He also arrived with two fully armed Shadows.
Again I thought of shooting my way out, but that would do little to help me find Izzy. The element of surprise, on which I had been counting, was gone. The Shadows had to be on high alert with me locked in their library. Now I’d be lucky to make it twenty feet before a group of the hazy assholes stopped me. I’d have to come up with another plan.
One that didn’t include certain death.
“Can I get you anything else?” the butler asked, rousing me from my murderous thoughts.
“No, I’m good.” I picked up a piece of cheese and popped it into my mouth. It tasted like heaven after a long day without food. The butler nodded, exiting the room with his twin bodyguards.
My morning coffee had long since faded, leaving me shaking with exhaustion and hunger. Having a light snack and relaxing a bit until I thought of a plan of escape wouldn’t hurt. After all, the room was warm, the food sweet and plentiful, and best of all no one was knocking me in the head.
Yet.
I finished eating and poured a hearty dose of medicinal whiskey into a fancy crystal glass worth more than everything I owned. My eyelids grew heavy as I drank it down. A few minutes later I was sound asleep.
“Blue . . .” Izzy’s voice drifted through my head, sounding as sweet and bossy as I remembered. She appeared in front of me, her wings fully restored, her smile alive and filled with humor. I groaned, wanting this dream never to end.
But it would end.
And Izzy would once again disappear.
“Blue,” her voice grew louder. This time she followed up with a smack to my cheek. I sprang awake, blinking as the dream vanished before my eyes, leaving a very real version of a not-so-happy soon-to-be Tooth Fairy. In fact, she looked mad as hell. Her eyes blazed and her face had turned a becoming shade of pink.
“Izzy? Is that you?” I blinked a few more times, half expecting her to disappear. When she didn’t a massive sense of relief filled me. Izzy was alive, and from the looks of her, unharmed. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
She snorted. “Really hard, I see.”
A blush rose in my cheeks. Not a pretty sight on anyone over the age often, but embarrassing on a thirty-year-old, blue-haired man. “I have been looking for you. The twins told me you were dead, but I didn’t believe them.” My voice grew louder at the thought of her demise.
“Shhh.” Her index finger flew to my lips, which then smoldered from an electrical shock wave. “We don’t want them to hear us.” She pulled her hand away, blowing on the burned digit as she glared at me.
“What the hell is going on?” I pushed from the chair, nearly upending it and myself in the process. Damien’s whiskey was stronger than I’d thought. Or, more likely, the asshole had drugged me. I shook my head, focusing on the matter at hand. Namely, saving Izzy, or rather letting Izzy save my ass yet again. Playing the distressed damsel instead of an off-off-off-white knight was getting real old really fast. “What happened last night? Why were the Shadows holding you hostage?” I asked. “And what’s with that Damien guy?”
She winced. “I’ll explain everything. But not right now.”
No sooner had the words left her lips than the library doors flew open and two hazy black figures burst into the room looking formidable with their shadowy clothes and shiny weapons.
“Get her,” the taller of the two yelled.
Without thinking, I lifted my jacket, pulling out my really big gun. My fingers gripped the cold metal, preparing for whatever was about to happen. I pointed the weapon at the closer of the two Shadows. The figure on my right stopped, raising his hand in the air. “You don’t want to do that, Mr. Reynolds.”
“Yeah, I kind of do.” I motioned with the gun. “Move aside.”
“Take it easy. No one’s going to hurt you, Mr. Reynolds,” he said in a pleasing tone as he backed up a step.
The other Shadow wasn’t nearly so cooperative. He ran toward Izzy. I fired, the bullet catching him somewhere in the middle of his hazy mass. He hit the floor without a sound, which was far creepier than one would think.
Before I could react the second, still-breathing Shadow darted for the doors, yelling for help. I fired twice, missing both times.
“Shit.” I ran to Izzy, who stood paralyzed in the center of the room, the dead Shadow at her feet. “Come on, Isabella. We need to get out of here.” I pulled on a pair of gloves and grabbed her arm.
