The drug went in and the dragon’s eyes closed. A small winch was rolled out of the hangar and behind it came a trailer. The dragon was lifted onto its platform, covered with a camouflage sheet and secured.
She tightened her hold around Finn’s back. “She’ll be fine.”
His jaw clenched. He staggered sideways, his knee folding.
Before she could shout a warning, Dave rushed to steady him, slinging an arm over his shoulders. “The bond is strong,” he said. “You need to disconnect faster, son.”
Finn recoiled, twisting away from Dave, shoving him. “Get off me. I’m fine.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Dave scowled but lifted his hands and took a step back.
Damn him anyway.
“If you don’t mind, we’d like to go home now,” Ella drawled. “If that meets with your approval. Or do we need to sign somewhere before we leave?”
“Go,” Dave all but growled. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Where are you taking the dragon?” Ella watched as the men piled into the vans.
“Wouldn’t be a secret location if I told you.” Dave pushed his hands into his pockets. “Now we only need to find the nest and kill the dragonets.” He looked at Finn who ignored him. “I don’t suppose you know where it is?”
Finn glared daggers.
“You never gave him a chance to look for it,” Ella said, trying to keep the heat out of her voice and only partially succeeding. “And now if you’ll excuse us.”
Finn stumbled after two steps and she struggled to keep him upright.
“If you’d just let me help...” Dave muttered, coming after them.
That was the last straw. Ella whirled around, dragging Finn along. “Back off, asshole.” She could feel her face warming. “You’ve done enough. Threatened Finn, me, our friends. So stop playing the friend act. Enough.”
Dave scratched at the stubble on his chin. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want my help. You need it.”
God, she was going to punch him, and would have if Finn wasn’t still reeling in her hold. “Say again?”
“You’re getting stronger, but not fast enough. He isn’t getting stronger. It’s as if his magic has stalled. And with the magic leaking into the Veil, it won’t be long before he’s in deep trouble.”
Ella’s breath froze in her lungs. “Trouble. What sort of trouble? What do you mean?”
“Do you think the battle is over?” Dave tsked. “He’s having trouble keeping the Veil strong, which means he won’t be able to keep the Gates shut, and when the elven queen and every other powerful being with access to the Veil realizes that...” Dave shrugged. “Then all bets are off, because who doesn’t want to own John Grey?”
***
The shower had become their safe place, but that wasn’t the only reason Ella led Finn there and started tugging his stiff clothes off. He was still unsteady and his lips were tinged blue. Damn Dave, he had a point. Finn needed to control his bond with the dragon or he was exposed to anything that befell her.
Could he control it?
She let the water run until it was hot and then pulled Finn under the spray. He jerked when the water hit him. Ella drew him close, pushed wet hair out of his eyes.
“Okay?” she whispered and waited until he nodded. She slipped her arms around him, trying not to flinch where she touched his chilled skin. The water fell around them, hot and soothing, and steam was filling the stall.
He began to relax, strung muscles going loose and pliant. He put his hands on her hips. The rough pads of his fingertips scraped lightly on her skin. “Sorry I asked for your help,” he whispered. “Forgot you’re afraid of heights.”
“No worries.” The memory of the flight on the dragon’s back made her stomach clench. “It looks like you didn’t need my help after all, though, huh?”
He bent his head, his lips brushing her ear, sending small shocks of pleasure down her spine. “I did. I don’t know where the nest is, but you do.”
Ella shivered. “Didn’t you see it?”
“Very little.” He pressed his lips to her neck and she ran her hands down his strong back. “With the two of us in her thoughts, I hoped she’d be distracted.”
“You thought she’d lower her guard and let me see.”
He nodded, his wet hair tickling her collarbone. “And I hoped you’d know where it is.”
“I think I do.”
He smiled against her skin.
“What are you doing to do with the dragon babies?” Ella whispered.
“Keep them alive,” Finn said simply.
“But Dave said—”
“If they die, she will know. She’s their mother.” Finn wrapped Ella in his arms. “Like I’d know if anything happened to you.”
