Melissa led them upstairs to a bedroom with a large bright bathroom beside it. When Kris put Bree down, Melissa shooed him away. “Don’t worry about your clothes,” she said to Bree. “Leave them here and I’ll get everything cleaned. Just scrub yourself down and I’ll be back with that salve. You’ve got to be exhausted and sleep will be the best thing.”
Bree thanked her and undressed, leaving her boots outside the bathroom door, along with a pile of her clothes. She felt filthy as well as wounded and tired. She stepped into the shower with relief, avoiding her own reflection in the mirrors. She wasn’t ready to see the damage. She was just drying herself off when there was a tap at the door.
“Are you decent?” Melissa asked cheerfully.
Bree wrapped herself in a towel and opened the door. She turned her back on Melissa and sensed the other woman’s surprise when she dropped the towel.
“That must hurt,” the other woman murmured, then her cool fingertips landed on Bree’s back.
The most soothing warmth spread through Bree from the point of contact, filling her with goodwill. She could almost feel her flesh mending. “Oh! That feels wonderful.”
“Yes, Sloane knows his stuff,” Melissa said. “Hold still. You’re going to need a lot of this salve for those wounds.”
Bree stood and let Melissa tend her. “Where are you from?” she asked when the silence seemed to have stretched too long. “Your accent is half American and half British.”
Melissa laughed. “I was working in Washington when I met Rafferty but I recently took a job at the BBC.” The other woman worked in silence for a moment. “Why don’t you think you’re Kristofer’s mate? Didn’t you have a firestorm?”
“It was a spell, not a real firestorm.” The thing with confiding in people was that it got easier the more Bree did it. She answered Melissa’s questions without a moment’s hesitation, then wondered whether she should have.
“You still could be destined mates.”
“No.” Bree shook her head. She might as well confess it all. “It’s not possible. I can’t have his child.”
“I never had Rafferty’s child, and we had a firestorm.”
Bree looked over her shoulder in surprise.
“We’re destined mates,” Melissa said, meeting her gaze steadily. “But I had cancer before I met him, so no babies for me. We adopted Isabelle.”
“I thought that would mean that the firestorm would still be burning.”
“Well, there was darkfire, which brings chaos and unpredictability into the lives of the Pyr. It all worked out in the end.”
Darkfire. If it was like magick, maybe she and Kris could have a future. It challenged everything Bree knew to be true, but then, that appeared to be Kris’s style. He was steadily working his way through all of her assumptions and turning them inside out.
Bree was startled to realize how much she liked it.
“That’s why Kris doesn’t believe me,” she confessed. “He thinks it doesn’t matter that it was sparked by a spell, that the firestorm is never wrong.”
Melissa smiled. “They’re tremendous romantics, you know, and have so much respect for the firestorm as a sign.”
“But it’s impossible,” Bree protested, even as she wondered. “It just can’t work out.”
“Can’t it?” Melissa asked. “Or is the issue that you don’t want it to work out?” She didn’t wait for an answer, just put the lid back on the jar of salve. “There you go. I can see the wounds healing already.” She shook her head. “I wish I had superpowers sometimes.” She smiled again. “Use the bedroom on the right. It’s all made up. I’ll get your clothes cleaned while you sleep, and whenever you’re hungry, come on down to the kitchen.”
“Thank you,” Bree said, impressed again that this woman was so kind to a stranger. “I appreciate your help.”
“It’s what the Pyr do,” Melissa said gently. “They have each other’s backs. And all of us who are mates have been in that place of disbelief. Sometimes a bit of sleep or a chance to catch your breath is all you need to see what an amazing opportunity the firestorm has bestowed upon you.”
“But it wasn’t real...” Bree protested, only to find that she was alone. Melissa was already going down the stairs. “Not real,” she reminded herself, but knew she was starting to wonder about that.
The fact was that the notion of having a dragon at her back for the duration was tremendously appealing, especially if it was Kris. But mortals and immortals didn’t mix for the long term. It just wasn’t smart and she shouldn’t be even thinking about it.
