Page 45 of Gladiator's Bite

“Mate, with enough love and grit, nothing’s fucking impossible,” he said and slapped me on the butt playfully as we headed toward the nest.

Chapter Nineteen

Laken

With the Other World gateways on the line, it wasn’t difficult to get the others to agree that we could borrow Tails Up, Scales Down for the night of the full moon. I was more nervous than I wanted to let on and ate through several pounds of goat cheese while we waited for it to be time to head over there.

“Your stomach must be a fondue pot by now,” Sunny teased me.

“What can I say? I’m carrying on a bloodline tradition,” I shrugged. “It’s also worth noting that my family usually only carries a few weeks. I’d put money on the cheese providing the nutrients necessary to grow eggs that quickly. Besides, I’m eating for three. So, I need more cheese than anyone else.”

“You can have all the cheese they’re willing to give you.”

“I’m pregnant. They’ll give me all I can eat. I mean, I love eating, but there is a limit to how much I can actually eat. I’m storing up energy in case we have to perform magic today.”

“Any vibes yet?” he asked.

“Not yet,” I shook my head.

Teddy and Selt were meeting us at the club. I didn’t know what they were doing to prepare for the ritual, and I didn’t ask. As curious as I was to know what they planned to get up to I didn’t want to push Sunny’s buttons that way today. Tonight was a big deal. It might be make or break for this idea panning out for the gateways. Sure, there was the other guy’s vision but the future was always changing.

I kept my mind on that fact as we made our way to Starscale 1. It was better to ponder the future in case Sunny picked up on any of my thoughts. He was in a good mood today and I wantedto keep him there for as long as possible. On the shuttle, he kept one hand on my belly and plenty of older dragons flashed us knowing smiles. I might’ve complained about the territorial displays, but he kept feeding me cheese and crackers as if I might starve before we ever made it to the club.

The place was dark when we arrived there but it smelled like Teddy and Selt were already inside. We locked the front door behind us and I turned on the overhead light before turning it right back off. If we left it on someone might think the club was open but accidentally locked and knock on the door. If we did have an angry door caster bursting into the altar playroom I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt.

Teddy and Selt were already in the altar room. Selt lounged sans his clothes on the altar while Teddy drew symbols I’d never seen before on the floor.

“Cromwell symbols,” Sunny said. “They’re a fox family back on Earthside. Teddy’s---”

“My mum,” he said. “She was a Cromwell. Never did much magic but her dad taught me a lot of stuff in the weeks leading up to his death. These are part protection and part summoning.”

“What’s that one that looks like a door mean?” Sunny squatted down for a better look.

“We don’t know her name. So, I gave her a symbol. So, technically it’s the nameless lady’s name.”

My heart skipped a beat. Wouldn’t that be a great thing. If we could just give her a name and she had to answer to it. The whole situation was starting to feel a bit like an old fairy tale where someone had to answer some fay creature’s riddle or be locked in a barn forever or however it went.

“What would you call her?” Sunny looked up at me.

“Doris,” Selt shrugged before I could say anything. “I mean, let’s keep her on theme, right?”

“Let’s try it,” Teddy said.

“What?” I blinked and glanced at Sunny in case I was already getting carrier’s brain fog.

“What do you mean?” Sunny asked Teddy a second later.

“Let’s do a summon spell. Let’s yell out for her or something. I mean, it’s probably not her original name. So, it’s not like we can find her group but maybe we can summon her. If nothing else, I’ll go eat some mushies in the forest and try yelling Doris when the new moon rolls around.”

“No,” Selt and Sunny said at the same time.

“I don’t think it’s come to that yet,” I shook my head. “There’s no guarantee you’d have the same visionary path as the ship’s healer, anyway.”

“How do we summon someone?” Selt asked, sitting up and sliding to the edge of the altar.

“I’m not sure,” he shrugged. “But I have an idea.”

He drew a door on the floor, taking his time to make it look as realistic as possible, knob and all.