Motor City Mage (19 page)

The Gravaki bowed his head maybe an inch, indicating that, at least for the moment, he’d follow the wolves’ lead. “It’s not far from there.” He grinned, showing his many pointy teeth. “It will burn nicely.”

“Fine. The other team first and then the lab.” Greg pointed to the two guards, one dead, one unconscious. “Someone drag those two along after us, so we can clean up when we’re done.”

One big demon, who looked like a moving boulder, grabbed one guard under each arm and grunted. Most of them kept their picks as they lined up to follow Greg and their leader.

Greg shifted back to wolf form and they went.

* * *

Des took point on the way to Malen’s headquarters. They followed a side corridor that paralleled the main, well-trodden one, and periodically one or two of them ducked out and disabled a passing demon. They also picked up a few of the human dealers, who would be turned over to the city police when this was all over. The injuries among his team were minimal and easily healed by Elise, while the hopper of unconscious bodies began to fill up quickly.

As they got closer to the central headquarters, the level of security tightened with more guards, as well as cameras and other high-tech devices. Ric and Wallis eliminated those by the simple expedient of blinking them back to Aidan’s house.

Jase, the only human in their group with no magic, had military training, and with the bells removed from his dreadlocks, he moved like a shadow through the white-on-white tunnels. He proved to be accurate as hell with a weighted sap, returning more than one unconscious drug dealer and even a couple of sleeping demons to the cart.

This is too easy.
Des didn’t trust easy. Something was about to go wrong.

They turned the last corner before reaching the central business area and all hell broke loose.

Eight or more Gravaki opened up on them with automatic weapons. Wallis fell, and a couple others, Des couldn’t see who, though he did note it was his sister who pulled Wallis back under cover.
Good.
Des shot back with a bolt of disruptive energy while Aidan blinked away weapons and the others opened fire. The Gravaki, who now found themselves without guns, attacked with magic, and several of Aidan’s men fell under some kind of concussion wave. A couple closed in and started fighting hand-to-hand, and Des was just in time to bring up his gun and put a bullet in the one trying to rip out his throat.

Then Gravaki reinforcements arrived, and things got really messy.

Des knew they were going to lose. He was bleeding from one bullet graze and several claw wounds, and he was one of maybe four good guys still mostly functional. His vision had started to blur but he thought there were at least ten demons left.
Fuck.
He sent a pain spell at the one who seemed to be in charge, one of Malen’s lieutenants, and the demon doubled over, but didn’t fall.

Until a wolf landed on his back and ripped out his throat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two wolves and a couple green Gravakis slip past, into Malen’s inner sanctum. One of the wolves had Lana’s distinctive cinnamon coat.

The remaining wolves attacked and the freed demons joined in the fray with picks. Soon enough all the Gravaki lay still. Des looked around and saw Aidan and Ric were wounded, but upright and helping Elise, who was untouched, heal their injured companions.

Des took off running after Lana, Jase by his side. The other wolves ran ahead, beating them into Malen’s inner sanctum.

He was just in time to see Lana, in tandem with Greg, launch herself at Malen. The two wolves felled the big Gravaki, but he was still fighting with claws and teeth. Three guards lay dead on the floor, and the freed demons—one of which looked a lot like Thing from the comics—came to their aid. The big one quite simply crushed Malen’s throat with a foot.

Lana stepped off the demon and spat out blood.

“I don’t suppose I blame you for killing them,” Des admitted to the freed slaves. “Now we need the workers from the lab.”

Greg shifted, totally unconcerned about his nudity. “We already sent George and Kurt after them, with some of the demons. They should be here any minute.”

Lana gagged and shifted, too. Des automatically pulled off his turtleneck and handed it to her. It barely covered her hips, but she snagged a white tablecloth from a small dining table and tied it sarong-style about her hips. Then she poured herself a healthy belt of wine from the cart beside the table and rinsed the blood from her mouth.

Des smiled. His poor wolf hated the taste of blood. Unable to resist touching her, just to assure himself she was okay, he reached out an arm and pulled her against his side. “Shall we start sending people through?”

“I think the best fighters among the slaves ought to go first. That way they’ll have a better chance of getting through one of the other portals in the ring and back to their homes.”

“I’ll go,” said the rock-like guy.

“And me,” said a green Gravaki. As the rest of their crew filed in, a few more of the demons in better shape also volunteered. Toting weapons gathered from Malen’s fallen, they stepped through the portal, two by two.

About three minutes later, Rocky stuck his head back through. “It’s safe for now. Send ’em fast.” The rest of the freed demons hurried through. A few that had been killed or seriously injured were carried by others.

