I tried not to look at Craig once we were back inside, and I avoided thinking of anything having to do with what happened out in the greenhouse.
Forrest was talking to Mama Lucy and Abby, but stopped when he saw us, and waved us over.
“We have a location for the sorcerers,” he told us excitedly. “We can head out as soon as tomorrow.”
“That soon?”
“The sooner we find them, the sooner we can get some answers and track down the rest of the shield pieces,” Forrest explained, frowning. “I thought you’d be happy.”
I smiled, and mentally scolded myself. I’m supposed to be happy, not thinking of my impending doom and the deaths of those around me if I wasn’t careful. “Yeah, no, of course I’m happy.”
“Good. We’ll be using another portal to get to this other dimension,” he told us. “It’ll get us there and then all we have to do is go ring the bell. Hopefully, with any luck, they’ll speak to us, and we can find out what they know, or if Malcolm left anything with them for the new Vindicar.”
Craig grunted, and I swore I heard him mutter something about risking the mission by being there, but he said nothing to us about staying behind.
“Good, and we don’t need to give them anything?”
“No. The second they find out who you are, they should be more than willing to help,” Mama Lucy sighed. “If not, give them this coin.” She took my hand and rested a heavy piece of gold and silver in it.
I frowned as I stared at it. “Is there supposed to be something on it?”
“Yes, but only they can see it. Don’t worry about what it says.” Abby was still sitting in the same chair, and she patted my hand warmly. “It’s just a message from one friend to another.”
“Friend? You’re friends with those old bastards?” Craig growled.
“As a matter of fact, I am,” she huffed. “They didn’t always used to be so stuck up. There was a time when they were as much a part of society as the dragons were, but then things changed.”
“What happened?” I asked curiously, as Abby’s eyes took on a faraway look.
I expected her to talk about some war or other that decimated the sorcerers’ numbers and forced them to hide away from the world. Or the plague even, maybe it had affected them, too and that’s why they put themselves in a dimension it couldn’t reach. What came out of her mouth next, though was not even close to what I’d been thinking.
“Once, a long time ago, I was quite the looker you know,” she started, and I smiled as Mama Lucy rolled her eyes. “Don’t start with me, Lucy, you know exactly what happened back then.”
“I know you stole the hearts of two sorcerers, brothers, vying for power, and if I recall you nearly brought down their entire brotherhood because of the feud that was started because you couldn’t decide which one you liked more.”
“Seriously?” Craig muttered.
“You have to understand, Abby was once the sole leader of the largest coven on this side of the world,” Mama Lucy went on. “Winning her hand would’ve meant immense power for the victor.”
“I couldn’t choose. They were both so ruggedly handsome,” she sighed. “And quite gifted.”
“So, you drove them to create their own dimension?” I asked confused.
“Not me all by myself, the other sorcerers did in order to steal away the temptation for any of the others to fall for a witch who caused too many problems.”
“And the brothers?” I asked through my quiet laughter.
“Well, they wouldn’t stop following me around like puppy dogs, especially after I finally decided I was better off on my own. So,” she said with a mischievous grin, “I turned them into dogs.”
“Wait, you!” Mama Lucy exclaimed, and then rushed off without further explanation.
Abby frowned. “Is she alright?”
“I’m not sure,” I said slowly until I heard the clicking of dog nails on the hardwood floor. “Harry. She’s bringing you, Harry.”
“Harry?” Abby peered around me as Mama Lucy returned with Harry at her side. “Greyson?”
“Not Harry?”
“What?” she asked me curiously. “No, that’s Greyson. You’re still a dog after all these years? Good gods man, did you forget to use your magic while you were biting your arse for fleas?”
I couldn’t hold it back this time and burst out laughing as Harry growled at her before plopping his furry butt down and staring at her intently. Mama Lucy glanced from Abby to the dog and seemed to be waiting for something.
“Abby? Will you just do the man a favor and turn him back.”
She crossed her arms and glanced away. “Not sure why I should. Damned fool could’ve turned himself back years ago if he’d been so inclined.”
“Are you sure about that because it’s been several hundred years.”
“Why yes, I made perfectly clear when I did the transformation spell that all they had to do was find the right ingredients to eat and they’d be fine.”
“Right, and you told them what they were, right?”
Abby opened her mouth, but then clamped it shut when Harry barked.
“Oh, you know, I might have been so annoyed at that point I forgot.”
Harry groaned in agreement and bared his teeth.
“Stop your whining, already. I’ll turn you back. Just hold on one moment. Lucy, would you be a dear and fetch me what I need?”
I glanced from Greyson—not Harry—back to Abby, observing the stare-down they gave each other. I was enjoying this little respite from so much talk about finding the shield and saving the world.
Watching Abby be confronted with a man who was essentially her long-lost lover was just what I needed to help make the smile on my face more real.
Mama Lucy returned a few moments later and handed over a bowl of hot tea.
Abby held her hand over it, whispering words under her breath before she set the bowl on the floor.
“There, drink up, and you’ll be good as new.”
Greyson lapped up the entire bowl of tea. He let out a loud burp when he was finished, and a dark purple haze surrounded his body.
It rose higher and higher, and a groaning of a man came from within the haze.
I spied two arms stretching high over the man’s head, and when the haze fell, an older man with dark skin, stark white beard and hair, dressed in navy blue robes stood before us.
His eyes were narrowed on Abby as she smiled back at him. He tapped his bare foot on the floor as the tension continued to grow between the two.
“Oh alright, I’m sorry I turned you into a dog. Happy?”
“Happy? Happy! You’re lucky your entire coven is here, or I’d be paying you back in kind, dreadful witch,” he grunted, but I swore I saw his lips twitch in a smile.
He turned around until he faced the three of us.
“You, boy, there was a reason I was drawn to you. You met with my brothers, yes?”
“Wait, I thought Lucy said you were a warlock?” Craig asked as he glanced past Greyson and frowned at Mama Lucy.
“Sorry, my mistake.”
“Doesn’t matter, what does matter is I will take you to them since you wound up bringing me my salvation… and potentially my revenge,” he added the last thrown over his shoulder at Abby. “I will take you to my brothers.”
“And they’ll talk to us? Tell us what we need to know?” I asked eagerly.
“They will, though they may not answer to him so well.” He jabbed his finger at Craig. “I would be more upset, but you’re the reason I no longer have to piss outside.”
“Well,” Mama Lucy said, as Greyson went to apparently go find the bathroom, “this day turned out better than I expected, I think. At least you three have a guide now, and with another sorcerer taking you along, they will let you inside.”
“Yeah, but will they let us leave?” Craig mused.
“As I said, if you get into any trouble, show them the coin.” Abby patted my arm to remind me.
I nodded. “Right, well then, I guess I’ll get some things packed up and make sure I enjoy one final night of a bed.”
“You shouldn’t be gone for more than a day,” Mama Lucy assured me. “Unless something goes wrong, there’s no reason for you to be gone longer than that.”
Crap, course not. “Well, you know things with us tend to go wrong, so I’m at least going to throw some things together in a bag, just in case. I’ll be upstairs if anyone needs me.”
I hurried up and out of sight, needing a few moments alone to gather my thoughts and find a way to block Forrest from sensing what I was feeling.
There was too much at stake now, and I was not willing to risk their lives, not if I could find a way to prevent it. We’d go talk to the sorcerers, but after that our plan was going to change drastically.
I would already have everything I needed.
The hardest part would be finding a way to go through with my plan.
And hope one day they could forgive me for it.