He trailed off, but Marci was just staring at him, too afraid to speak. “I—” She stopped, swallowing against the terrible tightness in her chest. “You’re saying you can take me back? As in bring me back to life?”
“Absolutely,” he said, giving her a wink. “Why do you think Amelia begged for my help? Ravensarefamous for bringing back the souls of the dead.”
After having her hopes dashed so hard, Marci couldn’t bring herself to believe it. And yet… “Really?”
“Really,” he promised. “I actually made up that part of my legend myself. It seemed like it would be useful, and it has been. I’m glad it stuck.”
“So you can take me back,” Marci said again. “Actually back to life?”
“Yes,” he said, turning to Amelia. “Is she always this suspicious?”
“She’s been through a lot recently,” the dragon said. “And youarea trickster.”
“Not about this sort of thing,” Raven snapped. “I’m not cruel.” He turned back to Marci. “Yes, Miss Novalli, I am sincerely offering to bring you back to the world of the living. That said, since I’m not your bound spirit or even a true Mortal one, I should warn you the journey will be—”
“I don’t care,” Marci said immediately. “So long as I don’t wake up as a zombie, I don’t care what you do. Just,please, take me back.”
“I already offered, but your begging is noted,” he said happily. “Now, let’s get this—”
“Wait!” Amelia cried, jumping off the seal to dig her claws into Marci’s arm. “You can’t go yet!”
“Why not?” Marci cried, staring at her friend in betrayal. “You brought him here to do this.”
“Yeah, but not yet. Remember how I said this was all part of Bob’s plan? Well, he warned me about this. No one is allowed to leave the Heart of the World until we get the signal.”
Marci couldn’t believe this. “What signal?”
“I don’t know,” Amelia admitted. “But he said I’d know it when I saw it.”
“That’s it?” she cried. “That’sour reassurance? You’ll ‘know it when you see it?’”
“That’s all I need,” Amelia said firmly, letting go of Marci’s arm. “I trust Brohomir with my lifeandmy death. If he says something is important, I listen, especially since this was the only specific information he gave me about this entire trip. He said that if I got to the Heart of the World, I shouldn’t let anyone leave until I got his signal, and that I’d know it when I saw it.”
“And you believed that?” Raven said skeptically.
Amelia gave him a burning look. “Why do you think I haven’t flown off to find the vessel for the Spirit of Dragons yet?”
Raven sighed. “Good enough for me,” he said, settling down on the seal. “Looks like we wait.”
“You can’t be serious,” Myron said. “What happened to ‘we have to move now’ and ‘let’s hope there’s still time?’”
“Oh, that’s all still there,” the bird spirit said. “But when a dragon seer says you should do something, it’s generally a good idea to follow instructions. They see the future, you know.”
“But how long can we wait?” Marci asked, glancing at the scrying circle. “The DFZ will break out at any moment.”
“I don’t know,” Amelia said. “But it’ll be worth it. You’ve seen Bob in action. You know what he can do. Trust him.”
Marci covered her face with her hands. She was so close,so closeto going home, and now this. As much as she hated it, though, Amelia was right. Shehadseen Bob in action, and while she didn’t always like where his plans led, she’d yet to see the seer be wrong. If he said there would be a signal, then there would be a signal. The only question left was would it come in time for their plans, or his?
There was no way to know. With so many power players pushing their own agendas, picking out what was actually right felt like trying to catch a single snowflake in a storm, though it did give her renewed sympathy for Julius’s position. He had to deal with stuff like this all the time. If he’d been here, Marci was sure he’d already have a brilliant compromise that pleased everyone. But Julius wasn’t here, and if she ever wanted to see him again—ever wanted to bealiveagain—she was going to have to make a decision.
“Okay,” she said, letting out a long breath. “We’ll wait.”
Are you sure?Ghost whispered.
“No,” she said. “But while I’m certain Bob would have no problem discarding us all as pawns in his game, he wouldn’t do that to Amelia. If he says she needs to wait, then that’s how she’s getting out of this alive, and since that’s what I want, too, we’re playing along.”
And if we get played?
