“I plan on it.”
“There’s always the chance she’s not there,” Laina said. “I know what I saw. Nickelova was in Carlton City.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Jason said.
Selene kissed Jason on the lips. “Don’t be long. I expect to see you tonight. We have a date.” She backed away toward Laina and Meredith.
Silas considered Meredith. The relationship was still new enough that he wasn’t sure what to expect. Would she kiss him good-bye? Shed tears in fear of his life? React angrily to him going without her?
Her jaw tightened, and her eyes narrowed on his face. “Silas, get back here in one piece, or I’ll kick your ass.” She pointed a finger at his chest.
“Duly noted,” he drawled. “What will you do to my ass if I do make it back in one piece?”
“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” Meredith waggled her eyebrows at him.
After a moment of silence as Jason, Selene, and Laina exchanged glances awkwardly, Polina cleared her throat. “Shall we?”
Silas took Jason’s hand and then Polina’s. The corners of the witch’s mouth twitched. “This may hurt a little.” She scooped a handful of gold dust from the bag at her waist and sprinkled it over their heads.
Jason came apart first, dissolving into a swirl of glittery pieces. Silas followed, feeling his cells scatter to the wind, his arms and legs break apart. He was swept away until nothing made sense anymore. There was no up or down, awake or asleep… only the flow of liquid metal.
When he finally came together again, he inhaled long and deep. His cheek was pressed against cold stone, and his body felt rubbery, boneless. He blinked rapidly. Polina’s slippered feet came into focus.
“We’re here,” she said. “Thank the goddess. You two were heavier than I imagined.”
Silas had been wrong. Traveling by gold dust was not like being filtered through a straw. It was worse. Much, much worse.
“Here, drink this.” Polina brought a bottle to Silas’s lips. He drank greedily, sputtering when his initial thirst gave way enough for him to taste what he was swallowing. Whatever it was, it wasn’t water.
“What is that?” He stuck his tongue out, hoping the frigid cold would numb his taste buds.
“A potion of water lily root, orchid worm, and spirulina to speed recovery and combat altitude sickness.” She crossed the cave to Jason and brought the tonic to his lips.
Silas double-checked that his backpack was still on his shoulders, then pushed himself up on his hands and knees. He pulled his parka tighter around him. They were right inside the mouth of the cave, where blowing snow made the outdoors look like a winter wonderland.
“Come on,” Jason said, coughing. He regarded the bottle in Polina’s hand as if it were rat poison. He led them deeper into the cave, the cavern becoming darker and darker as they descended into the mountain until even Silas’s supernatural sight failed him.
“Allow me,” Polina said. The tip of her wand glowed to life.
“There’s a fireplace against that far wall,” Jason said. “If you hocus-pocus that thing, it will make it easier for us to see.”
Polina circled her wand and a large fire ignited in a Citizen Kane-sized alcove in the stone, bathing the cave in warm light. A carpet and sofa in the main chamber were covered in a thick layer of soot, although a frayed corner suggested it was once patterned red. Behind the furniture, there was a coffin-sized silver egg.
“She’s here,” Silas said. But Jason already knew as much. He was standing next to the metallic pod, running his fingers along its shell. The thing was eerily lustrous, like an alien artifact, with plate-sized overlapping scales that reflected the flickering light of the fire.
Jason knocked on the shell. It sounded solid. Something was in there. “She’s got to be inside.”
Approaching slowly, Polina raised her wand, her eyes wide with distrust of the foreign object.
Silas slid the backpack from his shoulders. Once he’d freed the heart from its purple velvet bag, the egg vibrated, emitting a low hum.
“Did you see that?” Jason held his hands over the egg, grinning excitedly. I’d say she knows we’re here.”
“Are you suggesting the dragon fae has been inside this thing all this time?” Polina paced the periphery inspecting the scales.
“As far as we know,” Jason said.
She touched the egg, her face straining against some invisible force. “It looks like metal, but it isn’t. I’m a metal witch; I have no power over this. It’s biological, not elemental.”
