Page 33 of Queens Will Play

“I wonder…Vanzir has connections with the Demon Underground,” I said. “He might be able to learn something there, at least about Desanguas.” I wiped my fingers with a napkin and dabbed the corners of my lips. Since I had discovered long-lasting lip lacquer, I had been a happy camper. Especially the metallic wine color I’d found.

“That’s worth a try. Meanwhile, we need to check out Marion’s house and, if needed, attack from the astral,” Delilah said. “You don’t think that the larvae have managed to attach to her, do you?”

I shuddered. “I hope not. I guess we find out and take care of it. I hate parasites.” Standing, I turned to Carter. “Thanks, Carter. Keep us updated, and we’ll call you with whatever we find.”

We took our leave and headed out. I thought about Desanguas. If he was after an artifact, there had to be a reason. So…were there places we could ask about lost artifacts that a demon might be interested in? Would anybody even have that kind of list? And while we didn’t want him to find it, the longer it took meant the more demons we were going to be fighting—and having to kill. Which meant that, either way, innocents would lose their lives.

“You look somber,” Trillian said as we headed up the stairs, toward the car.

“My nerves tell me this is going to be a rough go,” I said. “One that I’d rather not have to deal with. But it’s coming at us like a freight train. And we’re standing on the tracks,” I added, glancing up at the sky. The clouds had taken on an ominous glow, and I shivered as a lone raven flew over head, shrieking as it passed us.

CHAPTER TEN

When we dropped Delilah off, she leaned in to whisper to me, asking if I could come in for a moment. I was tired, but opened the passenger door.

“Is something wrong?” I whispered back.

“Yeah, there is, actually. I don’t want to say anything to everyone yet, but I need your advice,” she said.

I glanced at Trillian, who was giving us a puzzled look. “Wait here, please. Delilah and I need a few minutes of girl talk,” I said, following her up the front steps.

As we stood near the door, she said, “It’s about Chase’s ghost.”

“What about it? You said there wasn’t a problem,” I said.

“There wasn’t but last night, around three AM, something happened. I woke up because Astrid was crying. I went to check on her, and at first I thought I saw Chase standing there, near her bed. But when I looked closer, it wasn’t him. He looked a lot like Chase, but there was something off. For one thing, the spirit was green. But more than that…I swear it was a different side of Chase. He looked…mean, is the best word I can use. And when he saw me staring at him, he vanished. Astrid was crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said the ‘monster’ had been trying to hurt her.”

Delilah rubbed her forehead. “Could something have happened to change Chase’s personality? I mean, I know he’s dead, but ghosts aren’t static copies of their living selves. They evolve and think and feel.”

“If you think Chase might be trying to hurt Astrid, you have to do something about this,” I said. “Have you talked to Shade yet?”

She shook her head. “Shade’s not thrilled with Chase being around. I don’t understand why—it’s not like Chase is hanging out in the flesh.”

I snorted. “Listen, Shade’s half Stradolan, half dragon. But that dragon side’s always going to overwhelm the Shadow-Walker side of him. Seriously, dragons are territorial. And while Shade honors and accepts his place in the Autumn Lord’s plan, that won’t extend to anybody else. Just like Smoky. Our quad is made up of me, Smoky, Trillian, and Morio. But you should have seen him bark around Vanzir. Shade knows that you were briefly involved with Chase and I guarantee, that’s going to make him leery.”

Delilah had grown since she had Chamiya, but in some ways, she was still extremely naïve, and she had always been over-optimistic about people. Shade adored her, and he had braved his father’s anger over her, though his sister Lash assured their mother Delilah was an appropriate match. In fact, his father had disowned him.

“You think so?” she asked.

“Yes, I think so. You’ve even said he takes after Seratha more than his father, and she’s a dragon. And all dragons, regardless of type, are territorial. Anyway, if Chase is acting different, you have to figure it out. You can’t chance him hurting Astrid. Did Chamiya say anything?”

Delilah worried her lip. “She doesn’t talk much yet, given her age, but she looked worried.”

“Talk to Shade. If you don’t, and there’s something seriously wrong, he’s going to be pissed if you don’t let him in on it. I learned that the hard way not to keep secrets.”

With a sigh, Delilah nodded. “All right. Oh, by the way, Roz will be here tomorrow. I’m planning dinner for all of us.”

“I thought I’d go out to Marion’s tomorrow afternoon,” I said. “We need to come up with a plan to hunt down the shandigoes, but at least we know how to deal with them. Smoky and Vanzir can help us get out on the astral if need be. I’ll let you know what we’re planning to do—and it would be great if Shade could come too, given he’s able to travel between the worlds and we can always use more people who can do that.”

“Figure out what we need to do, and we’ll help. Iris can babysit, or Hanna.” Delilah turned to head inside. “I’ll talk to Shade. You’re right—I know it. I hate confrontation.”

“You’ll hate it a lot less than if you pissed off a dragon,” I said. I hugged her and headed back to the car.

When I got back home, two of my advisors—Esten and Tanbi—were waiting. They were older than me by a long way, and they had been Morgaine’s lapdogs. I didn’t like them, but if I tried to make sweeping changes too soon, I’d be neck-deep in trouble with the inhabitants of the Barrow.

Smoky was sitting there, glaring at them, but he said nothing as I entered the room.

“What do you need?” I asked as I allowed Cadance—Vine’s replacement—to unfasten my cloak and take it away.