Chapter Three
THREE
EFFRIJIM
Heya, Amelie! Hope you don’t mind me sending you an audio message.
Can you play it for Cecile when she wakes up from her post-breffy nap?
Also, Ash wants me to tell you that she located the person who you said might have a spell to make my sweet fuzzybutt immortal, but that the dude was really snappy to her and said he wouldn’t waste the supplies on a dog.
Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?
Aisling said that we won’t give up, though, so don’t lose hope.
OK, here’s the stuff that happened over the last couple of days.
It started with a text.
SALLY
Is it true that one of the dragon progenitor’s shards is in the hands of a demon lord?
Asking for a friend ... well, all right, I’m asking for Terrin, because he’s tied up helping with a small problem involving some rogue mages who are heading for a very hard time if they don’t stop their present course, but that’s neither here nor there, now, is it?
ME
Heya, Sally. What demon lord has a shard of the dragon heart? ’Cause as far as I know, only dragons have them, although the blue sept’s shard is in the hands of a baddie named Xavier, but he’s a dragon. Mostly. OK, it’s about half dragon, half demon, but you know what I mean.
SALLY
Ah, that is his name? Interesting. You would think one shard would be enough for him, but evidently he feels otherwise.
Still, I’m sure your green wyvern has things well in hand.
I will pass along your information to my better half, former-Sovereignly speaking.
And now that I’ve warned you and your dragons, I must go.
My bestie, Freya, invited me to swim with dolphins, and you just know I can’t refuse that!
Plus, Odin will be there, and he’s always so fun to tease.
I love it when he gets really annoyed and bursts into a cloud of attack ravens. Good times all around!
ME
Just when I think everything is copacetic, you go and drop hints about something happening to the dragons. Is Xavier after Drake and Aisling for something? Their shard?
ME
Wait, I think Drake has two, since Soldy gave him one in order to get him to steal the light blade for Baltic.
Is that it? Xavier’s going after the other shards?
Aisling’s gonna freak out, and I won’t even speculate how crazy Drake will go protecting his dragons and family.
The word “shitshow” comes to mind, you know?
ME
Sally? Is Xavier after the green dragons?
ME
Man, I hate it when you drop tidbits and then go off and do things like hanging with gods and swimming with dolphins.
ME
Also, I have a credit card now, and can pay for a portal to go wherever the dolphin-swimming party is happening. Just sayin’.
I gave Sally a half hour to respond, but when she didn’t, I figured I’d better find Aisling to tell her what Sally said.
That’s when I got the second text.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
The blood moon must be returned. You will see to it. Desislav the Destroyer hungers for vengeance.
ME
Eh? New phone, who dis?
UNKNOWN NUMBER
I am Lattsa, daughter of Haka, head of the Jabmead Sisterhood. You will see to the return of the blood moon. Refusal will mean the destruction of the dragonkin.
ME
Man, when it rains threats, it pours. Isn’t the Jabmead Sisterhood some sort of mercenary band from Finland? I thought you guys were in the Jabmiidaibmu underworld? Did Desi hire you?
LATTSA
Yes, to all of it, although now we reside on a large reserve of land in the north of Finland.
Do not think to defy me, demon. As leader of the Jabmiid, my roots lie deep in old earth magic.
Your destruction, and that of the dragons who refuse to return the blood moon to Desislav, is ensured if you refuse.
ME
Hang on, have to get Google up on another screen, because you’re talking about all sorts of stuff that is sus as Abaddon.
ME
Heya, Desi, did you happen to hire a pushy woman in Finland named Lattsa, and if so, can you tell her that she’s not gonna win any awards for making friends when the first thing she does is threaten death and destruction without even saying hi?
DESISLAV
I believe your sister said she was going to contact you.
Are you safe? Are you well? If the dragons are not able to protect you, you will come to us.
Your mother is having difficulty regaining her memory, but perhaps your presence would help.
I will send Lattsa to fetch you so that you are not harmed in the war.
ME
Sister? That bossy lady is my sister? You mentioned I had one, but I thought she must be dead or something, ‘cause you haven’t spoken of her since, and I never heard of her.
ME
Also, I appreciate the offer, but Aisling and Drake and the spawn all need me, so I’d rather stay here with them.
But Ash says I can visit you and Parisi whenever I want, so if it would help to make daily visits, I can do that.
I have a credit card! Expense is of no concern!
Where are you guys? I can get a portal out to have lunch with you today.
