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I shook my head. “I’m sorry, we can’t take aspirin. Maybe Sharah is carrying some—” But as I spoke, he started to crumple and hit the floor with a thud. I jumped up, looking around wildly for Sharah, who was over in the corner with Delilah. “Sharah! Stat—now. Chase just fainted.”
She raced over and knelt down by his side, feeling his pulse. “Thready, fast . . . weak.” A hand on his forehead, and she wiped it on her jeans. “He’s sweating up a storm. Could be from him being out on the astral so long, and not used to the magic it took to get him there. I need to get him back to the FH-CSI for some tests. What’s the quickest way to get him there?”
Smoky stepped forward. “I can take the two of you through the Ionyc Seas. I’m not sure how it will affect him, but if you want him there without a ninety-minute drive, especially in this weather, then you’d better let me take you.”
She nodded. “Help me get him up.”
Smoky swept Chase up in his arms. “Climb inside my coat and put your arms around me. I’ll carry him. It will be safer.” To me, he said, “I’ll be back shortly. Don’t let anyone in until I get back.” Before I could say a word, the three of them vanished, as if they’d never been there.
“What do you think is wrong?” Delilah crowded close to my elbow.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. But I don’t even want to think about what might be wrong. He was out on the astral for a long time. We should have made sure Sharah looked him over. Too much has been going on.”
Vanzir sidled over. “I have news,” he whispered. “But we have to go outside. Need to make a phone call.”
I bit my lip. “Shade’s going with us.”
“Sure. I’d welcome the big guy. The fact is, I can no longer be counted on to protect you, not without my powers. I’ll get him.”
As Vanzir moved back through our ever-expanding household, I slid my cape around my shoulders, then wandered over to the door and opened it, staring out into the darkening evening. Snow drifted down, softly kissing the ground, and the chill of the night embraced me like a silken shroud. I put on a pair of slippers and stepped outside, turning my face up to the flakes that whispered past.
So much had happened. So much was still happening. I longed for the comfort of our own home. For the familiar pattern we’d built over the months. For Maggie to be playing in her playpen near the stove, while Iris searched through catalogs for goodies she might want for the kitchen, and Delilah read computer magazines and watched trash TV.
As I leaned against the doorjamb of the barrow, staring into the darkness, I tried to wrap my mind around where we were. Chase was in trouble, and I had the feeling it was tied to his time in the spider freak’s house. But there wasn’t a damned thing we could do to help.
We were waiting on Hyto—and he’d find us, not the other way around, was my guess. And until he did, I was stuck with this fucking collar. Would it interfere with my initiation? Speaking of which, if I didn’t take care of this matter, would I even dare undergo an initiation at this time? What if Hyto came in charging, leveling Talamh Lonrach Oll?
At that moment, Vanzir and Shade appeared and we wandered out away from the barrow so Vanzir could put in his call.
“Carter left me a message and I didn’t have a chance to return his call till now.” He punched in the number to our main contact for the Demon Underground. I moved away, giving him privacy, and Shade followed.
“Do you know your dragon relatives?” I asked Shade. “Would they object to your relationship with my sister? It might be good to know up front if we’re only dealing with one set of insane in-laws.” I didn’t mean to sound snide, but I couldn’t help it. I was getting damned tired of bigotry. My own father refused to tolerate Trillian because he was Svartan. Smoky’s father hated me to the point of madness. The Rainier Puma Pride disapproved of Nerissa’s relationship with Menolly. We couldn’t seem to please anybody.
Shade held up one finger, then vanished back inside. Within seconds he’d returned, carrying a chair. “Sit down. I know you’re still pretty banged up.”
Grateful, I sat. “Thanks. You’re a sweetheart.”
He grinned. “I try to be.” Then, kneeling down by the side of my chair, the gorgeous man with the craggy scars leaned on one of the arms. “My family . . . my mother is dragon. My father was Stradolan. Not a common mix but one of the few you’ll see come out of the Netherworld. Black dragons live in the shadows; they run similar energy to the Stradolan and often pair up for working magic. My mother and father were one such pair. They fell in love during their work, and I am the result.”
“I knew you didn’t live in the Dragon Reaches.”
“No, shadow dragons do not put as much stock in the hierarchy that, say, silver or white dragons do. They exist in a slightly different plane than the rest of the Dragonkin. And Stradolan . . . how to explain—the Stradolan are solitary beings. We know and recognize our family, but seldom do we meet after we are grown and away from our parents. So my mother and father would not be averse to meeting Delilah or her sisters. They would be aloof, but no more than is their nature.”
I frowned, trying to wrap my head around the thought of an energy being falling in love with a dragon but then just stopped. It was no different than Smoky falling in love with me, or Morio and me.
“What about you? You don’t seem so aloof.”
He grinned then, and his teeth flashed brilliant white. “I was taken from my family very young and fostered in the Autumn Lord’s realm. He made me hang around the Death Maidens a lot. I learned very quickly how to interact. Especially when they used to play tricks on me.”
“So you grew up out of your natural element.”
Shade gave a little shrug. “Not so much. After all, Haseofon is a temple of the dead. The Autumn Lord is one of the Harvestmen, as well as being an Elemental Lord. But look, Vanzir appears to have finished his phone call.” He nodded at Vanzir, who was headed our way.
“I talked to Carter. He’s worried. He’s heard rumors of a rogue portal—roughly opened but usable—set up to the Subterranean Realms. It needs to be shut down, but first we have to find it. Someone mentioned they thought it was up in Shoreline, but there are also rumors that it’s over in the Lynn-wood area. Nobody really knows for sure.”
I stared up at him. “Crap. Has anybody been using it, do you know?”
“Yeah, Carter says that someone in particular slipped through who we’re going to want to know about.” He glanced around to make sure we were alone, then leaned close enough to whisper without being overheard. “Telazhar.”
