The Cost of Conjuring: A Bargain Beyond Blood

7. They all sound better than this one

The train ride to Cera's takes over an hour due to a switch failure. I stare out the window and practice emptying my mind, failing a lot. My whole body burns with the restless desire to do something. To fix this. My brain refuses to stop mulling over the pathetic list of things I know, turning it into a much longer list of questions I have no idea how to even begin to answer without crawling back to Li, begging for his help.

As I exit the train station, the sun is setting, casting long shadows over the empty streets and the abandoned factories. It's quiet except for the rattling of the train as it leaves. My soles slap on the pavement as I navigate the familiar streets, pushing deeper into the ghost town of giant buildings with shattered, gaping windows.

I use the smaller door to enter the building I rent for Cera. It's one of the biggest, right in the middle of the industrial park. The whole structure is just one big room, twenty times twenty-five meters of floor space with a ceiling of glass catching the last of the sun's rays ten meters above my head.

"What did she want?"

Cera is sitting in her usual place on the other side of the room. The old TV in the corner is turned off but I bet it wasn't a minute ago. Her violet eyes shine against the black scales as she straightens her long neck.

I close the door behind me and she rustles her leathery wings before stretching them out, covering half the distance between the walls.

I walk past the circle I've painted on the floor, five times as big as the one I drew at the dwarves' and way more intricate. Most of it is protection and stabilizing to include worlds other than this one in the search. It's surrounded by unlit candles, stacks of books, and papers with drawings of symbols.

"To give me this," I say, pulling the rolled-up book out of my pocket. The cover wants to stay curled even after I bend it the other way.

Cera scoffs and even from ten meters away, the wave of smoke that washes over me feels like stepping into a sauna. Her long tail, also covered in black scales, whips across the floor, sending dust into the still air.

"I don't get why you're wasting time with that."

"In case this doesn't work." I pull the green stone out of my pocket and hold it up to her.

She lowers her head, bigger than my torso. Watching her violet, reptilian eyes widen, then dart from the stone back to mine, bringing that unfamiliar warm sensation surging back with full force. For the first time, it feels genuine, not just a figment of my tired mind. Or gin.

This could be it. This could really work. And if the dwarves aren't crushed under their own treasures and stones but lost in another world like Li's intel seemed to imply, there's a chance I can undo my whole status as murderer/exilist. I'm not able to imagine what that would feel like and I don't try.

"Nina? Or Li?"

"Both. Li told Nina I was looking and somehow she got her hands on it."

Cera lifts her head again, keeping it four meters up in the air. Her scales sparkling in the dying light. "What did she want in return?"

I walk back to the circle, placing the book on the nearest stack after retrieving the piece of paper from it. I slip the stone back into my pocket, then pull out a lighter from another pocket to start lighting the candles. As usual, Cera looks unimpressed by the small flame. She moves a bit closer, trying to hide her excitement but the erratic swishing of the tip of her tail gives her away.

"A summoning spell," I say, trying to keep my voice neutral.

"And it worked?"

"Yes, it was just an axe."