At my touch she appeared to come out of her daze. She blinked a few times and then glanced up at me. “You shot him.”
“We can do a full play-by-play after we get the hell out of here. But for now you have to flee as fast as your wings will carry you. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Good.” I pulled her behind me, and together we dashed from the library, running toward the front door. The air behind us filled with blackness, swirling like a rising hurricane. I could feel shadowy hot breath on my heels.
We weren’t going to make it.
“Whatever you do,” I said to the fairy at my side, “don’t stop running.”
In answer, she dug her fingers into my bare forearm. Blue sparks bounced off her skin, but her grip didn’t slacken. “Forget it. You aren’t making any grand sacrifices, not now. Fight or flee, doesn’t matter either way, we do it together.”
“Stubborn fairy. Have it your way.” I pushed her ahead of me, firing blindly into the darkness on our heels.
Lucky for us, the butler opened the door at the exact moment we arrived at it, and we ran out of the fortress without breaking stride. We ran and ran, occasionally glancing behind us, for what seemed like an eternity given my two-pack-a-day habit and the advanced size of my liver.
Fifteen impossibly long blocks from the fortress I pulled to a stop, sucking in lungsful of air. I needed to quit smoking. Izzy looked unfazed by our flight. Her wings fluttered in the wind as the sun turned her hair even more fiery in color. In that moment she was the most beautiful woman alive.
“Blue,” she said suddenly, “they’re coming.”
“What?” I looked behind us, seeing nothing but blue skies and morning commuters. “Where?”
“Hurry,” she said, grabbing my arm again.
I took one last gasp of breath and started to run. Izzy kept pace next to me. Another block blurred into a second and still we ran. When it felt like my heart was going to explode, I slowed to a trot. “I can’t keep this up.”
“What should we do?”
“Hide in one of these buildings.” I paused, motioning to the rows of expensive glass and chrome high-rises that rose into the sky all around us. “It will take the Shadows days to find us.”
Izzy shook her head. “It won’t work, Blue. These buildings have tight security. No doorman in his right mind will let us past the lobby.”
She was right. We hardly looked like the type to live in such a glitzy neighborhood, even without the sweat stains soaking my underarms or the pink wings attached to Izzy. I bit my lip, considering.
Then it hit me.
I knew how and better yet who could save our bacon.
I grabbed Izzy’s hand and rushed up the street to a high-rise building layered in gold. As soon as we reached the lobby I removed my gloves, ready to electrocute the doorman if he proved uncooperative. Which he did. But I refrained from juicing him for the moment.
The burly security guard manning the desk stood when we entered the building. He took one look at us and reached for the panic button.
“Hold on. We’re guests of one of your residents,” I said, holding my hands out in what I hoped was a nonthreatening manner. The nonthreatening part probably failed when electricity arched between my palms.
He tilted his overly large, apelike head, his gaze watchful and filled with suspicion. “Yeah right. Who’s this supposed tenant?”
With a quick, satisfying grin, I rubbed my hands together, generating even more sparks, and said, “Princess Penelopee Andersen.”
>
CHAPTER 26
Penelopee’s name worked like a charm after the guard stopped laughing long enough to call up to the princess’s loft. Penelopee must’ve ordered the man to let us up because he quickly motioned to the elevator as he apologized for his conduct.
“Relax,” I said as Izzy and I stepped onto the elevator. “I get it.”
The guard’s eyebrow rose with question.
I laughed. “Izzy looks dangerous.”
He frowned, but before he could comment the elevator doors closed, sweeping us forty floors into the sky. Izzy smacked me. “What was that for?” I rubbed the red palm print on my arm.
She rolled her eyes before slugging me again.
At the second punch I leaped back, more shocked than hurt. Izzy had just touched me. Really touched me. No jolts or cries of pain. No blue sparks. True contact for the first time in my life. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” she yelped. “Is there a spider on me?”
I shook my head, unable to speak.
