“She definitely looked scared out of her mind,” I agreed. “No surprise with that group. They sure do push her around a lot.”

“It’s more than that,” Jasmine said. “I swear, there was something she wasn’t telling us. I have really good intuition, you know.”

I hadn’t known that but didn’t push it. “I can believe that she doesn’t know where Pagiel is,” I said. “And that’s our biggest issue right now. I’ll go back to Tucson tomorrow and see what I can uncover there. You want to go?”

Jasmine shook her head, still lost in her own thoughts. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll let you know.”

Dorian could hardly resist the opportunity to show us off at dinner. We were gentry celebrities and dressed up to boot. Dinnertime at his castle was always a huge affair, a big party in the dining hall. His court liked the novelty of having other royalty around and was too excited by their own boisterous celebrating to notice the three of us just weren’t into the festive atmosphere. Jasmine left early, and Dorian and I followed shortly thereafter, going to his rooms so we could debrief the Pagiel situation in private.

“You don’t want to go with me, do you?” I asked him, settling down at a little table. I was reminded of that dinner he’d arranged for me ages ago, the one with the Milky Way cake.

He poured wine for both of us, the first alcohol I’d had since the twins. “In theory, yes. But I’m not too proud to admit I can’t function in that world as efficiently as I’d like.” Dorian was strong enough to cross over intact, but he suffered the same adverse reactions to technology as most gentry. “I trust you and Roland can deal with the situation initially. I’ll deal with Pagiel when you get him back here.”

I sipped the wine. It was fruity and strong, reminding me that I should probably exercise caution since I was out of practice. Then again, if ever there was a time to drink, it was now. “Why are you helping me?” I asked after taking another gulp. “I mean, I know you help me all the time, but Edria had a point. Why are you helping me with this? You’ve never had any qualms about invading the human world. You still call Isaac Thundro and talk about him conquering humanity.”

“Thundro really is an excellent name.” Dorian drank some of his own wine, composing his thoughts. “As for the why? It’s simple. You don’t want Pagiel raiding that world.”

I waited for more. Nothing came. “That’s it?”

“What more is there?”