all repentant. His stony expression told me that, one, he’d not give up this idea; and two, he didn’t want to talk about it.
Colby regarded the pair of us with great interest. “So, Drake, is there a way to reduce a dragon’s lifespan? I mean besides losing in a fight against another dragon.”
“I could not find one.” Drake straightened the cuff of his black button-down shirt. Even his emergency-stash clothes were immaculate—silk shirt, dark slacks, polished shoes. “The only way a dragon can take on a human lifespan is to lose that thing that makes him dragon. If a dragon managed to split off the human part of himself into a separate entity and then put his sentience into the human instead of the dragon, he might live out life as a human. The dragon would likely die and the human would not have any powers of the dragon. He or she would become an ordinary man or woman.” Drake paused. “This is theory only. No one has managed to do such a thing. It would take god magic, and no dragon is foolish enough to place his fate in the hands of a god.”
I pointed a finger at Mick. “Don’t even consider it.”
I could picture him going to Coyote and asking for the insane favor of making him a normal human. Mick was a self-sacrificing kind of guy when he thought the sacrifice important enough. Stubbornly so.
Mick slowly shook his head, the dragon rage fading from his eyes. “I won’t do that. Living without the dragon in me wouldn’t be a life. It would probably kill me. It would be hard on you too, Janet, so no, it’s not a solution.”
“Glad to hear it.” I swept my glare over all three dragons. “Cease even discussing it. Like Drake says, who knows what my magic can do? How about we just take it one day at a time?”
“She’s so wise,” Colby said.
“Seriously,” I said, turning my stern look to Colby. “I’m not seeing at this moment how longer lifespans contribute to intelligence. The three of you are …” I made a helpless gesture. “Gah!” I turned and marched away.
I wasn’t sure where to go to make my dramatic exit, so I ruined it by dithering a few steps. I finally swept into the saloon, where the bartender, Carlos, was dispensing drinks beneath the broken magic mirror.
The sight of it reminded me of Emmett and his trickiness, which made me even more angry. I couldn’t sit around waiting for Emmett to attack me when I least suspected it or goad me into making a move that would destroy everything, as he’d done out at the vortex.
I gazed up at the mirror, who was humming to himself—he was following my father’s flute, I realized—the bits of glass tinkling faintly.
Flora, the new maid, had said she could repair it. I caught no taint of evil in her, but if Emmett had sent her …
I somehow didn’t think so—would Emmett trust even a minor mage around a powerful talisman he wanted? However, I wouldn’t make any assumptions about Flora’s goodness, even if Cassandra vouched for her.
If Flora could repair the mirror, I might be able to use that fact to best Emmett. The shards Mick and I had pulled off it were handy, and we’d keep those, but a whole mirror might be stronger than a broken one.
Emmett wanted this one bad, so why shouldn’t Mick and I figure out how to use it against him? I wouldn’t lose any sleep if the world was suddenly minus an Ununculous.
Carrying the battle to Emmett instead of waiting for him to strike sounded good to me. We’d need help, though. I asked Carlos for a club soda with a twist of lime, drank it down, then went in search of my phone.
***
Twenty minutes later, I was riding out of town on the back of Mick’s Harley, heading to Flat Mesa.
I was still seriously angry at Mick for his idea about shortening his lifespan, but we could talk about that later. Meanwhile, I’d told him my plan to interrogate Emmett’s men Nash had arrested to find out what I could. Mick watched me without expression as I spoke then agreed it was a good idea and said he’d go with me.
Drake, who had remained at the hotel, didn’t offer to accompany us. He made for the saloon and some dinner instead, telling Mick to call him when he tracked down Emmett and needed help killing him.
Colby had