The Dragons of Heaven by Alyc Helms Page B

his pocketknife, and I caught sight of a familiar fleur-de-lis logo on the side.
    â€œAlways be prepared,” he said with a self-deprecating smile and a two fingered salute before he went to work on Jill’s pod.
    Waking up entrapped and having to struggle free did a lot to convince the others that something was wrong. Enough to start unraveling the hag’s illusions. I’d spent a few moments puking in the corner of the loft after recalling what I must have eaten, but the others were spared that memory. They were seeing the truth for the first time, and they were cowed by it. Even Jill had set aside her bouncy optimism, shoulders sagging as she huddled against her husband’s side.
    â€œHow did you know?” she whispered to him as we spied on the room below. It looked empty, but the hag and her man-servant had to be somewhere. I wanted to know where before I led us back to the shrine.
    â€œContinuity errors,” he repeated. His mantra.
    â€œJim, this isn’t a movie. Life doesn’t have continuity errors.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œWhat do you think she was going to do with us?” Claire asked. She clung to Anita.
    Gunther was shaken enough not to care. “Hansel und Gretel,” he said, his florid complexion gone pasty.
    â€œGunther?” Anita touched the back of his hand. He flinched.
    â€œWhen I was a boy, I would always have the same nightmare since my nana read to me the story of Hansel und Gretel. I have not dreamed that dream in many years, but I dreamed it tonight.” He wiped a hand over the haunted look in his eyes, then nodded at Jim and me. “The witch is gone. I say we go now, before she returns and tosses us in her oven.”
    Anita and Claire nodded; Jill reached for the rickety ladder.
    â€œWait,” I said as Jim steadied the ladder and Gunther helped Claire follow Jill down, then Anita. Nobody paid me any mind. “She could be anywhere.”
    â€œWell, she’s not here. Besides, she’s just one old lady,” Jim said. “Jill could probably take her. Hell, I could probably take her.”
    â€œNotice he rates my ability to kick ass above his own,” Jill called up.
    â€œI call it like I see it.” Jim climbed down. “Why do you think I married you? I needed a stalwart protector.”
    â€œThis is a bad idea,” I muttered, following Jim.
    Anita cracked the door and peeked out into the night. “I think it’s clear,” she whispered over her shoulder.
    â€œAllow me to go first,” Gunther offered, pulling her back. He opened the door and charged out before any of us could stop him.
    â€œI guess we’re going then. Ladies?” Jim linked arms with Anita and Claire as though they were going on a Sunday stroll and led them out after Gunther. I glanced over at Jill when she sighed. A sappy grin had replaced her anxious frown. Any woman seeing that look would feel a pang of envy, so I didn’t feel too guilty about mine.
    â€œHe plays fantasy football with the guys at work. He thinks magic is just special effects or mass delusion, and that the things Argent Aces can do is just corporate hype. And the main reason my mother likes him is because he’s the first guy I brought home who didn’t reek of patchouli.”
    I grinned. I knew what she meant. Scratch the surface, and Jim was a keeper. “You’re a lucky, lucky girl.”
    Her sappy grin faded. Her knuckles were white on the door frame. “Only if we survive.”
    â€œThen let’s move.”
    Darkness shrouded the clearing. What little moonlight there might have been couldn’t pierce the canopy. Ahead of us, Gunther stumbled and cursed.
    â€œWhich way?” he muttered, eyes wide and unblinking. His head swiveled as he searched for some path.
    â€œHere, let me.” I could see in the dark almost as well as the day, one of the perks of my inherited powers. I moved past Gunther, taking his