“Like this jet?” Sky asked.
I nodded. “Your father needs to have that hairline crack in the wall looked at. It’s not dangerous, but even so. It looks like someone punched it.”
Sky looked a little sheepish. “I had someone fix it.”
“They did a bad job, then. Or a good job, and I can just see the imperfections. Not in you, though. None of you have any weaknesses. I think this magic only works on nonliving matter. And I can’t tell how much force exactly will need to be applied to break it, just that it would break with enough force.”
“You sound a bit out of it,” Selene said. “Like you’ve been awake for a week.”
“I feel like it, too,” I told her, and closed my eyes. “Just wake me up when we get there. I’ll try not to blow the jet up on the way.”
“Can you do that?” Zamek asked. “Because that sounds like something we should be worried about.”
There was a moment of silence.
“I have no idea,” Sky said. “Doc, you’re the sorcerer.”
“I doubt he’ll blow the plane up. He might break a few things by accident. We’ll keep an eye on him.”
I fell asleep soon after, and when I woke up I was in a large SUV outside a bar called the Mill. Selene was beside me with Zamek next to her. Grayson and Sky sat up front with the latter behind the wheel. I recognized the bar from my last visit to Portland, Maine, and figured we must have driven there from wherever the jet had landed.
“You okay?” Selene asked as I rubbed my eyes.
“I think so,” I told her. “My vision is back to normal. Did you carry me into the car?”
“Didn’t have much choice,” Selene said. “We couldn’t wake you.”
“Thanks. Apparently I needed it.” I opened the car door and stepped out into the cold air, using my fire magic to keep me warm.
“You feeling good, though, yes?” Selene asked after joining me outside. As a dragon-kin connected to the moon, and able to shoot ice out of her mouth, she rarely felt the cold in the same way as most people.
I nodded. “I feel good. Great, actually. Hungry, though.”
Grayson passed me a bagful of sandwiches and chocolate. “We picked up a few on the way. I figured you might want some calories.”
I hungrily devoured two chocolate bars, several bottles of water, and a packet of sandwiches before offering the bag around. With no takers, I placed it back in the car, but not before eating a third chocolate bar.
“Feel better?” Sky asked.
I opened another bottle of water and drank it in one go. “Pretty much.”
We all entered the bar just as my phone went off. I checked the screen: it was Olivia. “You guys go. I’ll catch up.” I left the bar and answered the phone.
“Nate, we have big problems,” she said before I could talk.
“I know, we’re sort of living it right now,” I told her.
“Well, allow me to add to your issues. Lucie is missing. Not officially, but I can’t get hold of her, and no one I know has seen her in several days.”
I pushed the anger I felt away. It would do little good to lose my temper. “First Elaine and now Lucie. Someone is going after Elaine’s people.”
“It gets worse, Nate.”
“Go on,” I said with a sigh of frustration. It always got worse.
“Officially, Lucie has put a bounty on your head. There’s an arrest warrant out for you.”
“How much?”
“Fifteen million dollars.”
“Fucking hell,” I almost shouted.
“Yeah, just make sure you keep an eye out for anyone who might want to cash that in.”
“So, someone’s using Lucie’s name while she’s missing. Great. What about you?”
“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Stay that way.”
“Yeah, that’s the other reason I’m calling. I’ve been removed from my post as head of the LOA.”
I leaned up against the nearest wall. “They can’t get to you physically, so they’re cutting your legs out from under you.”
“That’s my guess, too. I’m not in Camelot; Lucie was. We’ll find her, Nate. Elaine, too.”
“Speaking of, have you told Mordred about Lucie?”
“No, we can’t get hold of anyone. Last I heard from Diana was they were heading to Siberia. Not a lot of phone reception in the middle of nowhere.”
“Siberia? I guess if you’re going to hide Elaine, you do it somewhere remote. Let me know if you find out anything else.”
“Arthur’s on his way to you. I’ve been informed he’s upped the deadline. He’ll be leaving first thing in the morning. You have about twelve hours. I think he’s worried about people wanting to take control of Avalon for themselves. It’s a bit of trial by fire.”
“Hopefully I’ll have convinced Galahad to speak to him by then. Any word on the attacks?”
“They’re continuing at an alarming pace. Some countries are worse than others. There are a lot of people dead, Nate. And even more scared and worried. Making peace won’t be easy once this is done. Humanity knows about us. That’s not just going to go away.”
“We’ll figure that out when we’ve stopped My Liege from killing people. Stay safe.”
“You, too.”
I hung up and went back inside the bar, where I was greeted by Rebecca Dean.
She wore a black suit with deep-red high heels. Her hair, tied up in a bun, was dark brown and her eyes a deep blue. She was a few inches shorter than me, even with the heels on. “Nate Garrett, I wondered when you’d finally turn up.” Her voice had a slight Irish tinge to it but otherwise could easily have placed her as from New York.
“Rebecca, I assume my companions have already been and gone.”
Rebecca. She was a guardian, and an incredibly powerful one. Every now and again a guardian develops some alchemist-like powers, something Zamek confirmed to me had to do with the dwarven nature of the realm gate. Rebecca had not only developed those powers, but had also managed to wield them as if she were born with them. So long as she stayed within several miles of the realm gate, she’d retain those abilities and be next to invulnerable. Rebecca was in charge of one of two realm gates that linked the Earth realm to Shadow Falls. She also didn’t like me very much, although the fact that I’d saved her king’s life more than once brought me more than a little leeway on that matter. “There are people who are less than happy that you’re here.”
“Including you?”
Rebecca smiled. “Yes, including me. You’re a magnet for trouble, and that’s trouble my king doesn’t need.”
“Not ‘my liege’ anymore? I remember you calling him that. Now whoever is doing all of this wants people to think that Galahad and Shadow Falls are involved.”
“I heard. I stopped using ‘my liege’ when it became apparent that certain forces outside of Shadow Falls were using it for less-than-stellar reasons. Much like Hellequin, I assume.”
“Yeah, it’s been a shit few days all around.”