Read Online Sparks Fly: A Novel of the Light Dragons by MacAlister Katie - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: MacAlister Katie
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“Er…that’s pretty much earmarked for Dauva, I’m afraid.”
“No valuable—Jim, so help me, if you wipe your nose on me one more time—no valuable, oh, what do you call them, dragonny things?”
“Dragonny things?” Drake asked her.
“You know, the valuable things. Relics and that sort ofstuff. Jim! That’s it! I am sick and tired of you. You can speak again, so go tell Suzanne you need to go for a walk.”
“I don’t have any relics, and Kostya cleaned out Baltic’s lair before we got to it, so I’m afraid anything that was stashed away is long gone,” I said sadly, my heart breaking when I thought of my beloved Dragonwood being inhabited by strange dragons.
“Man, Ash, I’m never going to be on your team for charades,” Jim said with an injured sniff. “I wasn’t doing the pee-pee dance, I was doing the ‘I have something important to say but you keep ordering me to silence because you’re all bossy now that you have spawn to push around’ nose bumps.”
“What important thing do you have to say?” she asked, wiping her hand on the napkin. “And it had better be very important.”
“It’s just a way to help Soldy, that’s all. Just a way for her to get back that house she loves so much, the one that acts as vision central for her,” the demon answered blithely, sitting down and staring at the two remaining pieces of flatbread.
“What is that?” I asked the demon.
It cocked an eyebrow at the food.
I picked up the flatbread. “If your idea of something important is one of your usual, ridiculous ideas, Jim—”
“It’s not! I promise, it’s great,” it answered, a thin line of slobber creeping out of its furry flews.
“Oh, for the love of Pete. Where’s your drool cloth? Not on Drake’s nice carpet!” Aisling whipped a napkin around the dog’s neck, mopping up its wet mouth before nodding to me. “Go ahead and give it to Jim, Ysolde, but that’s your treat for the day.”
I gave the dog the piece of flatbread. “And your idea?”
Jim gulped down the appetizer, licking its lips loudly. “Yum. That ham makes the whole thing.”
“Jim,” I said warningly.
“OK, OK, no need to look like you’re going to turn me into a human again,” it said, quickly backing up until it was pressed against Aisling. “That was sheer and utter hell being out of my magnificent form. My idea is this: you need something to barter with, right?”
“Yeees,” I said slowly, suspicious despite my interest.
“Something fabulous like that thing that May stole from Kostich.”
I looked at May in surprise. “You stole something valuable from Dr. Kostich?”
“Magoth—he’s the demon lord I used to be bound to—had me steal a minor object,” she said with a wry smile. “But I ended up taking a quintessence. For a day. I returned it the next day once I realized what it was.”
I goggled at her. “You stole a quintessence? Those are so valuable that they’re literally priceless.”
“Yes, I know,” May said calmly, a little smile on the corners of her mouth. “Kostich set the thief-takers after me for it. That’s how I met Savian Bartholomew.”
“I may have been Dr. Kostich’s apprentice for a long time, but there’s no way he’d give me so much as the time of day, let alone something impossibly valuable like a quintessence,” I protested.
“I didn’t say you should give Kostya that—I just mean that you need something
like
it, something über-valuable,” Jim corrected me.
“How am I supposed to get something über-valuable? Hmm…Savian…I wonder if he could be of help….”
“He
is
a tracker,” May said doubtfully. “But I always assumed that meant tracking people or beings or things like that, not so much locating valuable items.”
Aisling started laughing so hard, she had to clutch a napkin and mop at her eyes.
“Mate?” Drake asked, frowning at her. “Are you unwell?”
“No, I’m fine,” she wheezed, dabbing one last time at her eyes.
“No valuable—Jim, so help me, if you wipe your nose on me one more time—no valuable, oh, what do you call them, dragonny things?”
“Dragonny things?” Drake asked her.
“You know, the valuable things. Relics and that sort ofstuff. Jim! That’s it! I am sick and tired of you. You can speak again, so go tell Suzanne you need to go for a walk.”
“I don’t have any relics, and Kostya cleaned out Baltic’s lair before we got to it, so I’m afraid anything that was stashed away is long gone,” I said sadly, my heart breaking when I thought of my beloved Dragonwood being inhabited by strange dragons.
“Man, Ash, I’m never going to be on your team for charades,” Jim said with an injured sniff. “I wasn’t doing the pee-pee dance, I was doing the ‘I have something important to say but you keep ordering me to silence because you’re all bossy now that you have spawn to push around’ nose bumps.”
“What important thing do you have to say?” she asked, wiping her hand on the napkin. “And it had better be very important.”
“It’s just a way to help Soldy, that’s all. Just a way for her to get back that house she loves so much, the one that acts as vision central for her,” the demon answered blithely, sitting down and staring at the two remaining pieces of flatbread.
“What is that?” I asked the demon.
It cocked an eyebrow at the food.
I picked up the flatbread. “If your idea of something important is one of your usual, ridiculous ideas, Jim—”
“It’s not! I promise, it’s great,” it answered, a thin line of slobber creeping out of its furry flews.
“Oh, for the love of Pete. Where’s your drool cloth? Not on Drake’s nice carpet!” Aisling whipped a napkin around the dog’s neck, mopping up its wet mouth before nodding to me. “Go ahead and give it to Jim, Ysolde, but that’s your treat for the day.”
I gave the dog the piece of flatbread. “And your idea?”
Jim gulped down the appetizer, licking its lips loudly. “Yum. That ham makes the whole thing.”
“Jim,” I said warningly.
“OK, OK, no need to look like you’re going to turn me into a human again,” it said, quickly backing up until it was pressed against Aisling. “That was sheer and utter hell being out of my magnificent form. My idea is this: you need something to barter with, right?”
“Yeees,” I said slowly, suspicious despite my interest.
“Something fabulous like that thing that May stole from Kostich.”
I looked at May in surprise. “You stole something valuable from Dr. Kostich?”
“Magoth—he’s the demon lord I used to be bound to—had me steal a minor object,” she said with a wry smile. “But I ended up taking a quintessence. For a day. I returned it the next day once I realized what it was.”
I goggled at her. “You stole a quintessence? Those are so valuable that they’re literally priceless.”
“Yes, I know,” May said calmly, a little smile on the corners of her mouth. “Kostich set the thief-takers after me for it. That’s how I met Savian Bartholomew.”
“I may have been Dr. Kostich’s apprentice for a long time, but there’s no way he’d give me so much as the time of day, let alone something impossibly valuable like a quintessence,” I protested.
“I didn’t say you should give Kostya that—I just mean that you need something
like
it, something über-valuable,” Jim corrected me.
“How am I supposed to get something über-valuable? Hmm…Savian…I wonder if he could be of help….”
“He
is
a tracker,” May said doubtfully. “But I always assumed that meant tracking people or beings or things like that, not so much locating valuable items.”
Aisling started laughing so hard, she had to clutch a napkin and mop at her eyes.
“Mate?” Drake asked, frowning at her. “Are you unwell?”
“No, I’m fine,” she wheezed, dabbing one last time at her eyes.
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