“The truck you stole?” He’s working on the knots around her ankles. “Down the mountain, where you parked it.”
“We need to leave,” she says.
“You need totake a breath.You just barely lived through that.”
“Was that really a dragon?” I ask him. My wings are convulsing. Shepard hands me a water bottle.
“Yeah.” His eyes are shining. “Isn’t she magnificent?”
“That depends,” Baz says. “Is she listening?”
“Definitely,” Shepard says. “She hears everything on this mountain.”
“How?”
He grins. “Because sheisthe mountain.”
We all look down at the ground.
“Dragons,” he whispers. “A herd of them. Asleep since God knows when.”
“We need to leave,” Baz says. There’s a low spinning sound, like a boomerang, and a pair of trousers hits him in the face.
Shepard looks confused. “What the—”
“Thank Crowley,” Baz says, pulling the jeans free of his neck. “My kingdom for fresh pants as well.”
Penny’s still staring at Shepard. “The mountains aredragons?”
Shepard nods. “Isn’t it incredible? Most of them are native. Margaret settled here a few hundred years ago, I guess. That’s why she wakes up; she’s used to a colder climate. But she says the others are stirring now. She’s excited to meet them—and nervous, I think.” His voice drops. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
“But she looks like a woman.”
“That’s just her public persona,” he says. “Sort of a magickal envoy.”
Penny’s free of the ropes. She folds her arms. “Take us to our car.”
Shepard steps back. “So you can wipe my brain again?”
“Why didn’t it work the first time?”
He shrugs. “Maybe I’ve been given too much pixie dust over the years. Memory magic doesn’t seem to stick anymore.”
Penny holds out her fist—I reach out to stop her, but she’s already casting.“That doesn’t ring a bell!”
Shepard lurches backwards, like he’s been decked in the jaw. He shakes his head and lifts it, his eyes clear and unglazed. “I mean, it doesn’t feelgood.”
Her hand drops.
“I don’t understand why you don’t trust me,” he says. “I’ve saved your skin twice now. I’m still your only safe way off this mountain—why can’t we be friends?”
“You don’t want to befriends,” Penny says. “It’s not like we all hit it off at a pub. You’re only helping us because you want information.”
“And that’s fine,” Baz says. We all look at him. He looks at Penny. “We can’t rescue Wellbelove on our own. We couldn’t even rescue ourselves. Weneeda guide.”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Shepard says.
Baz looks at him. “If it’s knowledge you want, you can have it. You help us find our friend, and we’ll let you travel with us. We’ll answer some of your questions. But you can’t share that knowledge with anyone else.”
