“Okay. Let’s take a break,” I said. “Get some food, rest our eyes from all the damned green, give the paint a little more time to dry. Then I’ll start the checks to make sure we’re all set. And I have to let Mab know we’re ready.”
Lara looked as fresh as she had when we got on theWater Beetlethat morning. “All right.”
I nodded. “Mab,” I murmured, putting will into my voice. “Mab. Mab. We’re just about ready.”
I opened my eyes to find Lara looking at me.
“It’s a summoning,” I said. “Technically. At the level of power I used, it’s more like sending a page.”
Lara smiled faintly. “A page? Empty night, Dresden. You really don’t use technology, do you?”
“Yeah. No.”
We went out into the tunnel outside my new ritual chamber and my stomach felt better almost at once. I opened the rucksack, popped a Coke, slugged most of it away at a swig. It was pretty warm by then, so I covered my mouth and minimized the belch. Lara opened a bottle of water, rolling her eyes and smiling at the same time.
“All that green light, and the translucent walls. Makes me a bit sick,” I said.
“Is that what it is?” Lara asked.
I frowned down at the drink.
“You’re good at compartmentalizing your fear,” she said. “You’d have to be.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Well.”
This was going to be one of the biggest spells of my life. If I screwed it up, Thomas would get hurt. Maybe die.
I wanted my brother back.
I couldn’t do anything about Karrin.
I didn’t want to lose someone else.
The very thought made me queasy.
I had a sandwich and sipped at the rest of the Coke, and tried to think about the spell, and not what kind of bleak whirlpool might suck me back down if I screwed it up.
Lara nibbled at a sandwich that was probably healthier than mine, watching me with calm, curious eyes.
“I get knocked down a lot,” I said. “This time it took me a while to stand back up. Right now…I don’t know if I could do it again.”
She stared at me.
I felt it. A thrill that went through my limbs. The intensity of her gaze was tactile.
“I’m more at peace with my Hunger than I’ve ever been,” Lara said. “In centuries. I can feel myself…expanding. It’s a freedom I’ve never allowed myself to so much as dream about.” Her eyes flickered lazily, paler for a moment. “But perhaps you shouldn’t show me that kind of weakness while we are alone.”
I shifted my hips uncomfortably. “Yeah,” I said. “Maybe not.”
“Besides,” she said. “If you have to do it, you will. You’re too stubborn for anything else.”
“Hey,” I said. “Did I ever thank you for saving my ass, the night of the battle? That kick.”
She took a bite of her sandwich and smirked. “I do rather wish someone had got that one on camera.”
“Ah, everyone would say it was special effects.”
“I want to critique my form. It was supposed to cave her head in.”
