LITMIR.BIZ

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what you’ll be facing, you can go there.” She opened the door to the scent of smoke and food and liquor. “And there’s a back room you should see.”

      The moment Calli walked in, conversation stopped. The place wasn’t packed, but the bar on her right was full, with Chevaliers leaning or sitting on stools. Of the five booths, two were taken. Alexa scowled at the couple in the last booth against the wall and they got up and moved to one closer to the door. A waitress hurried over to wipe the table.

      All the Chevaliers watched Calli with considering gazes. Well, they were getting an eyeful of the Exotique they might want to mate with. Calli wondered if she’d find more or fewer tokens on the Choosing table after this visit.

      A woman at the bar flinched, slipped from her seat and left.

      Feeling self-conscious and wanting to get this “trophy” ordeal over with, Calli glanced up. Time seemed to stop and fear bubbled up her throat.

      The first thing she saw was the torso of a snarling beast with spines on its arms. She tried to swallow but couldn’t pull her gaze away from the fierce glass eyes, the open muzzle that showed sharp, deadly teeth. Its fur was yellow, as was the underside of its digited paws. Yellow skin, yellow fur. Slayer.

      Marian picked up one of Calli’s hands and curved her fingers around a mug handle. Her spit had dried, so she took a gulp, and cold, yeasty ale slid down her throat. She tore her gaze away to Marian who was gesturing for her to slide into the bench opposite Alexa, who faced the room. Calli decided that having people stare into the back of her head—her blond head—would feel better than meeting a stream of brown-eyed stares. She managed to pick one foot up after the other to get to the table and slide in on what seemed to be a red leather bench. Leather made from cows or something—not monster hide.

      “I ordered burgers for lunch,” Alexa said.

      Marian took the outside seat and Calli closed her eyes a moment in thanks that these two women were so protective.

      At least for now. They seemed to think that she’d go out and fight monsters like the slayer, or the larger beast next to it. This one snarled, too, its fangs as sharp as the slayers, its black furred head more massive. On either side of the head were huge paws with long, curved, sharply pointed claws that looked more like blades than anything else.

      “Render,” Alexa said, and removed a little woven basket of tea leaves from her mug, placing it on a saucer.

      Calli forced herself to savor the ale. It was perfect. Rich, mellow, just to her taste, already warming her stomach. She’d settled enough from shock to glance up at the next mounted trophy of a horror—another torso. Gray, lizard-like skin, bony head with no nose, two arms with two suckered tentacles in front and behind each arm, a soul-sucker.

      When she turned her gaze back to the table, she saw the other women watching her with understanding in their eyes. “Is that it?” she croaked.

      “There are dreeths,” Alexa said.

      “Of course, how could I forget dreeths? What are they?”

      “Quetzalcoatlus,” Marian said.

      “The Aztec plumed-serpent god?”

      Alex huffed out a breath. “According to Marian, the biggest pterodactyl-type dinosaur on Earth is called a quetzalcoatlus.”

      “Oh.”

      “It has a bigger belly, though.”

      “Sorta bat winged?” asked Calli, trying to imagine the thing.

      “Yes. Clawed front legs and spurred, too.”

      “Huh.”

      “Marian?” Alexa held both hands out, palms up.

      “Oh, very well,” Marian said. She linked fingers with Alexa and to Calli’s amazement a 3-D image formed above the table of a flying reptile.

      “Not a dragon,” Calli said, looking at the hideous thing.

      “No,” Marian and Alexa said in unison.

      Its beak was long and curved. “More sharp teeth. Everything around here has sharp teeth except us and volarans.”

      “The teeth are poison, like slayer spines,” Alexa said.

      “Of course they are,” muttered Calli. “Regular teeth would be too easy. How big?”

      “About the size of a bungalow,” Alexa said.

      A short shriek and the clatter of plates toppling onto their table caused Marian and Alexa to break apart. They snatched two meals. Calli saw one plate overturn. “No!” The burger and bun stopped in midair, the plate turned right side up and the food slid back onto the thick pottery. Marian reached out and nabbed it, smiling at Calli. “You saved it.”

      She’d used magic! Instinctively she’d stopped the mouthwatering food from falling. She’d even repiled the strange white fries. She looked at one dubiously. “What are these?”

      “Turnip fries,” Alexa said, biting into her burger.

      “Turnip?”

      “They don’t have potatoes,” Marian explained sadly.

      “I taught the cook burgers and buns, and they’re all the rage, of course, but without fries…” Alexa shrugged.

      “What kind of meat?” Calli bit off the end of a turnip fry. Not even hot oil and salt could make it good. She dropped the fry onto the plate.

      “Cow,” Marian said.

      “Okay,” Calli said. “We got mustard and ketchup?”

      “Something that might barely pass for about a gold coin more,” Alexa said.

      “Shoot.”

      “I’m working on that,” Marian said.

      Since she was working on so many other projects, Calli didn’t think she’d be seeing the condiments soon.

      “Ketchup is easier than mustard. They grow plenty of tomatoes here.” Marian peeled off her bun and showed lettuce and tomato.

      The burger was plump and juicy and had Calli forgetting about everything except eating. The lettuce and tomato actually had taste, unlike most of the standard stuff she’d had in diners. She bit, swallowed. Breakfast seemed days instead of hours ago.

      A man cleared his throat.

      Calli looked up to see a tall, somber-looking guy wearing brown cotton trousers and shirt with a sleeveless tunic of dark gray over it. His left temple showed a streak of silver—that indicated he had magical powers, she remembered.

      He made a little half bow to Alexa, then Marian, addressing them by name. Alexa gestured that he could join them and scooted over so he could sit next to her. He raised a hand and the waitress hurried over. Calli heard “burger,” and smiled. By the time Alexa, Marian and she were done with Lladrana, the people would sure have some Americanizations in their language.

      Alexa put her sandwich down. Calli noticed she’d only eaten a couple of fries. “Calli, this is Sevair Masif, Representative of the Cities and Towns to the Marshalls.”

      Another new face. Another guy looking her over coolly. “Tell him I’m pleased to meet him.” Though she really wasn’t much, she inclined her head. “What cities?”

      Marian muffled a snort beside her.

      “They just aren’t as urban as we are,” Alexa said.

      “Castleton is, like, the main city, right? And it doesn’t have mustard and ketchup?”

      Alexa sighed.

      Marian said, “We did tell you that people would give you presents. This man did me a wonderful favor by sending my teacher and me and Jaquar an excellent cook.”

      “He had a spice master send me a gift of tea. Expensive

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