Free Priestess Dreaming (An Otherworld Novel) by Yasmine Galenorn Page B

leaned over and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m glad to have you with me. Honestly, if it were anybody but Darynal—well, anybody outside of this room—you wouldn’t catch me anywhere near that place.”
    “When will you leave?” I reached out, took his hand and rubbed it gently against my cheek.
    “Tonight, love. We’ll take the portal in the basement of the Wayfarer—that one’s pointed to Y’Elestrial.”
    The Wayfarer, Menolly’s bar, had been torched and burned to the ground shortly before Samhain, killing a number of people in the process. We’d found out who did it and put an end to them, but now the bar was undergoing a total rebuild. Not
renovation
, there hadn’t been enough of it left to renovate. The basement had managed to stand intact, and part of the floor, but the bar had been destroyed. The workmen had gutted out all the burnt timbers and had started the new construction. Menolly was spending a lot of evenings talking to the architect about the new plans.
    The portal in the basement had fared much better than the main floor, as had the safe room. Neither had been damaged and we’d managed to keep the fire marshal and his men from tripping through into Otherworld. Portals were common knowledge, though their exact locations were not.
    The construction company promised that by the beginning of the year, Menolly would have a brand-new bar. She’d decided to nix the bed-and-breakfast angle and just go for a bigger, brighter kitchen and a new dance floor. Tavah—the guardian Menolly hired to keep watch over the portal at night—was still stationed there, only now there were two other guards on duty with her. And three during the day when Tavah slept. We’d begun to realize solo gigs were likely to end badly.
    I let out a long breath. “So you leave tonight. Derisa, when do you want me to go?”
    “Tomorrow afternoon, if you can. The sooner you find the Merlin, the better. We still have to convince him to work with us, though. Iampaatar is correct that Myrddin is . . . or was . . . capricious at best. The legends are filled with his tumultuous status.” She smoothed her cloak. “I will return tomorrow afternoon, late. Be ready. I will visit Talamh Lonrach Oll and bring Aeval and the others with me. Neither Bran nor Morgaine and her crew know about the journey yet.”
    “They’re going to be
ever so overjoyed
, no doubt.” I had no illusions about the pair’s reaction to the news. Neither one of them liked me—Morgaine because I would not throw my allegiance in with her, and Bran because . . . well, I’d killed his father. Even though it had been at the Black Unicorn’s decree—and even though he had been reborn and was now running free and growing strong again—my sacrifice of the father of the Dahns Unicorns hadn’t gone down well. Bran was an ally only so far as it met his agenda.
    “Then I will take my leave. On the way out, I’ll recalibrate the portal out in your backyard. And I will warn your guards.”
    Suddenly so tired I could barely think, I stood and curtseyed deep. She brushed my forehead with a kiss and then vanished out the back door.
    Turning to the others, I shook my head. “Can’t we even go on a shopping trip without drama of some sort?”
    “Speaking of shopping, I’ve sorted the bags in the parlor room. Some things were ruined, others look like they made it through without wear and tear.” Nerissa entered the kitchen. “I’m afraid I missed everything that was going on. Bring me up to speed, somebody?” Menolly’s wife was a gorgeous Amazon of a woman. As Iris began to run down what had happened with Derisa, I pushed myself to my feet.
    Making my way upstairs, I passed by Vanzir and Hanna, who were finishing the cleanup of the living room. The heat was turned up, and the place was a mess, but overall, I thought most everything but the electronics would make it through okay.
    Trillian, Smoky, and Morio followed me to our suite. I wanted to