Her cheeks heated, and she nodded. She was starting to understand. “You’ll keep them alive so that she’ll trust you.”
He nodded. “Dave thinks his tranquilizers and chains will hold her down... But if she feels her babies die, she’ll kill everyone and destroy everything to get to them.”
“But why not tell Dave? You’re in fact trying to obey his orders.”
Finn shook his head and pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “Need to find the dead rider. Boreal riders carry storage gadgets. With information.” Faint lines flashed on his skin and hair, reflected in his gaze. “Information we need.”
Chapter Three
Payback
Late morning, and they didn’t have to meet Dave until midday. It could have been great — the sun shone on the piled snow, the sky was blue with fluffy clouds and Ella would have loved to lounge about their living room, drinking tea and ogling Finn.
Instead, they were meeting Sarah at Cafe-fucking-Nero.
To make matters worse, they’d had to park quite a distance away, because everyone who thought they were somebody was there, wrapped up in jackets and shawls and toughing it outdoors, under the heaters, basking in the sun. The cafe was packed, the parking lots the same, and Finn’s limp was getting worse with each block they passed.
At least Sarah was there, waving from a table in the back. They made their way between the little round tables and the chattering customers.
Sarah was wrapped up in a fake-fur coat and her green eyes sparkled. She’d gelled her short hair back and wore pearl earrings. Was fake Russian in fashion?
“Beautiful day, huh?” Sarah turned to call a waitress while Ella and Finn settled in the uncomfortable steel-and-plastic chairs.
Ella shoved her hands under her armpits. “Could’ve chosen a warmer place.”
“And miss this rare sunshine? Are you out of your mind?” Sarah gave a satisfied grin and sipped at her tall Americano.
Yes, Ella was certainly mad, meeting with the number one suspect on her list of Finn’s wannabe-murderers. But she gave her order of a Chai Latte to the beaming waitress and Finn asked for a double espresso.
They sat in silence, the other customers’ voices bubbling around them, making Ella’s head ache.
“Well then,” Sarah said brightly. “Did you two have a fight?”
“What?”
“His jaw is bruised. Did you punch him?”
“No.” Ella didn’t feel inclined to explain more.
“Then what’s with the long faces?”
Ella’s hands curled under the table. “We had a bad night.” Woke up to the same memory, Finn hanging inside the cave, his blood dripping, the pain bending her bones... And found Finn retching in the bathroom. That had been around two in the morning. Getting back to sleep had been impossible. “You wanted John Grey. Here he is. Start talking.”
“Whoo.” Sarah gave a dramatic shiver. “I like it when you get bossy.”
“Do you have information?” Finn leaned forward, subjecting Sarah to a laser-beam glare.
“God, will you two relax a little?” Sarah rolled her eyes. “You sound like a bad episode of CSI.”
The waitress arrived, bearing steaming beverages. Ella wr
apped her chilled fingers around her mug gratefully and took a sip, the sweetness exploding in her mouth and the warmth spreading to her chest.
“You’re very cheery for someone going mad with the screeching in the Veil,” she muttered.
“It comes and goes,” Sarah said. “It’s quiet today. The calm before the storm.”
Ella fought a shiver.
“Who’s the Weaver?” Finn whispered, his gaze distant.
“Loki,” Sarah said.
Lokke. Loki. Ella frowned. “The Aesir god?”
“Not Aesir,” Sarah said. “A Jotunn.”
Jotunn. “The race of the giants?”
“Giant sorcerer demons,” Finn whispered, his eyes narrowing. “But Jotunnheim was sealed off with spells.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said.
Ella pressed her lips together. This made no sense. The Spider was Loki, a Jotunn, and the world of the Jotunn was locked. “Are you sure he’s the Weaver?”
“Um.” Sarah pursed her lips. “Loki isn’t one person.”
Ella tried to process that, but her brain was cramping from lack of sleep. “Care to explain?”
