Part 27 (1/2)

”We'd better decide fast,” I said.

”We defend Nash from physical attack,” Mick said. ”He's our primary objective. When the others exhaust themselves trying to keep each other from the pot, then we disable them and decide what to do with it.”

”What about if dragons join in?” I asked, looking up.

Mick snapped his attention to the sky. Two giant silhouettes blotted out the starlight, both with wings spread. One dragon was midnight black-Drake-the other fiery red-Colby, still under compulsion to obey.

Drake's fire streaked down and caught Nash's black F250. The impact lifted the truck a few feet into the air before dropping it again, the entire truck engulfed in incandescent flame.

Dragon fire was magical, so it couldn't hurt Nash directly, but it could incinerate the truck he was in, or push it over the edge of the road into the canyon.

I started running. Mick didn't follow, and before I'd made it halfway to Nash, Mick shot into the air on colossal wings. He headed for Drake, his cry of challenge splitting the air.

Nash kept on driving, despite the fire dancing through his pickup. He was not going to be happy about this. He loved that truck.

Once Nash was on flat ground, he pulled onto empty dirt, leapt out, and started squirting the pickup with a fire extinguisher. Gabrielle broke away from Grandmother and ran for him.

I doubled my speed as Beneath magic glowed around Gabrielle, but when she reached the truck, the wash of Beneath magic she released only put out the fire.

Nash shut down his compact fire extinguisher and stood with it hanging from his hand.

Perspiration streaked his face, and his jeans and sweat pants were singed and soot-stained.

”Thanks,” he said to Gabrielle.

”Where's Maya?” Gabrielle asked.

”Not here,” Nash answered curtly. Maya was not a fan of Gabrielle, who had once taken Nash hostage. ”I wasn't going to bring her to a meet like this.”

”Did you have to lock her in a cell?” I asked.

”Yes.”

I grinned. ”Can I watch when you let her out? Please?”

Nash gave me a withering look. ”Why the h.e.l.l did you ask me to bring this thing to you?

The dragons followed me the minute I left town.”

I should have figured Drake was clever enough to realize that Nash was the logical person to watch over the artifact. Drake had probably commanded Colby to keep tabs on him.

”It's time to decide what to do with it,” I said.

Gabrielle looked puzzled. ”You're not going to destroy it, are you? Something like that would be useful.”

”That's exactly why.”

Gabrielle pretended to pout. ”What, you still don't trust me?”

”No.”

She laughed and put her arm around my shoulders. ”You are so smart.” Grandmother was hobbling toward us, Elena at her side. Emmett continued to face Bear, who stood calmly, waiting.

Except that now two men faced Bear. The second was Pericles McKinnon.

How he'd gotten here, I didn't know, but he was a good mage, and I'm sure he had plenty of tricks in his repertoire. Emmett adjusted his gla.s.ses to look the other man up and down.

”They won't wait long,” Grandmother said. ”Whatever it is you're going to do to stop this, you'd better do it now.”

”I'm not going to do anything,” I said.

”You can't let either one of them touch that vessel. They'll unleash forces too large to handle, not to mention they'll try to kill every one of us. Yes, the pot will drain them, but they can do a world's worth of damage before then.”

”I don't intend to let anyone grab the pot, Grandmother. I'll protect it with everything I have.” I lifted my hands. ”But if so many people want it, they can fight it out. I'll be over here protecting my friends and family.”

Grandmother's eyes narrowed. ”What about Bear?”

”I think she can take care of herself.”

Bear hadn't moved. She watched the two mages size each other up, but she did nothing, said nothing. She, like me, waited to see what happened.

Above us, the dragons circled one another, shooting warning jets of fire whenever any of the three got too close to the others. Dragon battles were so deadly, Mick had told me, that dragons didn't fully engage unless they had to. For now, they were watching, wary, Mick keeping himself between the other two and Nash.

The clouds on the western horizon slowly moved our way, coming down from the Chuska Mountains and thickening as they went. The thunderheads drove dust before them, lightning curling under the clouds. I felt the storm's fiery tingle awaking the earth magic in me.

”Letting the mages and dragons fight each other might release powers this valley can't contain,” Elena said. ”We'll be caught in the backwash.”

”But we are four of the most powerful women I know,” I countered. ”Between us, we can protect ourselves and Nash from anything they do.”

In theory. I knew Gabrielle was strong, but I didn't know how close Elena had to be to her pool of shaman magic to use it, and I still had no idea how Grandmother's magic worked. She had a vast well of earth magic in her, which is where I'd come by my Stormwalker ability, but I had never seen her in action.

”I like this plan,” Gabrielle said, sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

”Whoever wins the free-for-all will be weak, and we'll just kill him.”

”You aren't killing anyone,” Grandmother said. ”We talked about this.” Gabrielle shot me an appealing look. ”See what I have to put up with?”

”Could everyone please shut up and let me think?” I stuffed my hands into my own front pockets, finding the chamois-wrapped piece of magic mirror. ”Nash, will you bring it out?” Nash looked up from checking the ammunition in his Glock. ”Why?”

”You don't have to hand it to me. In fact, please don't. But uncover it.” Nash scowled, but he reached into the truck's cab and retrieved the leather-wrapped pot from the seat. He set the bundle on the hood, opened the drawstring, and peeled back the bag.

His null magic so absorbed the pot's field that Emmett and Pericles, still eying each other, didn't look our way. The dragons didn't break their focus on one another either. Even I couldn't feel anything from the pot, which was fine with me.

Moonlight picked out the sharp outlines of the bear, the tortoise, and the jagged lightning. I wondered why Bear had chosen the tortoise and lightning. I'd love to sit down with her and ask her how she'd designed the pot, and even more importantly, why she hadn't told me she'd made it.

The light danced on the figures, which seemed to move themselves. Around and around they went, bear chasing tortoise, chasing lightning, chasing bear.