I raised my head, panting raggedly as Morio raked his nails—now sharp—across my thigh, and I knew he’d left welts across my skin but the pain enhanced the pleasure and I groaned loudly, willing myself to come, to soar, to fly. As he drove harder into me, his expression lost all sense of humanity as his vulpine nature emerged and passion raged across his face.
“My demon,” I whispered, tears sliding down my face from the intensity.
“Don’t forget me,” Smoky whispered behind me.
“How could I, my dragon lord? Tear me down, make me whole again.”
And then, Smoky let out a groan as he, too, started to come. His ecstasy merged with my own, our passion reacting like a creature, sentient and vibrating. It exploded in a brilliant blast of light as we shared one incredible, shattering orgasm. With one last cry, I tumbled over the edge, sobbing uncontrollably, dragging both of them into that dark void where we had been bound together forever, three souls into one, connected on all levels, for all time.
We were up with the sun—figuratively speaking since the day was overcast and gray, like most Seattle days. I grabbed a quick shower while the boys dressed, Morio in black jeans and a green tank, Smoky in his usual white jeans and pale gray tee. As I toweled off and glanced out the window, the grass sparkled with dew and a light mist traveled along the ground. I hunted through my closet and found a burgundy velvet bustier and a spidersilk calf-length black skirt. Spidersilk was warmer than any Earthside weave and with a light capelet thrown over my shoulders, I’d be plenty warm.
We clattered down the stairs and into the kitchen. Delilah and Iris looked up from the table. Iris was reading the newspaper and Delilah was making notes on a steno pad. Menolly was, of course, asleep in her lair. A stack of pancakes sat on a plate, along with bacon and a bowl of mixed berries.
I headed over to the cupboard to grab three plates and stopped by Maggie’s playpen. She was sitting next to it, beating on one of the big stainless steel pots with a wooden spoon. As she looked up and laughed, her sharp little teeth gleamed. Her wings had grown about an inch over the past month and she wasn’t having such a hard time walking now, but she still tumbled over if the slightest thing threw her off balance. As she saw me, she dropped the spoon, unsteadily pushing to her feet.
“Camey! Camey!” She toddled toward me, arms out, eyes bright. I swept her up and nuzzled my face in her soft fur. A woodland gargoyle, she would age slower than we would. She had years of babyhood ahead of her still.
“Hey, pumpkin,” I whispered. “How’s my girl? How’s Maggie today?”
“’Kay,” she lisped, then looking over my shoulder, she said, “Moky! Orio!”
Smoky plucked her out of my arms and gave her a soft noogie on the head while Morio chucked her under the chin. They handed her to Delilah as we sat down at the table. I managed to snag a few pancakes and some bacon before the guys emptied the plates.
“Where are the demon twins this morning?” I asked, looking around for Rozurial and Vanzir. Iris had given them the nickname and it stuck. They hated it, but we teased them with it every chance we got.
“Out. They’re talking to Carter,” Iris said. “He’s been trying to pinpoint any sightings of Stacia for us.”
I stopped in mid-bite. The last thing I wanted to think about was the demon general sent to replace Karvanak. We’d had enough trouble getting rid of him. And Stacia—also known as the Bonecrusher—was somebody I really didn’t want to tangle with. We had to at some point but I was dreading the day.
Morio placed his hand on my shoulder as Smoky handed me the jug of maple syrup. “Eat,” the dragon said. “You need your strength.”
I glanced up at him, his silver hair tendriling around him like a cloud of smoke. “Yeah, I know,” I said with a smile I didn’t really feel. “Henry’s watching the store today. After breakfast Morio and I’d better head over to Harold’s place and clear out the goshanti devil. Smoky, Delilah, want to come with?”
Smoky shook his head. “If you need me, I’ll be there, of course, but I have some pressing business,” he said, looking a little distant. In fact, now that I thought about it, he’d been relatively quiet ever since we’d woken up.
“We can take care of it without you.” Morio glanced at the calendar. “The full moon is only a day or so away. We need to take care of this before then or the goshanti will use the power of it to lure more women into her trap. The devils can do that.”
