Dragon Wytch

"Morio, let's take your SUV. It will hold all of us," I said, but a noise interrupted me, and I whirled around, sucking in energy as I prepared to blast whoever it was to kingdom come.

"Hold your fire," a familiar voice rang out.

I slowly lowered my hands. As we clattered down the porch steps, Trenyth and Grandmother Coyote stepped out of the shadows. Neither looked like they were the bearers of good news.

Chapter Twenty-four

"Trenyth! Grandmother Coyote?" I skidded to a halt on the bottom step, and Delilah tripped against me. We both went tumbling to the mud-soaked ground below. I winced as the sharp tip of the unicorn horn jabbed me in the hip. While I wasn't worried about it breaking—it could probably withstand being run over by a truck—I was concerned about accidentally setting off its powers. I still didn't know how the damned thing worked, for the most part.

"Youch! Watch where you're going!" Delilah said, rubbing her butt. She pushed herself off the ground and helped me up.

Menolly was standing behind us. I expected her to be snickering, but her expression was dead serious as she stared at our visitors with a veiled gaze. Morio and Smoky swung in behind us.

"The fact that both of you are here at the same time doesn't give me any fuzzy feelings," I said, gingerly rubbing the sore spot on my hip. "What's up?"

"We have to talk," Grandmother Coyote said, her steel teeth gleaming in the dim light. We were a few days past the new moon, and I could still feel the energy from the Dark Mother rumbling in the air.

"Do you want to go inside?" I asked, gesturing to the house.

She shook her head. "No. We have no time for niceties. You must make haste. The scales will tip tonight. Tomorrow is the equinox, and the balance must shift. What has long been set askew can be righted this night. The powers that once reigned will rise again. You must be present to bear witness, and you must do what you can to help the shift occur."

Riddles. It was always riddles with Grandmother Coyote. I didn't even bother to ask what she was talking about. I knew better. We'd find out the hard way. We always did.

I turned to Trenyth. "And what bad news are you bringing to the table? It's got to be bad in order for Queen Asteria to send you through the portal after she said she didn't want to risk your neck."

He sucked in a deep breath. "It is bad news. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but there's been a slipup. It's about Trillian…"

I began to breathe hard. "No… no…"

"Camille, listen to me—"

"Don't you dare…" A rush of energy raced through my body. My heart was beating so loud I could barely hear myself think. I began to shake.

"Trillian's—"

"No! He can't be dead!" I bit my lip, and blood poured into my mouth. This couldn't be happening—it was too much. It was all too much.

Delilah jumped behind me, shoring me up. Smoky was down the steps instantly, and I leaned against him.

Trenyth rushed to say, "He's not dead. His soul statue its unbroken." He shook his head, and my lungs gave a jump start, and I let out a ragged breath. "At least, he's not dead… yet."

I let out a strangled cough, and Smoky held me tighter. "What the fuck do you mean? Not dead yet? Was he wounded? Hurt? Just tell me what's wrong!"

Trenyth sighed. "We think he was captured by a goblin contingent. Another informant saw the battle go down."

And then my world went black.

As I regained consciousness, I was aware of someone leaning over me. I blinked, willing my vision to clear. What had happened? Why was I lying on the cold ground?

Grandmother Coyote's gleaming teeth came into focus as she smiled down at me, her hand caressing my cheek. Her fingers were rough, and her eyes bored deep into my soul, calling me back from wherever it was my mind had fled. I gasped and sat up as a jolt passed through her hand, into my face. Like rough whiskey, it shocked me awake.

"Come, girl, get up. You don't have time to mourn. You must shoulder the burden and move on for the night. Ask your questions. You can cry later," she said.

I shook the fog out of my head and looked around. Smoky was sitting beside me. My head had been in his lap. Morio and Menolly were kneeling on my left, Delilah and Chase on my right. They helped me up, and Smoky slid his arm around my waist while Morio took my hand.

"Are you okay?" Delilah asked.

