“Wow, this place seriously needs an elevator,” said the head named Gary as he rolled up on his RC jeep. “I got stuck on the second flight of stairs, and had to beg a lift from a passing steward.”
Constantine frowned at the head. “I told you to stay below, where you won’t get into trouble if there is fighting.”
“Connie, Connie, Connie, you know me better than that!” Gary said, zipping over to us. “Hi, Rowan! Hi, Sophea. That’s a super outfit, Sophea. Is it Tomb Raider?”
“Yes,” I said, trying not to stare. I still hadn’t really come to grips with the idea of a bodyless head riding around.
“He really is the biggest pain in the butt,” Bee said. “The First Dragon that is, not Constantine. I mean, we were just here, and then he sends word to Constantine that we have to come back, all the way from London.”
“Was he planning on being here?” May asked, looking a little worried. “I had no idea the First Dragon was coming back.”
“I gathered that was the point, but I don’t see him.”
Constantine, who had his back to the group of passengers, now turned to scan them. About half of them were gone, having passed Maat’s test while we were talking, the successful applicants joyously trotting down the gangplank to a waiting bus.
“I don’t know why he called us… Oh.”
We turned to see what he was looking at. Two of the men were working the line of remaining passengers. To our left, Ken and Barbie stood with the captain. To the right, Mrs. P stared out at the shore. Four of the six priestesses had been cleared to move on, and evidently, that meant they couldn’t linger, for they bade us all farewell before proceeding off the ship.
“Oh? What oh?” Bee asked, craning her neck. As she did so, one of Maat’s men broke off and came over to us, a faint smile on his lips.
“Just why have you called us here?” Constantine asked the man. “Again. We only just got back home when you summoned us once more.”
I gawked at the man who stopped in front of us. He was about my height, had light brown hair, and a mild expression that quickly registered chagrin. And then before our eyes, his figure shimmered and became that of the enigmatic First Dragon. “You have seen through my glamour. Alas, I was never very good at them. Certainly not as good as you, Bael.”
To my absolute surprise, he didn’t speak that last sentence of any of us. He had turned to face Ken and Barbie.
“That’s it,” I heard Rowan say softly. “That’s what’s wrong with them. It’s a glamour.”
“What on earth is a glamour?” I asked, but Rowan had no time to answer before Barbie stepped forward.
“It is rare to hear the First Sire admit a failing in any area—except that concerning me, of course.” Barbie’s voice was as sharp as a razor. “And yes, my abilities with glamours have served me well. No one has ever seen through them… until now.”
“Great Caesar’s gallbladder! That’s… that’s the demon lord guy? Barbie?” I gasped when it was Barbie’s turn to change form: that from a stocky woman into a man, his long face and aquiline nose giving him a snooty appearance that went right along with his sarcastic voice.
“His name is Bael,” Constantine said, his voice choked.
Rowan, however, gave a little nod as if it all made sense to him.
I stared at the demon lord who was such a threat, trying to resolve the image of the middle-aged woman to that of a man who held so much power, he could destroy the mortal world. The glamour must have allowed him to fool us all. I made a mental note to ask Rowan for more information later.
Ken likewise transformed into another man, this one small and pinched-looking. He glanced quickly between the First Dragon and Barbie… no, Bael… his expression unhappy. “My lord, I wish you had not dismissed the glamour altering my appearance. I told you that I greatly enjoyed my new body, and wished to retain it.”
“Silence,” Bael ordered, strolling toward us. His eyes flitted past me to where Mrs. P still stood mooning over her lost boyfriend. “Your opinion is not needed nor desired.”
“But I went to all the trouble of altering this costume so it would fit my female form,” Ken protested. He pulled off the wig and set it down with reverence. “And the sheep! It wasn’t easy manufacturing that out of nothing, you know! Plus, everyone liked me as Ken. I don’t want to go back to being just another demon. I want to be Ken again, and wear cute swimsuits, and sunbathe, and dance the limbo with the captain, and flirt with that handsome steward, and—”
“SILENCE!” Bael bellowed, and I swore I saw little black tendrils of power reach out and bite at Ken.
The latter yelped and jumped back a few paces.
To a man (and woman), everyone in the line waiting turned to look at us. Maat looked as well. The captain sidled away from Bael, his officers following.
Even Mrs. P turned around to see what the commotion was.
Mrs. P! I knew at that moment that Bael realized who she was. “So that’s why you’ve been offering to help us so much and trying so hard to meet Mrs. P,” I said, moving toward the woman in question.