Dearest Mother of Mine (Overworld Chronicles) by John Corwin Page B

the discovery of angel babies. Even though the leyworm I'd rescued from Dash Armstrong had vouched for me, did that mean we were on their safe list? Or would things be different the next time I walked in there?
    And who are they really helping?
    So much made so little sense. True, I'd only known leyworms in the most terrifying sense, when they'd chased our small group through dark tunnels deep in the earth during our expedition to apprehend Vadaemos. I wondered if Yolo could communicate with the leyworms. They seemed pretty cozy.
    Elyssa and I took a flying carpet down into Queens Gate that night. The bustling city looked like London from the Victorian Era. A huge clock tower rose from the center, flanked on either side by domed buildings used for official Arcane Council meetings, among other things. We grabbed dinner at the Copper Swan, a popular Chinese restaurant.
    "I think Shelton is right," Elyssa said as we discussed his plan to question an arch operator about the control room beneath El Dorado. "You obviously can't tell the operator this is about El Dorado unless he still believes your Darkwater story."
    "If the arch operators don't help, what then?" I asked.
    Elyssa shrugged. "Kidnap one? Torture him for information?"
    I felt my forehead pinch. "What?"
    Elyssa laughed. "I'm kidding, babe." She put a hand atop mine. "Do we even know where this Darkwater organization is based? Maybe we could break into their headquarters and find more useful information than the operators know."
    "Now, that's a good idea," I said.
    "Probably because a woman thought of it," she said.
    I snorted. "I think we should start with the operators. Infiltrating Darkwater sounds risky." I narrowed my eyes in thought, remembering a conversation I'd once had with Bella. "Although…back in the day, Bella and Stacey used to be cat burglars. Maybe they could help with something on that scale."
    Elyssa's violet eyes widened. "They were thieves?"
    I nodded. "Bella told me stories about the two of them. Maybe they'd be willing to come out of retirement."
    "It could be fun," she said, pursing her lips.
    "Now you're scaring me again," I said with a smirk.
    After dinner, we went back to the mansion and found Bella playing Scrabble with a grumpy-looking Shelton.
    "You clearly don't have a life," he said, as she placed a long word I'd never seen before across the board. "What do you do, read dictionaries all day? Is that even a word?"
    "Of course," the petite Arcane said with a bright smile.
    "What the hell does it mean?" he said.
    "It means I won." She stuck out her tongue.
    Shelton's grumpy façade vanished in a burst of laughter.
    "We've been discussing plans," I told them as Bella cleared the board.
    Shelton gave us a suspicious look. "As in plans for new bedroom furniture or plans for something that'll make me wish I didn't know you?"
    I took a seat at the table. "We figured grilling one of the arch operators might be a good starting point, but Elyssa thinks infiltrating Darkwater is a good backup plan in case the operators don't have answers." I chewed on my inner lip. "We need to know how to operate the Alabaster Arch so we find out where the Grand Nexus is. We need to know how to turn on the lights. We need information to bargain with Lornicus so he'll help me rescue Mom."
    Shelton's forehead wrinkled into an incredulous look. "Just so happens I know where Darkwater is located," he said.
    My eyebrows pinched. "You do? How?"
    He shrugged. "When we were pretending to work for Darkwater, I did a little extra research. I don't like impersonating employees of a company I know nothing about. I also wondered what kind of people the Conroys were hiring."
    "Tell us more," Elyssa said, taking a seat next to Bella.
    "Jarrod Sager originally owned the company when it was known as Arcane Enterprises," he said, speaking of his adoptive father, the former Arcanus Primus, now dead thanks to the late Bigglesworth. Shelton flinched, but soldiered on. "He hired them for