Touched by a Sprite

by E. A. Reynolds

  Baylee got back to work. “You’re damn scary,” he said. “So, have you given any more thought to what you’re going to do exactly?”

  “About what?” Kirkyn filled another small bottle.

  “Moving here.”

  “I told you I was going to,” he said. “I still intend to.”

  “I don’t want to push, I just want us to be together,” Baylee said. “I don’t care if you decide not to quit the Council, just come home to me after every mission.”

  Kirkyn removed his glove to cup Baylee’s cheek. “Baylee, when I say you’re priority number one, it’s true. Nothing or no one will stop me from getting back to you, okay?”

  “I believe you,” he murmured, his heart beating faster. “So, are we placing any of these ourselves?”

  “No. The nymphs are doing it all. It’ll be easier, because they can get into places we can’t, and I don’t want to alert Lenno that we’re not under Payten’s direction.”

  “Does that matter?”

  “He’s found out about her,” Kirkyn said. “He won’t act without doing his homework, so he knows she’s greedy and willing to sacrifice innocents for her goals.”

  “He assumes she’s in control and keeping you subdued?”

  “She normally keeps her teams under her thumb,” Kirkyn said. “The ones that won’t obey usually get sent home.”

  “So, that you’re here means she’s controlling you.”

  “Right.”

  “This is going to be a bitter pill for them to swallow,” Baylee said with a grin.

  * * * *

  After the bottles were all finished, Kirkyn called Trinity to check in with him.

  “We’re following your instructions to the letter,” Trinity said.

  “Good. They both need to be secure in their beliefs that our breed is incapable of defeating a pure demon.”

  “We’re demons,” Trinity replied with a laugh.

  “Who have been long thought of as an inferior race,” Kirkyn reminded him.

  “True. But Darik and the sprites want to know if these can be put in the water, as well.”

  “Use only the ones I indicated for the water,” Kirkyn said.

  “Those were put in yesterday, and the nymphs and some of the sprites are taking care of the rest,” Trinity said. “I told them to get as close to the house as they could.”

  “Good. The beer should do the trick on most of them though,” he said as his gaze wandered to Baylee, who was deep in conversation with his grandmother, but Baylee looked his way, making his heart skip and his breath catch.

  He couldn’t wait for this to all be over, so he and Baylee could start truly living again.

  “Talk to you later,” Trinity said.

  “Later.” He ended the call as Clarity walked away, and Baylee shook his head. “What’s wrong?” Kirkyn knew the old crone didn’t like him, and he didn’t think that would ever change.

  Baylee strolled over to him and took his hand. “Gram is moving to New Orleans when this is over,” he said. “She said she couldn’t take watching me with you, but she wants me to take over her position here.”

  “How can you do that?” Kirkyn asked. “You have to be from Faery, right?”

  “No. Just appointed by her to take over. She’s leaving me with two elders to advise me.”

  “Why is she being such a hardass?”

  “She thinks you’ll do fine in keeping order here,” Baylee said. “She said you know the stories, know what needs to be done, and you can undoubtedly make the hard decisions to keep the town safe.”

  Kirkyn frowned.

  “She also said she doesn’t trust Payten. She overheard her talking to one of the demons about something. When she asked what that was, Payten told her it was nothing.”

  “She probably was trying to make a deal for part of your land,” Kirkyn said. “She’s been on it long enough to sense the magic and power woven into it from demonic and sprite energy.”

  “This is a power site?”

  “Yes. It’s in perfect alignment with two others, which is another thing I’m counting on.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Baylee murmured, moving closer to Kirkyn. “Gram is right. You are smart.”

  * * * *

  As the evening drew near, clouds formed overhead and the threat of a storm loomed strong. Baylee wiped his damp palms on his jeans as he joined the demons in the party room where dinner was being served.

  He’d expected to find monsters, but they all looked as human as Parker and Kirkyn.

