“Wait,” she said slowly, giving the bird her best smile. “Are you saying you’retheRaven? As in the trickster god?”
“Now you’re getting the hang of this,” the spirit said happily. “I knew you’d catch on eventually. Even after a thousand years of sleep, legends like myself live on.” He winked a black eye at her. “We’re the closest you mortals get to true eternity.”
Gag.
Marci shushed Ghost in her head, keeping her smile plastered as she wracked her poor, hungover brain to figure out what she was going to do. But while Ghost’s commentary had been meant for her, Raven looked up sharply, as if the spirit had spoken out loud.
“I see you have a cat,” he said, hopping up onto the arm of the couch, causing Ghost to hiss. “How fascinating. I have a friend wholovescats. He’s human, too. Maybe you know him?”
“I doubt that,” Marci said, scooping Ghost into her arms before he could take a swipe at the bird. “We’re all mortals, but that doesn’t mean we all know each—”
“His name is Myron Rollins.”
Her mouth went dry. “SirMyron Rollins?”
“See?” Raven said with a sly look. “Youdoknow him.”
“Who doesn’t?” Marci cried. “He’s one of the most famous mages in the world!”
That was a critical understatement. Sir Myron Rollins was more than famous, he was a legend. One of the first-generation mages, he’d made his own school of magic based around labyrinths. It was one of the most powerful and versatile forms of casting ever invented, at least in modern times, but it was so complicated that only Sir Myron himself had ever mastered it. Marci had given it a try herself in college, but after years of relying on the absolute certainty of Thaumaturgical equations, she hadn’t been able to make heads or tails of the delicate, subtle art that was Labyrinth Casting. She’d still read all his books, though. The man was a true genius of magic, one of the treasures of the age. And apparently buddies with Raven, who was basically agod.
She was struggling to find a way to phrase all of that that wouldn’t sound like fan-girl gushing when Raven leaned forward, his black eyes gleaming slyly. “Would you like to meet him?”
The franticyes!almost burst out before Marci could stop it. But while, under normal circumstances, she would have given her right arm to meet a mage like Sir Myron, this was all moving way too fast, and Marci had been through enough seer plots now to have a deep mistrust of anything that fell together too easily. “That depends,” she said, clamping down on her excitement. “Does he want to meet me?”
“Spoken like a true dragon’s human,” Raven said. “But why are you worried? I’d think a mage with a Mortal Spirit would have little reason to be afraid of anything.”
The constant shocks of this conversation were threatening to give her whiplash. “You know what he is?”
“Of course I know,” Raven said. “I know everything, and my humans do as well. I’ve been feeding them all the information Algonquin doesn’t want people knowing for decades now. I can share it with you, too, if you want.”
Now things were gettingreallysuspicious. “That’s quite an offer,” she said, keeping a firm grip on Ghost. “But, not to be rude, how can I trust you?I don’t know what Sir Myron has to do with any of this, but if you really are the Raven from the stories, then you’re a trickster and a troublemaker.Why should I believe anything you say?”
The bird laughed again, but it wasn’t a caw this time. It was a warm, large, deep sound, and suddenly, Marci had the all-too-familiar sensation that she’d just poked a much bigger monster than she’d realized.
“You’re not wrong,” the spirit said at last. “When you’re as clever as I am, immortality gets a bit dull. Confounding humans has been my primary source of entertainment since you lot started walking upright. But believe it or not, that’s exactly why you can trust me. Unlike other spirits, I amveryfond of you charming little magical apes.Almostas fond as I am of making sure Algonquin’s plans don’t go according to script. She and I have never seen eye to eye on anything. Now that she’s put herself on the warpath in every way, my only logical choice is to align myself with the other side.”
Marci frowned in confusion. “You mean the dragons? But—”
“Dragons aren’t even part of the equation,” Raven scoffed. “They’ve only been in this world for what? Ten thousand years? That makes them the new kids on the block by our reckoning. No one but Algonquin even cares what they do. Honestly, I can’t even comprehend why she’s so obsessed. Yet another thing we don’t agree on.” He shrugged his wings. “So no, not dragons. I’m talking about the other power in this world, the one that was always meant to balance spirits.” He looked at her. “You.”
Marci arched an eyebrow. “Me?”
“Well, not you specifically,” Raven clarified. “I meant humanity. We spirits are the magic, but you’re the ones who push magic around. That’s a far more complicated relationship than anything dragons can lay claim to, and it’s why I’ve braved the serpent’s den to find and free the two of you.”
“Oh no,” Marci said. “We’re not prisoners.”
The bird gave her a funny look. “Really? So the multiple wards and vault doors I saw on my way in are just for decoration?”
That was all news to her, but Marci wasn’t about to admit to Raven that she’d just woken up from being passed out drunk and didn’t actually know where she was. “They’re for my safety,” she bluffed instead. “Heartstriker Mountain isn’t exactly a friendly place for people like me. But I’mnota prisoner. I’m here because I want to be.”
“So you could leave at any time, then?” Raven said, ducking his beak under his wing. “That’s splendid! I have your invitation right here.”
He pulled out a white card and held it out in his beak. Marci took it gingerly, eyes going wide. Sure enough, it was Sir Myron Rollins’s—as in sorcerer to the queen, chair of Tectonic Magic for Cambridge University, Master of Labyrinths, and undersecretary of magic to the UN—personalcard with hispersonalnumber and apersonal, handwritten note inviting her to brunch at some place called the Dragon Diner in Heartstriker, New Mexico at eleven thirty.
“Wow,” she said at last. “You weren’t kidding.”
“I never play tricks with something this serious,” Raven replied somberly. “And I knew from the moment I saw your spirit that the two of you are as serious as it gets.”
