by Sarah Noffke
“That works, because I don’t have one,” Monet said.
Azure bumped her shoulder into him, taking back the conversation. “Pedgit said you were a love expert and could tell me how to contain the essence of true love.”
Dolly garnished the drinks with an orange peel and a cherry before sliding one in front of each of them. “That little rascal knew me well, didn’t he?”
Azure, not wanting to be rude, took a quick sip of the drink. “Damn, that’s good,” she said.
“’The Old Man,’” Dolly said, nodding in agreement.
“Huh?” Azure asked, taking another sip. Dolly was right…Azure was overdue for a drink.
“That’s the name of the drink,” Dolly informed her.
“Can you help us?” Ever asked, wiping his mouth after taking a drink.
Dolly paused, seeming to consider the request. “Let me guess. Is it a dragon-tamer who wants this essence of true love?”
“How did you know?” Azure asked.
Dolly laughed. “It’s always a dragon-tamer. And yes, I can help you with the containment device. I’ll even tell you where the most potent place to capture true love is. However, finding it will be your problem. It’s not easy, and hasn’t been done successfully in a hundred years.”
“How do you know that?” Monet asked, having finished his drink.
“Honey, I’m the love expert. When true love happens, I know about it,” Dolly said, shaking her head.
“Containment device? Do I have to track one of those down now?” Azure asked.
“I actually have one. I keep it on hand for just such occasions. I work at the chapel in hopes of capturing true love, but strangely most of the couples that come in are simply infatuated with each other.”
“So the couples who get married at the chapel aren’t in love?” Ever asked.
“Maybe they are, but it’s not true love,” Dolly said, making another round of drinks. “The majority of people don’t realize that true love is so rare that most never feel it. That’s what makes it so valuable. I’ve been around for centuries and I’ve never experienced it, but Merlin knows I keep trying.” She nodded to the list of names on her arm.
“Are those all men you’ve loved?” Azure dared to ask.
Dolly shook her head. “Heavens, no. These are the men I’ve married. I loved the first one, which was why I tattooed his name on my arm.”
Azure read the top name. “Keith.” The name was written in flowery black cursive, and had been crossed out with red ink. Under that name were six others, all of them crossed out except for the last.
“What happened to Keith?” Monet asked.
“He cheated on me with a siren, but the joke was on him because she was only using him to get a ride to Reno.” Dolly poured the three another round of drinks.
“So that’s why his name is crossed out,” Ever guessed.
Dolly nodded. “Yes, and then Jeric came along and we got hitched. Well, I kind of had to put his name on my arm too, but as you can see, that didn’t work out either.” She pointed to the list on her arm, indicating Jeric’s crossed-out name. “By then I’d set the precedent, and now each man I marry expects to get his name on the list. Let’s hope that Andrew is different than the rest.”
Azure leaned forward to read the last name on the list. “Andrew.”
“I hope that it works out,” Azure said.
“I don’t,” Monet spat.
“Anyway, you said you’ve got a containment device. May I please have it? I really need to try and capture true love,” Azure said.
Dolly looked at Ever and then Azure. “Yes, and you just might. The heavens aren’t really clear if it’s in your future.”
“A genie’s life depends on it,” Azure said quickly.
“Not to mention that it would bring great fortune to your dragon-tamer friend,” Dolly said, holding out her hand palm up. She looked around before conjuring a black velvet ring box.
“Is that the containment device?” Azure asked.
“Yes,” Dolly said, popping the box open with her other hand. It was, surprisingly, empty. Azure had expected to find an engagement ring in it for some reason. “When you come across two people who are falling into true love—and hopefully you catch it when the emotion is at its highest intensity or it won’t work—you open the box. The emotion will flow into it, and when you shut the box the essence is preserved.”
“Wow, that’s especially easy,” Azure said, having believed that it would take an incredibly complex spell.
“The most complicated things in life are especially easy when we use the right tools,” Dolly explained.
“Like math,” Monet said, draining his second drink.
“Like love.” Dolly handed the box to Azure. “When we understand our own heart it is easy to fall in love.” The bartender shrugged, melancholy on her face. “I guess I have more work to do to know my own heart.”
Azure smiled sympathetically at the woman. “I think we all do.”
“You said you could tell us where to find true love,” Ever reminded her, his voice suddenly tight.
“Actually, I said I could tell you where the most potent place to capture true love is located. You’ll have to find true love on your own.” Dolly laughed.
“Right, that was what I meant,” Ever stated.
“It is said that more people fall in love in this place than any other, so it would be a good place to hunt for the essence of this emotion,” Dolly stated.
“My bedroom?” Monet asked, mock seriousness on his face.
Dolly didn’t laugh. “I’ve heard more than one complaint about you in the bedroom, Monet Torrance.”
Monet sucked in a shocked breath. “That’s blasphemy.”
Azure laughed. “I can believe it. Dolly, we really need to get back. Can you please tell us where this place is?”
“Of course, Queen Azure. It’s the most romantic place on Earth.” Dolly smiled, a hopeful spark in her eyes. “The Eiffel Tower.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Lux and Devo had been in the cave that led to Lancothy for only a couple of minutes when the ground began to shake under their feet.
