He looked over to Kody. “How are we going to find Ash?”
“We split off and search them all.”
Made sense. “I’ll start here.”
They had just stepped away from Nick heard a hiss.
“What are you doing in my garden?”
7
Nick froze, along with the others. At first he didn’t see anything.
Then a tiny …
No, it wasn’t a dragonfly. Slightly bigger, it was an actual dragon flying. Surely this wasn’t the dragon Xenia had told them about.
Laughing, he wanted to reach out and pet the adorable creature that couldn’t be any larger than his fist. “Hey, little guy. What you—”
It blasted a ring of fire between them.
Okay, that was a different story.
Nick held his hand up and deflected the flames. “Whoa! Little fly, what are you doing?”
It fluttered in front of Nick’s face. “Defending my charges. What are you doing, Malachai?”
Nick considered lying to the dragon. But that wasn’t his nature. Besides, with his luck, it’d know he was lying, grow bigger than a house, and eat him alive.
“We’re looking for a friend.”
The dragon floated to the ground and transformed into a teenaged girl with lavender eyes and bright red hair. There was something about her that reminded him of an impish elf. “Who’s your friend?”
“Don’t you want to know our names?” Kody asked.
“I don’t want to know you. If someone asks who was here, I’d rather be able to say I have no clue.”
That made sense.
“We’re here for Acheron Parthenopaeus.”
She choked on a laugh. Until she realized Nick wasn’t joking. “You’re serious?”
“I need him.”
“You don’t need anyone.”
Nick’s blood ran cold at the sound of a voice that was all too familiar.
Grim.
His heart hammering, he turned around to face his old mentor—and flunky.
“Grim … It’s been a minute.”
Standing in full armor, Grim had his hair slicked back on his head. He’d grown a thick beard that made him look like a villain.
“Way to stay to the stereotype. I liked it better when you looked like one of my teachers.”
