Chapter 31
Carly
I caught a brief glimpse of the rippling Pacific Ocean before the portal closed behind my dragon mate.
“The lines are open and secure,” Sybil said. “Desmon, ignore us unless we speak to you directly. Just focus on your goal. Anything else I should do, Carly?” She looked at me as if waiting for orders.
Oh gosh! I realized that with Desmon gone, I was now expected to take over. My first real challenge as a dragon’s mate, and it was a doozy! This was a fight for everything I cared about. I took a deep breath. If I could handle a class of shifter boys with the attention span of goldfishes, I could manage a couple of wizards and witches, right? Yes. I could do this.
“Help Seth hold the dragoness back. He looks exhausted.”
“Got it.”
“Is there anything I can do to make this easier on the two of you?” I asked.
Sybil nodded. “Magic is tiring. It drains us physically. We need a constant source of energy. I mean literal energy, as in calories. Fat, protein, and sugar. Any and all of it. Or else I’m going to start looking as skinny as Sethy Boy here.”
Seth grumbled something unintelligible at the nickname.
“Wait, Seth. Where’s your familiar?” Sybil asked.
“At home. I didn’t have time to pick her up,” he said.
“Who should I call to help with that?” I asked.
“Maybe the Redrock brothers,” Sybil said. “I’m sure Eamon’s updated them already.”
“Yes,” Seth said. “If anyone can break into my home and bring me my familiar, it’s them. Tell them the ward is down for the time being, but make sure to lock up again after they leave.”
“Got it.” I was glad to have something to do.
Seth gave me his phone so I could start making some calls. Both he and Sybil had strained looks on their faces, and Seth looked even thinner than usual, so I decided it was best I got them some food first.
Elana had had the same idea. She met me in the hallway with a tray piled high with candy bars, beef jerky, and about a half dozen cans of high-calorie meal replacement drinks. It didn’t particularly look appetizing to me, but Sybil did say calories. I ushered her into the library.
“I can help them too. I have magic; I just can’t access it anymore. But I spent years boosting someone else’s power, so this comes naturally to me.” She went to sit between the wizard and the witch.
After a few quick calls, we had Mateo in the library with us and were waiting for Gunnar, another one of the Redrock brothers, to arrive with Seth’s familiar. The gargoyle had worked for Desmon now and again and considered him a friend. He insisted on bringing Little Bit personally.
The only person I didn’t try to contact was Desmon’s brother. I knew he had bet on the game, but I also knew that was precisely why he wasn’t supposed to be trying to influence the outcome.
I didn’t care that it was all of us against Gillisandra. She had mentioned a witch and a wizard were working with her, and there could be others as well. Like Desmon had said, there were few rules in these games. And that meant I planned on using everything we had.
“If you portal me in, I can help.” Mateo paced the library which was starting to feel rather cramped.
“Not yet,” I said. “Let’s wait for Gunnar, so they only need to open a portal once. He said he’ll be here in a few minutes.”
Despite chugging an entire meal replacement drink, Seth still looked pale and weak. I wanted to conserve their energy.
“Fuck!” Desmon’s voice came through the link. “I can’t get close to the compass.”
“Maybe you don’t need to,” I said. “Seth—Liam can appear anywhere, right? As long as there’s no ward stopping him?”
“Yes.”
“And he can turn himself into any shape?”
“Yup. But just because he is a certain shape doesn’t mean he is actually that thing. He can look like a dragon, but any fire would simply be his soul stuff and wouldn’t be that hot.”
“You there, Liam?” I called through the link.
“Yup! I think I found her magic casters. They’re on a boat nearby.”
“Good job. I’ll send someone in after them. For now, can you dematerialize and float above the dragoness and get a reading from the compass?”
“Gotcha.” A moment later he said, “It’s pointing at an angle down to the ocean floor.”
“Ok, now Liam? Be the arrow. Show Desmon where to go,” I said.
“Hey, that might work!” Liam exclaimed.
“Be careful though. Don’t get hurt,” I said, remembering what Desmon had mentioned in the cave.
“Don’t worry about that,” Seth said. “Right now, all her magic casters are totally focused on disassembling our net. Liam can’t be hurt physically without magic. She could strike at him, but it would go right through him like a ghost. And even if they do spare some of their magic to try to stop him, it shouldn’t be lethal. It takes a lot to actually harm a demon.”
“I’m diving right now,” Desmon said. “Thank you.”
Then all I heard from his end was the bubbling of water.
“Good luck!”