“These... Spiders, they’re a sort of Jotunn elite.” Sarah pulled from her pocket a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. “Sorcerers, you say. Well, these are like their shamans, their top magicians.”
“And one of them would be born a Weaver,” Ella whispered. Just like one of the Aelfar had been born as John Grey.
But why would Finn wake up from his dream-memories thinking of that?
Finn put down his espresso cup, his gaze dark. “The only way for a Jotunn to be in Aelfheim would be if one of the Jotunn was brought there during or before the war.”
“You met one?” Sarah tapped her slim cigarette on the packet, interest lighting up her green eyes.
Finn froze, looking uncertain.
Had he? “The Weaver can move the loom,” Ella whispered. “What for?”
“Can’t help you there,” Sarah said, lighting her cig and drawing on it. Smoke swirled from the corner of her mouth. “Dave might know, though. Have you thought of talking to him?”
“I’m sure he’s in the loop,” Ella said dryly. “Anything else you can tell us about the Weaver?”
“Like what? What exactly do you need to know? Hey, Finn?” Sarah wiggled her fingers in front of his face and sighed when she got no reaction. “Look, I really don’t want to live through another fit. Don’t know how sensitive Mike is to the noise from the Veil, but it’s driving me up the wall and if another spell breaks...”
“Anything that struck you as interesting?” Ella asked when it became apparent Finn wasn’t going to comment. “About the other races? About the worlds?”
“Well, I unearthed a manuscript talking about the Light Elves.” Sarah puffed a cloud of smoke into Ella’s face, making her cough. She smiled at Finn. “Your race was the terror of the Nine Worlds once, wasn’t it? Real bastards. Using John Grey to enter every single world and destroy it, capture slaves and wipe out everyone else. No wonder the Dark Elves set out to destroy you. Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?”
Finn just glared.
“Payback?” Ella frowned. “For what?”
“Ah, that’s the interesting thing.” Sarah leaned forward, her smile widening. “Payback for enslaving the Dark Elves and turning their world into a wasteland, leaving no survivors. Looks like the Dark Elves of Aelfheim are the only ones left. It was the worst betrayal, because their races are related and were like brothers. The Dark Elves took advantage of the Aesir-Vanir war to turn the tables and destroy the Light Elves.” She sat back with an air of satisfaction. “Sweet, huh?”
***
“Where’s Finn?” Dave asked without preamble, rising from his chair. Anger darkened his eyes.
“Are you really a machine?” she asked as she took her usual seat, facing him, and resting one booted foot on her knee.
“What?” he spluttered.
“Because, you know, machines don’t go ballistic on people when they don’t follow directions to an iota.”
“People? You mean you and Finn?”
“What, we don’t count as people?”
“John Grey and his Stabilizer? You’re more like wild cards in a never-ending game.”
“And what’s the game, Dave? Can you at least tell me that?”
“Oh, come on.” Deflated, Dave sat down. “We’ve talked about this a thousand times. Where the hell’s Finn?”
“On his way.” She’d left him picking out provisions from the weaponry, under Jeff’s bemused gaze, in preparation for visiting the dragon’s nest. “Tell me, Dave. What are the Dark Elves up to?”
He blinked. “What?”
“I know you’ve been here for centuries and no contact, but I somehow don’t think creatures like those make short-term plans. In fact, I’m pretty sure their long-term plans are really long, long-term ones, and you must know something about them.”
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, Dave.” She leaned forward, flicked a speck of dry mud from her boot, saw his eyes narrow. “I know you. Robot or not, you can’t lie to me. You have ticks.”
“Ticks?”
“Yeah. You’re humming and rubbing your hands together. Dead giveaway.”
Dave looked at his hands and put them down.
Ella: score.
“They want to keep the Gates closed,” Dave said. “You know that.”
“Due to the kindness of their hearts.” Ella nodded. “Their inherent need to protect all the worlds from the Light Elves’ insatiable greed.”