  “Honey, did you tell them about Payten’s gift?” Baylee asked, going to stand next to Kirkyn, who was conversing with two men he’d never seen before.

  “The beer?” the stranger said, and his eyes glowed happily. “It’s been a while since we’ve had any.”

  “You can’t get it from home?” Baylee asked.

  “Unfortunately not,” he said, eating him up with his eyes. “I’m Lenno.”

  “Baylee,” he said, slipping an arm around Kirkyn’s waist.

  “What an interesting name,” Lenno commented. “It’s very nice to meet you. Is he part of that gift?”

  “Of course not,” Kirkyn said with a congenial smile, though he stiffened ever so slightly against Baylee. “He’s the gift Payten gave to me to keep the sprites in line.”

  “I see,” he said. “She is an enterprising young woman.”

  “Indeed,” Kirkyn agreed.

  They sat down to dinner ten minutes later, and the conversation flowed as freely as the wine which the strangers seemed to enjoy. Their table manners surprised Baylee, too. They didn’t eat like animals. They used their fork and knife and napkin with as much ease as Kirkyn.

  He supposed he had a lot to learn about demons, or they’d learned a lot to fit in.

  “Let’s take coffee and talk things over,” Payten said after dinner.

  “There really isn’t much to discuss,” Lenno said. “We want the land.”

  “We’re not going to just hand it over to you,” Clarity retorted.

  “Surrender and retreat or die,” Creta said. “No compromise.”

  “We’ll need time to relocate,” Payten said.

  “No,” Clarity snapped. “There will be no relocation. The land isn’t for sale.”

  “I never said anything about buying it, crone,” Creta snapped. “You can give it willingly or lose it by force.”

  “Then, we go to war,” Clarity said and stormed out.

  “I’ll talk to her,” Payten said. “I’ll bring her around. “We’ll need two days to move out.”

  “You have it, and then we attack,” Creta said. “Lenno, we go.”

  Baylee exhaled as the demons filed out of the room. Cord and his team would escort them to their car.

  “Is the beer already in their cars?”

  “Yes,” Kirkyn nodded.

  “When will the crystals be activated?”

  “Tonight,” Kirkyn replied and stood. “Let’s clear the table.”

  Baylee didn’t argue, needing to be busy anyway.

  “They’re gone,” Cord told them ten minutes later when he came into the kitchen.

  “Payten was huddled with them for a good five minutes though,” Astarte said grimly. “I think she told them some of the crystals had been found.”

  “I doubt that,” Kirkyn said. “She always plays with an ace up her sleeve.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Baylee asked, looking up at Kirkyn. His stomach was a little queasy.

  “She doesn’t know about the plan unless you or someone on Cord’s team told her. And they don’t know all.”

  “I figured that,” Cord said. “You’re the same as Payten on that score.”

  “If you’re going to play a treacherous game, you better damn well be prepared to win at all costs,” Kirkyn said.

  Cord and Astarte nodded.

  “So, we play to win starting tomorrow, because they won’t give us two days,” Cord replied.

&nbs
p; “No,” Kirkyn agreed.

  “I think I’ll get some rest tonight, because I might not get a full night again anytime soon,” Cord said.

  Astarte walked out with Cord, and Baylee looked at Kirkyn. “You didn’t tell him the rest?”

  Kirkyn shook his head. “Only you know what I have planned.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “That went well,” Lenno said to Creta an hour later as he sipped his beer.

  “I think we should keep this Payten on though. She might come in handy if we decide to invade further lands here.”

  Lenno nodded and took another pull of his beer. “She must have gotten this from Kenova,” he said. “It’s fucking fantastic.”

  “From the look of the bottles, they did,” Creta said and took a swallow of his own brew. “It’s one of the best I’ve ever had. We’ll have to get her to order in another five cases, and this time, we won’t share them with the others.”

  Lenno chuckled. They’d brought their teams in when they returned, and everyone had had a beer with them in a toast to the victory they foresaw.

