Wicked Flames (Solsti Prophecy) (3 page)

Several supernatural creatures had tails, fae and demons alike. But that didn’t explain the other glaring issue.
 

“Good gods, that smell!” Kai coughed into his lapel and shot Mathias a glance. “Your nose must hate you right now.”

“Fucking
trolls
?” Rhys propped hands on his hips.

“Trolls who came through a portal and left again, without leaving this little area.” Mathias stared at the receding trail. “And who have a friend.” He squatted down and plucked a handful of dormant brown grass, sifting the blades between his fingers. “Two trolls and one…” he took a deep inhale. “Deserati.”
Bingo
. Deserati demons each had a tail and small horns, but could hide them with magic. All the better to blend in on Earth.

“That’s fucked up.” Kai paced a line. “Trolls can’t just walk around here.”

“No shit. Even humans would notice the smell. Then there’s that skin…” Rhys wrinkled his nose. A troll’s skin looked like cracked stone. Jagged lines ran up and down their limbs, breaking and re-forming with each motion. In fact, sometimes they left a trail of fine dust, the color varying, depending on their skin tone.

“And their fingers. Decayed, but still lethal.” Mathias shook his head and started to rise, but stilled as he registered a new scent. Faintly floral, slightly antiseptic, it teased his nose like an olfactory ghost, hovering beneath the stronger troll and demon scents.

Examining the area, he spotted its source. Ten feet in front of him lay a patch of snow that was darker than the winter ground. A small design, no larger than his palm…irregular, like something had spilled. He closed the distance and bent again, resting his fingers on the frozen earth. And then, the next cluster bomb of undeniable fact exploded in his mind.

“Kai, Rhys.” His voice was low with wonder-tinged apprehension.

“What’d you fin—”

“What the fu—”

His fellow Watchers fell silent behind him.

Poking up defiantly from the frozen ground was a tiny patch of new grass. Healthy. Green. Pliant. Mathias ran a hand gingerly across the tops of the blades, then plucked one and raised it to his nose. He was met with the familiar sweet tang of a freshly mown yard.

He looked up at his comrades. “I may not have spent much time in Chicago, but the calendar says December.” He stood and twisted the blade between his fingers. “No other green grass around.”

Rhys eyed the grass and shook his head. “That’d be a hell no.”

“And there’s a scent here that I can’t ID.” Mathias’ gaze flicked between his friends.

Kai’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that a first for you?”

“No, but it’s been a while. A
long
while since that’s happened.”

“Does it remind you of anything?” Rhys asked.

“It’s like a flower, but not one I can place on Torth or Earth. And it has a chemicalish, sterile note. Doesn’t add up. Part flower, part…doctor’s office?” Mathias frowned at the grass in his hand.

“So we have a portal, a Deserati, two trolls, and magic grass?” Rhys rubbed the back of his neck. “The trolls are gone, but we should bring this to Rilan. Maybe he can figure out how it grew in the middle of winter.”

“And our Deserati friend?” Kai asked. “Wanna pay him, or her, a visit?”

“It’s a him.” Mathias could identify gender as well as species.

“These places have pretty high tech security.” Rhys turned to Mathias. “I know you can scrub memories, but there are a lot of people working and a lot of cameras in there. I know a guy who can hack any system. Parker. Dude’s fucking brilliant. Let me call him first.”

“A human?” Kai asked.

“Yeah. Worked with him on my last assignment in Washington, DC.” Rhys chuckled. “Got a mind like a motherboard.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Mathias scooped up two heaping handfuls of dirt and grass. “Let’s go.”

C
HAPTER
3

B
IG
BAND
MUSIC
AND
CLUSTERS
of white lights beckoned to Gin as she walked down the long hall toward the banquet room. One strappy silver dance shoe after the other landed on the plush black carpet, her knee-length skirt swishing against her legs. The red silk moved like water, its full skirt perfect for dancing, and silver-accented halter straps kept the whole thing in place. The chatter of voices grew louder as she walked closer. She thrust her shoulders back and stepped into the crowded room.

She may as well have walked into a winter scene decorated by fairies. And, thanks to her sisters, she knew for a fact that the little creatures existed.
Were they good or bad
? She could never remember. Whatever. She didn’t plan on meeting any of them.

