"No," I assured him. "You're not the only one."
I had to pluck the juniper berries off one by one and make a small ring with them, saying, "Fire and smoke," each time I placed one on the ground. When I finished, I anointed each berry with a drop of the oil and recited, "Breath and life." Inside the circle, I lit a small pile of the resin and rested the smoky quartz on top of it. Then I stepped back and reread the spell, committing the words and gestures to memory. Once I was satisfied I knew it, I handed it to Adrian and shot him a hopeful look.
"Wish me luck," I said.
"You make your own luck," he replied.
I tried not to roll my eyes and turned toward the circle. I recited the spell's complex Greek incantation, pointing in the four cardinal directions as I spoke, per the book's instructions. It was startling how quickly the magic welled up within me, filling me with that blissful power. I spoke the last words, pointing at the juniper circle as I did. I felt the magic pour from me and into the quartz. Then I waited for something to happen.
Nothing did.
I looked back at Adrian, hoping he noticed something I hadn't. He shrugged. "Maybe you did it wrong."
"It worked," I insisted. "I felt the magic."
"Maybe you just can't see it. At the expense of getting myself in trouble here, you should know how amazing you look when you do that stuff. All graceful and - " His eyes went wide. "Um, Sydney? That rock is smoking."
I glanced back at the circle. "That's just the resin that's - "
I stopped. He was right. Smoke was coming out of the quartz. I watched, fascinated, and then slowly, the quartz began to melt. Rather than dissipate into a puddle, though, the liquid began to re-form into a different shape, one that soon hardened into something new and unexpected: a crystalline dragon.
It was small, able to fit in a palm, and glittered just like the dark brown quartz had. The dragon looked more like the serpentine kind usually associated with Chinese culture rather than the winged types of European myth. Every detail was meticulously carved, from the tendrils of its mane to the scales on its hide. It was stunning.
Also, it was moving.
I screamed and backed up, running into Adrian. He put an arm around me and held me as protectively as he could, though it was clear he was just as freaked out. The dragon opened its crystal eyelids and peered at the two of us with tiny golden eyes. It elicited a small croak and then began walking toward us, its small claws scraping against the rocks.
"What the hell is that?" Adrian demanded.
"Do you really think I know?"
"You made it! Do something."
I started to ask what had happened to him looking out for me, but he had a point. I was the one who'd summoned this thing. No matter where we moved or backed up to, the dragon continued to follow and make a small, high-pitched screeching noise that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. I groped for my cell phone and tried to dial Ms. Terwilliger, but there was no reception out here. Darting over to the blanket, I grabbed the spell book and then hurried back to Adrian's side. I flipped to the index, looking up callistana. There I found two entries: Callistana - Summoning and Callistana - Banishing. You would've thought the two would be near each other in the book, but they were pages apart. I flipped to the latter and found the instructions brief and to the point: Once your callistana has been fed and rested, you may summon and banish it at will for a year and a day. A short incantation followed.
I looked up at Adrian. "It says we have to feed it."
"Will that make it shut up?" he asked. His arm was around me again.
"I honestly don't know."
"Maybe we can outrun it."
All my instincts about hiding the supernatural world kicked in. "We can't just leave it for some hiker to find! We have to get it some food." Not that I had any clue what to feed it. Hopefully humans and vampires weren't on the menu.
A look of determination crossed Adrian's features. In a great show of bravery he lunged for the picnic basket and actually managed to scoop the dragon up in it. He slammed down the lid, and the mewling faded but didn't stop.
"Wow," I said. "Manly and brave."
Adrian regarded the basket with dismay. "I just hope that thing doesn't breathe fire. At least it's contained. Now what do we do?"
"Now we feed it." I made a decision. "We take it to Pies and Stuff."
I didn't know if dragons ate pie, but that was the closest food source we had. Besides, I was pretty sure I'd be able to get a cell phone signal there. So, Adrian drove us back to the little diner while I gingerly held the noisy basket. He went inside, and I stayed in the car and tried to call Ms. Terwilliger. I was sent to voice mail and didn't even bother with formalities. Was she never near her phone anymore?
"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."
Chapter Eighteen
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.'"
"Well, I don't think he'll mind, and besides, I'm not going to investigate to find out the truth." Adrian put the quartz in the basket and closed the lid before handing it over to me. "You don't have to summon him back, you know."
I took the basket and opened the car door. "I know. But I feel kind of bad leaving him as a rock." Ms. Terwilliger had told me it'd be healthier for him if I let him out once in a while.
"See? Motherly instinct already. You're a natural, Sage." Adrian grinned and handed me a bag of pie slices. He'd kept some for himself. "Look at you. You don't even need to break the tattoo. You think you would've been mothering a baby dragon a month ago?"
"I don't know." But he had a point. It seemed likely I would've run screaming from it back in the desert. Or maybe tried to exorcise it. "I'll take him for now, but you've got to pull your weight at some point. Ms. Terwilliger says the callistana needs to spend time with both of us. Hmm."
"Hmm, what?"
I shook my head. "Just getting ahead of myself. Wondering what I'd do with him if I did go to Mexico."
Adrian gave me a puzzled look. "What about Mexico?"
It had never come up, I realized. All Adrian had known about was Marcus's mission and the initial tattoo breaking, not the sealing. I hadn't been keeping the rest a secret, but suddenly, I felt uncomfortable telling Adrian about it.
"Oh. Well, Marcus says that after I perform this rebellious act, we can break the elements and free me from the tattoo's control. But to truly bind the spell and make sure the tattoo is never repaired, I need to tattoo over it - like he did. He calls it sealing. But it takes some special compound that's hard to find. He got his done in Mexico and is going to take some of his Merry Men there so they can do it."
"I see." Adrian's smile had vanished. "So. Are you joining them?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Marcus wants me to."
"I'm sure he does."
I ignored the tone. "I've thought about it . . . but it's a big step. Not just for the tattoo, either. If I did that, there'd be no going back. I'd be turning my back on the Alchemists."
"And us," he said. "Unless you really are only helping Jill because of your orders."
"You know it's not about that anymore." Again, I didn't like his tone. "You know I care about her and . . . and the rest of you."
His face was hard. "And yet you'd run off with some guy you just met."
"It's not like that! We wouldn't be 'running off together. I'd be coming back! And we'd be going for a specific reason."
"Beaches and margaritas?"
I was speechless for a few moments. It was so close to what Marcus had joked about. Was that all anyone associated with Mexico?
"I see how it is," I snapped. "You were all in favor of me breaking the tattoo and thinking on my own - but that's only okay if it's convenient for you, huh? Just like your loving from afar' only works if you don't have an opportunity to get your hands all over me. And your lips. And . . . stuff."
Adrian rarely got mad, and I wouldn't quite say he was now. But he was definitely exasperated. "Are you seriously in this much self-denial, Sydney? Like do you actually believe yourself when you say you don't feel anything? Especially after what's been happening between us?"