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“I’ll carry your ass to the curb,” he said with a mock snarl.
“I have no doubt,” I said. “In the meantime, let’s get the logistics for this trip hammered out then grab a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.”
Chapter 24
With the clock ticking for the gold delivery, four hours was the most we could spare for sleep. Though, considering the stressed and frenetic pace of the past two months, four uninterrupted hours felt positively decadent.
Pellini and I were old hands at going to strange and distant locations at the drop of a hat, which meant gearing up went quickly. Our rucksacks each had enough room for twenty to thirty pounds of gold, but in a burst of optimism that we’d get Giovanni through the gate, we found a rucksack for him as well. Carrying fifty pounds would be a lot easier if divided three ways.
“I assume you have a fallback plan in case we can’t get the gold at Szerain’s?” Pellini asked as he packed the luggage scale we planned to use for weighing the gold.
“I do,” I said, checking off items on the must-bring list. “Rhyzkahl has all sorts of gold crap in his throne room and on decorative panels throughout his palace. It’s nowhere near as easy to remove as statues and art, but we can hack off enough hunks to hit our quota.” I smiled. “That’s why I stuck a camping hatchet in your pack.”
“Yeah, saw that. Somehow I accidentally dropped it into Giovanni’s. Dude could stand to put some muscle on his bones.”
“Aw, cut the guy some slack,” I said with a laugh. “He’s been dead for three hundred years.”
“Sounds like a pathetic excuse to me.” Pellini smiled. “Is there a Plan C?”
I made a face. “More like a Plan F, since it’s a last resort. The summoning antechamber in Mzatal’s palace has gold all over it, but it’s leaf.”
“And it would take serious time and effort to collect the amount we needed.”
“Exactly,” I said. “But between those three options, I’m positive we can get the gold we need, one way or the other.” I zipped my rucksack closed. “And now it’s time for me to lay down some smooth-talk bullshit on General Starr so we can actually get to the demon realm.”
That was my next hurdle: obtaining official clearance to use the Earthgate to travel to the demon realm. Sure, we could likely get to the crystals and make the transfer before anyone stopped us, but we’d have a world of trouble waiting for us upon our return and would likely never get near them again. Therefore, before I called General Starr, I prepped a solid and compelling argument for why Pellini and I needed to reconnoi
ter the other side of the gate, as well as why we needed to use our own “expert consultant” to test whether we could bring other people through.
But General Starr readily agreed, expounding with great exuberance on the tactical benefits of direct reconnaissance. In fact, while we were still on the phone, he passed along an order to allow us and one civilian unrestricted access to the Spires. The only hitch was that the general wanted us to each wear a body camera at all times—a completely valid request since we were supposedly doing recon. However, I shot that idea down nice and quick by oh-so-regretfully telling him there was simply too much arcane activity in the demon realm to make pictures or video even remotely possible. I didn’t need DIRT spying on our business, plus I had zero intention of feeding their invasion cravings by giving them the layout of the demon realm.
My next call was to Mzatal. I clung to the hope that he could tell me where I could lay hands on his master gimkrah—while I crossed fingers he wouldn’t react as Rhyzkahl had and tell me I was insane to even consider it. He hadn’t returned my previous call, but there was a chance he hadn’t checked messages.
After four rings, the DIRT voicemail picked up, but I’d prepped for this, too. Never knew who was listening in on my calls, and I didn’t want to drop any more info than was absolutely necessary.
“Mzatal, it’s Kara. A student of yours from a long time ago is here, and she’s having a really hard time getting home. I need to get the help of someone related to that big guy you were dancing with last time I saw you. Word is you have a gizmo that can help me out with that, and if you could let me know where to find it at your crib, that would be righteous.”
I hung up, pleased with my subterfuge, only to see Jill biting back a laugh. Behind her, Giovanni simply looked perplexed.
“You’re the dorkiest sorceress ever,” she said with a grin.
“I’d rather be called the dorkiest sorceress than supreme arcane commander.”
“Well, D.S. Gillian, Giovanni found another reference to the master gimkrah. I’ll warn you now, it’s a bit vague.”
“I’ll take anything you can throw at me.”
Giovanni handed me a sheet of loose-leaf paper. “Parts of the original are smudged and unreadable.” He winced. “And the rest is in a poetic style that is not conducive to the most accurate translation. I have scribed my best interpretation.”
I murmured a thanks, already reading.
creatures of night and blood
hold back the claws and teeth
make gentle the beast summoned to serve lest it serve honor with pain and death
master and slave of torment and treachery