Devo spun to Lux with fear in his small eyes. “Is this from our trespassing?”
“I have no idea,” Lux said rudely. How was he supposed to know anything about this dumb land with its freak animals? They hadn’t even known where to find the mountain. He was weary and frustrated from searching and living in caves. And if he had to feast on another woodland creature he was going to puke. They hadn’t encountered any people in days.
The pair stumbled through the dark cave as rocks rained down on them. Lux was not an educated man, neither now nor in his mortal days, but he knew that hanging out in a cave during a quake was a bad idea. Something about the thing collapsing seemed to occur to him.
Shrieks rang out from overhead and Devo, who was in the lead, ducked as a barrage of wings flapped in their direction.
“Those are the bats!” Lux yelled. “Don’t duck, idiot. Catch them! That’s why we’re here.”
“Right,” Devo said, covering his head with one hand and waving the other through the air dumbly.
An avalanche of rocks began and the light from the cave opening behind them disappeared, casting them in blackness. That didn’t matter since they could see just as well in the dark, but that had been their exit.
“Fuck! We’re trapped,” Lux said, spinning toward the exit.
“We’ll just have to find another way out of Lancothy,” Devo said, panting heavily.
“No shit!” Lux exclaimed. “But first we have to get those damn bats.”
As soon as he said this the colony of bats turned, racing back in their direction. The avalanche was going to work in their favor.
“Grab the bags,” Lux said, pulling his knapsack from his pocket. It wasn’t an ordinary bag, but one enchanted by Ata to hold living creatures without killing them. It also remained small and easy to carry no matter
how many items it held.
Devo swirled his bag through the air like a net, trying to catch bats as they flew overhead. Lux did the same, but had to jump to reach them. The bats squeaked, their wings beating air onto the vampires.
A moment later the colony had disappeared to the other side of the cave.
“Did you get any?” Lux asked, staring down into his bag. Three. He’d caught three fucking bats. That was unacceptable. Cordelia and Hamilton would punish them if they returned with less than a dozen. They had big plans, and it involved creating a strong brood of Founder vampires.
“I think I got one,” Devo said lamely.
“Come on. We need to catch more,” Lux said, sprinting after the bats as the cave continued to rumble around them. They would have been only a blur to average eyes. The cave ended abruptly, and Lux nearly ran over the side of the cliff. He halted on the ledge and looked out over the strangest sight he’d ever seen. Lancothy was a sprawling kingdom with buildings and farms, all contained inside a mountain. The bats streaked past them, making patterns in the air as they flew away.
“Let’s get them,” Lux said, taking a few steps back and readying himself to launch.
“Wait,” Devo said, extending a cautionary hand. “Do you think it’s safe? There’s a quake going on, and we don’t know what’s down there.”
“There’s bats down there, and that’s what we came for. And we have to find a way out of this mountain. A dumb quake can’t hurt us. Nothing can, remember? We’re immortal,” Lux said, and leapt off the cliff. He landed gracefully on the ground below as a howl pierced the air.
~~~
The ground shook so violently that Azure fell hard against the stone wall of the cottage after stepping through the portal. Ever and Monet fell after they stumbled through as well. Azure braced herself against the wall—which was splitting—as small rocks and mortar showered her from overhead.
Thinking hard as her teeth clanged together, Azure surveyed the small room. Laurel had Blisters under one arm and Finswick and Manx in the other.
“What’s happening?” Azure asked, her voice vibrating from the tremors.
“The werewolves,” Laurel shouted. “Someone must have harmed them worse than before.”
I knew it, Azure thought.
The rafters cracked, and the walls of the cottage shook more violently.
“We have to get out of here,” Ever declared. He dove at Azure, grabbing her around the shoulders and shielding her with his body. Going out into the fields with hungry and savage werewolves was not advisable, but staying inside the cottage, which was about to cave in on them, would be a death sentence.
Azure covered her head and darted forward to grab the door handle, afraid of what she’d find on the other side. Werewolves? A zombie? More destruction, in any case. Bracing herself, she wrenched the door open. She was beyond shocked at what she found on the doorstep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ata let out a relieved sigh as he stepped away from the cauldron, which was filled with bubbling scrying potion.
“What is it?” Nenet asked, sitting stoically in the far corner of the room he’d constructed as his potions lab.
“The zombie has been destroyed,” he said, waving his crook over the surface of the cauldron.
“Then Queen Azure is safe for a little while longer,” Nenet said, lightness in her voice. She’d been slipping away lately, and Ata knew it. Even though he supplied her with his blood, he couldn’t save her morale. They had each other, but that wasn’t enough. They needed their people, and their people needed their king. Ata might have been a prisoner, but Nenet had lost her humanity.
He saw the urges course through her, making her soft eyes turn wicked without her consent. As a follower, she was under the emotional and cognitive control of Cordelia and Hamilton. Whereas they only controlled Ata’s actions, they controlled almost all of Nenet’s consciousness. At least he could think and feel for himself. She was losing that, and soon she’d be lost and he wouldn’t be able to save her. He didn’t even know if salvation was an option for either of them, but he wanted to hold onto hope. It was all he had left.
