Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [113]
I was there, Maudi. He didn’t answer me either. Then you vanished and I raged.
She frowned at her familiar. ‘What did you just say?’
Maudi, your attention span is getting shorter by the moment.
‘Just say it again, sweetheart.’
Which part? Jarrod didn’t answer. You vanished; I raged?
‘I vanished because they called me.’ She drummed her fingers on her chin. ‘They called me.’
Now you’re repeating yourself. Please tell me it’s intentional.
She laughed. ‘That’s the one thing we haven’t tried! We haven’t done a calling on him.’
I thought you said it was a horrific experience you wouldn’t wish on an enemy let alone a friend.
‘Did I say that?’
Precisely that.
She pushed him off balance with her bare foot and he spun on her, playfully slapping her shoulder with a sheathed paw. ‘But, Drayco, listen! A calling is exactly what we need to do.’
Correct me on this, but if the calling fails to bring Jarrod to us, don’t we go to him? What if he’s a billion tiny molecules spread across the galaxy? It would make it difficult to continue our quest, in such a state.
‘Good point.’ She didn’t speak for some time. ‘We can call the translated notes. They are here. Kreshkali wouldn’t destroy them after what we went through to find them in the first place.’
And then?
‘We read the message from Janis Richter and activate the spell. We bring Jarrod back, if we can.’ She sat up, her eyes locking onto Drayco’s. ‘Let’s find the transcripts first. We don’t have much time.’
Maudi? Do we dare?
We dare! She sent the answer directly to his mind, tuning into her surroundings, shielding her thoughts.
Kreshkali and Teg are gone. An’ Lawrence is asleep, finally. Grayson’s in his workshop and the library is empty.
Hotha?
Can’t tell. Not in the library.
You think the transcriptions are still there?
I do, and most likely inside her grimoire.
Are you certain?
There’s a quick way to find out without risk.
A horary chart?
That’s the one. Mark the time.
You best do that, Maudi.
Done. The question is, Where is Kreshkali’s grimoire, and the transcription of Janis Richter’s notes? She grabbed her compass and opened the door wide enough to look both ways. The hall was deserted and she and Drayco slipped down the stairs, silently making their way to the library.
Why so much stealth, Maudi? You’re actually crouching, which I wouldn’t think possible in your condition.
I’m about to do a horary chart to find Kreshkali’s grimoire. Worth a crouch, don’t you think?
Perhaps. Or we are simply going to the library for a read, to create natal charts for speculated birth times? It might seem plausible and attract less attention.
Good thought, Drayco. She straightened and relaxed her stride. I’m feeling guilty, is all.
In this case, Maudi, there is ample cause.
Teg loped up the hillside, tracking Kreshkali high above. She let out a long slow whistle and darted into the cover of the trees.
They’re headed right for you, Teg. Twenty strong, with five hundred more on foot to follow.
It seems La Makee was unable to stop the wars after all.
I’m starting to think she never intended to.
Mistress?
She delayed them. And Jarrod’s loss led to the calling that unleashed Drayco’s rage…
Makee planned all that?
She might have.
Ingenious, but why?
I’m not sure yet.
Do we warn Temple Dumarka?
I imagine they would hear this lot coming already with the noise they’re making. This is a diversion, Teg.
From what?
From whatever that demon witch is up to. Makee wants us focused on Corsanon’s movements and not hers.
Then we’d better find her. Teg stopped in a clearing.
Get out of sight, Teg. Now! There’s a lad on a grey mare about to spot you.
Teg darted into the tree cover and froze, watching the scouts pass. He startled, recognising the rider. He’d been on the side of the road, handling a black horse the day he and Rosette drove past in the carriage. Was it only two days ago? He backed further into the shrubs, his eyes shifting