Page 32 of Wonder
The bartender came by to refresh our drinks and we thanked him.
The fox shifter clinked his glass with mine. “To successful journeys.”
“To successful journeys.”
He sipped and then put his glass down. “I’m headed home in the morning. New York City.”
“No kidding? I haven’t been there yet.” The King had kept to Scotland for the most part, which as the head of his Royal Guard, I appreciated. But it meant I hadn’t been able to see much of Earth. Until the portal closed, of course. I rubbed my finger along the bar top. “Like I said, I’ve never been to New York, but I wonder if I could engage your services to take a... friend back with you.”
He leaned one elbow on the bar. “It’s not cheap.”
“I have twenty British pounds.”
He smiled. “I’m listening. Tell me about your friend.”
I picked up my rucksack and opened it. After giving my own glance around the room, I pulled out thedèideag dìon.
The fox shifter’s eyebrows went up. “Not a very talkative friend.”
I ran my fingers over the runes on thedèideag dìon’sback, and they sparkled.
“Shit!” He looked around, but no one was paying attention.
I put them back in the bag. “They’re sentient. The Elves created them. They can take different forms, and if you know Elvish, they can communicate through the runes.”
His eyebrows drew together. “You’re sending them to someone in New York?”
I shook my head. “They asked to go. No specific destination yet.”
He sat back in his chair, running his hand over his stubbled jaw. “Okay, so say I take them with me. Then what?”
I smiled. “Well, they might stay with you, in which case you’ll have acquired a hell of a protector for your family. They love children. Or they’ll make it known to you that they need to be given over to someone else.” I spread my hands out. “It’s up to them.”
He eyed my rucksack before meeting my gaze, one eyebrow raised in challenge. “What if I sell them?”
I shrugged. “They have some foresight skills. They asked to be brought here and to fly away. Whatever you do with them, they’ll already know it’ll happen.”
He cursed under his breath and leaned back on his stool. After taking a hefty swallow of his drink, he turned back to me and nodded. “I don’t have a family of my own yet, but I like the sound of a protector for my loved ones. You’ve got a deal.”
“Thank you.” I was relieved thedèideag dìonwould be on the path they were meant to take, but I dreaded losing the only companion I’d had for the last fifteen years. I’d have to remember to take a photo of them before they left.
Jimmy gave me another up and down look, but this one was much flirtier. “The vampires I met during the war, they told me if I let them feed from me, it would be... pleasurable.”
I gave him a once-over back. “It can be.”
He drained his drink. “Prove it.”
CHAPTER 9
RENO
Tucker leftto go home and get cleaned up. I promised I’d call him if we had any developments. Meg woke up a few minutes later, gasping and shrinking away from me and Jackson.
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe.”
She clapped a hand to her now-healed neck, pulling it away again to inspect it, probably for blood.
“You’re healed. You lost a lot of blood, though, so you’ll want to eat as much as you can and drink a lot of water.”
