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.“Time slipped on by,” she added, “all while he was making plans to regain his properties and then some.” Dawn turned a page over.“.and blah, blah, blah, until.” She turned to the next one.“.the late eighteen hundreds, when his legend was brought to major attention by an author who made certain the dragon’s name would never be forgotten.”She glanced up at Claudius.“Wow.How about that? Thanks to Stoker, the dragon got so well known that he couldn’t go outside without sunglasses and a baseball cap.Fame crapped on his plans to secretly go back to being a nasty prince and all.”Claudius’s jaw clenched.“You really are trying so hard, aren’t you?”Dawn kept looking down at the pages; she wasn’t going to let him play with her.Reading directly from the narrative, she said, “ ‘ Knowing he would never again be able to maneuver in secrecy, the dragon enlisted his blood-vow vampire progeny to allow him an opportunity to rise, to become stronger and more powerful than ever so secrecy wouldn’t be required in his efforts to regain his old political position.He was then buried for two hundred years.During this time of rest in a coffin that contained his native soil, he would gather inner power.He commanded his men to quietly invade society while multiplying their numbers.When he arose again, he would have more than just an army to command and more than his former holdings—he would go after the world itself, as well.’ ”Dawn waited to see if Kiko and Natalia had divined anything, but they were still trancing.Damn.“So,” she said, flowing straight into question time for Claudius, “are we to take it that you were part of the lucky community who guarded the dragon all this time?”No answer, of course.“Why you?” Dawn added.“Why not some other poor schmucks?”Natalia began to whisper.“Claudius.volunteered when the dragon privately approached him.Always with a plan.dragon always depended on Claudius’s brains, not might.He took care of the dragon while Mihas was away, even when there was no Underground to support his efforts, only custodes standing by.”Then, as suddenly as the new girl had spoken, she stood straight up.Dawn and Kiko did, too, reaching out to steady Natalia.“What?” Dawn asked her.“That smarts.” Natalia pressed her hands against her head.“Claudius shut himself off and I went.”She gestured with one hand and Dawn understood that to mean that she had slammed into a mental barrier.Kiko seemed to have forgotten about whatever was distracting him, and he held Natalia’s hand.He obviously didn’t like to see her in discomfort, but with Claudius’s diminished abilities, it wasn’t a fraction as bad as it would’ve been if the vamp was healthy.“Use me to get your mojo back,” he said to her.“Just like we did earlier, together.”Natalia squeezed his hand and they sat down, assuming trance position, eyes closed, their breathing deep and synchronized.Jasmine gathered above them, as if trying to lend strength, too.Dawn surrendered the book pages to the psychics, and she thought she felt a rub of energy near their skin as they both grasped the paper.That could’ve been Dawn’s imagination though.“The dragon,” she said to Claudius to get him back to where they needed him.The vampire started to quiver like a tuning fork.“Dragon,” both Kiko and Natalia said.Claudius made the same noise he had yesterday when Costin had used his Awareness to dig into his blood brother’s head.It was a frightening groan pitching up to a shriek.“Dragon!” repeated the psychics.Dawn’s temples felt like they were vising inward, a result of the pressure in the room.Even the Friends were getting hoppy, darting here and there.They were saying the name, too, but in their whispery, ghostly voices.“Dragon.Dragon.”As Claudius grated out a moan, the psychics hunched together, shutting Dawn out as she wrapped her arms over her head so she wouldn’t have to hear the vampire.Still, his rising screech hollowed into her.Kiko came up for air from his and Natalia’s huddle, just as if he’d broken the surface of a lake.“New Gilby,” he said, gasping.“Hotel, one kilometer northwest of the Lion and the Lamb.”Dawn’s victory cry was muffled as she fisted her hands at her side
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