Chapter
Seven:
The
Present
"You wanted to talk to me?"
Thierry asked, opening the door of his office to allow Thea to enter. She swept
in, a bundle of anxiety and waited before his desk, dancing a bit. Thierry
frowned at her, closing the door slowly and the second the lock sounded she
burst.
"I want to help her!"
Thierry blinked, having barely
taken a step. "Her…Selena?" he asked her before shaking his head and correcting
himself. "Chime?"
"Yes. Chime." Thea bobbed her
head as he came forward several strides. "I want to help her find Rayne. I want
a happy ending to her life story."
Thierry paused and stared at
her. "A happy ending." He echoed warily. "You want to help her find-" and his
eyes widened as her meaning sank in. "Oh, no. No, Thea." He shook his head,
"Bad idea. Very bad idea."
"Please, Thierry. Please?" Thea
suddenly pleaded. She threw up any control she may have had and clasped her
hands together. "She's lonely. I can feel it from her. And she's been living
with that for years."
Thierry held up his hands, moving around her to
stride toward his desk. "I understand exactly what she's going through, Thea.
I've been through it-"
"You've been through it!" Thea
interrupted quickly. "That's what you just said, right? That you had been
through it?"
Thierry slowed as he rounded his desk and his dark
eyes studied her face as she eagerly awaited his answer. "Yes, that's what I
just said-" he answered her cautiously and he prayed his answer would not get
him into any trouble.
Thea's expression was triumphant. "And would you
wish it on anyone?" she questioned.
Thierry fell into his chair.
Actually, plopped was more of the appropriate word. He felt like a fish out of
water, mouth open to answer. But he hesitated and Thea's face softened.
"Would you?" she asked calmly
this time. She came forward stopping on the other side of his desk, facing him
across it. "Thierry, I just spent hours with her, reliving her memories." She
said and she shook her head, grimacing, "I can't say I've been through what
she's been through because I haven't. But you have, Thierry. Always with a
second chance at being with Hannah."
Thierry merely gazed at her and Thea continued
onward quickly before he decided she vaguely resembled dinner. "Chime has one
chance, Thierry. Just one. And without help she has no chance at all." She
broke off, hoping her sense of emptiness had somehow been transferred to the
Night Lord through her words.
Thierry's hands met at the tip
of his fingers, pressing his index fingers to his lips and he seemed to be
thinking to himself. His dark eyes flew to the witch's face and he asked behind
his fingers, "What exactly are you proposing, Thea?"
Thea sat on the corner of his
desk, a mischievous smile suddenly lighting her face. "Somewhere in the records
of the witches, dating all the way back to Hellewise there must have been
mention of where the dragons are buried. Or held." She confided in a
conspiratorial whisper.
Thierry arched an eyebrow at her. "I hope you're not
asking what I think you're asking." He said, pulling his hands from his lips
and he leaned forward, staring her dead in her eyes.
Thea felt a small shiver as she
looked into his fathomless dark eyes. "What is it you think I am asking
you…sir?" she nearly whimpered.
Thierry smirked. "I'm a vampire,
Thea. My relationship to the witches is strained, to say the least. Especially
since the death of the crone."
Thea shook her head quickly. "I
know you can't help me with that. I understand perfectly well. But what I do want is your permission to speak with
Iliana. As Witch Child she must have some access to those records."
Theirry's eyes widened a bit as
he caught her drift and his hand rose to cover his face momentarily. Thea was
almost positive she heard a sigh come from between his fingers. "Let me get
this straight…" he said wearily, his voice muffled by his long, slender hands.
"You want to go with Chime to visit Iliana. Is that what you're asking?" He
didn't bother to wait for her answer. "And you want Iliana to risk herself to
help a dragon she's never met even after what happened between her and
Azhdeha."
Thea cringed faintly. She hadn't
even thought of that in her excitement in working out her plan. But now that
she was thinking with a clear head she realized there were a few chinks she
needed to work out.