  “We’ll attack in the morning,” Creta told him. “I don’t want to wait. The ghost team was able to sense the crystals and pinpoint their location tonight.”

  “We’ll activate them first and go in to kill any survivors,” Lenno replied. “I expect the demons to be alive and ready to fight. How do we get your new girlfriend out before that?”

  “I’ll call her,” Creta said. “She gave me her number. She’s willing to make a good deal for what she wants, which is small in the grand scheme of things. In the long run, having someone in their council will be good for us.”

  “That’s the only reason I asked about her.” Lenno set the bottle on the desk in the study they both had come to enjoy. “Which one of us is taking that land?” He met Creta’s black gaze. Personally, he wanted it but wouldn’t argue if he couldn’t have it.

  “I’m the senior member of our duo, so I’ll take it. The territory is vaster.”

  His new lands were big enough for now. Once the plants and black log did its job, the humans would all be dead or moved along with the sprites and most demons.

  “There are some incubi who’ll survive,” Lenno said. “Not all of them came from Darth. Some came from Hel and Kenova. They will be able to survive this.”

  “Then, we’ll deal with them,” he said. “And I’m guessing this Wayfaire is from one of the two. He hasn’t been affected as Drinzel and his people were.”

  “They were closer to the plants, but he did say Wayfaire’s men had been snooping around. Any fatalities that you know of?”

  “No.” Lenno shook his head. “Their council might declare war on us.”

  “The sprite assured me they would not,” Creta said. “We should rest a little. The battle will be hard.”

  “Yes,” Lenno agreed. “I expect much resistance from Madinoff.”

  * * * *

  Killing wasn’t exactly his thing, but Baylee had no problems with the men who’d stayed behind to watch the hotel. He did a partial shift, and the large wings allowed him to stay in the trees where Kirkyn had sent him, along with two other sprites.

  There was no taint of alcohol there, so, as Kirkyn had predicted, these men weren’t drinking, just watching.

  A radio crackled, and he waited.

  “How are things on that end?” A quiet voice came through the speaker.

  “They have some guards out, but the one you called Payten said she’s going to put the demons to sleep using some kind of water potion.”

  “When she gives the signal let me know, and we’ll be ready to move in. But that won’t be until around four.”

  The hours just before sunrise when humans around here were still slumbering. Life didn’t begin in earnest until six or seven when it was light.

  “Affirmative, my lord.”

  Silence reigned, and a moment later, Baylee heard a gasp. The man beneath him activated the radio.

  “What was that?” he demanded.

  Baylee’s wing brushed a tree, and the leaves rustled, and the demon below looked up.

  “Shit.”

  Baylee fisted his hand and aimed at him. The ball of water that slammed into the man’s face silenced him long enough for Baylee to order the tree branch to attack. The limb pulled back and slapped the demon he was hurled into another tree.

  Baylee was on the ground and in front of the disconcerted and bruised demon. He hit him with another water ball, the dark waters around the edges clamped to the sides of his mouth, leaving the ball of paler waters visible.

  The demon tried to pull it out, and Baylee punched him in the chest, his fist becoming hard as a wave as it smashed through skin and bone. The demon’s eyes widened as he reached to push Baylee away.

  With his fist over the hole he’d made, water was rushing into the chest cavity, and his victim was already drowning from the inside out.

  The tree’s limbs pinned the demon’s hands at its sides as he fought in vain and died.

  The tree sighed a warning, but it was too late. Before Baylee could turn, he was punched in the back and driven to his knees.

  The demon grunted, and wet ran down Baylee’s nape.

  “Kirkyn, you’re so messy,” Baylee said and grunted as the body fell on him. The weight was gone within seconds.

  “This is a messy job at times.” Kirkyn pulled him to his feet by the collar of his shirt. “Cute wings. Get rid of them.”

  “Are we done?”

  “Yep. Now, we head back up to the house. Wayfaire’s sent us a team that will take control of this area while we man the hotel.”

