Chapter 36
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Phin leaned back in Jessica’s passenger seat and watched the lights from the windows of Anon’s house. They began winking out one by one as someone moved through the house turning them off. Beside her, Jessica drummed her fingers against the steering wheel.
“Why exactly are we meeting at the beach again?” Richard asked from the back seat.
“I have no idea,” Jessica said cheerfully. “At this point, I’ve stopped asking questions.”
“Well, that’s healthy,” he commented.
“Thank you,” she said cheerfully. “And I still think we should fly to Hawaii on a dragon.”
Phin turned enough in her seat to see Richard. “She really wants to do that.”
He sighed and leaned his head against the window, making no comment.
Phin smiled. The nervousness she had been carrying around since Rhaz’s revelation earlier had eased a little. A bonfire with friends sounded nice. Normal, even. At this point, she could use a little normal.
Headlights swept across the driveway. “Finally,” Jessica said. “Betty’s here.”
Betty’s car rolled to a stop beside them. A moment later, the passenger door opened and Dandy climbed out. She hurried up the carriage house steps and disappeared into Hana’s apartment.
“Why didn’t we all just meet at the beach?” Richard asked.
Jessica and Phin exchanged a look and shrugged.
A few moments later, Dandy emerged from the carriage house with Hana, who carried a large tote bag over one shoulder. Then Aaron appeared on the manse’s back porch.
Phin blinked, then peered out the windshield. “What is he carrying?”
Jessica leaned forward as Richard pressed closer between the front seats.
Aaron was indeed carrying something. No. Someone. A very small someone.
The tiny figure was kicking wildly. “Put me down this instant!” came a squeaky voice.
“No,” Aaron replied calmly.
“I have legs, Great One. I can walk.”
“I know.” Aaron kept heading for the car.
“I can walk perfectly well. This is humiliating. I should be carrying you!”
“Perhaps.”
“This is an outrage.”
Aaron continued holding the little man and opened the rear passenger door.
The tiny figure pointed an accusing finger at him. “I am being abducted. Of course, if I am to be abducted, I don’t mind it so long as it’s you, Great One.”
Jessica slowly lowered her window. “Oh my gosh.”
Richard stared. “That sounds sort of like Basil.”
Phin stared too. Her own window was already open, and she had practically climbed halfway out of it to watch the spectacle
It was Basil. Or at least it sounded like him. But this was not the Basil they’d met at Tequila Mockingbird. This Basil was, well, three feet tall if he was lucky.
Aaron opened the rear door wider. The little man tried to grab the frame, but Aaron simply peeled him loose and deposited him inside.
“You barbarian!” Basil shouted as Aaron closed the door.
The shouting continued through the glass, accompanied by several “Be quiets” from Hana and Betty.
Silence settled over Jessica’s car until Richard spoke. “Did we just watch Aaron kidnap a garden gnome?”
Phin laughed. Jessica laughed harder. “I don’t think you’re supposed to say that,” she said. “What if he’s sensitive?”
“He looks like a garden gnome,” Richard replied.
Betty’s car turned around and rolled past them. A tiny face appeared briefly in the rear window before Dandy pulled him down, making the gnome disappear.
“Well,” Richard said, settling back into his seat, “I am definitely going to the beach now.”
“You were definitely going anyway,” Jessica quipped.
“True,” he agreed. “But now I have more questions.”
“So do I.” Phin looked toward Anon’s house. Unfortunately, she had a feeling none of them were getting answers tonight.
It did not take long to reach the beach parking lot, which held several cars despite the late hour. The ocean roared somewhere beyond the dunes as wind brushed against the beach grass.
Betty’s car was parked near the edge of the lot.
As soon as Jessica stopped the car, everyone climbed out as the rear passenger door of Betty’s car flew open.
A tiny figure hopped onto the pavement. Basil, or what they thought was Basil, straightened his tweed coat with great dignity. The effect would have been more impressive if Phin hadn’t just watched him get carried like a sack of potatoes ten minutes earlier.
Basil glanced around. His gaze landed on them and he sighed. “Wonderful,” he groused.
Jessica smiled. “You’re adorable. Let me look at you.”
Basil looked horrified. “I am not adorable. I am magnificent.”
“Oh no, you’re absolutely adorable.”
“I am a respected royal chef, human female!”
Jessica’s eyebrows rose. “You’re a chef?”
Basil drew himself up another inch. “I am the royal chef.”
“To who?” Richard asked.
Basil looked offended. “Royalty, peasant.”
Jessica burst out laughing. Basil groaned.
Aaron pointed toward the dunes. “We need to move now.”
“Move where?” Richard asked.
“The beach. Hurry.” Aaron headed up the dune and motioned for the others to follow.
