Dragon Queen (Avery Rome Book 3) Read online

  That got a nod, then the blonde lady shook her head.

  “Thank you, Avery. See you in a few days?”

  “Right. I need to collect everyone up. I… Should go and get some sleep. I can try to take these around first, I suppose.”

  No one told her not to do that, even if it was going to make it harder to get enough sleep. That was up to her however, being an adult now. Her job was up to her to get done. She felt tired already, but no one had ever claimed that things would be simple or easy every day.

  Bridget grabbed her hand, and pulled her back to the dining area. The building was a quarter of a mile away or so, meaning they got to chat while they traveled.

  “That camping thing was fun. Um… We have some other people that want to put one together. We can’t pay you, but Will thought that you might be willing to help move people around? It’s okay to not help.”

  She nodded.

  “Over one of my weekends? That can be done. Provided Bente doesn’t have orders for me. That can happen. Um, my mentor?”

  “Great! I’ll plan that out. Call it… Two weeks from now?”

  She nodded, since it wouldn’t be that much more work for her. The next evening was going to be busy, she realized. After all. It was the first Tuesday of the month. Trollienkeine Tuesday. That was when she took around any of that group who needed to travel, for free. They didn't abuse it, but making sure they got to go places was part of her job.

  At least one of them.

  The others were willing to leave after that, and while they got to chat about things for a few minutes, Bridget managed to move them along, using some nifty physical pushing.

  “Avery needs to pass some messages for us, so we should hurry along.”

  It worked, without anyone becoming upset with the girl, being so small and harmless looking.

  It didn’t take long to get them back to where they needed to go. Both of them were living in Vancouver, B.C. for the time of the shooting. That meant they had cars they needed to collect that night. Then Avery got to go to several other worlds, trying to hurry through it, hoping for enough sleep that night. It sort of worked, actually.

  She wasn’t in bed until ten, but that did mean she was halfway rested by the time six-thirty in the morning came around. Once again, half the actors were late. The crew wasn’t however, so they were able to practice their lines while the hard-working people set up the first scene. That took real work, it looked like.

  The day felt a bit long and slow, but she stayed for the whole thing. Then, at six, she went off to Westfield. She wasn’t on the schedule, but she was met by both Zack and Bente, along with Tarsus, the Librarian. They all stood in the back of the Node transfer room of the bookshop.

  He moved in and hugged her, as she came in the door. Because that wasn’t suspicious.

  “Miss Rome! How wonderful to see you again. I was hoping to discuss the coming meeting? I understand that you and Bente managed to get us invited? That’s interesting, isn’t it?”

  Avery shrugged.

  “Not really that strange. They have no clue what a Greater Demon is. To them you’re just people coming to visit. Which is the case, really…”

  That got three nods, and one smile.

  Given it was The Librarian who did that, it really did feel a bit out of place.

  Chapter twenty-two

  Avery didn’t ask for a secret meeting with Tarsus or anything like that. Instead she stood in front of her mentor, The Pristine, and The Line Walker and smiled at the leader of their kind.

  “Hey, um… Librarian… I noticed that you seem to be inside my mind? Is that right?”

  The idea wasn’t perfectly clear, but the man didn’t even pretend that understanding her was beyond him. They all got the idea. Probably better than she did. Given she was the one living it, that meant a lot. It was a level of understanding which Avery Rome simply wasn’t capable of, most likely.

  Rather than make fun of her for being stupid, the older seeming being, Tarsus, just gave her a small smile and touched her arm. Like they were old friends.

  “Is it too distracting, Miss Rome? It wasn’t meant to harm you, I assure you. Simply to give you an edge that others do not have.”

  The Line Walker stared at him for a while, then shook his head.

  “We’re supposed to believe that your goal is to simply help her? That hardly seems like the Greater Demon way, does it?”

  Almost gently, the Greater Demon leader relaxed and smiled at Zack Hartley. His own grandson, if Avery understood that kind of thing correctly.

  “Isn’t it, Zackery? Miss Rome is a very powerful being. A Queen Dragon, who has learned to travel between worlds and realities at a very young age. Perhaps the greatest of her kind to have ever walked our world. When you saw this happening, out of kindness, you arranged for her to have special lessons with The Pristine. That was brilliant, of course. Bente is a wonderful example of what our kind can be. You are as well, of course.” The being gave a gentle bow then, toward Avery. “Seeing that, I assessed what our new friend might need and sought only to give her that aid in life. A copy of my own mind that would seek to help her in her tasks. Aiding in her instruction. That’s all.”

  Making a face, she wanted to doubt the man and growl. After all, he was a Greater Demon. That meant liar and evil being.

  “Except that, so far, he’s only given me good information and advice. How can that not be a trick, though?” She spoke to Bente, who actually laughed.

  “That would be the best way to assume control. The question then is, can you risk this? Having the mind of such a being as a resource could be useful to you, over time.”

  Tarsus bowed, just a little bit.

  “There is no way to reassure any of you that this is a harmless thing. It is, and meant only to aid our friend, Avery.” There was a shrug and slightly spread hands.