“Yes, but—”
“Leaving their valuable Guardians stranded with no way of contact, looking out for any John Grey randomly appearing in any world.”
“No, that’s not—”
“And due to their burning need for revenge, because the Light Elves destroyed the Dark Elves’ world and made them their slaves — well, until the Dark Elves revolted and cunningly found a way to gain the upper hand and take control of the universe. Tell me, Dave, am I missing some important detail or have I covered it all?”
He scowled. “The Dark Elves’ world was destroyed thousands of years ago. Aelfheim is now their home.”
“But if they had John Grey, they’d be able to return, wouldn’t they?” She saw his face twist as she asked the question, and knew she’d hit home. “Were they looking for him, all those centuries ago? They knew what he’d be like, because they had the records the Light Elves lost. They’d know he would appear to have no magic, that he’d be an outcast. They’d have kept their eyes open and waited until they found him. How am I doing so far?”
“Shut up.” Dave rubbed his thumb over his eyes. “Why do you think they’d tell someone like me their plans? This is bullshit.”
“They wouldn’t be able to hide something this big forever. I’d read about the worlds but hadn’t paid much attention to the fact that they have a world named after them. Svartalfheim. Dark Elf Home. That’s where they want to go back to.”
“They can’t.” Dave shook his head.
“And why’s that?”
“The worlds have moved and Svartalfheim has rolled far down.”
“Toward the roots of the tree?” Ella blinked. “Toward Helheim, where the snake dwells?”
“Yeah, the roots. Whatever.” Dave lifted a brow. “You don’t honestly believe the nine worlds hang on a tree, do you?”
Heat rose to Ella’s face. “No, of course not.” Actually, yes. Would that be weirder than any of the other things happening? “It’s just an image that’s easy to remember. So how does it work?”
Dave began ordering his pens in front of him, still humming. Was that a sign he might explode? “The worlds rotate and float in the Grey like fish caught in a net. Occasionally they approach each other and the Veil between them is thinner, making the opening of Gates easier. That’s probably what happened half a millennium ago with Aelfheim, and now again.”
; Jesus. “And why would Svartalfheim drift so far away while Aelfheim stayed close and personal with us?”
“It’s my guess that the more often Gates open between two worlds, the stronger the tether keeping them together is.” Dave shrugged. “But it’s only a supposition.”
“So unless Svartalfheim drifts closer, not even John Grey can open a Gate through to it, is that right?”
“Yes.”
Would that be where the Weaver came into the picture? Move the loom, set the worlds into a different trajectory, shake them up and create new alignments. Finn had said the spells imprisoning whole worlds were being lifted by the Weaver — so what did it mean? Was the Weaver already moving the worlds around, making it easier for the Ettin and the other creatures to come through?
But before she could even put that thought into words, the door to Dave’s office opened and his secretary entered, her face red.
“Attack,” she gasped. “We’re under attack!”
Ella shot to her feet, hands going to her knives. “Where?”
“Who’s attacking us?” Dave hurried around his desk.
The secretary bent over, panting. She sniffled. “They say it’s Shades.”
Oh fuck.
***
Ella advanced down the corridor, her gun cocked, Dave at her back. The secretary’s sniffles faded behind and the sounds of fight filtered through. She knew which way to go. The weaponry. That was where Finn was.
A guy limped past, blood dripping down his face from a cut over his eye. One of their accountants.
Ella’s jaw clenched as she marched toward the weaponry, praying she wouldn’t face another fire giant, the Ettin bastards that had injected her with paralyzing poison the last time.
Her stomach dropped when she found the door wide open. “Jefferson! Finn!”
A roar answered her and she cursed. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of cover and into the room, gun raised.
A shadowy form lifted its horned head, blood dripping down its neck and craggy chest. Hoofed feet clacked on the floor as the fawn from hell took a step toward her, snarling — but the only thing on her mind was to know who the victim was. She tried to see, and the creature launched itself at her, horned head held low, like a ramming bull.
Boreal and John Grey Season 2 Page 17