Bree was losing her edge.
She definitely needed some sleep.
Kristofer had showered, changed and eaten, and felt roughly a million times better than when he’d arrived at Rafferty’s lair. A big part of that was that Bree’s wounds had been treated and Melissa said she was sleeping peacefully. He felt that he could finally let down his guard—and that made him realize how bagged he was.
He liked Rafferty and had no issue in telling the older Pyr everything that had happened. They’d moved to Rafferty’s library after Melissa had come back downstairs and they’d finished breakfast. Rafferty had called Erik, leaving his phone on the desk so that the leader of the Pyr could hear it all.
“You didn’t see Theo then?” Erik asked when Kristofer finally fell silent.
“No. Just Hadrian and Rhys. I didn’t know Theo had followed us, too.” That was disturbing news and made Kristofer feel even more guilty.
“But they were in salamander form?” Rafferty asked.
Kristofer nodded.
“Did you know they could do that?” Melissa asked Rafferty and he shook his head.
“I thought I was the only one left who could take that form, since the darkfire was extinguished and the Elixir banished.”
“Bree thought they were enchanted,” Kristofer contributed. “There was red light all around them, the light of the Fae magick.”
“Magick,” Erik said and he sounded discontent. “You’re right, Kristofer. It sounds like it has similarities to darkfire. What did you think of that verse, Rafferty?”
“I don’t see the point,” Rafferty said, then plucked a sheet of paper out of the printer to hand it to Kristofer. He read the verse himself.
Magick ebbs and magick flows
Three kinds there are, the wise know:
Earth charms are oldest, slow and deep,
Governing spells, runes, enchanted sleep;
Dragon magick binds to one will,
It constrains, transforms, can even kill;
And wild chaos is darkfire’s mark.
Chaos follows its blue-green spark.
“I was right,” he said, meeting Rafferty’s gaze. “We got out of Fae because Bree had an earth charm. I wondered if it might be older than Maeve’s magick and it was—it worked, even though we were bound.”
“This is why I was given the verse,” Erik said. “I was meant to share it to you.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Rafferty said to Erik who made a grudging sound.
“Did Maeve know about the charm?” Melissa asked. “She knew about that both of you could shift and her spell ensured that you couldn’t do that.”
“But if she didn’t know about Bree’s earth spell, she might not have allowed for it,” Rafferty concluded. “It’s a good suggestion.”
“But I don’t understand the rest of the verse,” Kristofer said. “I thought the darkfire was gone.”
“So did I, but maybe we were wrong.” Rafferty rose from his chair and got something off the shelf. He paused beside Kristofer, then handed it to him. It was a large quartz crystal, as long as Kristofer’s hand, and it hummed quietly to him of the earth. He liked the weight of it and the way it shone.
“The darkfire crystal isn’t clear anymore like it used to be,” Melissa said. “I hadn’t noticed that before.”
“It’s been changing color since the darkfire was extinguished,” Rafferty said.
“Maybe it’s reverted to its natural color,” Erik suggested from the phone.
“It looks like it’s made of smoky quartz,” Kristofer said and Rafferty nodded agreement.
“Can you hear it?” Rafferty asked, a question he’d asked many times of many stones while mentoring Kristofer.
Kristofer concentrated. “It hums of the earth, of a deep mine of similar crystals. It sings of its fellows.”
“Can you hear where it was mined?”
Kristofer tried. “Not exactly. Somewhere north, where the frost touched the earth. Can you?” He knew that Rafferty was of the line of the Cantor, a family of Pyr who had settled in Wales and developed their ability to influence the elements with their songs. He had learned one or two songs from Rafferty in the past and found them useful in his work. The walls he made of river stones that looked as if they were flowing in formation were helped by his use of Rafferty’s songs.