“Not only that, but I’ll be useless when the Moon Mother rides high.” Every full moon both Delilah and I were off and running—she in her tabby form, and I, with the Moon Mother’s Hunt. The morning after wasn’t pretty for either of us. I glanced over at Delilah. “What about you?”
She looked up from her notes. “Sure thing. I haven’t got any appointments this morning. Say, remember that tomorrow’s the primary.”
“Will we know if Nerissa wins her council seat?”
“Nope, not till November,” she said.
“That’s right.” I nodded. “It’s not like we can vote. But for Menolly’s sake—and the Supe Community Council’s—I hope she wins by a landslide.”
Nerissa was Menolly’s girlfriend. As in lover. She was also one of the Rainier Puma Pride members. And Nerissa was running for city council, fully out of the closet as both a Were and bisexual.
“If she takes the election it could mean great strides for the Earthside Supes toward being accepted by the general populace.” Iris placed Maggie in her playpen for a nap and handed her a stuffed penguin. Maggie cuddled it and curled up under her blanket. Iris began to clear the table and load the dishwasher.
“Yeah, but you know that the Freedoms Angels and their Earthborn Brethren are going to stage a protest outside the polling places—” I stopped as the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it.”
I peeked out the door. Oh, hell. Morgaine, the Queen of Shadow and Dusk, was standing outside the door. She was the last person I felt like seeing. Person was a misnomer, actually. Morgaine was one of the three Earthside Fae Queens and she was bad news. She was also one of our long-lost ancestors—half-Fae, half-human like ourselves.Long story short: I’d been responsible for helping the Earthside Courts of Fae rise again and while it had been part of my destiny, I wasn’t so sure it had been a good thing. But what was done was done. Instead of just the Seelie and Unseelie courts, there were now three—the Court of the Three Queens.
I opened the door and knelt into a deep curtsy. “Your Majesty, you honor us with—”
“Cut the crap, Camille, and let me in.” She pushed past me and sniffed the air. “Dallying in the kitchen as usual, I suspect?” Without being invited, she swept down the hall and into the kitchen. I heard Iris let out a quick retort before she caught herself and shut up.
As I hurried in behind Morgaine, I saw that Smoky was glaring at her. That he didn’t like the Fae Queen was an understatement. Morio stood tense and on guard. Delilah had dropped into an awkward curtsy, and Iris was looking put out, as if her territory had been invaded. And it had, when I thought about it. The kitchen now belonged to Iris.
“I see you’re all so happy I’ve dropped by. Don’t put yourselves out. I’ll get right to the point,” the petite sorceress said, ignoring everyone except Delilah and me. “You two—and that vampire sister of yours—need to think long and hard about the wisdom of refusing to join my court. We need you, and you’re going to need us. The lines are being drawn between the Earthside Fae and the Otherworld Fae and you’d better choose your side before it’s too late.”
“Say what? Are you threatening us? And what the hell do you mean—lines being drawn? I haven’t heard anything about trouble between the factions.” I stared her down.
At first, I’d been starstruck when I met her. Now, I was over her. She was no longer the brilliant light I’d thought, but a shadowy troublemaker who kept trying to coerce us to defect from the OIA, along with our Otherworld heritage. All in order to join her court. Of course, we kept refusing and so she was thoroughly pissed at us.
“Threatening? Of course not. Why would I threaten my kin?” But her face was clouded, and she looked ready to smack me a good one. I held her gaze, not backing down. We were similar in looks—violet eyes, raven hair, but I was taller and my Fae heritage was closer to the surface than hers. On the other hand, she had eons of magic under her belt and the cloak of a queen on her shoulders.
“We’ll consider your advice.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Anything else?”
“Better not be or I’ll fry you for breakfast,” Smoky said casually, tipping his chair back so that he was balanced against the wall. “No one threatens my wife and gets away alive.” He gazed at Morgaine, an impassive look on his face.
