be killed, I think, but it’s a lot harder than just getting rid of them in the first place. What Henny needs is a witch or sorcerer rather than us. We should refer her to Raven’s friend Llewellyn. My bet is that he’ll be able to get rid of the creature without a problem.”
I shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Let me call him up. I have his number.” I pulled out my cellphone and called Llew at his shop—the Sun & Moon Apothecary, a magic shop on the Eastside. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey, it’s Ember, from the Wild Hunt. We have a case that might be right up your alley.” I told him about Henny’s problem and the fact that we suspected a Gilding. “Can I give her your number?”
“Sure. I can’t come over right now, but I could make it after I close up shop.” He seemed to be preoccupied, and I guessed he was dealing with another customer.
“I’ll give her your number and tell her to call you. If you find out that I’m wrong and need us to come back, just give me a call. But I think we’re right on this one.” I hung up, then set down the chicken, who had made herself comfortable on my lap.
We stood and exited to where Henny was waiting.
“Your problem can be solved, but we can’t do it. I’m texting you the number for Llewellyn Roberts, who owns a magic shop. He can take care of the hex that you’re under.”
Henny’s eyes widened. “Hex? What hex?”
I told her about the Gilding. When we finished, we asked her to let us know whether the problem got sorted out and then returned to Yutani’s car. He opened the door for me, and we headed back to the Wild Hunt.
“I’m glad that it wasn’t a case for us,” I said. “Right now, we’ve got our hands full with Typhon.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind having an easier case for a change. I’m so tired of running after ghouls and vrykos and all the other undead. And dragons aren’t my first choice to head up my enemies list.” Yutani paused as he stared out the window. “We’re headed into a dark time for the world, Ember. I hope to hell that Talia and I can find some sign of Echidna and where she’s at because I have the feeling she holds the key to locking Typhon back up.”
“Me too, actually. I think she had something to do with his imprisonment. I don’t have anything to go on other than instinct, but I have the feeling that she disappeared so nobody could use her to unseal his prison. Which brings me to another thought. I still think he had to have help getting out of stasis. You don’t think she helped him, do you? And if so, is it a mistake to try to find her?”
Yutani eased the car onto the road and we headed south, toward the city central. “I don’t think she would. Every account we’ve found has her acting against her husband.”
“Then she might be in hiding because she fears Typhon going after her. Think of the revenge factor. He knew she was against him, and if he knew she helped the Titans to lock him up, then that anger would have festered all these years.” I shuddered. “Ten to one, he’s hanging out in the astral plane not just to strengthen up, but to keep out of her way until he feels he can fight her.”
“That’s a good point. If they’re both playing cat and mouse with each other, then we have to contact her and convince her to work with us.” Yutani veered off the street, into a drive-thru espresso stand. “What do you want?”
“Bless you. Iced large triple peppermint mocha.” I looked around at the people milling through the streets. “What happens to them if we don’t stop Typhon?”
“I don’t even want to think about it,” Yutani said. “So, if you were the Mother of Dragons, hiding away from Typhon, where would you hide?”
“Hmm…not in Greece. My thoughts are he’s got his emissaries combing the Greek islands looking for her, since that’s where they last parted. Somewhere high in the mountains, with deep caves. Does Everest have much of a cave system?”
“I know there are some around Tibet, but honestly, that seems a little extreme even for dragons. But…there are caverns all over the world. She could be anywhere. What else would she use as criteria for