It was already growing dark, so Rene killed his headlights and eased the truck past the barricade. Not that there was anyone to see us.
We drove into a darkened Disneyscape. Wires stretched above the narrow drive and through the mature live oaks on either side of us. With the flip of a switch, all those lights would become twinkling animals and holiday scenes and fairy trees—or at least as humans might imagine light-filled fairy trees. I had no idea if the Monarchy of Faery had trees, but since some of their royalty had nature magic, I assumed so.
At the end of the long front drive, we reached the wide, neoclassical marble building that housed NOMA. Rene circled behind it. “How far you wanna go?”
“Not far. You need to be able to get Jake there fast.”
Rene stopped beneath a grove of trees with a small clearing tucked behind it. “This’ll work, but first we need to talk.”
“Rene, I’m talked out.”
“Good, then you can shut up and listen. I wasn’t kidding earlier. You need to get the hell out of here, DJ, at least until things settle down. Zrakovi is setting you up; I talked to my papa this afternoon. Don’t worry—I didn’t tell him nothing. But he said I should warn you. Zrakovi thinks … let me see, how did Papa say it…”
Rene broke into a heavy South Louisiana accent that would’ve made me giggle if the words hadn’t scared me so badly. “You tell dat wizard friend’a yours dat Zrakovi’s gunnin for her, him. He thinks if he makes an example of dat Gerry St. Simon’s girl, it’ll show he’s a hardass.”
I looked out at the snow, or at least what I could see of it in the near darkness. “So if he gets rid of me, he thinks nobody will have the guts to challenge his authority?”
“Somethin’ like that. The way I figure it, you scare the shit out of him because of that elf stuff you can do. Plus he thinks he’ll get Eugenie in the process, sounds like.”
“Right.” Because both Eugenie and I were just so scary.
“I’m serious, DJ. You can do some shit, you think on your feet, and you’re smart. And me and Jean and Christof, we talked about it this afternoon. We ain’t leaving you there tonight. So my question to you is: Are you gonna come with us, or are we gonna have to force you?”
I laughed at the notion of Alex arresting me on one side and my posse of misfits rescuing me on the other. “Jean just wants to add a wizard to his collection of followers.”
He grinned, his teeth shining white in the dark truck cab. “Nope. He’s got Adrian. And I think your old wizard buddy is finally growing a pair.”
I tried to imagine what my life outside New Orleans, outside the only world I knew, might look like. A world where I spent quality time with Adrian Hoffman, vampire at large. I couldn’t quite do it.
“Let’s just see what happens in the council meeting. We have a wild card unaccounted for. Rand is missing; my guess is that he’s gone after Mace Banyan. Calling Rand a wild card is like calling … well, something.” I couldn’t think of a suitably outrageous analogy.
Rene pulled up the hood of his jacket and opened the truck door. “Fill me in while we work. Is this transport gonna get buried by the snow?”
“Yeah, but it won’t matter. We just need to use landmarks as corners, like this bush.” I walked off an irregular interlocking circle and triangle, spreading the salt. It melted the snow beneath it, but quickly filled back in. I should’ve asked Rene to bring charcoal.
When I completed the figure, I placed the beads of mercury at the corner landmarks and touched Charlie to the clearest edge. A ripple of fire in the shape of the transport raced around the clearing, leaving a clearly marked edge.
“Did you know it would do that?” Rene asked.
“Just a guess. Snow transports are a newly acquired skill.”
“As long as we remember this tree is at the head of the triangle, we’re golden.” Rene pulled the white scarf from around his neck and tied it around the tree, high enough to allow for another foot of snow.
Okay, what’s next? “Let’s transport inside and take a look at the layout before the council arrives. You gonna leave your truck back here?”
“Yeah, I’ll move it farther under the trees, but we might need it. You never know.”
That was the God’s honest truth.
“I need to warm up first.” My limbs had gotten that bad old feeling that signaled impending hibernation.
“Come on.” Rene opened the door for me, then hopped in the driver’s seat and turned on the heater full blast.
“How long is Christof going to keep this cold business going? I thought he was about to get rid of it.”
Rene laughed. “He was gonna stop it tonight after the meeting until he met Eugenie. Now, he’s so pissed off at the elves he says he might let it snow until the Fourth of July. Got a soft spot for babies, him.”