“Queen Azure is safe from my zombie, but she has many other problems,” Ata said, closing his eyes tightly. He’d been watching Azure as often as he could bear. When she had entered the Sphinx, it had been difficult for him to observe her confrontation with Chibale. His arrogance had almost made Ata crack with anger, but at the end his brother had confessed his crime and now appeared committed to finding Ata and helping him.
Hope was all he had. Hope that his brother would change his ways. Hope in a young queen who was fighting a war that should have been his.
“Will the queen make it out of Lancothy?” Nenet asked, still clinging to the shadows as if afraid to step into any light.
Ata opened his eyes and shook his head. “That I don’t know. The mountain is crumbling. If she doesn’t get out soon, she’ll be trapped there forever and she’ll most likely die. Everyone in Lancothy will.”
“I used to think that death was the worst possible thing that could happen to me,” Nenet said, her voice flat.
“Then you died, and realized that…” Ata and Nenet had been having these philosophical conversations more and more. It helped them both to hold onto what they had probably lost but were unwilling to admit they had.
“I realized that living without my humanity was worse,” Nenet said.
“And your magic? Do you miss it?” Ata asked.
“Not as much as I miss my sister. I would happily give up my magic to see Nefertiti for a final time,” Nenet said.
“You never got to say goodbye, which makes it worse,” Ata said, staring at the surface of the cauldron but blind to anything but the visions in his head.
Nenet’s chin lifted suddenly. “Cordelia and Hamilton are leaving.”
Ata nodded. “I gave them the location of one of the pages from the Book of the Dead.”
“Once they have those pages they’ll be unstoppable,” Nenet said in a tight whisper.
“That’s true, but I think you mean ‘if’ they get those pages,” Ata said, waving his crook over the surface of the cauldron to conjure a different image.
“What do you mean? You gave them the location,” Nenet said, running her tongue over her top teeth to feel her pointy fangs. She did that often, simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by the change to her mouth.
“I was ordered to find a location for one of the pages, and I did as I was told. However, I might have stalled in finding it, which could give others a chance to discover the page first.” Ata stared down at the cauldron, a ghost of a smile forming on his face at the image of an old witch, a red-haired wizard, and a gnome reviewing the missing page from the Book of the Dead.
Nenet suddenly stood. “Ata, are you able to resist their orders?”
He shook his head. “Not really. I must still do as Cordelia and Hamilton command, but I have found that the pace at which I complete the task is still subject to my will. I took my time finding the location of the lost page.”
“That’s something, at least. You’re getting back some of your power against them,” Nenet said, striding over. She paused, looking at the image on the surface of the cauldron.
Ata drew in a breath, hope warming his chest. “Let’s just hope that these three from Virgo can find all the missing pages quickly. I can only stall for so long.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Standing squarely in front of the door of the cottage, blocking all else, was Micky. Azure’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t fathom why the dragon was there.
“Mademoiselle,” Oak called, striding around Micky with a harried look on his face. “The time has come. Micky is ready to take you.
“Take me where?” Azure had to scream over the shaking, grinding, and mayhem all around them as Lancothy continued to crack and split.
“To the weredragon castle, of course,” Oak said, pulling the reins attached to the bridle on M
icky’s face.
“But, Lancothy! I need to…” Azure had no idea what she had to do, which was exactly the problem. The mountain was destroying itself. It was nighttime, and the deadly werewolves were on the prowl. As queen she was supposed to know what to do, or so she thought. Quick and efficient decision-making was the sign of a good ruler, but just then she was clueless.
“You asked the weredragons to help you when the time came, remember?” Oak asked, pulling up Azure’s hand and placing the reins in it.
“Yes, but that’s because Micky told me to,” Azure admitted.
“And you can hear the dragon in your mind, which means you’re connected to your deepest intuition. That’s where Micky’s inspiration comes from—an intuition as old as the dragons,” Oak said.
“So I need to go to the weredragon castle…and what? Ask for their help?” Azure asked, looking back at Ever and Monet, who stood just behind her.
“The weredragons have powers that other wereanimals don’t. This mountain will not remain standing for long,” Oak explained.
“The weredragons can help us get out of here, can’t they?” Azure asked Oak, but it was the voice in her head that answered.
Yes, but time is running out, Micky said.
Azure nodded, turning to face the group at her back. “Monet and Ever, we have to get the wereanimals ready to evacuate. Gather them. Protect them. And bring them to the northern side of the mountain.”
“They won’t want to leave, even if their home is crumbling,” Ever stated.
“That’s why I need you to make them see this clearly. It wasn’t our coming here that brought this destruction upon them. It would always have happened. No one can live in isolation forever. Something will always break if we set ourselves apart from others on Oriceran,” Azure stated. She felt like the words weren’t her own, and then she realized they weren’t. The Howling Willow was speaking through her, and instinctively she knew it wouldn’t be the last time.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get the wereanimals there,” Monet said with strong conviction in his voice.
