Page 72 of The Flame Game

“I really do.”

With Alan’s help, I dragged the fifty pound bag of neutralizer over to the statue, held the vial of pixie dust between my teeth, and mixed the neutralizer with some water to create a paste. Normally, people worked head down to begin the process, but I smeared the neutralizer between my hands and started with her feet and legs, giving her a brisk rub to begin restoring her to flesh. When I made it to her chest, I popped open the vial of pixie dust and shook it out on her face before dumping the rest of it over her head.

Unfortunately for me, very little of the dust remained in the vial, and I sighed over my misfortune.

“I’m not sure that’s the appropriate handling of pixie dust,” Alan observed, backing a safe distance away. “Also, I commend you for somehow managing to get it all out of the vial. I’ll provide a proper vial for your evening entertainment, as that little left won’t do anything to anybody.”

No kidding. I sealed the vial and tossed it on the ground before taking the neutralizer scoop and burying it. “It’s perfectly appropriate. It’s all in her nose, so once she starts breathing, she’s not going to feel a damned thing. Just don’t try to give her snakes a kiss until she’s gotten cleaned up. You’ll be fine.”

“I was not planning to give her snakes a kiss.”

“Just get permission before you kiss them. The little bastards like attention. We’ll have to check their venom sacs once she’s somewhat coherent.” I resumed spreading neutralizer up to her neck to beneath her chin, pleased when color began returning to her cheeks. “Showtime.”

As I didn’t want to be covered in gorgon bile, I got out of the way and waited.

Within a few minutes, she stood on her own, and her snakes reared back, hissing their discontent. The gorgon breathed, and within moments, her body relaxed and she sat on the ground, swaying back and forth. The swaying worried me, and I regarded the archangel with a frown.

“Don’t worry. Between the influx of divine magic and the high dosage of pixie dust, she is a little sleepy. That will fade in a few minutes. She should be coherent enough now for you to speak with her and remove her blindfold.”

Alan handed me a pair of sunglasses, and at a curt order, everyone turned so they wouldn’t get a dose of her gaze.

I took care with removing her blindfold. “You’ll be all right,” I promised, carefully untying the blindfold and putting the glasses on her. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Annie,” the gorgon replied in a sleepy voice. “I had a bad dream.”

I cringed. “Well, the bad dream is over. There are humans nearby, so you need to be careful with your snakes and your gaze, okay? If you feel sick, let me know.”

Gorgons couldn’t really control their bile production if they were truly startled, but like humans, I’d learned they could get sick, too.

Their vomit just took a hell of a lot more work to clean up.

“I feel okay. Better than I should. What a horrible dream.”

Damn it. I wanted to lie to her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “It probably wasn’t a dream, but you’ll be okay now. Were you part of a hive?”

“Oh, no. That’s when the nightmare began.”

Okay. If she wanted to insist it had been a nightmare, I’d work with that. I sat down in front of her, and I began the tedious work of removing the tiny blindfolds from her snakes, who joined Annie in her pixie dust haze. “How did the nightmare begin?”

“Humans stole me from my father’s hive. I was old enough my father no longer kept as close of an eye on me, and I stayed home one day when he took my younger sisters out. I was old enough to stay at home alone. My father hadn’t found a new hive for me yet, but he showed me favor by leaving me alone. It was my first time.”

Poor Annie, although I couldn’t help but feel relief the tragedy wouldn’t worsen.

It hadn’t been her hive to die.

While it wasn’t much, I’d cling to the silver linings I could.

“Can you tell me your father’s name and where he lives?”

Annie frowned. “He’s Father. But I can tell you where our hive lives.” To my surprise, the address was in a mid-sized town we’d passed through on the way to the bed and breakfast, a quaint little place I hadn’t expected to be the home of a gorgon hive.

“Alan?”

“I’ll inquire,” he replied, heading off to his van.

“My father will not be happy. I’m too old.”

I grunted. “Don’t you worry about that, Annie. My husband will speak to your father about making arrangements. Were you old enough to help care for your younger sisters?”