Once they were gone, the wolves and elves started tossing Gravaki bodies through as well, the unconscious first, followed by the dead. The last two wolves arrived with a couple more former slaves and two dead Gravaki.

Lastly, Des and Lana picked up Malen’s body by the hands and feet and heaved it through the portal.

Everyone stepped back while Des rubbed his hands together and stepped up to the portal. Calling on all his magic, he repeated the spell Vin had taught him just days ago, and hoped it worked as well as it had in Fish’s world.

There was a whoosh and a rush of air into the space where the portal had been. Des wavered but stayed on his feet.

Lana stepped up and took his hand. “It’s gone.” She leaned into him, supporting his now-sagging weight. “You did it.”

“
We
did it.” His wounds were starting to hurt, but he looked around at his friends and family, the people he loved. “
We
did it, together. Not
Wyndewin
, not Fae, not lupine, not even demon or human, but all of us, working as a team.”

“Amen,” said Aidan, slapping him on the back. “Now let’s torch this place and get the fuck out of here.”

That small jolt was enough to make Des’s world spin. He felt Lana and Aidan catching him as he fell, heard his woman’s howl of outage as he slipped into unconsciousness.

“Elise!” Lana dropped to her knees beside Des. A dark stain had spread across his thigh, which no one had noticed while he’d been moving.

“Right here.” His sister dropped on the other side of him. She glanced up at Aidan. “Sweetheart, I could use some help. I’m pretty tapped out.”

Aidan laid his hand on her shoulder and a warm glow surrounded her hand on Des’s hip.

“It’s just blood loss, no major organ damage,” Elise said with a reassuring smile at Lana. “Try and get him to sleep some tonight, and he should be fine by tomorrow.”

A few seconds later, Des’s eyes opened. “Ow.”

Greg chuckled and helped him to his feet. “Come on, let’s get everybody home.” He and Lana braced Des’s weight between them.

Elise sagged against Aidan, who caught her up in his arms. “I’m okay,” she sighed. “Just wiped.”

“Home sounds good,” Des said, his voice still weak.

“First,” said Ric, “Everybody step back out of the room. This spell’s on me.”

Moving slowly, they all trailed away from the furnished area. With a whoosh of wind, all traces of occupation had vanished. “So, one landfill, a couple hundred miles away, has a little more trash in it.”

“I’ll take care of the lab,” said Wallis. To his men, he said, “Clean up all the blood, the tools, whatever.”

Toby saluted. “Got it.” Slowly, nursing the injured, the group retraced their steps back to the elevator, cleaning as they went. Their side had suffered no fatalities, thank the gods, but there would still be plenty of healing for Lien to do once they got back to the top.

They made the elevator trip in three groups. At the top, Lana, who was in the second wave, with Des and Greg, saw the lab paraphernalia had been dumped up here, along with the bodies of the dead and injured drug dealers. Somehow, one of the elves had made it look like they’d been using the building for a lab, which had exploded. Once everyone was up, Wallis calmly blew out the controls of the elevator, ensuring it could never be used again. Ric placed another anonymous call, and now the police would have closure for the drug ring—or as much as they were ever going to get.

“My place is closer than Aidan’s,” Greg said. He pulled clothes from the van and yanked them on, as did each of the other wolves. “We can stop there for damage control.”

Lana zipped up her jeans but didn’t bother changing out of Des’s turtleneck. She did ease a jacket onto him before helping him into the car. “Call Fee and Meagan. Or they’ll gut you with spoons for not letting them know you’re okay.”

Ric grinned and held up his phone. “Already done. They’ll meet us at Greg’s.”

After assuring herself that no one needed her immediate services, Lien fired up the limo and Helen calmly turned the van back toward Greg and Fee’s mansion. Lana sat in front, between her parents, while Des was propped up between George and Greg in the middle seat.

“You do realize that if you marry my cousin, I’ll be your alpha,” Greg teased.

“Not a chance in hell, Fido.” Des’s voice was weak but steady. “Besides, my own organization might just decide to take my head off.”

“Nah, we won’t let them kill you,” George said on a laugh. “You’re too much fun to torture,
cuz.
”

Lana snarled and her father patted her thigh. “Leave them alone,” Julian whispered. “They have to establish how things are going to work between them. Your man did good tonight. They’re accepting him into the pack.”

She knew he was right, but that didn’t make it easier to sit back and let them rag on each other, especially when Des was still woozy from blood loss.

