Page 23 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
“I’m not sure what your rep is supposed to do,” I said seven minutes later, after I swore to champion all things dragon to the L’au-dela, and was duly appointed as their ambassador.“But if you think the people at the Asile won’t kick up a fuss about it, then I’ll do my best.”
“You can go in without a glamour,” Aisling said, glancing at my hair.I was currently wearing an appearance that closely favored my Spanish mother.“Just in case they can tell that you have one on, that is.”
“They won’t,” I said, not in the least bit worried about anyone detecting my true self.“I used to make glamours for the Sovereign to wear in Abaddon, and she said no one ever saw through them.”
“You’re the one who did that?”May asked, looking astounded.“I always wondered how Sally could march around being a demon lord without anyone noticing that she was also one-half of the Sovereign.”
“So, you’ll go in as yourself, our ambassador, and Jim will help in whatever glamour you put on it,” Aisling said, giving her demon dog a meaningful look.“We’ll wait outside the Asile in case you need help once you get Yrian out, and to keep any demons away should they find out where you are.Does that sound right to everyone?”
Murmurs of agreement drifted around the plane.There was a little discussion as we circled Paris before landing, but as it was mostly logistics of travel, and the dragons organizing protection of me from Candy and Andy, I didn’t pay it much mind.
I did approve, however, when two redheaded men met us at the plane, both of them positively bristling with swords, morning stars, and a couple of big battle-axes, passing them out to the dragons.
“Is something wrong?”The question, offered in a soft voice, dragged me out of the contemplation I’d fallen into on the two-hour drive to the building known to the Otherworld as the Asile.May, who sat opposite me in a lovely antique Rolls that belonged to Drake and Aisling, looked concerned as she continued.“I’m sorry if I was disturbing your concentration, but you look upset, and I wondered if you were worried about us protecting you.”
“No, I’m not upset.Just mulling over everything in my mind.”I sorted through my thoughts, my fingers absently starting another glamour, this one a backup for Jim.I was a big believer in backups.“Am I correct in thinking that Yrian has a lot of power?”
Silence fell in the car, with just about everyone looking at Baltic.
He raised one eyebrow, but said nothing.
“Please don’t make me elbow you in front of everyone,” Ysolde told him.
His lips twitched.
“You’re a big boy, Baltic,” Aisling said, one possessive hand on her dragon’s thigh.“I think you’ll survive doling out a little info.”
He looked like he wanted to dispute that fact, but after a moment of looking profoundly martyred, he said, “He is the first of the Firstborn, son of a fury and a demigod.He has power, yes.”
“Iceni was a fury?”Ysolde asked him, looking surprised.
“Who—” I started to ask.
“Iceni was the First Dragon’s mate, and mom to all the Firstborn children other than Baltic, whose mom was a dragon,” May told me.
“That is not correct,” Baltic said, his expression now thoughtful, as well.“Yrian and ...another of the Firstborn were the children of a fury.The First Dragon was with her before he found Iceni, who bore two more sons and a daughter.”
“A fury?Those aren’t around anymore, are they?”Aisling asked Drake, who shook his head.
“Not in the mortal world, no.I assume they are in the Beyond or some underworld,” he answered.
The dragons continued discussing that while I considered my options.I waited until there was a break in the conversation before saying, “My concern is not so much with who Yrian’s mother was, but whether or not he had the sort of power that meant I couldn’t easily hide his essence, if you will.Beings of power are harder to glamour.”
“You just said no one could detect your glamour,” Gabriel said with a little frown.
“I said the people at the Asile wouldn’t be able to do so, but I am not the son of a demigod and a fury, with what I can only imagine is a lot of power of his own.I’m concerned that if he’s all that and a pickle on the side, then someone devoted to security might be aware that a being of unusual abilities was hidden by the glamour,” I explained.
“But you did just fine with Sally,” May protested.“Like you mentioned—no one in Abaddon ever caught on to her true self, and she had a crap ton of power at that time.”
“Yes, but she gave me a fetish.”I dug through my memories of ten years or so in the past.“I drew on that when creating the glamours, and that gave both it and Sally the oomph she needed to pass as a demon lord.I don’t suppose any of you have something like a talisman or juju owned by Yrian?”
No one answered me.
“I didn’t think so,” I said on a sigh, and looked out of the window at the passing scenery.We were well and truly in the French countryside now, with the sun pouring down onto red-tile-roofed villages, crumbling châteaus, and verdant hills spilling down to silvery rivers.As we curled around a road that wound upward, I realized the cream stone building that sat atop had to be the Asile itself.
“That doesn’t look like a mental hospital,” Aisling said as everyone peered out at the building when we crested the hill and pulled into a cobblestoned parking area.“It looks like Drake’s château in the south.”
“I assume it was a château before the Committee took it over for the L’au-dela,” Drake answered, holding out a hand for Aisling as we all piled out of the car.“Nonetheless, I believe the artificer has a point.”
