For now,Ghost replied with a yawn.Going to sleep. Need to conserve.He curled into a ball.Wake me if anything happens. Dragons can’t be trusted.
“Funny,” Marci said. “They say the same thing about you.” She patted the top of his transparent head. “Go to sleep, kitten. I’ll wake you when I’ve got more food.”
Ghost didn’t even give her an evil look for the kitten comment. He just fell asleep, his white body fading into the marble bar-top until it was gone entirely.
As always, that was a little unnerving. Not being a shaman, Marci had never studied spirits in depth, though from the reading she’d done after she got Ghost, she was reasonably sure that no one—or, at least, no human—knew where spirits went when they vanished. But while she couldn’t see Ghost, their connection was still strong and stable in her mind. That was as good as she was going to get for now, so Marci settled back on her barstool to enjoy her complimentary bottom-shelf booze and suck more magic out of the air to feed Ghost when he woke up. She was wondering if anyone here would stop her if she drew a circle on the lounge’s floor to speed things up when someone shouted her name from across the room.
“Marci!”
The shriek nearly made her fall off the barstool. She’d barely gotten back on again when Amelia slammed into her. “Here you are!” the dragon cried, picking Marci up in a hug that nearly cracked her ribs a second time. “I’ve been looking everywhere!”
“Nice to see you, too, Amelia,” Marci gasped. “Can you—”
“Oh, right, sorry,” Amelia said, letting her go. “I always forget how squishy you mortals are. But what are you doinghere?” She looked distastefully at the beautiful people, all of whom were now staring at them in awestruck amazement. “This is the lowest grade of human storage. Eye-candy only. Not that I object to decorative mortals, but it’s no place for a mage. What’s Julius thinking, letting you rot in here?”
“I don’t think he knows,” Marci said, trying not to look as smug as that comment made her feel. “He was supposed to pick me up thirty minutes ago, but he’s not answering his phone, so they stuck me in here.”
Amelia looked appalled. “Hestood you up?!”
“No, no!” Marci said, raising her hands. “That’s not—”
“That littlebastard,” Amelia growled, clenching her fists. “A treasure like you should be jealously guarded, not taken for granted. I’ll wring his scrawny neck!”
“Please don’t,” Marci begged. “Really, I’m fine. He’s just super busy, and it’s not like I had anywhere special to be. Thanks for boosting my ego, though.”
“You’re welcome,” Amelia said, her anger vanishing so fast, Marci was now certain it had all been for show. “So are you ready for me to bust you out of here?”
“God, yes,” Marci said, grabbing her bag. “If I have to listen to another perfect ten brag about she belongs to an H, I’m going to set something on fire.”
“I would pay to see that,” the dragoness said. “But funny as it would be to watch you torch Bethesda’s human fish tank, I think we’d better go. The drinks here are an insult to alcohol.”
She made a retching face at Marci’s half-empty glass and put out her hand. The moment her fingers extended, the air in front of them peeled open, creating a perfect doorway in the empty space beside the bar.
“Come on, baby,” Amelia said, stepping through the portal. “Let’s move up in the world.”
Marci couldn’t follow her fast enough. She tossed down a tip for the bartender and jumped after Amelia. But when she glanced back for a final check to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, something was already in her seat.
It happened so quickly, it took Marci’s brain several seconds to recognize the big black shape on the barstool was abird. A very large bird with jet-black feathers, a black beak, and glossy black eyes that were looking at Marci with obvious intelligence. If it wasn’t for the size, she’d have sworn it was a raven. Or possibly a crow, she’d never been able to tell the two apart. Either way, the bird perched on her stool was too big to be either. It was closer to the size of a medium dog, which only made the situation odder since the bartender—who’d swooped in to collect his tip the moment Marci left—didn’t seem to notice the bird at all. The bird didn’t seem to notice him, either. It was staring through the portal at Marci, turning its head to look at her with each of its beady eyes before the doorway twisted itself shut.
“Marci?”
She jerked her head up to see Amelia staring at her in concern. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Marci said, running her hand through her short hair. “It’s just… did you see a bird just now?”
“A bird?” Amelia shook her head. “No way. Most animals won’t come near the mountain. Too many predators.” She frowned. “What kind of bird was it?”
“A big one,” Marci said. “And it was looking at me.”
She knew how stupid that sounded the moment it was out of her mouth, but Amelia just nodded as though seeing giant birds appearing from nowhere made total sense. “I was wondering when the scavengers would start showing up.”
That didn’t make Marci feel better. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing you need to worry about at present,” Amelia said, glancing around at the huge, empty stone room she’d portaled them to. “Right now, we’ve got places to be.”
“Where are we going?” Marci asked, hurrying after her.
Amelia grinned over her shoulder. “With me? Where do you think? We’re going to a party!”
