“Because it is associated with Goddess Nu Wa,” Luther said.

“There is a reason why Nu Wa was depicted in ancient Chinese art as having the head of a human and the body of a serpent,” I told her.

Luther checked the clock “Three, two . . . one.”

The exposed muscle turned bright emerald green.

“A draconoid,” I said. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Luther stared at the ceiling and made a frustrated growl.

“Why is that bad?” Julie asked.

“There have been four documented sightings of a real dragon,” Luther said. “They are the UFOs of our age. We don’t know a lot about them . . . no, scratch that, we have a wealth of myths so we know a lot about what they might be, but we have almost no empirical evidence to justify any of the bullshit. We do know that they are beings of immense magic power. Three of the sightings have been during a flare.”

“A draconoid is a catch-all name for the proto-dragons,” I explained. “A proto-dragon is almost like a primitive dragon, not quite a dragon but definitely not just a lizard or a serpent. They pack a serious magic punch. If the Summoner can produce hundreds of these, what else can he summon?”

“But I thought you fought a dragon a long time ago?” Julie said.

“No, I fought an undead dragon, a pile of bones with a very faint memory of what it used to be. If the Summoner calls out a dragon, we’ll be in deep trouble.”

“It wouldn’t even have to be a dragon,” Luther said. “If he summons a drake, we’re in deep sewage. There are no protocols for fighting dragons. We have no idea what to expect. We would be fighting blind. This city isn’t ready for a dragon.”

I looked at Julie. “Color?”

“Same,” she said. “Bronze.”

That’s what I thought.

“Bronze?” Luther blinked. “What the hell registers bronze? Daniels, what are you not telling me?”

Denial only goes so far. I took a deep breath. “I think we have a djinn.”

•   •   •

LUTHER SANK INTO a chair. “How sure are you?”

“Sure enough to say it out loud.”

He dragged his hand across his face. “You know, if anyone else had told me, I would’ve smiled and nodded and after he left, I’d make calls to his emergency contacts and suggest they hospitalize him ASAP.”

“I know.”

“A djinn is problematic because it’s a higher being?” Julie asked.