“Of course.” Volk smiled, baring his teeth. “I can even help you encourage her to do what it is that you want.”

“Her?”

“Katya. She is a friend of the family.” His eyes glinted. “In a way.”

“And what do you want in return?”

“What makes you think I want anything?”

None of us bothered answering.

He thrust his arms up in the air in an expressive shrug. “You have seen through me.”

I rolled my eyes. Imagine that.

“There is something you can do for me,” Volk continued. He looked at me. “I have seen on the Othernet that you have a relationship with Lord Corrigan.”

I moved my weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Not exactly.”

“But you know him. Intimately.”

Jeez. My cheeks flamed in embarrassment. If I ever came across the author of that fucking Othernet blog, I would make very sure that they died a long and painful death.

“I guess. We’re not really on speaking terms though, so if you want something from him, then I can’t help.”

“All I want is a bit of quid pro quo. Tit for tat. I will introduce you to Katya, and you will introduce me to Leah.”

Leah? I frowned. I’d heard that name before.

“Lord Corrigan’s sister,” Volk supplied helpfully.

I started. Sister? Since when had Corrigan had a fucking sister? I knew who she was now that he’d mentioned it. She was the girl I’d seen going into Alcazon with him, just before the events with Endor at Haughmond Hill. I’d assumed she was his girlfriend, or consort, or something like that. I’d never heard anyone mention any family in relation to Corrigan. I realised that I didn’t really know the Lord Alpha at all.

“You want to meet his sister?” I asked suspiciously. “Why?”

“Now it is my turn to blush,” Volk said, without actually looking embarrassed in the slightest. “I have met her before. I like her. I would like to meet her again.”

“Dude, why don’t you just call her?” Alex was looking very puzzled.

I shot Aubrey a quick glance. He was eyeing Volk as if he was some strange new species that he’d just come across.

The Russian sucked in breath through his teeth. “We didn’t really part on the best of terms. There’s a chance she won’t take my call. I think things will work better if we could ‘accidentally’ bump into each other.”

Accidentally? This was all starting to sound rather Machiavellian. Or, at the very least, like high school.

“How do we know she doesn’t completely hate your guts and that seeing you will be traumatic and distressing for her?” I asked. “Maybe there’s a very good reason for her not to want to talk to you.”

He looked pained. “I am happy for you to be present. I would not dare risk the wrath of a dragon, after all. I just need to see her again face to face.”

The dragon comment irked me. However, I had to admit he seemed genuine.

“I’m not sure how quickly I’ll be able to manage it,” I said finally. “It’s not as if I actually know her. And there are other things going on with the Brethren and myself that may delay matters.”

Alex was momentarily put out. “Not just with the Brethren and you.”

“With a lot of the Otherworlders in the UK,” I amended.

“If you give me your word that you will engineer a meeting as soon as you can, then that’s good enough for me.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I’m a pretty good judge of character.”

For a werewolf, he was remarkably earnest. I looked at Alex and Aubrey and they both gave me slight nods of agreement. I sighed.

“Okay, then. But if I get the slightest hint that she really doesn’t want to see you because it’ll upset her, or if you’re going to do something that would harm her in any way, the whole deal is off.”

“I would expect nothing else.” Volk smiled, and this time I got the sense of genuine friendship from him.

I smiled back. “Now about that Karzelek? I’m afraid we’re rather under the kibosh as far as time is concerned.”

“She’s already outside.”

Alex beamed. “Bring her in!”

“As you wish.” Volk left the room.

I turned to the other two. “I hope this guy is alright.”

“Alright? Dude, he’s amazeballs.”

I threw Alex a droll look. “Did either of you two know that Corrigan had a sister?”

Alex shook his head. “I don’t really spend all that much time thinking about the Brethren, Mack Attack.”

Aubrey shrugged. “I knew.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why would I? It’s not like I thought it was a big deal. Not like, say, knowing that the person you’ve been hanging around with has a secret identity as a dragon.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Clearly he wasn’t going to give that up for a while yet. And he did rather have a point. It occurred to me that, as far as the Lord Alpha was concerned, I was becoming a bit of stalker girl. Fortunately, Volk re-entered at that point, saving me from muddling my way through some babble about why I should have known Corrigan’s family tree.