  The man, who looked to be in his late forties, smoothed the line of his shirt. It was clearly designed as a distraction for Bente. She followed along, trapped for a moment in the seams and lines of the outfit. Tarsus, the one inside of her mind, showed her how that was working. Part of it was how well the blue shirt, which looked plain on the surface, had been made. Not by machine, either. No, someone had worked to sew the fine lines by hand.

  Shaking her head a bit, warned of the trap, Avery made a face.

  Zack saw it all happening and sighed.

  “We can’t know what your real intent is, of course. Do we have your word that your intent in this is actually toward Avery’s benefit? Not at the abrogation of your own, perhaps…”

  The Librarian placed both hands in front of his chest, smiling.

  “I can, indeed, suggest that without being untruthful. There is more to it, as you doubtless imagine, but as it will impact Miss Rome it is fair and correct to say that this is only a good thing. I will, at any time you request relief, remove that portion of things, Avery. I would ask that you give me a chance first, but understand if you wish to do otherwise.”

  The other Greater Demons just stood there, not being helpful at all. Even the Tarsus inside of her mind didn't feed her any information. It was less than helpful.

  “I think… Should I…” She didn't know. It was either a trap or the being was helping her. That didn’t seem likely, but so far it had worked that way.

  The Pristine simply smiled at her.

  “Anything we do at this point could be the incorrect path. Given that, you might as well take what is being offered. Removing it won’t be to your benefit, if The Librarian does not wish it to be. On the other hand, you seem to have benefited from the information so far. That might also happen in the future, even if this is a trick, meant to control you or influence you later. That likely isn’t the case, to be honest. If he wished to control you, you would be under his command right now, not asking him about the topic.”

  There was a nod from Zack, but no comment.

  Tarsus shook his head a slight bit.

  “I know
that you won’t be able to see this for a while, Miss Rome, but I’m only seeking to treat you as one might a true friend. As unlikely as that might feel, given what you know of our kind. Then again, these others have also only sought your best benefit. So perhaps it isn’t that hard to believe?”

  Feeling confused, Avery nodded.

  “I guess I should just assume that I’m not smart enough to make any changes here? I can only hope that I’m being told the truth.”

  It was probably insulting to say it that way, but Tarsus clapped her on the left arm, smiling.

  “That will work. Good enough, then. If this is settled for the time being, perhaps we should make plans for the meeting? I need to learn more about the location that we’re going. It’s most likely a trap, if not one intended by the organizer of the event. Why else bring us all together like this?”

  The Greater Demons started talking then, in what seemed to be code. It wasn’t that, exactly. It was just close enough that Avery couldn’t follow what was being said the whole time.

  After a few minutes of her doing her best to commit the whole thing to memory, Bente turned to her and touched her shoulder.

  “All is going well so far with your new projects? I’ve heard that you have a new program being put about? Cooking: Alt-Real. It’s a very interesting concept. Don’t you agree?”

  Interestingly, Tarsus smiled hugely.

  “I binge-watched it the other day, myself. It will be picked up by the Food Network here. What’s slowing things so far is only the need to reschedule other programming over the summer. You should hear the good news in the next few days? I have to imagine that it will be similar in the other reality as well.”

  Then, acting weird, which was probably meant to control her thoughts about him, The Librarian gave her a hug, then walked away. Zack waved and did the same thing, heading off toward his office.

  That left Bente, who touched her on the hand. Nothing buzzed along it, or anything like that.

  “Very well. This is, as you imagine, a horrible risk we’re taking. Attempting to thwart The Librarian is a greater one however. If you can bear the presence inside of you, then we should allow it. For now.” Turning, the incredibly perfect woman smiled at her. It had an effect, causing her to relax. “There are things about to take place, Avery. Issues that involve my own kind, as well as your own. Be most careful, but know this; even those like myself do not know the ending of this situation. Nothing is happenstance any longer.”

  Then, as if that was helpful, the woman left, going out into the mall, following along the same path that The Librarian had taken. Off in the distance there were distortions in space and time, showing that they were slipping onto the lines. That was, she knew, slightly different than entering the void. Not as deep for one thing.

  The memories were all there inside of her, when she thought about it. How the Greater Demons skirted the edge of the void, not being able to easily enter it, no matter how old they were. Tarsus shared that with her. They could use them to travel between worlds, but it was time consuming and took great effort. Only The Line Walker just used the void for that. Bypassing a lot of strife and trouble that way. That and the ones like her, who had learned to do it without blasting vast holes in space.

  Avery could feel the two moving away. Quickly, but not so fast they couldn’t be tracked. They bulged in space, distorting it as they moved along. Using the node didn’t do that.

  The interesting part was that both of them had created a real node, just to stand directly inside of it, not even a full step away from the world they started inside of. Bente did it more smoothly than the other Greater Demon did, but the truth was that both of them had simply folded a bit of space to the side and stepped through the gap made.

  Walking away, she thought about that part of things. They’d both used energy to get it done, but she’d seen Zack do it several times and he really used focus to make it happen, when he did it. Other beings could, and did, warp space that way. Phillip, her Human boyfriend, had done it while running, for instance. Just trying to propel himself along faster.

  She’d done that kind of thing herself, on occasion, not even meaning to.