Navigating the packed room, she headed for the bar and mentally congratulated the student decorating committee. Green cloth covered every table. Fake snow was dusted on top, and bright red berries on branches were twisted into elegant centerpieces. Artificial trees lined the room, some green some white, all wrapped in twinkling holiday lights. Each member of the student jazz band wore a red Santa hat as they belted out Glen Miller’s “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”

“Hey, girl!” Her friend Ria stopped her and pulled her in for a hug. “You look gorgeous! What’s that line from Terminator—we’re too good for human men? That’s you.” She stepped back and grabbed Gin’s hand, holding it out at arm’s length, assessing her. “With those shoes, you’re almost as tall as me.”

“Pfft. Not quite.” Gin grinned and slapped her friend’s palm in a high five. “You look amazing yourself.” Ria’s curvy six-foot frame was poured into a slinky green dress, free of embellishment but plunging to a dangerous depth in front. “Did you use tape?” Gin asked, nodding at Ria’s cleavage.

“You know it. Locked and loaded.” Ria winked at her. “Let’s make a toast.”

They linked arms and walked the short distance to the bar. Ria flashed a megawatt smile at the twenty-something bartender and asked for two glasses of champagne. How he filled the flutes without spilling, Gin had no idea. He never took his eyes off Ria.

Ria handed one drink to her. “To being the hottest girls in the room.”

“Ria!” Gin stifled a giggle. “We’re supposed to toast something besides
that
.”

“We can’t help it.” Ria tossed a long, blond curl over her shoulder. “But fine. You go.”

Gin cleared her throat and raised her glass. “To finishing my Master’s degree!” They clinked glasses and downed their champagne in one shot.

“You go, girl. You worked your ass off for this.” Ria turned to the smitten bartender. “We may need the rest of the bottle.”

Gin shook her head. “I can’t have too much. I have students here.”

“Just pace yourself.” She waved a hand dismissively. “You’ll be fine.”

“Miss Bonham!” Right on cue, a group at a nearby table waved at Gin and gestured for her to join them.

“Here we go,” Gin murmured. “Be back in a bit.”

“Which group is that? Science or dance?” Ria asked.

“Which do you think? Dance. The band wallpapered the Fine Arts building with fliers for this event.” Gin knew some of her ballroom students would be here tonight, anxious to try their new skills. Her class was full of couples, “just friends,” and friends who were on their way to becoming couples.

The undergrads in her science classes, on the other hand, claimed they’d rather diagram atoms than learn dance steps. And neither group related to her passion for the other. She was a true right brain/left brain combination. Talk about making it hard to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up.

Reaching the excited bunch, she was enveloped in hugs from the girls as they oohed and aahed over her dress and shoes.

“Oh my gosh, Miss B. You’re beautiful!” Caitlyn breathed.

Gin chatted with the group for a few more minutes, then leveled them with her best teacher stare. “I want to see all of you dancing tonight.”

They nodded effusively, but she pasted on a stern look. Making her index and middle fingers into a V, she pointed first at her eyes and then at them, before winking. She turned and made her way back to Ria, sidling up to her as the still-flustered bartender refilled their glasses.

“Thank you.” Ria flicked a smile at him and put her phone away before turning to Gin. “You ever think about teaching dance full time?” She tapped a gigantic pinkie cocktail ring against the glass stem.

Gin shook her head. “I don’t think there’d be enough interest over the years. Not enough to make a living. But people will always need clean drinking water.”

“And who can say no to an orange tree that grows in the desert?” Ria grinned.

She’d only known Ria a few months
. How does she come up with these things?
“That would be awesome. I’ll put that on the bucket list.” Gin smiled and sipped her drink. “I booked my flight today.”

Ria nodded and raised her glass. “The UN will never be the same. I can see the headlines now: ‘Illinois Agriculture Science Major Takes UN By Storm.’” She drained her fizzy concoction. “I’ve always wanted to go shopping in New York City. Want company?”

“Sure.” Gin’s veins were as effervescent as her drink at the thought of realizing her dream. The challenge of helping crops adapt to harsh climates appealed to her. But getting clean drinking water to every person on the planet was her dream. The UN’s program targeting worldwide water-related issues was where she needed to be. And how lucky was it that one of the top schools for this was in her home state? After this, she could conceivably work all over the world.

