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It took a day or so for us to prepare, not because anyone actually did need to pack, but because Carver had very wisely advised us to take along asto be a scavenger hunt, not awith a demon prince who could potentially save us frood We needed extra hands, just in case

Now, I’ to be as extensive as the one we took to the Philippines, which was nice and everything – apart fro the wrath of a whole ’nother head of a pantheon, of course – but it was brief, scarcely a gli into a reain The quirks of teleportation

But those sparse uas Island had been stunning regardless I’m happy to report that the same could be said for the tiny slice of France that the Boneyard boys visited that day It was somewhere in the countryside, a short distance away froh that we didn’t run the risk of attracting unwanted attention And this tiuas had been different, isolated, and we stood little chance of detection or standing out like sore thumbs

Granted, we could have picked an even more secluded location, but as Herald explained, where ent didn’t exactly matter We just had to make sure that ere on French soil Terra firma

Plus, it was the best, remotest part of the country that Royce could recall I should have mentioned that Carver wanted to stay at the Boneyard, to batten down the hatches – you never leave a castle undefended, as Carver hi out for Agatha Black That left Royce in charge of teleportation duty He was h that he could takethe need to voans immediately after And like most teleporters, Royce was at his best when he could work from memory

“This is the place,” Royce said, as we phased into an erassy meadow, lit only by the moon and the stars He had a weird, uncharacteristic smile on his lips “Oh , I remember This is where we – um Never mind”

He caught hiht as she tried to fit the pieces together She smacked him on the shoulder

“Oh my God Did you have sex with some chick out here?”

“Sweetie,” Royce said, holding his hands up and stu backwards “It was before we met”

Rohed Prudence tutted and shook her head “Nice one, Royce Real nice”

“Hey,” he said “It was either here, or the Eiffel Tower And Igarashi says that we really don’t want anyone watching hatever needs to happen happens”

Sterling folded his ar with his feet apart “Explain,” he said

“Gladly,” Herald said “But everyone co to repeat myself”

Mason, Asher, Bastion, and all the others – Teaathered into a loose circle as Herald patiently began his briefing

“It was Dust who gavecompli out options, and he suggested Joyeuse”