Moon Shimmers(22)
Trillian did just that, arranging twelve slices of bacon on a foil-lined pan and sliding it into the oven while I poured orange juice and then hovered over the espresso machine that Delilah had bought me.
“Hanna, will you take the kittens to the vet today? They’ll need exams, nail trims, and vaccinations. Please?” I pulled four shots, adding caramel syrup, milk, and ice to the latte.
“Oh, all right. Honestly—this household gathers more strays than it knows what to do with.”
“Thank you, love.” Giving her a quick hug, I carried my drink over to the table. I was already feeling the pull of the Moon Mother, even though the Hunt would not ride until midnight, and it was distracting me. “We’d better find that spirit seal today.”
“You think Shadow Wing may know where it is?” Delilah asked. “Remember, the full moon is tonight.”
“I know. That’s why I don’t want to take any chances. I suppose we could wait one more day but if we know where it is, there’s always the chance that Shadow Wing will know. We can’t rest on hope that he won’t. He’s got one chance left to claim one of the seals and you can bet that he’ll be on alert for it, especially after we destroyed his faux Keraastar Knights.”
I fired up Petunia—the espresso machine—and began pulling shots. Five today would be a good start. “I use the word we loosely, of course, considering neither you nor I was there. Even though Menolly told us what it was like, part of me would like to see the Sub-Realms for myself.”
Delilah let out a choking sound. “Not me. I’d be happy if we never heard a word about the Sub-Realms again.” She was poring over her laptop. “I found some information about K’thbar but I don’t know how reliable it is. I called Carter, and he didn’t have much to add, though he did verify that K’thbar is rumored to be off the Puget Sound coast. He said that a number of water-born Elder Fae live on the coast lines, and most within swimming distance of a big city so that they have ready access to food. Food meaning people.”
“Lovely. This is going to be a load of fun. So, any ideas of how we breathe underwater? Besides a scuba suit?” I accepted a stack of pancakes and three fried eggs from Hanna. Our food bill was, as usual, steep, given just about every one of us ate like a trucker. Minus Menolly, of course. As I slathered the pancakes with butter and maple syrup, Trillian and Morio joined me with their own plates, compliments of Hanna. She brought over the bacon when it was ready.
“I found a way,” Roz said from the other end of the table. “A witch named Fresia. She lives up in Edmonds, and she’s originally from Otherworld. She’s a Water Witch and a priestess of the goddess Yemaya. She’s offered to cast the spell for us if we bring her a perfect pearl for each scroll. The ability to breathe beneath the water will last for three hours.”
“Perfect pearls, hmm?” I didn’t want to think about what this was going to cost us.
Shade, who was in the rocking chair near the stove, spoke up. “I can get them. Don’t forget, I’m part dragon. Dragons—even half-breeds—always have a hoard of some sort. I know I have a couple strings of pearls lying around.” He jumped up and put down the book he was reading. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He headed out the back door.
“Where’s he going?” Vanzir asked.
Delilah lowered her voice. “To turn into his dragon self. Since he lost his Stradolan powers, he can’t make the shift into the other realms in human form, remember?”
Vanzir clamped his mouth shut, nodding. We were all acutely aware of how uncomfortable the situation was for both Shade and Delilah, and did our best to make the transition he was going through as easy as possible. But sometimes, we forgot. At least Shade had been out of the house this time and not in the next room.
“Did this witch say when she’d see us?” Delilah asked.
“At eleven, so we’d better start out soon, given the possibilities of heavy traffic.” Roz held up a piece of paper on which he had scribbled what looked like a shop name, address, and number.
“Good going. I guess we just gather together the pearls and our weapons and get a move on.” I thought for a moment. “What weapons do we have that will work underwater? I don’t know that Morio and I can do much in the way of magic down there. I guess we can try, but we’d better take something to back up our spells.”
“Spears, swords, daggers. I’d say that hammers won’t be much good, given the resistance the water will provide to our swings. Anything that can stab will work. Poison’s no good unless it’s on a blade. I rather doubt we have any tridents or harpoons in stock.” Roz flashed a sad look at his duster, which was hanging over the back of the chair next to him.