Too bad that left zero time for family. She adored her two older sisters, Nicole and Brooke, who lived in Chicago. And they wanted her to live with them when her Master’s program was done.

Gin sighed. She didn’t want to be away from her sisters, but she’d done it for years. They kept in touch via text, email, and weekly video chats. And over the last several months those chats had gotten stranger.

My sisters have sex with demons
. There, she said it. Well, not out loud. Ria would think she was crazy.

Then again, if she knew about Gin’s extra little
ability
, Ria’d cart her off to a psych ward in a heartbeat. No way could she share that part of her life with anyone except her sisters.

Nicole and Brooke ran around the city dispensing their own version of vigilante justice, which led them to their new boyfriends. Who weren’t human. They looked like human men, although a lot bigger, and they seemed nice. Her sisters tried every day to drag her into their world. They insisted she was part of it anyway, that she had no choice.

Gin didn’t buy that for a microsecond. Her path was helping people. On Earth. Regular human beings who lacked the most basic necessities.

“Miss B?” Ian’s reedy voice roused her from her thoughts. “May I have this dance?”

She smiled at her most determined, if not her most talented, student. He was totally crushing on Caitlyn, and was probably working up his nerve to ask her to dance. Gin resolved to give him a pep talk on the dance floor. “Absolutely, Ian.” She set her drink down and walked ahead of him to the center of the room.

Mathias paused in the doorway of the softly lit room and scented Ria immediately. His phone chimed in the breast pocket of his suit coat, and he pulled it out to see she had texted him a winking face.

Ria:
Right on time
.

He didn’t need to see her to guess she was dressed up and had at least one pair of simpering eyes glued to her.
Don’t flirt too much, sis.

Ria had been deep under cover since early fall, when she had “transferred” to Gin’s university. Meeting up with Gin, the two had quickly become friends, which was the plan. Little did Gin know that her new buddy was one of the most lethal warriors among Arawn’s Watchers. Ria went everywhere Gin did. Sometimes Gin knew about it, sometimes not.

On the surface, his sister’s job seemed simple. Be a bodyguard. But she also had to earn Gin’s trust. And from the regular reports she gave to Arawn, she had accomplished that task with ease.

He looked down at his phone to see she had texted him an icon of a cocktail. He allowed a brief smile to play across his face
. Who wouldn’t like Ria?
She was smack in the middle of their family, born right after him, and a natural negotiator. With a family of six brothers and sisters, someone else always had something you wanted, or wanted something you had. Ria had a knack for getting her way without you even realizing it.

Gin couldn’t know that Mathias knew Ria. Not yet, anyway. He didn’t want to blow Ria’s op.

Mathias:
Updates?

Ria:
All good. Dance floor. Red dress. Can’t miss her
.

Mathias tucked his phone away without glancing at his sister, who he could tell was near the bar, across the room to his left. Maybe when this job was done and Gin was working with her sisters instead of avoiding them, he could relax. Kick back in that big house that Nicole and Brooke had dubbed “Demon Central,” and shoot the shit with Ria. Right now, he wanted to meet the reluctant Solsti.

Virginia Rose
. Her sisters had warned him not to use her given name. She went by Gin, maybe Ginny. “Don’t call her anything else. Not if you plan to have little demons one day,” Nicole had warned.

And the answer to that would be a
hell no
. His job took him to different corners of any given realm on any given week. A mate wasn’t in the plans, and young ones? Not happening.

He rolled his shoulders in his perfectly fitted Zegna suit. Striding into the room, he reached out with his senses, checking for any supernatural creatures. He detected only Ria and Gin. Excellent. He paused by a row of plastic Christmas trees and did a slow visual scan of the room.

Students and faculty filled the space. Completely expected, as this was a university function. The band members were all smiles and bright eyes. One student carefully set down his tenor saxophone and walked to the front of the band, trading places with the conductor. The energy of the band members changed as they focused on the new leader. He raised his hands and all eyes locked on him, waiting for his cue. The new conductor brought his hands down sharply and the room roared with exuberant sound.