“But why?” Richard asked as he took Jessica’s hand and followed.
“Everyone else is waiting.” The group followed him over the dunes, Hana snatching up Basil like a child as they crested the sandy ridge.
Firelight flickered below. A large bonfire crackled not far from the water line.
Louise sat in a folding chair wrapped in a blanket. Pearl occupied another while Sam stood near the fire poking at it with a long stick.
All three looked up as the newcomers approached. “There they are!” Louise called. The wind carried her voice across the sand.
The scene looked cozy. Comforting. Yet Phin couldn’t shake the feeling that there was far more going on than Rhaz simply being a dragon, and that realization stole some of her newfound comfort away.
Jessica eyed the others. “So, how long have you all known?”
“Known what?” Louise asked.
“That Rhaz is a dragon?” Richard said.
Louise gave a dismissive wave. “Oh, that. That’s old news to us.”
“And what is that?” Jessica asked, pointing at Basil. “Other than adorable.”
“Stop calling me that!” Basil snapped.
Sam joined them. “Everyone, meet Basil. Cantankerous gnome and excellent chef.”
“He can cook?” Richard asked.
Basil glared at him. “I am the royal chef.”
“To who?” Richard asked again.
Basil threw up his hands. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?” His expression suddenly changed, making the earlier humor vanish.
Phin followed his gaze toward the ocean. Aaron was striding toward the surf. “Where is he going?” she asked.
Basil’s face grew solemn. “To prepare for battle.”
Rhaz climbed out of the van and studied the dark forest stretched before them. The night air carried the scents of pine, damp earth, and something foul—the Sarian. He could not smell it directly yet, but he knew the odor well enough to recognize traces of it lingering on the breeze.
Anon shut off the van’s engine and stepped out. Jackson emerged from the rear seat. A few moments later, Quill and Caelen joined them, and for a brief moment, nobody spoke. They all looked toward the trees.
The signal on Anon’s phone had stopped moving. He’d let Rhaz hold it as he drove. A hunting creature should move. A waiting creature didn’t and was much worse.
Jackson checked his screen. “It’s still there,” he told Anon. “It hasn’t budged.”
Anon nodded. “The same with the second one. It’s a few miles to the east.”
Caelen looked at his own phone. “This is bad.”
“They’re both close enough to make me uncomfortable,” Quill muttered.
Rhaz folded his arms across his chest. “So we follow the plan.”
Nobody argued. They’d discussed it twice during the drive.
This was a creature none of them had encountered before.
They didn’t know how fast it was, how strong, or if it was venomous.
If they engaged it too early, there was a chance it would flee, and if it did, they might lose it again.
Or worse, a human might find it, something they were trying to avoid at all costs.
Jackson tapped on his phone then held it up so all could see. “The lake is here.”
Rhaz studied it. They weren’t far from the signal they were picking up, maybe a mile.
Anon looked at him. “You’re absolutely going to set something on fire.”
Rhaz gave him a sidelong glance. “Possibly.”
“It’s inevitable,” Anon said.
Jackson snorted.
Rhaz ignored him and studied the map. “Herd it toward the lake. Then I’ll incinerate it.”
Anon slipped his phone back into his pocket. “And then we get Aaron as quickly as possible so he can put out whatever disaster you create.”
“Precisely,” Rhaz said. He almost smiled.
Quill tucked his phone away. “What if the second one joins the other?”
“It won’t,” Caelen said. He adjusted the sword at his hip. “We’ll intercept it first.”
Rhaz nodded. “Keep them apart. Do not engage unless necessary.”
Caelen looked offended. “We’re not idiots, Prince of Dragons.”
“Speak for yourself,” Quill said, making Caelen scowl.
Anon rubbed his forehead. “We are hunting nightmares from another realm, and somehow this still feels like babysitting.”
That earned him a grin from Jackson. “Time to move.” He bent forward as his bones shifted and muscles expanded. Fur swept across his body, and a moment later, a massive wolf stood where the man had been.
Jackson’s ears twitched as his nose lifted toward the wind. He growled, the sound rumbling through the clearing. He’d found the scent.
Quill glanced at Caelen. “All right, we’ll take the signal to the east.”
Caelen nodded, and without another word, the two of them disappeared into the darkness between the trees.
Rhaz watched them go and for a moment considered following. Two Sarians this close together was trouble. But Quill and Caelen were both capable magic users and knew not to engage the thing. After all, none of them knew if it had magic of its own.
The Sarian far to the east would have to wait.
Jackson let out a soft howl and headed into the darkness.
“Well, let’s get on with it.” Anon followed and blurred out of sight.
Rhaz took one last look at the dark forest around them, then darted into the woods. The hunt had begun.