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"I’ll do that," Chase said, taking the plates fro to set the table

"Thanks," she said "You know, you’re all right sometimes"

"I’ll take that as a complirinned at her, but with very little of the continuous leer he used to shoot her way

Camille settled into a chair and motioned for me to join her "Menolly left us a note before she went to bed," she said, holding up a paper "She did a little sleuthing of her own, and I’o Crescent are paid for in full We don’t have to worry aboutlike we have been And they’re in our name since we’re ostensibly the owners, so there shouldn’t be a problem With a little luck, the OIA--whatever there is left of it--will forget about us"

"Finally, sos, and bacon from Chase "Where’s Trillian?" Neither of Camille’s lovers was anywhere to be seen

"He took off for OW early this ed, and he wanted to let Father knohat our plans are And Morio went into town He said he had soie a squeak toy, and she happily started hitting it against the high chair,a racket

Iris finished up at the stove and joined us at the table "I think it’s time we started her on solid food in addition to her crea her plate For such a little person, Iris could pack it away, but that sees in coround meat, once a day to start After a s"

"Sounds good What kind of oyles eat?" Carinned "I al to the bookshelf that hid the entrance to Menolly’s lair "Wait till you see what Menolly had et last time I was in OW Apparently she did some research and found out this was the best book on the subject" She held up a sli of Woodland Gargoyles Isn’t that just perfect?"

"Hoe know Maggie’s a woodland gargoyle and not fro, she’s a Sub Realo by where she was born"

Iris shook her head and flipped through the book "According to this book, only woodland gargoyles have calico coloring It’s a self-defense strategy to remain unseen in the woods"

Chase cleared his throat "Like caht," she said "Anyway, the ray varieties come from the mountains, and the brownish red backs come from the desert Of course, they can interbreed, but the children tend to follow the ie’s ancestors lived in the woods"

"Does the book give us an expected tiently It had taken Menolly to think of hunting down a book on gargoyle care, which told ie

Iris flipped through "Well, she’s not walking yet, but that doesn’t necessarily e can last up to five Earthside years before she takes a few steps Of course, we don’t kno old she is She hasn’t said anything yet except for her ain, that all depends on how old she hen you brought her hooyles’ breast ar, and cinnaave her, which is why the foruess we’re just going to have to wait and see" I turned to Chase "Why don’t you tell therunted and laid out the plan we’d cos to do For one thing, I needed to touch base with Zach and find out what he’d learned about Tyler and--hopefully--the second spirit seal

I glanced over at Chase "You said we need another coht?"

He nodded "And you mentioned you have somebody in mind? I think it should be someone who’s human, or at least an Earthside Supe"

"Actually, I do know sorinned at Ca Cleo on board? I know he could use a few extra bucks, and we can afford to pay hiive him a free pass at the Wayfarer for drinks and food"

Caood I think Cleo would be an excellent choice After all, he is taking coree, and he does love excitement"

"Who’s Cleo?" Chase asked

"Cleo Blanco… well, technically his nae naht, serious coed to our mechanic, Jason Binds"

"Is he trustworthy?" Chase fished another piece of bacon off the plate and finished his hotcakes

"I think so," Camille said

"Of course he is," Iris broke in "I’ve had several long talks with hiood father to his little girl I evenor soht her in and introduced her She’s a lovely woman, but it was easy to see the lack of cheh, and I could tell they genuinely cared about each other I think I saw a diaed orlook "Good observations, Iris" I ood to et ready for work so I can get this charade into gear Since all of our OIA medics are elves, on’t have any problems on that front" He pushed himself away from the table and pulled etting hurt"

I gazed into his eyes He really did care, thathi on his lips for athe hair out of his eyes "Only if you prohed and planted a wet kiss on oing down I’ll start researching the Snoqualmie area and see if I can find Goldenrod Road"

As he shut the door behind him, I told Caoing on," I said "I knoas out on the astral, but I also know that I wasn’t in my normal Were-form But we have a lead on the Hunters Moon Clan, and I’ before the day is out, Chase will have located the road we’re looking for"

Ca the table "You know, Chase has turned out to be ined he would be"

A knock on the door interrupted her I went to answer it, while she and Iris continued to clean up after breakfast As I opened the door, a blast of the icy winter air hit ht