Back at the house, Lien instituted a triage system. She tended the worst wounded, while anyone else in one piece was put on clean-up duty, tending minor wounds on one another. The wolves all shifted back and forth enough to heal themselves, and most of Aidan’s elves had some minor healing ability. By the time they’d all gotten into clean clothes, everyone was repaired, though some, like Lien and Elise, would require rest to recover their magic, while others, like Des, needed it to regain their physical strength.

All in all, Lana thought as she sat on the sofa, holding Des’s hand, things had worked out pretty well.

“I’ve gotten you a hearing with the regents,” Des’s father told him. “You fly to New York tomorrow. With the evidence Pete took them, I think you’ll be fine. In the worst case scenario, you may have to resign. I don’t think they’ll go further than that.”

Des nodded. “I hope you’re right. Thanks, Dad.”

“You can use the portals—it’ll be easier than flying,” Aidan offered.

“The League won’t much care for that,” Lien warned.

Des grinned and squeezed Lana’s hand. “The League can stuff it. I’m not stupid enough to turn down a little help from my friends.”

* * *

Des woke in his own bed the following morning. After all that had happened, being in his own place felt—strange. The warm, soft woman sleeping next to him, on the other hand, just felt right.

“Hey, how’re you doing?” Lana had driven him home last night after he’d expressed a preference for privacy. They’d made a brief stop by her place for clothes, but between one thing and another, it was early this morning before they’d tumbled, exhausted, into the king-size bed in his Southfield condo. A quick check of the clock told him he had a couple of hours before he had to be back at Aidan’s to head to New York.

He stretched, testing his muscles and reaching with his magic as well. “Good as new.” With that dealt with, he leaned over Lana, pinning her to the bed. “And how are you this morning, Mrs. Sutton?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Her warm brown eyes reflected golden sparks in the morning sunlight.

“That we need to have an actual ceremony recognized by both our governments?” He kissed her soundly and began to nuzzle his way down her throat. “Or are you talking about a lupine ritual with the blood and earth and all of that? I’m game if it makes you happy.” Then his mouth was full of her ripe breast and it was hard to talk at all. He rolled between her legs. Yeah, life was damned good this morning.

“No, you idiot.”

She tugged on his hair and he quit what he was doing.

“I didn’t mean you should stop.”

With a happy sigh, Des obediently returned to sucking her nipples.

“I meant, yes, we need to do all that. But you
still
forgot the most important part.”

He let go of her nipple with an audible pop and loomed up over her on his elbows. His morning erection grazed the slick skin between her legs. “What did I forget?”

She looped her arms around his neck and laughed up at him. Her hips canted, dragging the heavy tip of him into position. Then she lifted to take him inside. The expression on her face was a mix of love, joy, arousal and exasperation. “You forgot to propose, you moron. You don’t get to make decisions involving both of us without consulting me first.”

“What part of that ceremony in Makra didn’t you think I meant?” He slid deep inside her, holding still, just to soak in the luxury that was Lana. “Or more to the point, I guess, is what part didn’t you mean? Besides obey. I know better than that. You had your fingers crossed and probably your toes.” He indulged in another long, slow thrust.

“Oh, I meant it—all but that. But a girl still likes the trappings, you know.”

“So I have to buy a ring, take you out to dinner somewhere expensive and get down on one knee?” He leaned his head down to nibble on her shoulder as he began to move more steadily. “Or to a game at the Joe and announce it on the Jumbotron?”

“None of that.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and the tips of her claws dug into his skin. “Though I like hockey games. You’re an idiot. All I want is to be
asked.
”

Des stopped moving and gazed down at her. “Hmm. I guess I did kind of take that for granted.” He slid out and into her heat one more time. “I love you, Svetlana Marja Novak. I love the fact that you’re an alpha and will never let me get away with bossing you around. I love knowing we’ll sometimes fight like crazy and then make up just as loudly. I love knowing you’ll fight for me as fiercely as I’ll fight for you, and that you’ll always stand by my side instead of behind me. So given all that, and my possible lack of employment in the very near future, it’s your decision. Will you marry me?”

“Well, since you asked so nicely…” Her inner muscles clamped down on him, gripping him hard. “Yes. I love you and I’d be thrilled to be your wife. But never, ever, call me that again.”

Des laughed with happiness, then turned serious again as he took her until both of them exploded in each others’ arms.

“I don’t think I’ve ever laughed during sex before,” he said as they stood in the shower, washing each other off. “I hope you didn’t mind.”

“It’s supposed to be fun, you goof.” She smacked his chest with a soapy hand. Then she looked up at him and her eyes went wide. “I love you so much, it’s kind of overwhelming.”

“Yeah, it caught me by surprise, too.” He kissed her nose. “But it’s a good surprise, right? We’ll make it work?”

