The Hero of Varay Read Online Free PDF

at the time, I thought that my danger sense was fighting them with every bit of magic it had. But we were in Louisville, not in the buffer zone, and the magic lost.
    When I came to, I was in a private room with two IV bags dripping clear fluid into my left arm. I woke quickly, without any drowsy, dreamy period. Snap . It wasn’t until I started to reach for the elf sword that wasn’t over my shoulder that I noticed the tubes to my arm. Memory flooded in to fill the gaps. I looked around. I was alone, but not for long. Mother and Parthet must have just stepped out for a drink of water or something. They came back in.
    “How are you feeling?” Mother asked.
    I was still taking stock. “Not bad, considering,” I said after a moment, and then I realized that I had echoed Kardeen’s assessment of Pregel’s condition. I shook my head, but didn’t bother to explain the gesture to Mother and Parthet. I still felt some pain, but less than just after the fight—and it could not begin to compare to the pain I felt after the dragon fell on me outside Castle Thyme. The needles in my arms were more annoying than the pain from where the sword had slashed me. I mentioned that.
    “The surgeon said that you were extremely lucky. All she had to do was sew up everything that was cut.”
    “How long have I been out?”
    “Less than four hours altogether. The doctor said that you wouldn’t be waking up for another hour or more and that you would probably be groggy all day.” Mother shrugged. “I didn’t take that too seriously. I saw your father wounded too many times.”
    “How long am I going to be cooped up here?”
    “A few days. The doctor wasn’t too specific. She said it depended on how you respond to the surgery, and whether there’s any drainage infection.”
    I turned my head toward Uncle Parthet. Even with the wound and surgery, my mind was working a lot better than it normally does the morning after a good drunk. “Joy is going to be at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, just a few minutes after noon. She expects me to pick her up.”
    “You can’t …” Mother started before she realized that I wasn’t talking about going to meet her myself.
    “I think there’s probably time to catch her at her parents’ house,” I said. “It doesn’t take very long to fly from St. Louis to Chicago.”
    “It’s not six o’clock yet,” Mother said. “She’s probably not out of bed.”
    “I don’t see a telephone in here,” I said, looking around again.
    “This is just the recovery ward,” Mother told me. “You won’t be moved to a regular room until later this morning.”
    “How much later?”
    “I don’t know. I’ll have to check.” I stared at her without speaking and she said that she would check on it right away and left.
    “Where’s Lesh?” I asked Parthet.
    “Out with the automobile. I just went down there a bit ago to tell him that you’re okay. He didn’t want to come up, dressed for Varay. He’s probably in more pain than you seem to be. I don’t have any of the fixings for my hangover cure along.”
    “And I suppose your head’s throbbing too.”
    “Not so bad, lad, not so bad. Now, what did you want to tell me that you chased your mother out for?”
    “I’m going to need you to pick up Joy at the airport. I imagine she’ll want to come here. If I can reach her at home, she can fly here instead of to Chicago. If not …”
    “You want me to pick her up in Chicago and fetch her here.”
    “She doesn’t know anything about Varay yet, Uncle,” I said. “Not one word.”
    Parthet was quick on the uptake. “You mean I can’t bring her down by doorway from your apartment.”
    “That’s exactly what I mean.”
    “You want me to get on an airplane and bring her? I’ve never been on an airplane.”
    “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
    “And happy at that.” He hesitated, but then he nodded. “I do hope you can get her on the telephone in time, though,” he said.
    “If