The Night Lord was still
talking. "And there's always the chance that in going to Iliana the Night World
will discover Chime with you and kill you both." Thierry added almost
absentmindedly, as if Thea's death wasn't the most important thing at the
moment.
Thea's jaw set as he spoke. "I
don't care." She said, suddenly stubborn. She crossed her hands over her chest
and gazed down at the Night Lord purposefully. "I want to give her this chance. This one chance. After we have the
information it'll all be up to her but all I want is to give her the chance."
Thierry's eyes met hers again
dead on and this time she didn't feel the need to cower. She felt stronger
behind her convictions, strong enough to take on the world. Thierry seemed to
sense this from her. He swiveled in his chair thoughtfully, turning his back on
her.
Thea frowned delicately, suddenly wondering if he
was the type of person to leave another hanging for an answer. If she didn't
get his approval she would never be able to work out anyway to help Chime. The
dragon would forever search for her soulmate fruitlessly. Thea's frame
stiffened a bit as worry built up inside.
Thierry suddenly turned to face her once more, dark
eyes veiling his thoughts. "You do what you will, Thea." He said finally, in a
tired voice. "But you know the deal. You get caught, you protect Daybreak. Not
a word or secret spilled. Do you understand? And you had better answer this
question carefully because it might very well mean your life."
Thea's smile was positive and
she knew she was glowing. "I got you." She vowed.
"Two tickets." Lupe Acevedo
explained to Thea, sitting beside her on the living room couch. "These will get
you to Washington. That's where Iliana's sanctuary is located. From the airport
you and Chime will wait in the airport garage, north entrance, second floor,
for a black van. License plate," Lupe pointed a slender finger to one of the
papers lying on the coffee table before her, tip lying across a number,
"23H-TC7. One of Keller's group will be in the passenger seat and there will be
a second person, unfamiliar, in the driver's side. They will take you half of
the way. Midway point you'll switch cars. Whoever is driving the van will
switch you over to a jeep, white, license plate 438-H09. Another of Keller's
group will be driving the jeep. The passenger from the van will go with you to
the jeep and from there you'll be taken straight to the sanctuary." Lupe
finished, her tone brisk and competent and she raised light brown eyes to the
blond witch, who seemed almost dizzy with the information. "Questions?
Comments? Aspirin?"
Thea blinked blankly. "What..?"
Lupe smiled at her knowingly.
"We'll explain it to Chime, too, that way it's not just you having to remember
it all."
Thea shook her head, snapping
back into reality. "It's ok. I pretty much got it. Just need to remember the
license plates…" she leaned into Lupe. "Can I see the tickets?"
Lupe grinned, pointy teeth
glinting. "First class, baby."
Thea laughed. "All right. Almost
set. Now I have to fill in Chime, whenever she gets in here-" she looked toward
the doorway and then at her watch.
At that moment, as if on cue,
Chime floated through the doorway, expression thoughtful. She looked up to the
two women sitting on the couch and smiled, seemingly flustered. Even
absentminded, her strides were graceful, and there was a healthy glow to her
face. Her smile was turned on Lupe by way of greeting and Lupe smiled back.
"I'm sorry I'm late…got caught up back there…" Chime said.
She wasn't about to say that her
attention had been held by a bottle of brandy in a glass case in the kitchen.
She had actually been early but in looking around she had found the bottle and
where had the time flown after that? She didn't know. She shrugged to herself
and came further into the room. "You wanted to see me?" she inquired.
Thea smiled gently and patted
the couch cushions beside her. "Yeah, Chime. I did. I need to tell you
something."
Her tone frightened Chime a bit
and her happy smile faltered. "What's wrong?" she asked softly, almost
sorrowfully. "Are you ok? Is everything all right?" she looked at Lupe who had
averted her eyes and her alarm grew. "Why are you looking at me like that,
Thea?" she came forward and settled slowly into the couch.
