Up In Smoke
Page 69

I gave it a thin-lipped look. ‘‘All I have to do is tell Aisling—’’
‘‘Sheesh! No one can take a joke anymore,’’ Jim interrupted, rolling its eyes. ‘‘Fine, I won’t look at you. I won’t touch you, and I won’t sit on your side of the car, either. Happy now?’’
I ignored the demon to watch Gabriel and Drake as the two men talked about what Bao, Fiat, and the mysterious dragon had possibly been up to. When I glanced back, the demon was staring at me again.
‘‘Will you stop that?’’ I hissed through my teeth.
‘‘Sorry. Can’t help myself. I’ve never seen anyone but Ash who lipped off to Bael and lived to tell about it.’’
‘‘I didn’t lip off to him,’’ I said, moving uncomfortably in my chair.
‘‘Back,’’ Aisling said as she returned, patting Jim on the head. ‘‘What have I missed?’’
‘‘Not much. Drake and Gabe are arguing about what it means that Baltic has returned from the dead, István has gas, and May was being mean to me,’’ Jim said, plopping down on her feet.
István and I both glared at the demon.
‘‘I’m sure if May was mean to you, you deserved it,’’ Aisling said with perfect composure.
‘‘I didn’t—’’
She waved away my protest. ‘‘Feel free to ignore Jim when it’s being an idiot.’’
‘‘Hey! Sitting right here!’’
‘‘So that guy you saw really was Baltic?’’ Aisling asked me.
Gabriel returned to his chair. ‘‘We do not know. There seems to be some ambiguity about his identity. However, that has no bearing on the reason I have sought your help.’’
‘‘Fiat,’’ Drake said, nodding.
‘‘I don’t think so, sweetie,’’ Aisling told him, watching me. ‘‘It’s your demon lord, isn’t it? You kind of glossed over how things went with him, but I assume it wasn’t a roaring success.’’
‘‘Far from it,’’ Gabriel said with a wry twist to his lips. ‘‘We had thought to tackle Magoth again, but unless we have something to use as barter, he won’t help us.’’
‘‘And even if we had something, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t just take it and leave us poorer for the experience, as we’ve learned,’’ I added.
‘‘What do you guys expect?’’ Jim asked, rolling its eyes. ‘‘He’s a demon lord. Tricking people is part of his job.’’
‘‘Jim has a point,’’ Aisling said, looking thoughtful. ‘‘I suppose I could ask the Guardians’ Guild if they could help with the situation, but they’re not really happy with me ever since . . . Well, they’re not happy with me.’’
‘‘Was it me?’’ I asked, worried that I’d gotten her in trouble with her professional organization. ‘‘Was it summoning me so often that got you into hot water with them?’’
Jim snickered. Aisling looked embarrassed. ‘‘Er . . . no. It was nothing, really, just a minor little thing that doesn’t matter, or it wouldn’t except the head of the guild might not consider a request by me for help to be awfully high on his to-do list.’’
‘‘She turned him into a simulacrum,’’ Jim told me in a confidential tone.
‘‘A simulacrum?’’ I asked, astounded. ‘‘A living statue?’’
‘‘It was just an unfortunate accident,’’ Aisling said, waving it away. ‘‘There was a kobold outbreak in London when we were there, and I convinced Drake to let me help take care of it, and somehow, rather than binding the kobolds so they could be sent back to Abaddon, I zapped Caribbean Battiste, the head of the guild, instead, and he was temporarily changed into a simulacrum. But I got it reversed by nightfall, so really, I don’t see why everyone had such a hissy fit. It wasn’t like it was permanent.’’
I looked at her with renewed respect. Anyone who had the power to change the head of a Guardians’ order into a statue was potentially someone who was the answer to my prayers. ‘‘We need your help. I hope we can count on it?’’
‘‘With your demon lord? Absolutely,’’ Aisling said at the same time Drake said, ‘‘No.’’
The two glared at each other.
‘‘You are not going to get involved with another demon lord,’’ Drake told her. ‘‘It is too dangerous.’’
Aisling opened her mouth to protest but closed it again without saying anything for a moment. ‘‘All right,’’ she said finally, causing Drake to shoot her a look of surprise. ‘‘Maybe Nora was right and the baby is making my grip on my Guardian abilities a bit iffy. Magoth may not be much in this world, but he is still a demon lord, so I’m going to retract my agreement and instead offer Nora’s services. I’m sure she’ll be delighted to help you. What, exactly, do you need Magoth to do?’’
‘‘Nothing.’’ Gabriel pulled me up beside him.
‘‘I don’t understand,’’ she said, looking from him to me. ‘‘What am I missing?’’
Jim snorted.
‘‘Before Magoth left with Sally in tow, she pulled me aside and pointed out that Chuan Ren was a dragon,’’ I told her.
‘‘Chuan Ren? Well, yeah. But what does she have to do with Magoth?’’ Aisling asked, still puzzled.
‘‘She doesn’t have anything to do with Magoth— it was Bael who found her after you banished her,’’ I said, exchanging a glance with Gabriel.
‘‘Heh. They deserve each other,’’ Aisling said with satisfaction.
Gabriel gave my waist a little squeeze of confidence. I took a deep breath and continued. ‘‘We knew that Chuan Ren was a dragon, of course, but my experience with dragons has been limited until the last two months, and it just didn’t strike me that although everyone is treating Chuan Ren like Bael’s minion, she’s not. She can’t be; dragons can’t be servants of demon lords. It’s just impossible.’’
Aisling nodded. ‘‘That’s why we can’t summon her, as we could a demon, not that I could think of a conceivable reason to even want to do that.’’