Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,32
Don’t feel pressed to say yes. I truly want your input.” Herne went back to his notes. “Viktor, can you contact your friend Erica and see if she can field us a list of any missing-persons reports starting from last week? If we go through them and spot any likely candidates that match our list of victims, it might help both us and the cops. I’d call Maria over at the mayor’s office, but it would involve a lot more red tape than just going through our normal channels.”
“Will do.” Viktor made a note on his tablet. Erica was a cop in the Seattle PD, and she had been an informant for the Wild Hunt for quite a while. She and Viktor had never dated, but they were good buddies.
Herne turned to me. “How did things go with Morgana last night?”
I looked up from my notes, catching his gaze. “Well, it was informative, to say the least. By the way, I got scolded for whining about going to parley. Thanks for telling on me.”
Herne snorted. “I didn’t say a word. You have to know my mother keeps an eye on you since you’re pledged to her.”
“Gee, how lucky am I?” I said, then gave up. “Fine,” I said with a laugh. “She’s looking over my shoulder, then. Anyway, part of it, I’ll tell you later. But we talked about Typhon and his return and there’s more that I think you all should know. Unless you already know and I was just slow on the uptake.”
“What?” Herne’s smile faded and he straightened in his chair.
“Apparently, Typhon’s return spells the return of the dragons. He holds the key to unlock the door for them, so to speak. So not only will we be dealing with the dead, but also a bunch of dragons returning. I also found out that dragons can shift into human form, so we may not necessarily know when we’re talking to one.”
“Crap, I hadn’t even thought of that,” Herne said. “I love that my mother waited so long to tell us.”
“Dragons once ruled the world, long ago—or rather, they ruled parts of the world,” Talia said. “They were driven out with Typhon, good and bad alike. Hopefully, the good eggs won’t hold a grudge and will be willing to help us against some of their more aggressive kin.”
“What are dragons like?” Angel asked. “Are there differing kinds?”
Herne frowned, tapping his pen on the table. “I hadn’t even considered that the children of Typhon might return, but it makes sense. Their mother was Echidna and she was extraordinarily fond of humans, which is why some of their children and descendants like humanity and tend to be benevolent. Others, not so much. It’s rumored that Typhon destroyed her before he was driven into stasis, but no one knows for sure.”
“Morgana also said some of the gods are on his side,” I said.
“Unfortunately, that’s true.” Herne shrugged. “They’ll be working to undermine our attempts to drive him back. I don’t think this battle’s going to be wrapped up any time soon, and we—the Wild Hunt—will be dealing with the fallout for a long time to come. The gods are powerful, and we have weapons in our arsenal, but we aren’t omnipotent, any of us, and we can’t wave our hands and just make him go away.”
Talia frowned. “I almost wish I had gotten my powers back from Lazerous. Any resources we can find to help us would be valuable.”
Angel shifted in her chair. “Ask Rafé to work here. I’ll focus on my training. The more I can learn, the better I can help the team.” She raised her head, looking resolute.
“Are you certain?” Herne asked. “I want you to be sure.”
“I’m sure. In for a penny, in for a pound.” She winced. “Speaking of, I have a chiropractor appointment that I need to go to first, before Yutani and I look over Chaya’s route.”
“What time is your appointment?” Yutani asked.
“Eleven.” She rubbed her neck. “I screwed myself over last night.”
“We can stop at your chiropractor’s office on the way, if that works for you.”
She nodded. “That’s fine.”
Talia slipped out of her chair and opened the freezer over the fridge. She brought out a silicone ice pack. “Until then, try this.”
Angel gratefully draped the cold pack around her neck. “Thanks. I totally didn’t even think of using ice.” She winced as the pack touched her skin, but then let out a soft sigh. “That feels good, actually.”