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GRANDMOTHER dressed and spoke with Gan briefly. Lily didn’t hear what she said, but it wasn’t likely to have included “good-bye.” Grandmother did not approve of good-byes. Lily asked about the backlash and was informed that when the tiger called her, the change eliminated such inconveniences. She then marched briskly over to Reno. Apparently whatever Reno planned to teach her required proximity, maybe even physical contact.
Rule carried Gan to the crossing spot. Diego—awake, rested, and clearly feeling that life was on its way back to normal now that adults were in charge again—walked there with Cynna, holding her hand and chattering away. He seemed aggrieved that Toby had gotten to Change and would therefore get to stay with the adults. Cynna pointed out that he would get to see Edge and Toby wouldn’t. This clearly appealed to him.
The idea was for Diego to curl up close to Gan so that they touched all along their sides. Diego looked dubious, but he followed instructions. He and Gan were almost the same size, though Gan was heavier. Gan curled one arm around the boy, and a second later, they were just . . . gone.
“You’re good with kids,” Lily told Cynna.
“Yeah, who knew? I sure didn’t.” Cynna shook her head. “It’s probably because I can relate. My inner child isn’t all that inner. Mostly she’s pissed off.”
Attend, Reno said.
Lily stiffened and looked over at the dragon. She couldn’t see Grandmother. Reno had rearranged his coils into a snaky circle, and presumably Grandmother was inside that circle. His three sons—one living, two dead—were not. The living son started toward them.
I told you I had removed the forces anchoring the magical construct to this world. This partial dismantling of the construct prevented it from completing the process of merging realms. The construct had been operating for some time, however, gradually altering the relationships between the realms of Dragonhome, Dis, and Earth. You may think of these alterations as drawing them unnaturally close to each other. With the construct no longer operating, forces will begin moving them apart once more. Be aware that the terms “close” and “apart” are crude approximations. There is no physical distance involved.
These forces will cause disruptions in all three worlds, but I believe the realms of Earth and Dis will be most affected. I lack both the data and the time needed to calculate these effects, and indeed, some are likely to be random and therefore unpredictable by any metric. However, two of them seem sufficiently likely that I will caution you to watch for them, should you survive to return to Earth.
Lily grimaced. Optimistic guy, that Reno.
There is a high possibility of a period of counter-entropic fall-throughs, by which I mean that demons are likely to fall into Earth. There may be only a few who do so. There may be many. I do not know how long this period will be. There is also a high probability that the Great Enemy achieved a partial victory and some portion of her power will now be available to her avatar when she is in the Earth realm. I have no metric for determining how much or what form that will take.
Rule’s voice was hard and low. “You mean that more of her will be able to enter Earth?”
No. I mean precisely what I said. More of her power will be available to her avatar in that realm. She remains unable to enter any of the realms. Do not interrupt again. I have one more thing to tell you. I will do so. I will finish instructing Li Lei and may remain in communication with her. I will not speak with the rest of you again before you leave, which will be in approximately seventeen minutes.
Rule Turner’s plan for the assault on those in the audience chamber on Dis is well constructed, given the materials and personnel available to him. It is not, however, likely to succeed. The Zhu Kongqi and I have discussed this. He will propose to you a deal that has my support. I strongly urge you to accept it.
I require solitude now.
Kongqi reached them just as Reno finished. He was a mess. His white shenyi was torn, dirty, and bloodstained. The tidy knot of his hair had come down and the ends of his hair were singed. He was also barefoot. He’d lost two brothers, one of whom had been trying to kill him. He’d regained his mother. None of this showed in his voice when he spoke. “Lily Yu. I have enjoyed our conversations. If you were to visit Dragonhome again, you would be a welcome guest. Do you speak for your party?”
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IT was full dark when they assembled in front of the gate. Lily had lost that exhausted high and wanted it back. Her stomach was queasy with nerves and her thoughts kept straying into places she did not want them to go.
Reno had taken wing. He hadn’t gone far; she could feel him overhead, but he was flying high, invisible in the black sky. He hadn’t spoken to them again.
There were no motorcycles for this gate crossing as there had been when they went roaring into Dis. Benedict and Cullen weren’t with them. Or Max. No Mason, Carlos, Daniel, or Jude . . . and no Gan. But everyone who had been dragged into this realm was still alive and had either left or was about to leave, and that was no small miracle.
She told herself this. Her unhappy stomach replied that this just meant they’d already had their miracle, which made things look grim for the next leg of their journey.
Lily grimaced and glanced over at Grandmother . . . and at the lanky wolf sitting next to her, panting nervously. Rule had stepped away to speak with Alice, and his absence worried the wolf.
She’d tried mindspeaking Toby. It hadn’t worked. He’d snarled, clearly aware that something was messing with him, but words were still foreign to him, and words were all she knew how to send. He’d already been confused, having woken from his enforced sleep to find his fellow wolf, his leader, walking around on two legs. But Rule had settled him. He had the mantle and the knowledge of how to communicate properly, without words.
He’d also had chickens. The squad Alice had sent after them in what seemed like a different day altogether had finally returned. It turned out that she’d sent them to a specific shop for the plucked birds—one on the far side of the city. She’d wanted to keep her men out of the fight and alive. Lily couldn’t fault her for that.
The chickens had helped. Toby had eaten two-and-a-half of them. Rule had eaten the other half. Raw. And before he allowed his son to eat. Lily understood why; it was necessary for the dominance thing. The leader ate first. The new wolf had to see that and wait until his leader gave him food. Rule had probably been half-starved himself, having Changed twice, so he’d needed the protein. She really did understand . . . but she hadn’t watched.
Grandmother stroked the wolf’s head and murmured something. Toby quieted a bit. Grandmother was his new best friend, the only one he trusted aside from Rule. Ensorcellment, it turned out, didn’t require words.