Kissed by Smoke (3 page)

“See, it wasn’t so bad,” she said.

I sighed, fingering the amulet that now hung
around my neck. “It was okay. Thanks for doing it. Now can I open
my presents?”

She grinned. “Only if you open mine
first.”

Inside the shiny purple box Kabita had given
me were an equally purple pair of gladiator stilettos. “Oh, my
gods!” I squealed. “Are these the ones from Tesselah?”

“You better believe it.”

Tesselah made specialized supernatural
weaponry. Which meant that secreted in the heels of my new shoes
were silver tipped picks sharp enough to stab a vampire through the
heart. Freaking fantastic. I practically squealed in delight.

From Eddie there was a small leather-bound
book, no doubt from his shop. Inside were beautiful drawings of
Dragons along with ancient, swirling script. It was hard to read,
but it appeared to be some kind of history of Dragons.

Eddie had worn a satin purple and cream
striped waistcoat for the occasion. Unfortunately, it clashed
rather badly with his mustard yellow pants. Classic Eddie. “I
thought such a book might come in useful,” he twinkled.

I laughed. He was no doubt right about that.
“It’s real?”

“Absolutely. One of the few human accounts
of dragons that survives. They say it was written by a Dragon
Child.”

Unbelievably cool.

Cordelia handed me a hot-pink gift bag.
“This is from Bastet and me. She assured me you’ll like it.”

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes.
“Um, thanks, Cordy.”

Inside was a piece of lingerie that was more
piece and less lingerie. I blushed bright red and stuffed it
quickly back in the bag.

“Perhaps it isn’t as useful as the other
gifts, but I have a feeling it will come in handy.” She gave me a
wide smile. Inigo leered.

If only the floor would open up and swallow
me whole. “Um, thanks again. Very … nice of you.”

As we all dove into cupcakes, it hadn’t
escaped my notice that Inigo hadn’t brought me anything. I tried
not to let it bother me. Relationships aren’t about material stuff,
right?

Right.

“Uh, Morgan,” Kabita’s voice jolted me out
of my pity party.

“Yeah?”

“Your amulet. It’s glowing.”

I glanced down. Sure enough, the stone in
the middle of the amulet glowed a deep sapphire blue. Ah, shit.

“What does it mean?” Her voice held a mix of
fear and wonder.

I had no idea. But with my track record, it
probably wasn’t anything good.

Fringe was packed with writhing bodies when
we arrived. Eddie had begged off and I wished I could, too. It
wasn’t really my scene. But the rest had been keen to go, so I gave
in gracefully.

On the way there, I tried calling Jack about
the weird glowing thing, but he didn’t pick up. For a man who
insisted on shadowing my every move, he sure made himself
unavailable at the most inopportune times.

The minute we walked through the door, Inigo
was the center of attention, as always. I understood it now, that
animal attraction he exuded. It really
was
animal. Or dragon, anyway.

Inigo wrapped one arm around me and pulled
me snug against his side. I snuggled into the heat of him, loving
the sizzle that sparked between us. It was the first time we’d been
to Fringe since we’d become a couple. I admit it was kind of weird.
I was used to seeing women draped all over him, but this time they
stood back warily.

“They’re scared to death of you,” he
whispered, his breath tickling my ear.

I laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“No, really.” He flashed me a wicked grin.
“Your reputation precedes you.”

I snorted at that. I was a Hunter. I killed
vampires and demons and other really bad creatures that harmed
humans. I did not kill supernaturals for the fun of it. Though I
supposed in this instance, reputation had its use.

Inigo dragged us to the middle of the dance
floor. His blue eyes danced with laughter. He knew I hated being
the center of attention. I guessed I’d just have to get used to it
because he loved having all eyes on him.

He wrapped both arms around me and pulled me
flush up against him. I could feel my cheeks heating. I’m all for a
little dirty dancing, but Fringe was awfully public.

“Relax.” He nuzzled my ear, sending shivers
down my spine. “Forget them. Just let yourself enjoy the
moment.”

“I’d prefer to enjoy the moment in a really
dark corner.”

“Later.” I swear to the gods he leered at
me.

