“No need for that,” Bob said cheerfully. “My lady love and I were actually just leaving. We have a very busy schedule of cryptic proclamations and appearing where we’re least expected to get back to. But before we go, I have one final word of advice for Marci ‘the Merlin’ Novalli.”
Marci winced inwardly. Here they went again. “Is it going to make sense this time?”
“It’s very simple,” Bob said as he released his hold on her neck. “Even a mortal can do it.”
“Okay,” Marci said, turning around to face the dragon. “What is it?”
Instead of answering, the seer walked back to his car, placing his pigeon on the dashboard as he dropped into the leather bench seat and cranked the ancient engine. When it finally sputtered to life, he backed out, forcing them all to step out of the way as the giant Buick rolled backwards and turned around. When he was aimed at the parking lot’s exit, Bob stopped the car and rolled down the passenger window, motioning for Marci to come closer.
Shaking her head at the ridiculousness of it all, Marci obeyed, walking over to stand beside him. This was apparently not close enough, though, because Bob kept waving, beckoning her closer and closer until she was leaned over with her head practically inside the car’s window.
“What?” she growled.
The seer smiled wide. “Duck.”
She jerked back in surprise, but Bob was already peeling away, squealing his tires as he floored it out of the parking lot just in time before the wave of dragon fire crashed down.
***
After that, everything happened at once.
Marci had barely had time to move, let alone duck. She hadn’t even fully registered the heat of the explosion blasting down from above her head before the flames were washing over her. But just as the shock of the light and heat was hitting her brain, they both vanished as suddenly as they’d appeared, replaced by an equally intense wave of grave-cold dark.
Like everything else, the change happened so suddenly, Marci didn’t even get to the point of trying to guess what was going on. She just looked up, eyes wide, and stared.
Just as when Conrad had flown overhead, the entire diner parking lot was thrown into shadow, but this time, it wasn’t because of a dragon. On the other side of the street, the bright desert sun was still beating down, but not on her. It was as though night had fallen just on this one particular corner of the parking lot, and standing at its center was the Empty Wind, his hand raised like a shield above Marci’s head.
That was close.
“Tell me about it,” Marci muttered, looking around at what appeared to be their private bubble of dark. “What happened? Where’s everyone else?”
I could not take them to this place,the spirit said, the glowing blue eyes narrowing inside the empty dark of his helmet like he was furrowing his unseen brows.I’m not even sure how I got you here, but we cannot stay.
“Why not?” Marci said, looking around at the bubble of night with growing excitement. “This is incredible! Did we jump planes or something?”
I don’t…I’m not…The soldier stumbled, almost like he was fainting, and Marci rushed to catch him.
“Oh no,” Marci said, grabbing his freezing body. “No, no, no. Stay with me!”
But the spirit was already fading, vanishing before her eyes as the hot sunlight began to creep back in.I’m sorry, Marci,he whispered, slumping to his knees.I pushed too far.
“It’s okay,” she said, going down with him. “We’ll fix it. Just tell me how.”
The fading spirit shook his head.I don’t know. I don’t know where to go. I just…I need…He looked up, his glowing eyes pleading inside the empty helmet.Don’t leave me alone. We are all alone and forgotten here. You’re all I have. Please, don’t go.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Marci promised, grabbing his freezing hand with both of hers. “I told you already, I will never leave you alone, but the same goes for you.” She gripped him tighter. “We’re going to get you fixed up, Ghost. Just stay with me!”
She reached inside as she spoke, grabbing as much of Amelia’s fire as she dared and shoving it down their connection. His body got a little firmer as the fresh burst of magic hit him, but it was still nowhere near enough. Close as they were right now, Marci could feel the intense dragon magic—enough concentrated power to fund a month’s worth of her normal spells—fall into Ghost and vanish like a pebble down a well. And it was at that moment, when that huge pulse of magic disappeared into the Empty Wind like it was nothing, that Marci finally understood just how big her Mortal Spirit was, and what she was going to have to do to save him.
Yes,Ghost whispered, reading the answer in her mind.That’s it.He shrank as he spoke, his soldier’s body collapsing until he was once again a small cat that fit into the crook of her arms.Take us home.
“That’s where we’re headed,” Marci said, clutching the cat against her chest as the unnatural darkness lifted. “I’ve got you, and I’m going to keep you. You’ll never be alone again.”
She wasn’t sure if the spirit heard her. By the time she’d finished, Ghost had faded away entirely, leaving her kneeling empty-handed in the glaring sun directly in front of a giant, bloody, andverypissed-off-looking blue-and-orange feathered dragon.
“You,” Gregory growled, smoke curling from his mouth. “How did you survive? I hid in the sun. Iknowyou didn’t see me. How did you—”
He never got a chance to finish. Before the hateful words could leave his mouth, Marci shot to her feet, grabbing a fistful of Amelia’s magic fresh from the fire before pelting him right in the face with the industrial-strength fist version of her Force Choke spell.
