“Five, including me and you.”
“Six dragon scales divided by five people? Who gets the extra scale?”
“We’ll worry about that later.”
“Who are the members of this crew, aside from you?”
I shook my head. “That’s as far as we go. I’m not risking their lives, in case you decide to go snitching on us to Ddraig Goch.”
“You think I would snitch?”
“I don’t know you.”
“That’s true, but you know what?” He took out his cigarettes again. “Snitches get stitches.”
“Is that some sort of ancient sorcerer rule?” I tried to catch a glance of the cigarette pack. It wasn’t a brand I recognized. There were Chinese letters on its face.
“More like an ancient public-school rule.”
“So? Can you do it?”
“I don’t know. I never broke into a dragon’s vault before.”
“No one has.”
He drummed on the table for a bit, thinking about it, occasionally taking a drag from his cigarette. Finally, he stubbed it out in the ashtray, adding to the quite impressive amount of cigarette butts and ash in it. “How do you intend to overcome the dragon’s senses?” he asked.
“We had a few ideas,” I answered slowly. “But they depend on your capabilities. How good are you?”
He leaned forward, a strange smile curving his lips. “Do you want me to demonstrate my powers now? Pull a rabbit out of my hat? Saw a lovely young woman in half?” The air crackled, making the hair on the back of my neck stand. His eyes flickered to black, their darkness mesmerizing.
“You don’t have a hat. And I’m not letting you near me with a saw.”
He snorted in amusement, and the strange tension in the air dissipated. His eyes morphed back to green. “What do you want me to say, Lou? That I’m the best sorcerer to walk the earth since Merlin? I’m better than most. But I can’t perform miracles.”
“Can you cloud the dragon’s senses?”
“No.”
I nodded, unperturbed. “Can you teleport us into the vault?”
“No…” He hesitated. “Teleportation spells are quite common, but they require immense power. You’d need a magical object that can focus that power. And those are very rare. Do you have something like that?”
“Probably not,” I admitted.
“Can you get one?”
“I’ll check, but I doubt it.”
“Then I can’t teleport us into the vault.”
“Okay… but suppose you had one, could you teleport us?”
He shrugged. “I’d have to do some research, but yeah, I think I could.”
“Can a dragon scale be your magical object?”
He blinked in surprise. “Yes. But the dragon scales are inside the vault.”
“Right.” I folded my arms. “So assuming we’re able to enter the vault, open the safe, and retrieve the dragon scales… you could teleport us away?”
“It would destroy one of the scales.”
“Luckily, we have one to spare.”
He grinned. “You’re full of surprises, Lou Vitalis. You already knew what I would say when you entered my office.”
“I had some assumptions.” I returned his smile. “So would you be able to do it? Teleport us out of the vault? Somewhere safe?”
“Maybe. Probably.”
I smiled in satisfaction. One of our two problems was solved. We had a way out.
“But that raises the question, are you capable of doing this?” Kane asked. “No offense, but last time we met, you didn’t exactly inspire trust in me. And you seem young.”
I bristled. “What does age have to do with it?”
“With age comes experience. You’re asking me to risk my life on this—quite frankly—almost suicidal job, and I would feel better if I knew you were an experienced hand.”
I was prepared for this. “Did you hear about the break-in into the cult of Dra’akthol’s inner sanctum eight years ago?”
He grinned. “Of course. It was hilarious.”
“It was.” I relaxed in my chair, feeling in control. “Their sacred blade was taken, along with several arcane items.”
“That’s right, and the burglar wrote Dra’akthol sucks donkey balls on the altar.”
“It was actually Dra’akthol sucks dirty donkey balls.”
“Are you going to tell me that was you?”
“One of the items stolen was a chain.”
He nodded. “The chain of Apollonius.”
I took the chain out of my handbag, and placed it carefully on the table. He stared at it, then leaned forward to touch it.
The chain coiled and lashed at his fingers. He pulled his hand back quickly.
“Careful, it bites,” I said, and touched it. It circled around my wrist, and I could almost hear it hissing in outrage.
“You have the chain?” I had the satisfaction of seeing him surprised for the first time.
“Yup.”
“Do you know what it can do?”
“It can thwart bicycle thieves really well.”
“You use the chain of Apollonius as a… bike lock?”
“I usually do. Though right now it’s locked with a regular lock, because I thought you might want to see some proof that I know what I’m doing.”
He considered this. His cigarette went out, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay,” he finally said. “I’ll do it.”
I tensed. He didn’t seem particularly interested in the dragon scales, so why would he agree to risk his life on this heist so quickly? I considered getting up, telling him I’d changed my mind, that he wasn’t what I was looking for.
But Kane was the best choice. The only choice.
“Good,” I said. “So… now we need to seal the deal.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday, Kane Underwood. When I work with sorcerers, I always seal the deal with blood. It’s the only way we can really trust each other,” I said. “We both cut our hands, and squeeze them together. We bind our hands with white silk. We swear an oath of loyalty as the silk slowly turns crimson. Then we untie the knot, and lick the mixed blood from each other’s fingers.”
I savored his stare of bafflement.
Finally, he cleared his throat. “Lou… are you fucking with me?”
I grinned at him. “Maybe a little.”
“Okay then.” His lip quirked in amusement, his eyes twinkling. “That was fun. Now let’s talk some more about our dragon vault.”
Chapter Ten
“I’m not sure I understand what you want me to do.” Isabel frowned.
We were in her shop, drinking tea. She’d been more than happy to join our crew. Dragon scales were rumored to enhance psychic senses, and that was something she just couldn’t refuse.
“My hands,” I said. “They burst into flames sometimes.” I opened my right hand and concentrated on it. On cue, a flame rose from my palm, dancing merrily.
“I know. Because you played with phoenix blood.”
“I wasn’t playing, I was working with it. It’s a very volatile material. The thing is, I can’t always control it.”
She eyed the flickering flame. “Looks like you’re doing fine, hon.”
“Sure, because I’m relaxed right now. But when I’m angry or scared, it can go off without my control.” I clenched my fist, the flame disappearing.