I laughed and wound my arms around his neck,
burying my fingers in the silk of his hair as we moved to the
music. Heat flooded me as the pounding rhythm took over. It was so
primal, so intimate. Everything narrowed down to me and Inigo. I
forgot everyone and everything else, lost in the feel of our bodies
writhing against each other, our breaths mingling.

Until the screaming started.

The club went from crazy to full out
stampede. As the crowd swarmed by us, I grabbed a woman by the
shoulders and whirled her to face me. “What is it? What
happened?”

“I don’t know.”

The panicked look on her face told me
otherwise. She struggled to get away from me, but she was no match
for my Hunter strength. “Don’t lie to me.” I infused my voice with
every bit of power I could muster without calling my new super
powers. The last thing I wanted to do was burn the woman alive. Or
worse.

Her expression turned defiant as she
continued to struggle. “I told you, I don’t know.”

She was trying to pass as human, but I could
feel her magic pulsing against my skin. I knew what she was, too. I
narrowed my eyes and gave her a little shake. “Listen succubus, you
will tell me right now or I will drain the life force out of
you.”

Okay, so I couldn’t do any such thing.
Probably. But she didn’t need to know that.

“It’s the sidhe.” She cast a frightened
glance behind her as though expecting one of the fae folk to pop up
out of nowhere.

“What do you mean?” My stomach lurched. I
had a really bad feeling.

“Look for yourself,” she hissed and yanked
her arm out of my grasp.

I let her go. It was obvious she was
terrified out of her mind. The screams had come from the direction
of the bar, so I headed that way.

Inigo and I forced our way against the tide
of humans and supernaturals flowing toward the exit until we
reached the bar. A sidhe sat at the bar, calmly sipping a glass of
glowing, golden nectar. He was tall, slender, and impossibly
beautiful as his facial features shifted and molded into various
incarnations. Not something normal humans could see. They’d just
see a pretty face. But I was a Hunter. I could see his true face.
Or faces.

Above him, suspended in midair, hung
Cordelia. The look of terror mixed with anger on her face sent fury
coursing through me. The Darkness roared to life. My vision
narrowed to a pinpoint focused on the sidhe’s ever-shifting
features.

“Put her down.” The voice was mine and not
mine. This wasn’t the first time the Darkness had filled my voice.
“Carefully.”

The sidhe sneered at me. “Or what?”

There was no magic, no creature, more
powerful than the sidhe. Or at least there hadn’t been. I let the
Darkness out to play.

My hand flashed out and grabbed the sidhe
around the throat, hauling him off the bar stool and nearly
crushing his windpipe. The golden nectar splashed across the floor
as his glass splintered to pieces. The sidhe tried to call his
magic, but the Darkness blocked his access to the Earth Magic he
needed. His facial features stopped shifting as he struggled to
breathe.

With the access to his magic cut off, Cordy
came crashing down. Fortunately Inigo was a lot stronger than he
looked. He managed to catch Cordy before she hit the floor.

“Cordy, you okay?” I didn’t dare take my
eyes off the sidhe to make sure.

“I’m fine, Morgan. Either deal with the
cretin or I will.” Her voice was a little breathy, but the tinge of
anger was obvious. I’d no doubt she’d kick fairy boy’s ass if I
gave her half a chance.

A second sidhe flashed into the room.
“Release him,” he snarled.

The Darkness didn’t answer.

The second sidhe stepped toward me, murder
in his eyes.

“Not another step.” Kabita stepped up behind
the second sidhe.

The sidhe ignored her and kept going.

“I said, not another step.” She laid a naked
blade against the sidhe’s throat. He shrieked in agony. “I may not
have her power,” Kabita said to the creature, “but nothing beats
cold pressed iron.”

An iron blade? Go Kabita.

The Darkness snatched my attention. It
wanted to hurt the sidhe and hurt them bad. But hurting a sidhe was
not a good idea. The Fairy Court sort of frowned on it, actually.
And having the Fairy Queen as an enemy was never a pleasant
experience. Not that I knew this first hand, mind you, but I’d
heard things.

I struggled to tamp down the Darkness, or at
least rein it in a bit. It wasn’t easy. “Listen to me, sidhe. You
do not come into my town, to my club, and mess with my friends. You
got that?” Shit, what was I? Clint Eastwood?