Thea held up to tickets and her
wise brown eyes were on them as she began to explain. "These are airplane
tickets. To Washington." She said.
Chime frowned.
Thea cocked her head and her
subject was suddenly different. "Do you know the Legend of the Wild Powers?"
she asked.
Chime blinked and the world
briefly spun without her. "What?" she asked, shaking her head. "Do I know the
Legend of the Wild Powers?"
Thea nodded.
Chime paused momentarily,
looking down at the coffee table, eyes unseeing. "The Wild Powers." She mused and
looked up after a second. "Yeah. The Four who will stand at the Millennium."
She stopped and pulled back a bit, realization dawning upon her. "Wow. The
Millennium is pretty close now that I think about it." She exhaled, shaking her
head, "Wow…"
Thea waved her hand, almost
impatiently. "Right, them. Well, so far Daybreak has found three of them. One
of them is Iliana Harman, also known as the Witch Child." She stared at Chime,
breaking off.
The dragon glanced from Thea to
Lupe. "Iliana Harman." She repeated slowly, "Witch Child. Got it…" she
hesitated, shaking her head in bemusement. "Is that…supposed to mean
something?"
Lupe smiled faintly.
Thea waved the tickets at Chime.
"As Wild Power, Iliana is pretty important. But as Witch Child even more so." She
put the tickets down on Chime's lap and the dragon took them into her hands,
her blue eyes never leaving Thea's face. Thea motioned to the tickets and Chime
finally looked down at them quizzically. "We're going to visit Iliana and we're
going to convince her to get us some information."
Chime was confused.
"Information?" she asked uncertainly.
"Information." Thea echoed. And
she inhaled deeply. "On the resting places of the dragons."
Chime blinked in stunned
disbelief, the color draining from her face. She looked at the tickets again,
lips parting as if to speak but no sound seemed to be able to come forth and
her breathing was shallow, rattling faintly. She closed her mouth and
swallowed.
Thea became worried. "Chime?"
Chime looked up into her brown
eyes, still stupefied. Then she was raising a hand to her lips and Thea
realized her hands were trembling, clutching the tickets tightly, almost enough
to crush.
Thea gazed at her. "Don't you
want this? Don't you want to do this-"
But her sentence was cut off as
Chime leaned forward suddenly, throwing her arms around Thea's neck. For a
moment there was no sound but the labored breathing of the dragon in her ear.
And then she was babbling, sentences running on into a mess of words. "Oh,
thank you, Thea! Thank you so much! So much!" she whispered, her frame
trembling faintly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Thea embraced her back, feeling
her anxiety crumble away into happiness. "Thank me after we find out what we
need." She said against the dragon's shoulder.
"Remember." Lupe said softly
from where she sat in the back of the nondescript van. Her eyes shifted to
Nilsson absentmindedly, focused on his immovable figure in the front driver's
seat. "First the black van, airport garage…"
"North side, second floor." Thea
intoned, bored. "We understand. We got you."
Chime's eyes were also on
Nilsson, her thoughts a mass jumble. He hadn't changed at all in the passed
eighteen years. It was almost scary.
"Chime?" Lupe asked.
Chime nodded, dragging her gaze to
the werewolf. "Yeah, I'm here. I understand." She nodded, snapping back to
attention. She looked at Lupe. "You'll be watching us?"
Lupe nodded, silver brown hair
shimmering in the sunlight that streamed through the window. "All the way." She
said. "The tickets are under the names Thea Harman and Selena Devlin. I figured
I wouldn't be able to get you to respond to any other name in such a short
amount of time."
Chime smiled at her. "I got it,
don't worry. To tell the truth you're probably right. It took me a few years
for Chime to sink in all the way."
Thea reached for the car door.
"Are we set, then? Our flight is in a few minutes."
Lupe nodded once more. "All set.
Have a safe trip."
"It's all we ask." Chime sighed.