"How can I be okay?" I asked, staring at her. "You know what the goblins do to their prisoners. Capture is as good as a death sentence."

She turned away, but I couldn't stop talking.

"Trillian and I belong to each other—through life and through death. When he reentered my life, I was terrified, because I knew that I'd never be able to send him away again, that I'd never leave him again. No matter how many other lovers we take, no matter how many miles stretch between us, we are bound forever." I closed my eyes. "Tell me what happened."

Grandmother Coyote interrupted me. "There isn't time."

"Then make time!" I turned on her, feeling as frozen as the northern wastes. "Trillian is my oath lover. I will know what happened to him and why he was sent on another mission even though he was already pegged as a spy. The world can shatter like glass for all I care right now. But I will know!"

She stared at me, and for a moment I thought she was going to strike me down, but then she motioned to Trenyth. "Hurry. We don't have time to waste."

Trenyth tugged at the collar of his robe. "Trillian was the only one Queen Asteria could trust for this mission, and you'll understand why when I tell you."

"We'd better." My hand moved toward the silver dagger at my side.

He flashed me a cold look. "Your father was due in Elqaneve a few days ago. He was going to join our intelligence operations."

"Father! What do you know about our father? We haven't heard from him since he ran from the Guard." I tensed. Delilah and Menolly did the same.

"Your father sent word he was coming. We needed him. He has secret information about the armies of the Court and Crown. But along the way, he vanished."

"Shit. Not good. Not good at all. Any idea what happened to him?" Menolly kicked a rock out of the way as Delilah glumly dropped into a squat. I watched her carefully for a moment, but she didn't transform.

"We found out through an informant—you know Rozurial—that your father's soul statue is still intact. But we need the information he was carrying. We have to find out where he's disappeared, and why. Trillian was the only one we could trust in this matter. He knows your father. He knows the whole story."

"Oh Great Mother," I said, leaning against Smoky as he helped keep me onto my feet. "Then the goblins—"

"Once they realize he's a spy, they'll torture and kill him, unless he can escape." Trenyth's voice dropped. "I'm so sorry. We still don't know what happened. There were no reports of goblin activity in the area we sent Trillian into. We have no idea how they showed up there so fast."

"The portals." Menolly snapped her fingers. "That's how! They're using the rogue portals. And want to make a bet that a few must have escaped back to Guilyoton with information about us after today's fight."

"Fight? What are you talking about?" Trenyth looked confused.

We filled him in on the battle that morning.

"Oh crap, and don't forget the goblin and Sawberry Fae!" Delilah jumped up and dusted off the butt of her jeans. "Want to make a bet they not only fed what they know to the demons but to their compatriots at home? Goblins are sneaky little bastards, and they never stick to their word."

"If that's so, they've probably been spying on us since before they ever came to the shop after Feddrah-Dahns," I said, as numb as if I'd been pumped full of Novocain. "Want to bet Karvanak has been watching us for awhile? If he's been in Seattle since before Bad Ass Luke came through, then maybe he's been keeping tabs on us all along. Who knows how much the demons know? Or Queen Lethesanar?"

My concerns about Trillian and my father took on entirely new and unwelcome dimensions. "You don't suppose Lethesanar might actually be in cahoots with the demons?" The thought was bone-chilling. If so, then she was turning traitor on two entire worlds.

Trenyth frowned. "I doubt it, but I'll be certain to discuss it with Queen Asteria. There's not much else I can tell you."

"What now?" I said, still feeling faint. Inside, I just kept repeating, He's not dead yet… he's not dead yet… hold onto that glimmer of hope. "We have to rescue Trillian. I know he's trained for this situation, but goblins are merciless, and they'll tear him apart before he willingly gives them information."

"There's nothing you can do," Trenyth said softly. "We'll do everything we can, but there's only so much…" He reached out to rest a hand on my shoulder. Smoky reached out and pushed Trenyth's hand away. Trenyth hung his head. "You don't know how much I regret having to bear this news to you, Camille. I know what Trillian means to you."

