sat at the head of the break room table. Grey sat beside me, her head in my lap. My stomach growled, but I'd gone so far past hunger that the thought of food nauseated me.
I couldn't eat. Not until I had Crwys safe with me.
"I think that says a lot if a Faerie queen is begging a Witch for help," Dharma said as she set the tea in front of me and sat to my left, where Ivan usually sat. He sat in the chair beside her, online and moving his hands in the air. I had asked him to keep an eye on what the police were doing at Ina's house. "Are Dragons that powerful?"
"I don't think any of us know," I said. "I mean, I don't know that much about Dragons. Other than what I've read in fantasy books or seen in the movies. We don't even know if Crwys can physically shift into a big huge flying…lizard."
"I'm pretty sure he can," Dharma sipped at her tea. "Given the level of fear you two saw with Tzariene, I'm willing to bet that's what they're afraid of. But for some reason he's not."
"Because she stuck an arrow through his heart," I said. I noticed the odd tone in my voice. It sounded dead in my ears and probably sounded the same in everyone else's. "I'm pretty sure the book Brendi wants is the Hammer."
"You mean the Malleus Maleficarum?" Dharma's brows arched. Her blue and pink hair looked extra shiny. "That book's with Parliament under lock and key and some seriously high powered spells. There's no way you'd be able to get to it without telling Cromwell what's going on. And even then he discourages all contact with Faeries."
-You really think the Parliament would help you?-
I cringed inwardly at the resurgence of that damn voice. Just when I thought it was gone, it always reared its ugly…uh, voice.
-Because I'm always here. Listening. I'm part of you now. But you already know if Cromwell discovers a Dragon exists, he'll do everything in his power to contain it, to control it, and to make it his, just as he would Ivan if he learned of that boy's true magic.-
"Don't ever mention that man's name," I said in a very low voice. I made sure it was filled with venom and hatred. It was meant for the voice inside of me, but since no one else could hear it, Dharma took my comment to mean her own suggestion of the Grand High Master's help. The little Water Witch sat back and chewed on her lower lip. "We're not talking to Parliament. Not ever about this. Parliament knowing about Crwys would be as dangerous as them knowing about Ivan." I was a terrible person, playing on Dharma's feelings for Ivan to keep her mouth shut.
She slowly nodded. "You're right. But I don't see how you're going to get your hands on the book."
I had a flashback to another deal for trade I'd been a part of a year ago when I helped a friend try to trade a prophetic mantle to Medbh in exchange for his daughter, Brendi.
I sighed. And we all know how well that went.
-Use the same tactics you used then.-
I didn't know what the voice meant. And it seemed to sense that.
-The mantle, Medbh's mantle, had been a fake. A creation of Arcane Magic and Faerie dust. You have the means to create a duplicate book. What do you care if the Queen takes it, as long as Crwys is safe?-
"Sam?" Dharma said. "You spaced out on us."
I blinked at her. "I was thinking of using a fake book. We have the means to make one. Then we just have to lure her here with Crwys."
"I know you're avoiding going into Alfheim," Ivan said as he blinked and lowered his hands. His eye color shifted from green to brown. "I've seen Crwys in action and I've seen his power. That arrow's got some kind of power over him and that arrow is obviously the linchpin between her control and Alfheim's destruction. I doubt very seriously she's going to risk bringing him here."
"He's right," Dharma looked at me. "And…how are you going to make a fake Hammer? I mean that'd be some serious magic."
I looked at Ivan. "You get anything?" I avoided answering Dharma.
Ivan answered. "Installing the electronic surveillance was a good idea on Crwys's part. That helped me take a look in. But what I'm not understanding is why they're concentrating