  “Payten is going to betray us,” Baylee told him as they headed back.

  “I’ll leave her to the old crone,” Kirkyn said.

  “She doesn’t know and probably won’t believe you,” Baylee muttered.

  “No, but she’ll believe her own ears.”

  “What? How is she going to find out?”

  “I had Astarte bug Payten’s room and link that to a crystal that acts as a speaker. That chip was put into your grandmother’s room.”

  “And she’ll overhear the conversation?”

  “She’s been able to hear every word Payten has said all day,” Kirkyn told him with a grin.

  “You are one devious demon,” Baylee said with a laugh.

  “I thought you already knew that,” Kirkyn teased.

  “I guess I should have suspected some of the tactics you used on me would come into play,” Baylee said, taking his lover’s hand. “So, we wait?”

  “We wait.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Lenno hadn’t gone to bed because he was too wired, and now, six hours after the dinner party, his stomach was roiling, and his skin was burning up. All over the house, men were sick and dying.

  A shout from outside tore him away from the man he was tending to. He hurried for the front door and ripped it open. Outside the house, the plants were literally screaming and the ground burning.

  “Shit.” With both hands, he gripped his hair and stared incredulously. But the horror was quickly turned inward as his insides seemed to catch fire. Nausea caught him in a fierce grip, and he bent to throw up, only the vomit that came out was a projectile stream of food and drink.

  He gasped when it was over, but his throat flamed. Cramps knotted his stomach, and he put a hand to it and groaned from the pain tearing at him. Then, he caught fire.

  Dropping to the ground, his mind went over what could be going on, but he didn’t have time to work it out. He combusted.

  All over the house, demons were dying. Those of Drinzel’s supporters who’d been allowed to live were trapped as the fires flared and raged out of control, spreading, catching anything in its wake.

  From the edge of the lands, Trinity and Darik watched the mass destruction.

  * * * *

  At the hotel, the fires were less consuming as they burned the waters, filling the air with the acrid sce
nt of death. The plants seemed to squeal as they died, and the vines that had grown in the beginning of a berry bush caught flame but refused to burn.

  “My god,” Baylee said as he stared out the window of the lounge. “Kirkyn, there won’t be anything left.”

  “The original grasses and plants will survive. They’ll be scorched and burned in patches but will rejuvenate quickly. The only thing that’s dying is the alien plant life.”

  “What’s to keep it from coming back?”

  “The new seeds we’ll plant will choke out new growth before it takes root, and within a few years, the demon stuff will cease to exist on land and in water,” Kirkyn told him.

  “Is that a fire truck?”

  “They won’t get through,” Kirkyn assured him. “The humans will be hypnotized and sent away. In the morning, they’ll remember doing their job.”

  “Clever,” Baylee said.

  “It’s for the best in this case. They’ll die trying to put out the fire. The mixture will perceive them as a threat.”

  “How can we make sure they aren’t treated that way in the future?”

  “I’ll get some human blood and add it to the mixture that I’m going to use on the land,” Kirkyn assured him.

  “Will the lake be habitable soon?” Clarity asked from behind them. “I want to leave within a few days.”

  “It’ll take a week to be safe,” Kirkyn said, turning to look at her.

  Baylee turned, too, and her features were tense, her eyes stormy. Blood stained her face and her clothes, and Baylee’s stomach twisted in horror.

  “Gram, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said.

  “Where’s Payten?” Kirkyn asked.

  “Dead. She put up a fight, and her assistant rushed in to help.”

  “Do you need me to go for the healer?” Baylee asked, already moving toward her as she swayed on her feet.

  “Yes.”

  Kirkyn was there to catch her as she stumbled. “Go, Baylee,” he ordered.

  Baylee pulled up short in the doorway as Payten’s assistant, bloody with wild eyes, rushed him. She got off a good shot of cold salty water before shooting algae from her palm.