“We apologize, Morgan Bailey,” the second
sidhe spoke. “It was not our intention to cause offence.”

I wasn’t surprised they knew my name, but I
didn’t like it, either. “No, you just enjoy torturing those you
deem beneath yourselves. Well, this time you picked on the wrong
human.”

“Again, we apologize. My … colleague will be
reprimanded.”

Reprimanded? Now that was a new one. The
Fairy Queen didn’t give a shit who her subjects harmed. Especially
if one of those harmed was human. Humans were lower than trolls as
far as the sidhe were concerned.

My grip loosened slightly and the sidhe I
was holding gulped in air. Still I didn’t let it go. I turned my
head toward the sidhe Kabita still held at bay with her blade.
“Why?”

“We were sent by our Queen to find you. She
will be … displeased that one of your friends was harmed in the
process.”

Weirder and weirder. “What does the Fairy
Queen want with me?”

“She has a gift for you, in honor of your
birthday.”

Oh, crap. Accepting gifts from the Queen of
the Sidhe was never a good idea. “That’s, okay, thanks. I don’t
need any more gifts.”

The second sidhe’s face shifted from an
almost pixie-like incarnation into that of a gorgeous man, a feral
grin stretched across his face. “Oh, but she insists.” He held out
his hand, palm up. A small, blue box appeared.

Kabita raised a brow as she stared over his
shoulder at the box. “The Queen is giving Morgan presents from
Tiffany’s?”

The sidhe smirked, but said nothing.

I glanced at his fellow sidhe. The one whose
windpipe I was still crushing. “I’m going to let you go. The minute
I do, you had better vanish from this plane. Permanently. Got
it?”

He nodded, so I let go. The minute I did, he
shimmered out of existence. I wondered if the Queen really would
kick his ass for messing with Cordy. I sure wouldn’t want to be him
if she did. She wasn’t exactly known for being loving and
merciful.

I turned to the remaining sidhe and that
damned blue box in its hand. “No offence to Her Majesty, but …
”

His features hardened and his voice turned
sibilant. “You will accept this gift from my Queen, Morgan Bailey,
or you will suffer the consequences. My Queen does not take such
slights lightly.”

Crap, crap, double crap. That’s all I
needed: A pissing match with the Fairy Queen.

“Fine,” I snarled as I strode across the
floor and snatched the box out of his hand. “Don’t have much of a
choice, do I?”

He smirked. “None at all. Now may I go?”

I sighed and nodded. Kabita lifted her blade
and the sidhe flashed out of sight.

I stared at the little blue box in my hand.
Shit, this wasn’t going to be good. Fairy gifts always came with
strings. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the kinds of strings
attached to a gift from the Queen of Fairies herself.

The thought was horrifying.

***

“Open it.”

I glared at Kabita. “You know the minute I
open this box, I owe a debt to the Queen of freaking Fairy,
right?”

She shrugged. “You don’t open it, and you’ll
be at war with the Queen of Fairy. Either way you’re screwed.”

“Gee, thanks for pointing out the obvious.”
I carefully placed the box on the bar. Might as well be a scorpion.
I so did not want to open that box.

Inigo reached over and squeezed my hand.
“Sorry, Morgan.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said with a slight
shrug. “I don’t suppose you can sense anything?”

“Not when fairies are involved.”

Sidhe magic put his clairvoyance out of
whack. Just great.

My fingers trembled just a bit as I
carefully lifted the lid off the box. Inside, nestled against a bed
of black velvet, was a tiny gold key. I admit to being ever so
slightly confused. Why on earth was the Fairy Queen giving me a
key?

“There’s a note.” Inigo nodded toward the
lid.

Sure enough, tucked into the lid of the box
was a bit of creamy vellum. I dreaded to think what kind of
creature had “donated” their skin for that vellum. I really hoped
it wasn’t human, because that would totally creep me out.

I pulled the vellum out of the lid and
carefully unfolded it. Across the page was written a single
sentence in a flowing hand:

This will save your life.

Freaking fantastic.

I felt better once I was buckled into my
Mustang. Surrounded by all that metal, there was no way a sidhe
could get anywhere near me. Unlike other metals, iron would
neutralize sidhe magic, possibly even to the point of killing the
sidhe, but steel still left a nasty mark.