She patted her hair. “I know I look a fright, but in my defense I was kidnapped. . . .”
I grabbed her chin in my bare hand. Consequences be damned, I leaned down, kissing her fully on the mouth both to shut her up and test the lack of electrical current between us.
At first touch heat flared, but not the kind I was used to. Rather than burning pain, sparks of intense pleasure surrounded us. Surprised and pleased, I pressed her back against the wall of the elevator, my hands exploring the curves of her short but lush body.
My fingers caressed the junction where wing met shoulder, and Izzy shuddered. My breathing grew ragged, harsh enough to drown the Muzak version of “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” blaring through the elevator.
Her fingers tore at my leather belt, pulling my body closer to her own. Every drop of blood in my body dove south and my head swam. I wanted Izzy as I’d never wanted another woman, let alone a woman with pink wings. Her scent intoxicated me, likely from the combination of musk and fairy dust rising off her.
Before I could test our nonelectrical connection further, the elevator dinged, announcing our arrival. Disgusted by my lack of self-control, I abruptly released her and dropped my arms. She pulled back. “What was that about?”
“You didn’t get singed.”
“And?”
Instead of answering I ran my finger down her cheek and into the neckline of her T-shirt. For the first time in my life I was able to connect with another person without causing them pain. Somehow, in the last few hours, I’d been cured. No more surge protectors. No more human jumper cable. Could it really be true? Was the curse finally broken? And by what? Had the fairy next to me somehow released me from my electrical binds? “I can touch you, Izzy!”
Izzy slapped my hand away, dampening my good mood. “Not unless I say so. I wouldn’t want you to think I’m easy.”
Her lips curled into a stunning smile. The blood that had just returned to my head once again moved south. My fingers itched to grab her, to take all she had to offer until her knees were as weak as my will. Before I could test Izzy’s virtue, the elevator doors opened.
Penelopee stood on the other side, her eyes darting between Izzy and myself. What she saw she obviously didn’t like, for her lips curled into a frown. Just as quickly as the expression crossed her face, it vanished, and she gave us a wide smile.
“Blue! You’re here,” she said, ignoring the Tooth Fairy at my side. “I’m so glad. You solved my case, then? You found the missing tape? I knew you would.” She threw her arms wide and rushed toward me.
Before I could say no and explain my arrival on her doorstep, her fingers brushed the skin on the back of my neck. Fifty-thousand volts shot from my body into hers. Her eyes went wide and her body jerked backward. The voltage knocked Princess Penelopee halfway across the room.
CHAPTER 27
“Oh God, Penelopee.” I rushed toward the downed princess. Smoke curled from the ends of her hair as well as the cow slippers on her feet. “Are you all right?” I asked, my voice shaking slightly.
“Pretty,” she said as her eyes rolled back in her head.
“Shit!” I yanked my gloves from my pocket, pulled them on, and quickly checked her pulse. On the plus side, she was still alive, just loopy from the jolt.
But that could change at any moment as the carpet where she’d landed began to smolder and then suddenly burst into flames. I stomped on the burning carpet fibers, but it was too late. The fire quickly spread from the lush carpet to the billowing white curtains. Thick smoke filled the room.
I ripped off my jacket to beat the flames out. “Izzy,” I yelled, my voice rough with concern and smoke.
“I’m here,” she said, her small frame obscured by flames and haze.
“Get out of here.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she said, coughing.
“Don’t be stupid. In a few minutes this whole place will be an inferno.” I threw my now flaming jacket into the fire and then lifted Penelopee from the floor and tossed her over my shoulder in a firemen’s carry.
I searched for Izzy, but the smoke had already swallowed her, obscuring her vivid pink wings from my sight and her from any chance of escape.
CHAPTER 28
“It’s okay, Penelopee.” I patted the princess’s back as she choked up a lungful of smoke. Black soot covered her and everything else around us. “Just breathe.”
“What happened?” she asked once she was able to speak.
“There was a small fire,” I lied. Small was a bit of an understatement, seeing as the top two floors of her building were now completely engulfed in smoke. At least she was safe.
