“Why is everyone suddenly worried about my dating habits?”
Thank the gods Wulver had the sense to interrupt this line of questioning. He directed a question to Fallon. “What information on the teacher?”
“Tec hasn’t found any info that would suggest why she’s targeted. The only interesting pieces of trivia we found are she was born the day of the Great Collision, and big brother isn’t as finished with the military as his family thinks he is.”
“What about fangwhipped?” Laire asked, bringing her hand in front of her mouth and using the first two fingers to mimic fangs.
“Who are you, vampire bunny? And no. There is no sign of it.”
“Laire,” interrupted Wulver. “What about her birth? If she was born around the time of the Collision, could that have affected her?”
“I would normally say yes. There were large amounts of wild magic, and a new life would be very susceptible to any effects. But by twenty-six she would have manifested any magical abilities.”
“I want you to keep researching that angle. It’s a long shot, but that’s a hell of a coincidence.” Wulver turned back to Fallon. “And Terak? Why is he so interested in her, and are we any closer to discovering how he and all the other races have gotten into the city?”
“No and no. We have all of our own people going over each ward individually, so hopefully we’ll know about that soon. But as for Terak,” Fallon’s hand did a quick triple-beat against her leg, an outward sign of frustration. “I don’t know why he was there, and I don’t like it, especially since I don’t have much more faith in gargoyles than I do necromancers. Right now sucks, because all we’re doing is sitting on our hands waiting for something to break.”
Wulver smirked at her. As glad as Fallon was to see him relaxed again after getting out of the blood bank, it wasn’t pleasant to have all the relieved energy directed at her, peeving her off when she was already in a sour mood. “Then be glad you have Merc to take care of in the meantime until something pans out. Any word on the Dream Crafter?”
“None yet, but she can’t hide forever.”
“And Rhaum?”
“He’s being his usual inscrutable self and making a crazy request as payment. I agreed to it. We need her. Merc is too good and has too many defenses against any of our other means to get to him. I wouldn’t want to go against him unless I had no other choice.”
“But has he committed to guarding the spellbook? He’s never done a job for anyone evil.”
“No, but he’s going to.” Fallon looked out the window, the occasional streetlight only deepening the gloom of the road in front of them. “And we both know why.”
Chapter Sixteen
‡
Knocks on the door tended not to mean good news these days, but Larissa rose to answer anyway.
Olivia stood there, carrying take-out bags with the name of a nearby Thai restaurant and emitted an amazing smell that started Larissa’s stomach growling. “I come bearing gifts to make up for not calling ahead.”
Larissa jerked her head. “You’re in. I’ll grab some plates.”
After food had been dished out and wine had been poured, the women retired to the couch to start their feast. “So,” Olivia began, “your car will be ready in two days. My friend was impressed by the damage you did.”
Larissa swallowed a spring roll. “Thanks. I was rather impressed to have caused it.”
“You know there was never any mention of an orc attack in the news, right?” Olivia waited until Larissa nodded to continue. “What is going on?”
Taking a swig of wine – fake courage at its finest – Larissa said, “Does this mean you are going to tell me how you know someone who’ll fix a car full of orc splatter?”
Without answering, Olivia stood up and walked toward the kitchen. “Olivia?”
Opening the refrigerator door, she held up a couple more bottles of wine. “With all the stories we are going to be telling tonight, I think we’re going to need these.”
Larissa lifted her glass. “Top me up.”
After wine was poured and they were once again settled, Larissa started. “I have no idea what’s going on. None. Zilch. I’m as in the dark as I was after I was attacked by zombies. The only difference is I know now that it wasn’t an accident. I am the target of all this.”
Olivia tilted her head, disbelief written all over her face. “How can you not have a clue? These people… this isn’t tiny, this isn’t a scrap of information you might have stumbled across in a book or the wrong person crossing your path.”