I like burgers, but I can’t have onions or garlic, and raw tomatoes make me gag.
I waited ten minutes, but my dad didn’t respond, so I figured I’d ask for a little more info from Lattsa before I found Aisling and spilled all the goss.
ME
So, as far as I know, no one has Desi’s blood moon. He said it was destroyed when he gave it up to save my mom and me.
LATTSA
Desislav the Destroyer said it was taken by a dragon named Bael.
ME
Fires of Abaddon! Bael got his relic? OK, that explains a lot ... and also brings up about a thousand questions. Let’s start with the biggest one: when and where did Bael get the blood moon?
She didn’t answer, and I decided I’d held off the bad news for long enough, so rather than pressing for an answer, I took my phone and headed out to the garden where Aisling and Drake were sitting on a couple of Adirondack chairs while watching the kids run through a Slip ’N Slide before leaping into a small pool Drake had crammed into the corner of the yard.
“So,” I said as I set my phone down on Ash’s lap, “how are you feeling these days, Guardian-wise?”
“What? Dammit, Jim, I don’t want your slobbery phone.
Where’s your drool bib? Honest to Pete, there are times when I wish you’d have chosen a form that’s less saliva-based.
Ava, no, that butterfly doesn’t want to swim in the pool with your brother and sister.
Just set it back on the leaf and it will watch you play, OK? ”
“What’s wrong?” Drake asked, his eyes narrowed on me in a way that made me scoot around to the other side of Aisling, just in case he had any ideas of lighting my tail on fire again.
Dude needs some serious anger management when it comes to setting me on fire.
“Why do you ask Aisling how she is feeling?”
Aisling, who had wiped my phone, shot a startled glance first at him, then slid her gaze over to me, now filled with speculation. “Yes, why did you ask about my Guardian readiness?”
“Got some texts you’re gonna want to read,” I said, nudging my phone.
Drake leaned to the side so he could read as she scrolled through them, her expression growing more and more horrified by the second.
She didn’t even complain when Drake took the phone, obviously sending copies of the texts to his own phone.
She just looked at me and said, “What the hell? What the ever-loving hell?”
“Abaddon,” I corrected her. You’d think after all these years she’d have that down.
“Xavier is after our dragon heart shards? Why? Drake?”
His phone was already to his ear as he made a call. She got to her feet and moved over to stand next to him, listening, as well. I headed over that way, since Ava, the youngest spawn, was watching me with an expression I recognized.
Kid thinks I’m a pony, and no matter how many times I tell her I’m not, she insists I haul her around.
“—evident that Xavier is planning something to do with the shards. Perhaps he hopes to pull together the dragon heart, although I have no idea what he would achieve by doing so. The First Dragon is sure to have little patience with him, given the situation with Yrian,” Drake said when I stopped next to them.
Aisling was busy texting on her phone, but she glanced toward me when Drake wrapped up his call. “I’m going to ask Nora if she’s heard any rumblings of trouble, as well as Caribbean Battiste.”
“I don’t see that the head of your Guardian order will have much intelligence as to dragon happenings, but I would be interested to know if your mentor has heard rumors of an attack on us. Why is this daughter of Desislav messaging you?” Drake asked.
“I take it she’s working for him now,” I answered, moving around to the other side of Ash and Drake when Ava, having been pig piled on by the twins, squirmed out from under them, her gaze once again focused on me.
“She’s the leader of some sort of band of mercenaries in Finland.
She seems to think we have Desi’s blood moon relic. We don’t, do we?”
“Goddess, I hope not,” Aisling said, giving Drake a pointed look. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
“Many things, but they are not suitable for ears other than yours,” he answered, tapping on his phone. I caught a glimpse of a chat group he had with the other wyverns, and figured he was filling them in.
She nudged him. “Do any of your lairs happen to contain the relic of the demigod who started Abaddon?”
“Inquiring minds want to know,” I said, nodding, but just then Ava rushed me, and I had to take off.
I’m really going to hate it when Ash and Drake figure out she’s a baby Guardian. That kid is going to summon the Abaddon out of me, I just know it.
Anywhoozlebee, that’s what’s going on here. Drake is locking down the house, since his normal standby safe place in the country is about to be renovated because Aisling refuses to live with the antique plumbing anymore.
Ash told me to keep trying to contact my parents, but Desi isn’t the best about answering the phone, and only texts when he feels like it, so yeah. That’s kinda that.
Smooches to my fuzzybutt, and a head bonk to you, Amelie.