I glared at the other woman coughing her heart out a few feet away. Izzy hadn’t fared nearly as well. She’d lost a good portion of her right wing and three inches off her hair.
Anger burned inside me all over again as I recalled the harrowing moments when I’d thought I’d lost her. Again. Yet Izzy proved to be made of tougher stuff than I’d given her credit for. She’d managed to leap from Penelopee’s balcony before the fire overcame her. Apparently, it paid to have a sturdy pair of wings.
“A fire?” Penelopee’s softly posed question drew me back to the conversation at hand. “Was anyone hurt?”
I ignored the searing pain of the leather gloves melted into my palms. “Nope. Everyone got out just in time.”
“Thank God,” she said. “Do the firemen know what caused it?” She waved her hand to the brave New Never City firefighters risking their lives to control the flames. Flames that grew higher and higher as we watched.
Guilt thickened my voice. “Not yet.” I wouldn’t be volunteering the information either. Arson charges didn’t look good on a PI’s record, even a record as long and disturbing as mine already was.
“Do you think it was set on purpose?” Penelopee asked, her voice barely a whisper as she pulled her charred robe tight across her lush body. I felt like an ass for noticing her attributes, but what could I say? I might have blue hair, but I was still a relatively young man. My guilt intensified when tears dripped down her soot-coated face.
“No,” I said with force. “It was probably carelessness. Somebody left a candle or something burning.”
“ ‘Or something’ sounds about right,” Izzy mumbled, which turned into a choked cough. A cloud of fairy dust and smoke billowed around her. She waved it away with a blackened hand.
I glared Izzy into silence and then helped Penelopee to her feet. She swayed slightly, nearly toppling over. I wrapped my arms around her waist, steadying her. My fingers stung underneath the scorched leather of my gloves.
A sudden, intense silvery light exploded in front of us, followed by the wide lens of a television camera. “Princess, can you tell us what happened?” A guy, his hair as snowy as his shirt, shoved a microphone in Penelopee’s face. I jerked back, taking the princess with me. Fucking great.
“Princess, the fire chief believes the fire is a case of arson.” The reporter
pushed the microphone at us again. “Did you see anything suspicious?”
“Arson?” Penelopee echoed. “But Blue said . . .”
I reacted without thinking, shoving the annoying reporter. A domino effect of cameras, lighting, and gelled hair followed. It was time to grab Izzy and get the hell out of there. Last thing I needed was our faces plastered all over the TV. Not to mention what the paparazzi might say about Penelopee and me or, worse, who started the fire in the first place.
“Princess, I have to go.” I squeezed Penelopee’s soot-covered hand. “I’ll be in touch . . . I mean, contact.”
Because I would never touch—really touch—a woman again. Not like I’d touched Isabella in the elevator.
The thought left me cold.
CHAPTER 29
We left Penelopee and together Izzy and I maneuvered around a pile of news equipment, dodged a fire hose, and ran up the street, away from the bright lights of the paparazzi.
Four blocks up Izzy pulled to a stop. Her gaze shot to mine, and what I saw in them sent a shiver up my spine. “Glad we didn’t draw any attention to ourselves, you know, with our subtle exit.”
She had a point. I wasn’t a bodyguard. Hell, I was a human lightning bolt responsible for nearly killing all three of us. And why? Because I’d foolishly believed I could overcome a curse. I would never be free. What happened in the elevator had been some sort of fluke, probably brought on by adrenaline and fairy-dust intoxication. It meant nothing, I repeated in my head until the rush of nonelectrical heat and disappointment faded.
She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
“No it wasn’t.” I closed my eyes. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I promised to protect you and I nearly killed you. Maybe you should find another—”
“Oh hell no,” she blurted out. “You are not getting out of this that easy.” She smashed her finger to my lips when I started to argue, wincing as a spark of electricity shocked her this time. But why not in the elevator? I wondered. What had changed?
The Fairyland Murders Page 11