“Not exactly. Just impressions, like yours.” Rafferty shook his head, then touched the stone with his fingertips, leaving it in Kristofer’s grip. “Sing with me,” he urged, then began to chant very softly. His song was low and deep, more of a vibration than anything else, but Kristofer soon caught its rhythm.
Kristofer lent his voice to the song, closing his eyes to concentrate on the notes. The crystal grew a little bit warmer in his hand, and the library seemed to become chilly. He thought maybe the fire had died down, but kept singing as Rafferty’s chant grew louder. Although the chant had no words, it sounded to Kristofer like a cajoling or even an invitation. He’d learned a song to command the earth and one to move earth and stone, but this was different. More cautious. More charming. Like all of Rafferty’s songs, it began softly and slowly—very slowly—grew in volume and insistence. Kristofer thought the songs echoed the movements of the earth, slow and deliberate, but ultimately effective. He was losing himself in the song, easing into a meditative state when there was a snap and Melissa caught her breath.
Kristofer opened his eyes to see a light flash in the crystal. It was blue-green and flickered like lightning in a bottle. Or like a firefly. He had the sense that it was snared.
Then just like a firefly, it blinked out.
It didn’t appear again.
“Darkfire?” he whispered in awe then lifted the crystal for a closer look. It looked more clear now, as if the light of the darkfire—or its power—had pushed the smoky hue out of the stone. The blue-green light was gone, but its effect lingered.
“What happened?” Erik demanded.
“I saw Pwyll’s ghost when you arrived, just for a moment,” Rafferty said. “So I tried to summon an increment of darkfire.”
“And it worked?” Erik asked from Chicago.
“And it worked for a heartbeat,” Rafferty agreed. “Now it’s gone again.” He frowned and studied the stone. Then he turned to Kristofer. “I suspect your mate knows more, although she may not be aware of the knowledge she possesses. Let her sleep and when she awakens, we can ask.”
“We have to help Rhys, Hadrian and Theo!” Kristofer said.
“We will, but you’ll need your strength. Rest a bit,” Rafferty said.
“Let me know whatever you find out,” the leader of the Pyr commanded. “Drake has gone to New York to meet Alasdair and Kade and see what they can discover.”
“Sounds good,” Rafferty said and Erik signed off.
“Her breathing is changing,” Kristofer said, listening. He saw Melissa and Rafferty exchange a smile.
“And she thinks she’s not your mate,” Melissa said with a shake of her head.
“He’ll persuade her of the truth,” Rafferty said with confidence. “Maybe it’s time for that coffee.”
Kristofer nodded. “I’ll need the biggest mug you’ve got, please.”
Nine
Back in New York, Alasdair and Drake walked toward Tomkins Park. Kade trailed behind them, and Alasdair thought he’d been acting like a spoiled kid. It was a cool fall night and it was raining slightly. The park was quiet, as were the streets around it, due to the hour and the weather. Many of the trees were bare: the leaves had fallen suddenly with the onslaught of rain. The yellow leaves shone wetly on the sidewalk as the three Pyr entered the park.
“Stay with us,” Alasdair said tersely to Kade, more than a little bit impatient with the younger Pyr’s attitude.
“I promised to stick around,” Kade said sullenly.
“After you took off. Where did you go anyway?”
“I had something to do,” the younger Pyr insisted one more time.
“I don’t know why it has to be a secret.”
“It’s not a secret, just private.” Kade kicked some leaves. “It doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
Alasdair wasn’t sure of that, but he was tired of asking questions that didn’t get answered. So long as Kade stayed with them and had the stylus, he was going to count it a win. He didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with attitude.
“Theo said it was here?” Drake asked as he surveyed the deserted park. This Pyr was older than most, because he had been cast through time with the Dragon’s Tooth Warriors. Drake alone had returned to the modern world, thanks to the influence of the darkfire. He had a mate and son—who had been defended during his firestorm by most of the Pyr gathering this week in the city—as well as having had a mate and son thousands of years in the past. Theo was Drake’s descendant, so Alasdair had told the quiet and purposeful Pyr about the incident at Bones. As he’d hoped, Drake had come immediately from Virginia to help find Theo and the other missing Pyr.