“We don’t even know where we’re going to live… Hell, I don’t even know if you want kids.” She tipped her head, urging him to answer.

With Lana? Of course he did. She was born to be a mother. But she was just about to start a new career. And he might be out of a job. “I want to be with you.” He sorted out his words as he spoke. “Kids would be great, but maybe not right away. I’d like to keep you to myself for a year or so. That’ll give us time to sort out jobs, housing, international marriage licenses…”

“And to spoil our new nieces and nephews a little before we have to focus on our own rug rats,” she agreed. “I’ve been looking forward to being loony Auntie Lana.”

“That sounds perfect.” He didn’t argue that none of the upcoming babies was technically niece or nephew to either of them. In this case, the exact blood ties didn’t matter as much as the bonds of love and affection. He wrapped her in a hug and then rinsed the suds from her hair. “But first, I have to go deal with the League this afternoon. Tonight I’m going to buy you a ring. Am I allowed to pick that out, or do you want to go shopping together?”

“I like rubies.” She kissed his shoulder and stepped out of the shower. “Diamonds are too icy for my taste.”

“Got it.” He caught the towel she tossed him. “I suppose that means the condo is history too.” His place was decorated starkly, in chrome, white carpets and black leather. Not only couldn’t he see Lana living here, he wasn’t sure he liked it much anymore either. He’d gotten used to a little warmth and chaos in his life.

“Well, my job offer is down in Tech Town. The commute from here would be a bitch.” She wrapped her hair in one towel and dried herself off with another.

“You have an engineering job already lined up?” He shouldn’t have been surprised, but she hadn’t mentioned it. Tech Town was the happening, new industrial heart of Detroit.

“Yep, starts right after New Year’s, so I’d rather stay in the city if you don’t mind. I don’t think over the bar is optimal for a family, but it would do until we found a place that isn’t mine or yours, but ours.”

“Ours,” he agreed. “I like the sound of that.”

* * *

Shortly before noon, Des stood in front of the
Wyndewin
League regents, five men ranging from fifty to eighty, and two women, both probably sixty-something. They came from all over the world, but the chair was from New York, so at least the proceedings were in English.

Des wore a conservative suit, the sleeves hiding the gold bracelet he would wear for the rest of his life. He’d resized it while it was on, so it was a snug fit, high enough on his forearm that he could wear a watch, but it wouldn’t come off over his hand. Ever.

His parents stood on either side of him. The others, Lana, Elise, Vin and the rest, waited at the New York Fae safe house operated by Cynric and Morwynna Willow, friends of Aidan and Elise. Hell, friends of his, too, he supposed. Their son had been kidnapped along with Dina a few months ago and they’d all worked together to get them back.

“You realize, Mr. Sutton, that you have, in the course of the last several months, violated about eighty-five different
Wyndewin
regulations.” Vidya Singh, one of the two female regents, looked down her hooked nose at him from the dais where they sat at a curved table. Her red sari glittered in the light of the chandelier. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Des took a deep breath. “In each case, I believed I was doing exactly as the situation warranted and using the best possible resources available at the time. The world is changing. It’s getting harder and harder for paranormals to fly under the radar of the general populace. Fighting each other is futile and counterintuitive. As we discovered with Mr. Brewer, no group is immune to corruption. As I learned from a Gravaki named Vindelius, no species is all bad either. Without him, I’d be dead, and demon dust would still be killing people all over Detroit. We each, as individuals, are responsible for our own actions. I think it’s time for the League to recognize that. We need to work with the Fae, with the lupines, and yes, sometimes, even with the demons, to keep our world as safe as possible for everyone.”

“I see.” A Frenchman, the youngest at maybe fifty, tapped his fingers on the table. “It’s true, what he says. As technology advances, hiding ourselves becomes more difficult.”

“But he allowed a Gravaki not only to live, but to remain in Detroit.” The seventy-something chairman stood from his seat at the center of the table and bellowed, “This behavior is completely unacceptable.”

“And yet,” came the voice of the senior member, a tall, lean Spaniard. His tanned face had lines so deeply etched they had lines of their own, but his dark eyes were still sharp beneath bushy white brows. “And yet this young man and his friends succeeded in derailing the most vicious series of paranormal attacks we’ve faced in years. His ability to work with others is unprecedented, and perhaps we can all learn something from that.”

They all shouted at each other in a cacophony of languages, but Des began to feel hope.

“There is one more thing,” he said, when the regents had started to calm down. “I am engaged to be married. To a lupine. I’ll tender my resignation to the League if that’s what is required.”