Heart of a Dragon

Chapter Thirty-One

Donovan laid Amethyst back across the couch in his den and propped her head with a soft pillow. When he had her situated, he stepped to his bar and grabbed a wine glass. Behind the counter on the bar there was a wooden cabinet with a number of drawers. He opened the drawer on the upper right and pulled out a small leaf. With a quick pinch of thumb and forefinger, he crushed the leaf and dropped it into the wine glass. He closed the door, unstoppered a flask, and poured bright amber liquid over the leaf. After only a moment, he fished the remnant out with a spoon and carried the drink to the couch.

He sat on the edge and slipped an arm under Amethyst's shoulder, helping her to sit up straight.

"Drink this," he said. "It will get you back on your feet."

"You aren't drugging me, I hope?" she said.

Donovan laughed. "Hardly. It's brandy with Indian Pennywort leaf. There have long been rumors that the leaves bring energy and rejuvenation. Of course, as is almost always the case, there is more to it than that. Mine have been blessed by a Sri Lankan priest."

"Of course," she said.

She took the glass and sipped. Then she took a longer drink, closed her eyes, and frowned.

"Not good?"

"It's wonderful," she said. "I'm thinking that I'm an idiot. We shouldn't be here; we should be on the street."

"We should, but first you need to tell me what happened," Donovan said. "You're going to have to finish that, and you're going to need a little rest. We have to go to Martinez, but I'm going to need you healthy. We have time."

"There isn't that much to tell. I called some of my informants, trying to get a line on that ritual. I thought I'd gotten lucky; the second call got me through to a guy I've worked with off and on for about ten years. He said he had what I needed. I told him we didn't have much time, so we set up a meet, and he named his price. Now that I think about it, he settled pretty low.

"Anyway, I left immediately. We were set to meet in the alley behind the Buzz and Bean, that coffee shop over on Vine? I should have been more careful. I saw Benji at the end of the alley, and I went straight in. He wasn't alone. Before I'd gone three steps, that woman stepped out of the shadows — Kim? I had just enough time to see the silver caskets dangling from her braids — I heard them, like bells — and then she blew some kind of powder into my face. After that…"

"Everything went numb?" Donovan asked.

She glanced up at him and her frown deepened.

"How did you know that?"

"It's an old Voodoo trick. That powder is made in various potencies for different purposes. The most famous, when it's very strong, is the creation of 'zombies'. You're lucky they only hit you with a mild dose. It removes motor function."

"Tell me about it. I knew everything that was happening, but there was nothing I could do. Two of those big bald-headed goons came out of nowhere and caught me before I fell. They lifted me like a sack of grain and carried me to the park where you found me. We went by alleys and back roads, a few I didn't even recognize. All the while they talked about me as if I wasn't there at all, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Donovan saw her hand tighten on her glass. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, she continued.

"When we reached that clearing, they were already making preparations. There was a girl tied to the post where you found me. She was young — Mexican, I think — and she'd obviously been treated with the same chemical they used on me. I caught her gaze. She was terrified.

"Anya was there, sitting in that chair like she was some sort of weird pagan queen. When they laid me on the ground at her feet like an offering, she hopped down and walked around me in a slow circle. I swear I felt as if I was being sized up at the market, like a prize farm animal.

"She knew me. I didn't hear exactly what she said, but within a few moments they had cut that girl down and carried her off and out of sight. It was only a few moments later I was lifted back to my feet and tied to the pole."

"I was afraid that was the plan," Donovan said. "You were her sacrifice. She intended to kill you and toss you into that fire. If she'd managed to do it, she could have closed the portal the Loa used to reach this dimension. They'd be trapped in the human vessels they possessed, and they'd remain under her control."

"How do you know she didn't complete the ritual?" Amethyst asked.

Donovan glanced down at her. He opened his mouth to speak, and then it hit him, and he sat up straight so quickly he almost made her spill the drink.

"You think they might have chosen another sacrifice?" he asked.

"They already had the other girl. I don't' know where she was taken, but we know that the circle was to keep things out, and not in. Once we broke it, they could have gone for the original sacrifice and then sealed themselves in again. We don't know if we stopped them or not."

They stared at one another in silence for a moment, then Amethyst downed the brandy, and then sat up. Donovan shifted so she could swing her legs off the couch.

"She also could have taken one of those already inside the circle, the dancers, as a sacrifice. If she closed that portal," Donovan said, "Then she has the equivalent of an army of demons. If she isn't stopped, there is nothing to prevent her doing it again, and again, until she has too much power to overcome. The Barrio is a small thing. She may gain control of that — all she has to do is to defeat the Dragons and drive Martinez into hiding. If she succeeded in her ritual, she might be able to pull it off.

"What about Martinez?" Amethyst asked. "What about the Dragons? You said he had something going on…can he pull it off?"

"We'd better make sure that he does," Donovan replied. "I don't know exactly what he's up to, but it's powerful. I can't say that it makes me feel any better if he controls dark forces than if Anya does."

"He didn't seem to be controlling them," Amethyst said. "He seemed to be unleashing them. There's a difference. Still, you have a point. I think it's about time we got back to the Barrio. There's a storm in the air — I can sense it — and after all we've seen, I don't want to miss the fireworks."

"You need to rest," Donovan said. "It's still early, and even if she continued the ritual, there's no way she can mount an attack tonight. It will be tomorrow. I think we both need to rest. A few hours, then head out for the Barrio."

Amethyst placed her empty glass on the table.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to take advantage of me," she said.

"There are worse things to be accused of."

They both stood, and Donovan led her down the hall and out of the study. Cleo sat on the desk and watched them go. Her eyes were inscrutable, as always, but after a moment she leaned back on her haunches and began washing her back feet contentedly. Whatever was going through her mind, she obviously approved of the rest.