at the Demon Twins. "By the way, what happened to the Tregart we captured?"
Vanzir looked her straight in the eye. "He's dead."
She nodded. I said nothing. There was nothing more to say about that particular matter. We al knew there was no other choice.
I pushed back my chair. "Sounds good. Okay, Roz, Vanzir, take a hike after you eat. Be careful; don't let anybody know what you're looking for. Camil e, let's get dressed and head down to the bar and get me de-stinkafied. While we're there, remember to ask if Luke has a picture of Amber's husband Rice.
Then we'l hit the hotel and find out what we can about her."
Camil e and the others stood. As we waved to Iris and headed out of the kitchen, I could feel life shifting and turning. Off one rol er coaster and onto another.
CHAPTER 6
Luke was at the bar early, mainly because we'd cal ed and asked him to meet us there. He handed me a spray bottle with a homemade label on it.
"Go into Menol y's office, strip, and spray yourself with it from head to toe, including your hair. The smel should dissipate for the most part." He waved me off, and I headed for Menol y's office.
I pul ed off my clothes and squirted myself sil y with the stuff. Immediately, I noticed a difference for the better as the skunk smel faded. After a moment, I decided to spray down my clothes, too. Wonder of wonders, it worked, and a whole lot faster than I thought. I might stil have a cool punk do, but at least I didn't reek. I slipped back into my clothes, then stopped. On Menol y's desk was a cream-colored envelope with a large crimson dagger printed on it and Menol y's name written in large, sloping letters across the front.
Peeking out the door, I made sure Camil e was busy with Luke, then slipped into Menol y's chair and gingerly picked up the letter. It had already been opened, so al I had to do was slide the pages out and look at what it said. My conscience tweaked a little, but I figured hel , she'd do the same if she was worried about me. And the dagger on the front of that envelope worried me.
