Finally, Amanda's shoulders slumped, and she sighed. "All I see is blue babies. People are holding them, swaddled, but I can't see the faces of the adults. Just a sea of blue babies."
"Okay." I patted her on the knee. "Thank you for coming. You've been a big help."
She stood but didn't walk away. “Could I see my father?"
Zander hesitated. "Come. I can arrange a virtual visit, but nothing more."
I gave her a little wave as they walked out the door. "How can he risk them seeing each other? What if Dumadi tells her where he is?"
Roan groaned. "Have a little more faith in us than that. He doesn't know where he is."
"Ah, I should've known." I chuckled and leaned into him as he put his arm around me. "That makes it make more sense."
We walked slowly back to the portal room upstairs. We were just about to go through when Zander came running into the room. "I left Amanda with a guard. They're carefully recording what Dumadi and Amanda say, but I had to come tell you. They finished the portal. Dumadi can contact the good Leyak."
13
They gotme all raring and ready to go, and there wasn't anything to go do yet.
We got Mrs. Grunst safely back to the castle, and everyone gave Alex a quick snuggle and kiss. As we did that, I called Riley so she could be kissing her own babies and children.
Zander arranged for Laura to meet us while Cindy went to provide witchy-travel abilities to Riley and her mates.
We all met up at Dumadi's prison house just in time to sit around. "I thought you said it was done?" I grumbled. My stomach growled about that time.
"Come on," Riley said. "Surely there's food in the kitchen."
"It is done," Dumadi called through the door. "But this isn't an instant process. We have to find them." He was out on the porch, ready to talk to his people.
Laura and Cindy were out there with him, working the magic needed to open enough electricity for him to essentially call another dimension. Thank goodness Dumadi had known what was needed to do it.
Riley sighed and began opening cabinets. "Mac and cheese?"
I shrugged. "Sounds good." Comfort food.
Half an hour and a bowl of mac and cheese later, we were all huddled around the back door. "This is Dumadi," he said. "Is anyone there?" He spoke into what looked like an old-fashioned transistor radio.
A voice answered back, tinny and staticky. "Dumadi?"
"Yes!" He grinned at us and turned up the volume, speaking into it again. "Hello? Caroline?"
Nobody answered. We stood there for ages, it felt like, but it was only a minute or two.
"Dumadi," the woman's voice said. "You're alive? I can't believe it."
"Yes. I'm alive."
"Where are you?" she asked. "I've looked for you everywhere."
"I'm… I'm not sure, honestly. But that's not important. I need your help."
"Anything," she said. "Just tell me what you need."
"I need you to help us. There is a faction of Leyak who've done something horrible."
"What have they done?" she asked, her voice breaking. "What do you mean?"
"They've created a race of infants and fetuses that they plan to use as a weapon."
