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“They were spindly, long-limbed, gray-skinned. Their heads were almost heart shaped, with large, luminous eyes and an almost insectlike torso. And they had round mouths with sharp little teeth in a circle, lining the entire mouth.” Shade gazed over at Delilah, and he looked nerve-racked. “I’m a dragon—well, half-dragon—and I have to tell you, the energy they were giving off scared the crap out of me.
Vanzir stared at the sketch he’d drawn from Shade’s description. “Are you sure about this? Are you absolutely sure? Did they look something like this?”
Shade looked at the drawing and nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good likeness. Do you know what they are?”
“Yeah.” Vanzir stared at the drawing. He shifted uncomfortably and then crumpled the paper and tossed it in the garbage. “They’re degas. They originated in the Netherworlds but were sent to the Sub-Realms when they became too difficult to handle. They’re wild and unpredictable. Even Shadow Wing wouldn’t allow them in the armies because he couldn’t control them. They’re like savage animals and will tear anything to pieces that gets in their way.”
“Then how are they being used by Gulakah?” If they were so dangerous, how was he able to control them? I wasn’t up on my Netherworlds lore.
“Remember, he is the Lord of Ghosts. He can control beings that otherwise are uncontrollable. He probably summoned them and put them under a geas. They have to serve him until he—or someone as powerful as he is—breaks the spell. Which means we’ll have to fight them.” Vanzir rubbed his chin, thinking. “I’m trying to remember what their vulnerabilities are. In the Sub-Realms, we had to learn how to avoid them because they frequented the wastelands and the slum areas of the cities there.”
Cities. I hadn’t thought about the Subterranean Realms having cities. I cocked my head. “Um…didn’t think about cities there.”
Vanzir grinned at me and winked. “Yeah, and we have inns and stores and ice cream there, too. Well, not so much the ice cream. There are four main cities that I’ve been in. Shadow Wing’s city—at least his while he rules—is named Quenisten. It’s beautiful, in a dark way—with gleaming towers of dark marble, and bronze domes rising over his palace.”
Somehow, the thought that Shadow Wing was organized enough to have a palace, let alone live in a city, didn’t make me feel any better. But it did seem like a fact we’d overlooked and really should make notes on.
“We’ll discuss this fascinating topic a little later. For now, think hard. The degas…what are their vulnerabilities?”
“Let me remember…okay, they aren’t affected by heat or cold much—the Netherworld is cold, and the Sub-Realms can be pretty hot. Neither extreme affects them. But, if I remember right, they’re sensitive to water. And they don’t like loud sounds much. They have extremely sensitive hearing. High-pitched noises can disable them.” He stood, stretched, and headed over to the refrigerator.
The phone rang and I picked it up while the others began to discuss ways we could disrupt them. It was Mallen.
“I talked to Charlotine. She’s agreed to help you but on one condition.”
Great. Just what we needed. A vampire sorceress who was about to slap us with a request for a blood payment, no doubt. “What does she want?”
“She wants an audience with Roman.” His tone told me everything I wanted to know.
Charlotine was looking to move up in the world over here, Earthside. And she saw me as the way to do so, even though she despised me. She couldn’t get an audience with Roman by herself, so she’d wiggle her way in there through riding on my skirt’s hem. The thought of hanging around a vampire who thought I should be toasted was disconcerting, especially since she was older and, most likely, stronger, than I.
But wait, a voice inside whispered. Now you have Roman’s blood in your line—perhaps not to the extent that Dredge’s is, but Roman is your sire and he won’t stand for any mistreatment of you.
“Fine. Tell her she’s got it. But on my terms, and when she goes out with us, she fucking takes her orders from me and my sisters. If she so much as moves to attack any of us, she’s stick-a-fork-in-me staked. Got it?” I was out of patience and out of options.
Mallen paused, then let out a long sigh. “Yes, I read you loud and clear. I’ll have a talk with her. She’s not free tonight. Will tomorrow night work?”
“That’s fine. Tell her to show up here by six forty-five P.M. And tell her to bring her bag of magic tricks. We need her to destroy a Demon Gate. A nasty-assed fucking huge one.” Before Mallen could say another word, I signed off.
As I turned to the others, I saw that they’d been listening to me. I’d been so deep in my thoughts I hadn’t noticed. I explained my reasoning. “Charlotine’s the only sorceress that we know who’s powerful enough to bring it down. And she’ll help us. I was just laying out conditions.”
“So tomorrow night, we move?” Vanzir asked.
“Tomorrow night we move. There may be bhouts there. They won’t be able to mess with Charlotine, since she’s a vampire, but that means Morio and Camille have to stay here. And I think we should leave Roz, Trillian, Delilah, and Chase at home. Which leaves Smoky, Shade, and Vanzir—you’re with me.” I had no clue what I’d do if Roman refused to give Charlotine an audience, but I was pretty sure I could persuade him to do so.
“We can go through the Ionyc Seas. Less chance of being noticed that way.” Smoky rummaged through the refrigerator. “Any thing left for a snack?”
Hanna quickly motioned him aside and pulled out bread and ham to make him a sandwich. “Let me do this.”
“As you will. Thank you.” Smoky was always careful to be polite around her. He looked so much like his father that Hanna still had moments where she cringed when he got irritable.
“What about tonight, then?” Camille yawned as she folded up the board game and put it away. She looked tired. Everybody looked tired. Even I felt weary. The ritual hadn’t been all that easy on me, and I still hadn’t told them what had gone down.
“I have something to tell you all.”
“Oh fuck, what now?” Delilah slumped in her chair, looking so forlorn I started to laugh.
“No, it’s not bad. At least I don’t think so. But it is going to affect me, and so you’d better know what’s going down.” And so I told them about the ritual and Roman, and breaking the bond with Morio, and the fact that Roman was now essentially my sire. When I was finished, the room was silent.