There was something reassuring about Drake’s presence. He was quiet but also purposeful, maybe partly due to centuries of being in command. Just being in Drake’s company increased Alasdair’s conviction that the missing Pyr could be found and rescued safely.
“He said the circus was at night and that it moved locations,” Alasdair supplied. “It was here on Saturday night.”
Drake bent and picked up a flyer that was stuck to the pavement. It advertised The Circus of Wonders and listed locations. “It should still be here, according to this.”
“There,” Alasdair pointed and they turned as one toward a striped tent on the far side of the park. As they drew closer, he saw that the tent was worn and the stripes faded. They might have once been red but now were closer to pink, and the white stripes were dirty. The rows of lights were off and the tent looked dingy, disreputable and deserted. In the rain, the scene was discouraging. There was another smaller tent and some litter on the pavement. Alasdair saw trailers parked beyond the tents—he assumed the company lived there, although there were no lights shining from any of them. Were the lights out or the curtains drawn? It was strangely quiet.
Alasdair shivered, unable to dismiss the sense that they were being watched.
Then a shimmer of blue-green light slid across the ground, so fleeting that Alasdair thought he might have imagined it. Drake seemed to be even more alert than before.
The music started and they spun to face the sound, shimmering blue on the cusp of change. The music was tinny but not far away. Alasdair and Drake strode forward as one and found an illuminated booth tucked behind the bigger tent. It looked almost like a telephone booth, not that there were many of those left, and there was someone standing inside.
A flash of blue-green light illuminated the inside the box for a split second and Alasdair felt Drake take a step back. The music tinkled, the lights went on inside the box, and a voice spoke.
“Step right up and peer into the future! Love! Riches! Fame! The Amazing Madame Zola can see your future prospects! Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. Step right up and ask Madame Zola what’s in store for you!”
The figure in the box moved and Alasdair realized it was automated. It was a mechanical woman with dark eyes and red lipstick, a black turban on her head and a fringed shawl over her shoulders. The shawl was black with red flowers and the turban had a large faceted gem at the front
, holding a pair of gleaming peacock feathers in place. There was a crystal ball in front of her, but her hands moved as if she was shuffling cards.
“Step right up!” the voice invited.
“Seriously,” Kade said in an undertone.
“It could be a feint,” Drake murmured in old-speak. He nodded at Alasdair, indicating that he should approach the box, then pivoted to watch behind them.
Alasdair approached Madame Zola, noting that it cost two dollars to ask for a forecast. He dug in his pockets for change, wondering who carried cash anymore. Kade contributed a buck and a half, since most of the few coins Alasdair had were British. He felt like the figure was watching him, but that was crazy.
At least they’d come up with eight quarters. Each coin made a loud thunk as Alasdair pushed it through the slot and it fell into the machine. As soon the last one hit bottom, the music started again.
“Gather around, ladies and gentlemen, as the Amazing Madame Zola works her magic. Watch as she peers into the future!” The patter repeated itself as the figure seemed to shuffle the cards before her one more time. Because Alasdair was watching closely, he saw that the card being delivered to him actually shot out of a slit under the deck in her hands. It was the size of a business card, printed on yellow paper with the same Amazing Madame Zola logo on the back as crowned the booth. It was delivered to Alasdair from a slot in front of the box, much like an automated teller delivering cash.
“The Amazing Madame Zola has spoken!” the voice continued, then fell silent. The music tinkled as Alasdair turned over the card, not knowing what to expect.
Dragons two loosed their magick,
Lost half of it to a Fae Queen’s trick.
One Pyr snared the rest in crystals three.
To defend it as darkfire for eternity.
The dragon prince rises from his sleep,
His vow to his twin, he aims to keep.
To reclaim all magick is his quest
Can Pyr and Others halt his progress?
Dragon's Kiss (The DragonFate Novels Book 2) Page 19