  As she walked away, the idea made sense to her. Not exactly how to get it done, but that it should be doable. By making a tiny tear in space, then holding it so that she could pass into the void directly.

  Rather than going home, to Ed and Eve’s house, where she lived and had for months, Avery just walked out the door of the mall. The early summer air was full of lively scents. The air was probably warm, if not toasty. Above her the sky was clear and blue, only the pathways of aircraft breaking things up. The sky was a thousand shades of blue and white. Still bright enough that she had time to work without standing in the dark.

  Not that it would harm her to do that kind of thing.

  After walking away from the mall, just heading down the street, she stood on the sidewalk, about a mile away. Concentrating on a tiny bit of space, she tried to punch into it, to make a hole. The fabric of reality just stretched under her regard, not coming apart in the slightest. After a bit she realized that it wasn’t going to work that way. Not for her.

  If she had magic, she could use it to rip things like that, but her powers were inside of herself that way. Instead of struggling with a thing that wasn’t going to work, Avery let it go and tried to think about the idea.

  Nothing came to her at first. Not until Tarsus created a grid for her. A set of ideas, really, made into something that floated in front of her eyes, inside of her head. So that she could become aware of things that were probably obvious to everyone around her. In this case, it was only that she didn’t have to rend and tear at things like a giant beast. That wasn’t needed at all.

  What she wanted was just a way into the void. That could be done by folding space, instead of poking holes in it. That everyone else did it that way, pushing through space to travel, didn’t mean it was even the best way.

  Better, she’d done what was needed before.

  That part made her frown, even as she understood what was being said inside of her mind. When she left the void, every single time, she twisted space, slipping through part of it. Folding it around her. It would be harder to do it from where she was, of course, taking more focus, not having a node to travel through, but that wasn’t a huge deal.

  It just took concentration. A thing that she actually had a lot of.

  That and time. Standing on the street, in front of a small repair shop, one that needed a new coat of paint and to not stink of desperation so much, she warped and twisted the world she stood in like taffy. Working out how to bend things in reverse to what she’d done thousands of times before. Finally, after long enough that she’d lost all sense of being anywhere, she stepped through the node that she’d made.

  It vanished behind her, leaving her inside of nothing. The void.

  That was familiar at least.

  The trick then, of course, would be to do the whole thing again. Over and over, until she didn’t need to take hours to get it done each time.

  There was no sleep that night, but by the time she needed to report to the set for work, Avery was able to move from where she was, in the back yard of Edom’s home, into the void and then directly to her duty station, inside of ten minutes. According to her clock. That was still slow, but getting faster would only take learning and practice, she thought.

  Regardless, it would be helpful at times. It meant that as long as she could concentrate enough, trapping her wasn’t going to be easy. Not that it would have been before, since keeping a Dragon inside of anything would be hard to manage, but it was good to have another trick.

  The work day was different, since all of her scenes required her to actually act that day. She had to cheat and use her wakening talisman again, since she hadn’t slept at all. That and eating a lot really helped her stay alert, thankfully.

  L. J. had the lion’s share of the speaking parts with her, but she stood there, re
acting to him like she was supposed to, even though she wasn’t on camera for that part of things. When they did the other side of things, her coworker stayed to do his lines again. It wasn’t until Judy moved in and hugged them both that Avery got that wasn’t really normal.

  “That was great! Both of you. Most of the time people just have an intern or production assistant stand in on that kind of thing.”

  Krista laughed from the side, then moved in herself.

  “I know. Even on Blood Reborn we do it that way... It makes a difference though. I want to keep this up, if we can? I know it’s boring and extra work, but…”

  She nodded at the show director.

  “It’s our job. Duty is important to Shifters. It won’t be an issue, right, Commander Weston?” Avery knew that it was an odd thing to say, but L. J. replied in character. Slightly growling, but efficient, instead of just tough.

  “Damn straight. This is the last day of shooting for the week… Do you have plans for the weekend, Spires?”

  She nodded.

  “I need to get to some other realities, actually. That and see if the new President needs me for anything. You should come with me for that. Calley Hale is sweet. Bat Shifter. You’re representing all Shifters, so it wouldn’t hurt for you to meet some of us. Not just me. I’m a bit of a…” She shook her head, then smiled. “A bit of a weirdo? Still, if you can’t get with me or Judy, being seen with her can’t hurt anything.”

  The man broke character then, seeming much nicer suddenly. L. J. really was, though.

  “Oh? That sounds interesting then. I do have some time. I mean, I was planning some hot yoga, but that’s going to take what, two hours over the next few days? Is that really all right though? We should ask first. I don’t want to just try and show up at her house or office.”

  Krista made a sound that seemed pleasant, for all it was a bit derisive.

  “Avery? We have some offers for your cooking show? I tentatively agreed to let the Food Network have it. It’s finished, so I told them that they had to buy the whole season. It will just get a summer spot though. Is that good for you? Also, they met asking for it, but we haven’t really gone into what you’d want that way. We can renegotiate, if you want? I just told them that we needed to match their mid-line shows that way. They’re probably screwing us, but that’s the networks for you, right?” She looked a bit nervous, which was clearly about money.