“I didn’t know you had proper manners,” Saxon says. “I thought your MO was to drop into people’s living rooms unannounced.”
“The old familiar has wards all over this property.”
“Of course he does,” Karl mutters.
Solomon opens the door slowly, and only partially. “What do you want?”
“It seems you’ve been keeping a secret from everyone, Corvicus.” Ryker braces his hand against the door and pushes it open all the way. He strides in, and we quickly follow.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this impromptu visit?” Solomon asks, looking at us in a cagey manner.
Karl steps closer to him. “The gag spell you put on me is gone. They know you have another Nightingale-made mirror.”
Solomon’s bushy eyebrows arch, meeting his hairline, but the expression of surprise comes and goes supersonic fast.
He releases a sigh, shaking his head. “I knew you would figure out a way to remove it. But it’s too late now. I no longer possess the mirror.”
He turns toward a wooden table and pours himself a drink that smells rotten.
“You’d better not be lying, Solomon,” Lucca snarls. “My sister’s life is at stake.”
Solomon tosses the drink back and then looks over his shoulder. “Yes, and so is Karl’s life. That’s something you vampires always seem to forget.”
“I didn’t forget it,” Lucca grits out.
“The familiar is not lying,” Ryker chimes in. “He…lostit.”
Solomon takes a step back, glaring at the warlock. “Stay out of my head, fiend.”
“How could you have lost something so powerful?” Vivi asks.
Looking ashamed, he turns away and pours himself more of his stinky drink. “I lost a bet and had to give up the mirror.”
“Son of a bitch.” Karl rubs his face.
“I would have come forth with the mirror if I still had it. Surely you know that,” Solomon adds.
“Who did you lose the mirror to?” Saxon asks. “Maybe we can get it back, or at least borrow it.”
He snorts. “Good luck with that.”
“Solomon,” Lucca says with a hint of warning in his tone.
“Fine. I lost the mirror to the Elder dragon.”
“A dragon?” I blurt out. “That’s just great.”
“Who is the Elder dragon?” Aurora asks.
“She’s the dragon who lives deep in the Indigo Mountain,” Lucca says. “I’ve never seen her, but Uncle Raphael mentioned her name on a few occasions.”
“She’s an oracle for the dragons. Old and powerful and, most importantly, as mercurial as they come,” Ryker replies. “Getting the mirror from her will require a miracle.”
Karl presses a closed fist against his forehead. “If the only way to open a portal to Ellnesari is using the mirror, we don’thave any other choice. We must head to Indigo Mountain and deal with her.”
“I can take you there, but I’d suggest leaving your girlfriends behind,” Ryker says.
Aurora places her hands on her hips. “What kind of sexist bullshit is that?”