She narrowed her eyes and though she didn’t look his way, I saw a hint of fear creep across her face. So she was afraid of dragons. Well, she’d better be. Smoky could take her down with one nasty swipe of his claws, and he had his own forms of magic to guard against hers. If it came to a showdown, my money was on Dragon Dude.
Morgaine apparently decided it was not a good day to die. She turned back to me without saying a word to him. “Let me know what you decide, but make it quick. There are currents brewing and I wouldn’t want to be caught walking between two worlds when they spill over.”
“Consider us warned.” I gently motioned to the door.
Morgaine let out a low hiss. “Stupid girls. Stupid, stupid girls. You think just because you’re fucking dragons and cavorting with demons that you’re safe? You think that having the blessing of that ancient husk of an Elfin Queen is going to offer you shelter? Think again, girls. You’re playing on the wrong side and when the fire comes bearing down, you’re going to get your fingers burned.” And with that, she swept past me and stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.
I looked back at the others. Smoky was examining his nails. Morio was finishing up his breakfast. Iris was washing the counter. Only Delilah looked at me, and her expression—a mixture of worry and irritation—mirrored my own.
“So much for that,” I finally said. “Okay, let’s go bag ourselves a goshanti devil.” But inside, I was mulling over the thought that our own kin were proving to be more problematic than the demon menace.
At least there were some things we could still control, I thought as I grabbed my capelet and headed for the car. Give me a fight with a simple demon or devil any day, over the whims of a pissed off Fae Queen.
CHAPTER 4
The air smelled of salt and woodsmoke, cedar and moss as we headed out to the car. Delilah called shotgun, so Morio climbed in the back. I tossed the bag of ritual items into the trunk and slid into the driver’s seat. As we pulled out of the driveway, Iris waved to us from the front steps. Her fair face, and the hope in her smile, reminded me once again why we did what we did. Why we stayed here and fought.
“So, you really think Nerissa has a chance of winning the council seat?” I glanced at Delilah.
“I think we’ve got the odds on our side,” she said. My sister was on the recently elected Supe Community Council and had vigorously been campaigning for Nerissa over the past few months. “If people aren’t scared off by Taggart Jones. Andy Gambit has been pushing him as the front runner in the Seattle Tattler, and all he is, is a mouthpiece for the Freedom’s Angels. We’ve been trying to find the evidence that ties them together but haven’t been able to, though we know it’s there somewhere. Jones is pushing an agenda to strip away all the rights in King County that the Fae and the Supes have won.”
“Andy Gambit has his head up his ass, or he would if I had my way,” I mumbled. Gambit was a yellow journalist with a grudge against anybody who wasn’t one of the “earthborn”—a loose faction of wacko groups who were all militantly bigoted hate mongers. I’d been on the receiving end of his barbs more than once.
“We should encourage Menolly to have a word with him.” Delilah giggled. “Of course, he’d just turn around and use it to fuel the flames.”
“And flames like that we do not need,” I said. “No, we need a more devious plan to undermine Gambit and his xenophobic pack of cronies. We’ll have to think about it for a while.”
The thought of actually toppling Gambit from his position as god of yellow journalism tickled me fuchsia. Maybe we could lure him into a compromising position and publish the pictures. Spread the love, so to speak.
Shaking away the thought until a more appropriate time, I said over my shoulder, “So, Morio, what’s the plan once we get to Harold’s?”
He leaned forward, eyes gleaming in the rearview mirror. “Scour the earth with the salt and your Tygerian well water, then exorcise the hell out of it. I’ve got the litany to free the dead memorized.”
I glanced at him through the mirror. Over the months, I’d come to realize that the youkai actually enjoyed the escalating turmoil. He wasn’t one for words, but I could smell him. Not exactly aroused, but a hint of excitement lingered in his scent. He lusted for the chase, especially when it involved magic. What scared me a little was I was beginning to notice the same reaction in myself.
Delilah must have caught his scent, too, because she glanced back at him. “Where did you first learn death magic?”
Morio remained silent for a moment. When he spoke, his words were terse. “I learned it while growing up.” He lapsed back into silence and I sidled a look at Delilah, who shrugged and went back to gazing out the window.