the Black Mountains before we decided to split up. There’s a Sanctuary portal there, plus the kind of art community the dragons were hoping to settle down in. Turns out the portal in Taos was locked, so we’d have had to turn around once we reached it anyway. Are you suggesting the hounds were somehow influencing us already?”
She gave me an enigmatic smile and shrugged. “They’ve never failed to do what I commanded. It’s just taken me a while to understand how to word those commands. Gray’s caution is probably for good reason. I don’t want to stop you from following through on your plans. But even if I did, I think the hounds would recalibrate and send you there anyway. What’s your next step?”
“Track down Gray’s trail and try to find out why he decided to run,” Stuart said, setting his empty mug in a bin nearby. “But now I think it’s just a matter of confirming our suspicions that Chaos sent the Bane brothers chasing someone and Gray got in the middle of it. So unless you have more to add, we should get moving.” He dipped his head deferentially to Deva, who nodded back. Then I followed suit, sliding off my stool and bowing a little deeper. It was easy to forget we were in the presence of a goddess, and of all the deities I’d known, Deva was the most likely to answer prayers with action. She’d earned our respect.
“Llyr and I will stick with you guys for a bit if you don’t mind. I don’t want to sit on my hands if there’s something more I can do. I also want to observe the hounds, to see if my instincts are correct.”
We headed out into the rain, and after a few feet hunched into my coat, I realized the downpour wasn’t touching us. A glance back at Llyr only got me a nod and a half-smile from the normally easygoing satyr. The itch of Chaos in the air was enough to make me feel uncomfortable in my own skin, so I couldn’t imagine how it affected someone as sensitive to it as he was, but he still had the presence of mind to shelter us from the weather.
Stuart led the way with Deva at his side, and after walking a few blocks, we found ourselves on the doorstep of a swanky art gallery. Chayton stopped short in front of the window, gawking at the display so blatantly I expected to see a set of tits somewhere inside. A flyer pasted inside the window advertised an opening at the beginning of May and invited passers-by to come in for a tour of the artist’s studio. A photo of a pretty woman with a sunburst of curly blonde hair looked back out at me from the corner of the flyer.
What I saw when I looked up took my breath away. There were four pedestals, each with a handblown glass vessel in a different shape. Each vessel was overflowing with tiny flowers or miniature plants of different colors. The shapes and colors made it evident that the display represented the four seasons, but the level of detail and obvious connection to earth magic was what held me transfixed. Was she ursa?
“He came in here,” Stuart said, eyeing us as he held the door open.
Deva passed by, pointing at the display as she went inside. “Those were crafted by a member of the Bloodline, but one with a level of power I’ve only seen in two others. Zarya and Aella both possessed magic that strong but theirs was pure. Whoever this artist is has a combination of dragon and ursa magic. You see it, don’t you, Stuart?”
He nodded as we filed in behind Deva, then let the door shut behind us and joined us to examine the sculptures. “Gray must have seen it too. I have no doubt these were what brought him in.”
Deva turned with purpose, and I followed her to the counter set unobtrusively to the left of the entrance. The woman behind perked up when we approached. “Can I help you?”
“We’d like to meet the artist,” Deva said, gesturing back toward the window.
The woman opened her mouth, then closed it again, her gaze sliding to the rear of the gallery. “I’m sorry. Ms. Vincent is unavailable, and the hot shop tours are on hold for the time being. We had a…um…break-in last night.”
“Show us,” Stuart demanded, pushing between Deva and me.