magical relic or trinket that could help me—particularly if it meant that I could stop the unicorn without killing him—but I couldn’t say the words. Chang shook his head as if he’d read my mind, and maybe he had. He was a dragon.
“I have nothing that would help you.”
“Would you tell me if you actually did?”
Chang gave me a little smirk. “I would. There is no love lost between unicorns and dragons. This plan is a bad one for him. Too much death. And if the Towers realize they’ve missed a unicorn, they might start looking for dragons again.”
A ghost of a smile returned to my lips for a moment. Chang was a very shrewd man . . . err . . . dragon. It was much easier to hide when someone wasn’t actively looking for you.
“Do you think he’s trying to free Lilith? He’s gathering and perfecting Death Magic. It’s the only reason I could think of for him doing this.”
Chang’s brow furrowed as he stared at me, his quick mind turning over my suggestion. “I think such a thing is possible with Death Magic, but I do not believe that is his goal. I find it hard to believe he would put trust in such a creature.”
“He’s insane,” I said with a shrug.
“That may be true, but I still do not think he would take such steps to put power in the hands of another.”
“Then what’s the purpose?”
“I’m sorry,” Chang said, shaking his head. “I cannot even begin to guess.”
I nodded, accepting his answer. Chang had given me more information than I’d been able to discover on my own. I’d keep digging and hunting this bastard until it was finally over.
Getting up, Chang grabbed my untouched orange and carried it over to where I stood. The old man took my wrist and placed the orange into my open palm. “Two things,” he started, the smirk gone from his expression. “First, I think you have a way to defeat this unicorn, but it means making a difficult choice.” He paused and stared up into my eyes, as if he were trying to read something written on my soul, and then he lightly sniffed the air. “You’re nearly there. I think you will make the right decision at the right time.”
“How do you know?”
Chang chuckled and released my wrist. “I am a dragon. We know these things.”
“And second?”
“Please, don’t come back.”
His words weren’t a surprise, but that didn’t stop the slash of pain that cut through my chest. I’d been visiting Chang for years for random magical items and words of advice. It hurt that I was no longer welcome in his underground domain. “Ever?”
The old man tilted his head slightly to the side in thought, his face scrunched up in a mass of wrinkles. “No. Just wait a long time.”
“Should I ask what a long time is to a dragon?”
The old man chuckled. “You’ll know.”
Nodding, I could accept his wishes. I might not like them, but I could certainly understand them. I clutched the sanguinello in my left hand and extended my right hand to him, not really expecting him to take it. “I’ve appreciated all the help you’ve given me over the years and I promise I won’t tell anyone your secret.”
Chang hesitated, staring at my hand for a second before he finally shook it. “And I have appreciated the entertainment you have given me over the years. I am also disappointed that I never got the other two rivers from you.”
A bark of unexpected laughter jumped from me, knocking my head back as I released his hand. Chang was always so damn practical. He’d had his heart set on getting the complete collection of water samples from the five rivers of the underworld. So far, he’d earned only three from me and I suspected that I was the only living person in this existence who possessed the other two.
“I guess I’ll just have to use that as an excuse to gain entrance into your warehouse again.”
Chang shook his head at me, a rueful expression on his face, as I turned and walked slowly back to the elevator. Being banned from Chang’s hurt, but I liked to think that he was only keeping me out until the world was quiet again. Then he’d let me return. Of course, that was all assuming that I found a way to defeat an insane unicorn. My hopes were not high.
CHAPTER 9
I wished I could blame Chang. Or maybe Trixie, Serah, and