Page 53 of I Am the Storm

"What does that mean?" I ask. "Avenged your family for what?"

Lester lunges against the invisible wall, and when it zaps him, he doesn't even flinch. He presses his forehead against the force field, his face wild, the zaps crashing into him like lightning. "They did thissss to us, didn't they? They took it all. Everyone. Everything. Left ussss with nothing but liessss. All the liessss they bury here. This isn't a prisssson, it's a cemetery for enemiesss of the dragonsss. A grave for the barely living. She died in the fight against the lies. I live in the fight against the lies. The liessss eat ussss all."

"What do you mean?" I ask, leaning in. "What did the dragons do to your family?"

His tongue flicks out and he smiles widely. Too widely. "We knew their ssssecret, didn't we? The ssssecret they want hidden forever. The ssssecret of the world. The ssssecret to ssssaving it all. Their sssselfish, lying, evil ssssecret that fills this place with rot and shit and the carcasses of truth once sssspoken."

"What secret?" I ask.

"The ssssecret. The ssssecret. The sssssecret." His voice escalates as he keeps repeating it, over and over.

"What secret!" I shout, trying to be heard over his insanity.

He slams his body so hard against the invisible shield that I can practically feel the zaps of electricity shooting through the wall and into him. My skin tingles with the magic around me, tapping into my own pools of power.

He flicks his tongue, licking at the invisible wall. Then he sniffs and smiles.

"You're the ssssecret. You're the sssssecret. You're the sssssecret." With a sudden movement, he slams his head into the shield so hard his skin splits open and he falls to the ground, writhing on the floor as the magic electrocutes him.

Sebastian pulls me away. "We have to go!"

I'm too shaken to argue with him, and it's clear we won't get any more answers from Lester, if we got anything at all.

Sebastian guides us through the maze of stairs and halls until we reach the front door.

Rather than head home, we take a detour and stop at a pub.

"You need food and we both need a drink," Sebastian says.

The Naked Gnome is indeed run by a gnome who likes to flaunt his nether regions at his place of business. Not the choice I would have made, but I shrug and go along with it.

"Ignore him," Sebastian says of the gnome who's presently dancing on the bar, doing his best free willy interpretation. "The food here is excellent."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "How would you know? You don't eat."

"I've been told," he says with a crooked grin.

"I hope his bits aren't part of the food prep process?"

Sebastian laughs. "No, he sticks to the bar. He likes the audience."

I look around at the empty pub. "Audience?"

Sebastian shrugs and when a very old and very small woman comes to take our order, I ask him to pick something he thinks I will like.

My mind is stuck on Lester's ranting. "What did he mean about a secret?" I ask.

"The dragons undoubtedly have many secrets," Sebastian says. "But what secret that could save the world? I have no idea."

"And what do I have to do with it?" I wonder. "Or was that just his insanity?"

"I would bet insanity, but we shouldn't rule anything out."

Drinks are brought to us, and I am served a plate of potatoes, meat, and a garden salad. "What kind of meat?" I ask suspiciously.

"Just eat the potatoes and salad," he says by way of answer. "We don't have cows in this world."

Yup, still a vegetarian, at least while we're in the Otherworld.