The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3)(79)

"Call me now," I said through gritted teeth. The dragon's screeching was really starting to get to me.

Adrian returned in about ten minutes carrying two bags. I stared in amazement as he got in the car. "Did you buy out the store?"

"I didn't know what kind it wanted," he protested. Between the two bags, we had half a dozen slices of different kinds of pies. Each one's container was neatly labeled.

"I really don't know either," I said.

Adrian sifted through the bags and pulled out a slice of coconut cream. "If I were a dragon, this is what I'd go for."

I didn't argue, mainly because that statement had no logical argument. He took the lid off the pie and then looked at me expectantly. With a gulp, I opened the basket's lid and prayed the dragon wouldn't climb out and claw my face off. Adrian quickly set the pie down in the basket. Nervously, we both leaned forward to watch.

At first, the dragon looked as though it really would climb out after us. Then it noticed the pie. The little crystal creature sniffed at the slice, circled it a few times, and then began gnawing at the pie in teeny-tiny bites. Best of all, the screeching stopped. We watched in wonder as the dragon made its way through a third of the coconut cream pie. Then, without warning, it rolled over onto its back and began to snore. Adrian and I sat there, frozen, and then finally dared to look at each other.

"I guess you were right about the flavor," I said.

"Do you think you can banish it now?" he asked. "Is it fed and rested enough?"

I retrieved the spell book to double-check the incantation. "Time to find out."

I recited the words. Smoke fluttered from the dragon's body. He began to shimmer, and within moments, we were looking at an inert piece of smoky quartz. In another valiant display, Adrian picked it up but held it as far away as possible as he studied it. The ringing of my phone startled both of us, and he dropped the crystal back into the basket. I looked at the phone's screen and saw Ms. Terwilliger's name.

"You made me summon a dragon!" I exclaimed.

"I most certainly did not," she responded. "Callistanas are a type of demon."

I froze. "A demon."

"Well," she amended. "A very minor and generally benign kind." I didn't reply for a while. "Sydney? Are you still there?"

"You had me summon a demon," I replied, voice stiff. "You know how I feel about evil and the supernatural. You've spent all this time trying to convince me that the magic we do is all for some greater good in the battle against evil, and yet you made me summon a creature of hell."

"Creature of hell?" She snorted. "Hardly. You know nothing about demons. I told you it's benign, didn't I? Callistanas can be very useful. They'll warn you if dark magic is nearby and will even try to defend you if you're attacked - not that they can do much damage."

I wasn't buying it. "If they're so useful, then why don't you have one?"

"Oh, well, I'm at a level where I can sense dark magic on my own. That, and - if you'll forgive my language - callistanas are a real pain in the ass. They make the most irritating noise when they're hungry. Cats are more than adequate for my needs."

"Yeah," I said. "I kind of noticed the noise part. I fed it some pie and turned it back into a rock."

"There, you see?" She sounded happier than I'd heard her in days. "Look at the progress you've made already. No matter what comes of this mess we've found ourselves in, I'm more convinced than ever that I made the right choice in guiding you on the magical path."

I had too much going on to really appreciate the compliment. "So what do I do now?"

"It'll disappear on its own after a year and a day. Until then, you can call it when you need it. You can try to train it. And of course, you'll have to feed it. Whatever you choose to do, it will be loyal to you. It bonds with the first person it sees and will need to spend time with you . . . Sydney? Are you there?"

I'd gone silent again. "The first person it sees?" I finally managed to ask. "Not the caster?"

"Well, usually they're one and the same."

I glanced over at Adrian, who was eating a piece of blackberry pie while listening avidly to my side of the conversation. "What happens if there were two people there when it opened its eyes? Adrian was with me when I summoned it."

Now she paused. "Oh? Hmm, well, I probably should've said something before you cast the spell."

That had to be the understatement of the century. "You should've told me a lot of things before I cast it! What does it mean that the dragon - demon, whatever -  saw both of us? Did it bond with both of us?"

"Look at it this way," Ms. Terwilliger said, after several moments of thought. "The callistana thinks of you two as its parents."



I CERTAINLY HADN'T EXPECTED to walk away from today's trip with joint custody of a miniature dragon. (I refused to call it a demon). And, as it turned out, Adrian was already proving not to be the most dedicated of "fathers."

"You can take him for now," he told me when we got back to Amberwood. "I'll handle weekend visitations."

"You don't have anything going on. Besides, we're only a few days from the weekend," I protested. "And you don't know that it's a 'he.'"