“Here she is,” he said, gesturing behind him.

I did my best to appear friendly, and stuck out a hand towards the Karzelek. I was shocked at just how short she really was. That might prove problematic in getting her into the mine initially.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Mack.”

She bobbed her head. “Katya.”

Alex and Aubrey introduced themselves, then she looked back at me. “So you’re the dragon.” It wasn’t a question.

Shit. Was there anyone anywhere who didn’t know what I was? I coughed. “Not exactly.”

Aubrey threw his hands up in the air. “Even the dwarf knows what you are!”

“I’m a Karzelek, not a dwarf.” She laced her fingers primly in front of her. “So, dragon or not, I am told that you require some help.”

Alex jiggled in excitement. “Yeah! If we could just borrow your time for a couple of hours tomorrow, then we’d be so grateful.” He quickly outlined his plan to the little woman.

She shook her head. “Won’t work.”

He stopped bouncing around and stared at her. “Yes, it will.”

“Look,” she said patiently as if he were a very small child, “if there’s one thing I know, it’s mines. They’re not going to let you waltz in and tell them that you can lead them to a new vein. They don’t know you and there are serious health and safety considerations in place. It’s not a tourist attraction.”

“I spoke to the manager on the phone. When I told him we could help him with sourcing more palladium within the mine, he was thrilled.”

“Sure. But it still doesn’t mean he’ll let you inside. If he’s feeling generous, he’ll show you some diagrams and maps, and perhaps some geological surveys and ask you to point out where you’d suggest they investigate. And in about six months’ time, once they’ve exhausted their current avenues, then maybe they will.”

Alex was completely deflated. “But…”

“There are no buts. It simply won’t work. It’s not the Otherworld, it’s the human world. They do things differently.”

“Why don’t you just take some?” Volk asked curiously. “Just go there, grab some of it, then leave. They’ll have security, but nothing I imagine you wouldn’t be able to overcome.”

“We’re not stealing it,” I said, firmly.

“Mack Attack…”

“We’re not. It’s wrong.”

“It comes out of the ground. It belongs to the earth, not to some faceless corporation. You can’t steal from Mother Nature.” Alex paused. “Well, you can, but only if you’re the freaking necromancer who we’re trying to defeat anyway. Sheesh, our intentions at least are noble and heroic, even if our actions wouldn’t be.”

“Then let’s just buy it, Alex.”

He ran his hands through his hair. “There’s got to be another way.”

Katya, her head craned upwards, watching us with her eyes zipping from side to side as if she was at a tennis match, spoke up. “The dragon is right,” she said sternly. “Those miners work hard for that metal. They risk their lives for it. You can’t just steal it from them.”

I looked at Alex, raising my eyebrows as if to emphasise her words.

“However,” she continued, “there is maybe a way you could get some.”

Hope flared in Alex’s eyes and he started jiggling again. “How?”

She shrugged. “I know the area. There’s an abandoned mine shaft not too far away. The company which owns it is going to seal it over because they’ve stripped it of most of its resources. I’ve heard there is still some palladium ore left inside though. I don’t imagine it’ll be much, and I don’t really understand what you need it for, but you might be able to get some from there.”

“How would we, you know, get it out? Extract it?”

“You’d have to work that out yourselves. And you have to bear in mind that it’s not just as easy as digging it out. Palladium is found inside nickel-copper deposits. It needs to be refined in order to become the element that you need.”

I massaged my temples. “We can’t do that.”

“Actually, we can, Mack Attack.” The enthusiasm had returned to Alex’s voice. “It’s basic mage science. I can probably even do it on site at the mine. If we can just find it, I can leach out the parts that we don’t need with a basic spell.”

I looked at Katya. She shrugged. “I’ve seen it done.”

Aubrey clapped his hands together. “So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”