"Yeah, right," I said softly. "Is there anything else?"

He shook his head.

"Then maybe you'd better go and talk to Queen Asteria about all of this." I turned away before he could speak again.

"Child, don't punish the messenger." Grandmother Coyote's voice echoed in the still night, and I whirled around, ready to argue, but she shook her head, and I fell silent. "He could have kept silent. He didn't have to come here."

I inhaled a deep, shuddering breath. "You're right. Trenyth, thank you for telling me yourself. I guess we'd better get moving. If there's nothing more you have to say?"

They turned in silence and walked away. As I watched them go, my heart dropped like a lodestone, heavy and dragging me down. I walked toward Morio's SUV. Everyone followed me, and their unspoken questions weighed on me like a suffocating rock.

I glanced at them. "There's nothing you can do to make it better, so don't even try. Trillian's doomed, and our father's missing. This is the nature of war. Unless they allow us to return to Otherworld, to undertake the rescue ourselves, then what the fuck is there for anybody to say? And even if we could go, there would be a thousand places to search."

Morio unlocked the car. As the others clambered in, leaving the front seats empty, Smoky and Morio flanked my sides. I stared mutely at Morio. The molten topaz of his eyes melted my heart, and I felt a sob jog in my chest. Morio slid his arms around my waist. Smoky came up behind me and draped his arms around my shoulders. His hair rose up to stroke my arms, my forehead, along the length of my leg.

"Camille, you must do something," Smoky said. "Trillian… there is a chance to save him. This is not some dragon trick meant to bind your will."

"What can I do? How can I find him?" My voice was faint as I vied for control of my emotions. I wanted to cry, to weep, to fall apart and let them pick up the pieces. But as always, I forced myself to stand rock-solid.

When Mother had died, I'd been the glue to hold together the family. And never once had I let them down, even though I was screaming inside.

When the other children had taunted Delilah into transforming, I'd been the one to beat the crap out of them in order to rescue her, and got myself beaten up in return. But I hadn't cried. I didn't dare show my own vulnerability, because they might pick on her even worse.

And when Menolly had come home, blood-crazed and ripped to shreds, I'd held my wits together long enough to fetch help. And then I'd cushioned the pain for my father and Delilah, keeping my own fears and horrors at bay because that was what I was expected to do. I was the rock. I was the anchor.

And now. Trillian was as good as dead, and our father was missing in action. And we had a mission to accomplish. Once more, I was called on to push aside my feelings. To let go of my own needs in order to tend the greater good. Maybe that's why I never wanted children. I'd already given everything I had to give.

"I will tell you what you can do," Smoky said. "Perform a binding ritual with Morio and with me. Accept us as your husbands. Then can we protect you like we need to—and then can we unleash all our powers to help you find Trillian." His look was so intense that it frightened me.

I searched his face, searched Morio's expression, looking for something to verify that Smoky was telling the truth. Morio nodded, his lips pressed together.

"Are you serious? Marry the two of you? For one thing, this world has rules about that—or at least, this country—"

"Fuck the rules and regulations. We aren't talking about legal documents here," Morio said. "And we aren't talking a simple wedding ceremony or valiant words. No, I know what Smoky's talking about. He's talking about performing the Soul Symbiont ritual."

I shook my head. "What the hell is that? I've never heard of it. Is it an Earthside custom?"

Smoky let out a little huff. "Not exactly. It's a ritual that's kept secret within several of the Supe lineages." He shot a warning glance at Morio. "Don't even ask how I came to know of it; you won't get an answer."

Morio glanced at the car, waving as Delilah stuck her head out. "We'll be right there." He turned back to me. "The ritual binds souls in a magical union. That union brings with it certain powers. For one thing, soul-bound members can always track down the other members of the union. Now, while Trillian won't technically be bound to us, the fact that you and he are yoked so strongly via magical rites, well—that might be just what we need. You can draw on our power. With the three of us searching for him magically, we might be able to find him."