Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel

“Try to intercept her, if you can. See if you can convince her to stop running.” I wasn’t sure Chelsea was capable of stopping. Still. If April could manage it—if she could match her jump for jump, at least within the range of the ALH servers that allowed the cyber-Dryad to take solid form—it would be a huge step toward ending all of this.


“Understood,” said April.

“I need to get my purse and some slightly less insulting clothes,” said Li Qin. “Can you wait here for me?”

“Unless Chelsea appears in the cafeteria, we’ve got nowhere else to go,” I said. I paused. “Besides, there’s a phone call I should make.”

Quentin gave me a curious look. “Who?”

I unzipped the top pocket on my leather jacket and extracted my cell phone. “I need to let Tybalt know what’s going on,” I replied.

“I will keep Quentin entertained until your return,” said April. Knowing her, that could take the form of anything from math problems to violent video games. Knowing Quentin, he could take it. I nodded to her and walked out of the cafeteria a few steps behind Li Qin.

Once we were out in the hall, she turned left, vanishing. I walked over to the far wall and leaned against it. The Court of Cats doesn’t have telephone service, and reaching their King can require some pretty circuitous tactics. Flipping my phone open, I dialed the house.

The phone rang three times before a sweet female voice said, “Hello?”

“Hey, Jazz.” May’s girlfriend, Jasmine—Jazz for short—is a Raven-maid, a diurnal skinshifter. Unlike the rest of us, she doesn’t get cranky when she’s forced to stay awake past dawn. “I need you to do me a favor.”

Her tone shifted, becoming all business. “Sure, Toby,” she said. “What do you need?”

“I need to get a message to Tybalt. Can you flap over to Golden Gate Park for me?”

“Of course.”

“Great. Tell him we followed Chelsea’s trail to Fremont but lost track of her before we got here. Quentin and I are heading into Dreamer’s Glass. Riordan has been behaving oddly, and I want to find out whether that’s due to her having something to hide, as opposed to her usual bat-shit crazy. I think I’m going to need backup. I bet he’d like some things to hit.”

There was a pause before Jazz said, “Are you actually asking for backup?”

“I just said that, didn’t I?”

“Oh, thank Oberon. I’ll tell him. Where should he meet you?”

I decided to leave that one alone. “Tell him to head for the main building at ALH Computing. I’m pretty sure he can’t get in via the Shadow Roads, but he’s been here before—he should know where to come out. I’ll tell Countess O’Leary that he’s coming. She’ll know when we’ve been gone for long enough to need someone to extract us.”

Was I being paranoid in assuming there was a chance Riordan was going to try to detain us against our will? Yeah, probably. That didn’t mean I wasn’t also right.

“I will,” said Jazz firmly. “Open roads and kind skies, Toby.”

“Open roads,” I said, and hung up.

Quentin and April were sitting at the table when I returned to the cafeteria. He was busy shoving sandwiches into his mouth as if he had no idea where his next meal was going to be coming from. She wasn’t eating; instead, she was solemnly explaining the plot of a movie that sounded like the sort of thing May likes to watch on Saturday nights when there’s nothing better for her to do. Giant mutant fruit bats featured heavily.

Both of them turned when I stepped into the room. Quentin swallowed, not bothering to chew, before asking, “Did you get through?”

“Jazz is taking him a message and letting him know we may need backup. If all goes well, we won’t wind up stranded in Dreamer’s Glass while Chelsea brings the world down around our ears.”

“You always say the most optimistic things.” He stood, pausing only long enough to shove his last two sandwiches into his coat pockets. “It was good to see you again, April.”