Fire Me Up

by Katie MacAlister

  "So. I'm to befriend you. I don't suppose you'd care to summon the king of eagles to rescue an old friend like me?" I asked the pigeon. It pecked aimlessly at the cold stone. "No, I didn't think so. All right, Pidge. Time to get serious. Let's use our brain. I'm Drake's mate. If I die, he dies. Which means he wouldn't tolerate his people putting me in a situation where I was going to die. Thus, there has to be a solution to this problem."

  I sucked my lower lip, watching the pigeon as it wandered around the top of the arch, looking for tiny insects.

  "If only I could fly like you. But I can't. I don't remember hearing anything about Guardians being able to fly. There must be some beings who can fly, though. Let's see ... ghosts float. I bet they could fly. But they're insubstantial, so even if I could summon a ghost to me, and it agreed to float me off of here, there's no way it could. What T need is someone who can float like a ghost, but turn solid enough to hold me ... holy cats!"

  The pigeon's wings flapped madly as I yelled. I yanked up the chain and showed it the amulet.

  "Incubi, Pidge, incubi! That's the answer. They've shown up every night, why not tonight? All I have to do is summon one. Urn. The question is how."

  I racked my brain to think of anything helpful that Jim had said about the incubi, but the only thing I remembered was women being carried away on a cloud of smoke. "They're dream lovers. And they appeared to me when I was in bed, asleep or very sleepy. This is a less than ideal bed, but it'll have to do."

  Have you ever tried to fall asleep on the top of an arched bridge a hundred and fifty feet above dense traffic and a river after your lover has abandoned you? It's not easy. T finally figured out that sleep wasn't necessary (or likely), but a calm, quiet mind was. Fifteen minutes after I told my plan to my pigeon friend (now huddled into a fluffy pigeon ball at my feet), I carefully hiked up the chiffon skirt of my gown and assumed the lotus position.

  Ten minutes after that, I discovered I had to go to the bathroom.

  Luckily, two minutes after that revelation, my mind was cleared and quiet enough, focused on nothing, as my old yoga instructor used to demand, that an incubus showed up.

  One moment I was sitting with my eyes closed, humming softly to myself, holding the mental image of a door made of alabaster in a snowstorm, and the next a warm, woodsy breath was touching my ear.

  Slowly, so as not to scare away the incubus, I turned my head. A familiar dark-haired man was kissing my bare shoulder.

  "Hi, Jacob," I said softly.

  His head snapped up, his eyes opening wide as he jerked backward. I grabbed hold of his arm to keep him from going over the edge of the arch. "You! It is you! The one with the dragon—"

  "Yes, but he's not here. I'm all alone," I said, keeping my voice low and what I hoped was seductive. He tried to pull away from me, but I used both hands to hold on to him as t batted my lashes. "All alone. Just little old me. By myself. And I'm terribly lonely."

  He stopped trying to pull away, looking around the top of the arch suspiciously. "The dragon is not here?"

  "No." I gave an insouciant little shrug. "He's abandoned me for the night. I'm so glad to see you, Jacob. I had hoped you would come."

  "You did?" he asked, watching in surprise as I traced a finger down his bare arm. He was naked, but all I cared about was that his arms were strong enough to hold me while he got me the hell off the bridge.

  "Yes. I'm in a bit of a bind, though. I'm stuck up here—the dragons put me here as punishment—but I'd much rather be in bed, where it's comfortable."

  He frowned. "A bed is more comfortable," he agreed after looking around. "This is not comfortable."

  "No. And not conducive at all to romance."

  His eyes swiveled from the pigeon to me. I could see him weighing the possibilities in his mind. I leaned forward and blew a little breath on his lips. "I would be ever so grateful to the man—incubus—who got me down off here. Very grateful."

  The frown cleared as his eyes lit with the same lusty look that had been present in the eyes of all the other in-cubi. He nodded. "I will give you pleasure, lady."

  "I know you would. If we were on the ground, I know that you could give me great pleasure."

  "For many hours," he added, his shoulders thrown back as he puffed out his chest. "I am a virile lover."

  "I can see that," I said, sliding my hand down his chest, avoiding looking at any parts that might be rampant. Well, all right, I peeked, but only for a second, and just for curiosity's sake. "Why don't you get me off of here, and then we can discuss just how virile a lover you are?"

  He frowned again as he looked down at the traffic on the bridge. "It will be necessary tor me to carry you."

  "Yes," I answered, sucking in my cheeks and trying to look weightless.

  He nodded and held out his arms. "I can do that."

  I sent up a fervent prayer of thanks as I scooted over to him, leaning into his chest.

  "I must change form now, but fear not, beauteous one. I will clasp you most firmly."

  "All righaiiiiieee V I clamped my Hps shut tight as the man holding me in his arms suddenly dissolved into a thick gray smoke, seemingly bodiless, but then I was lifted from the cold stone of the arch, the smoke surrounding me, wrapping me in warm, dry tendrils. I bit my lip until I tasted blood to keep from shrieking as the cars and water and buildings drifted by beneath me, my brain finally taking the preventive measure of ordering my eyes tightly shut until it was over.

  I can't honestly say how long it took for Jacob to get me off that bridge. All I know is that time seemed to hold its breath, seconds slowed until it seemed they had stopped altogether. Then the smoke embracing me slithered away, and I found myself standing in the garden outside the hotel, staring with blinking, disbelieving eyes at the bright lights and soft music streaming out of the restaurant that overlooked the garden.

  "Now we will go to your room, and I will pleasure you a thousand times before the sun rises," a thick voice said behind me. I spun around, so grateful that I actually hugged Jacob, pressing a kiss to his cheek before releasing him.

  "Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't believe it worked! I can't believe you got me off that horrible bridge! Boy, do I owe you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. Whenever I need an incubus, you're going to be the one I call, I guarantee you that."

  He looked inordinately pleased. "It was nothing. I have much more impressive skills ... in bed."

  "Ah." I stepped back, aware that I was standing in full view of the restaurant windows with a naked incubus. One who, indeed, looked fully prepared to fulfill his promise. "About that—you know, I'm ... urn ... thinking that my trauma about the bridge was so great, that I couldn't really appreciate any of your wonderful love-making talents tonight, But if you don't mind"—with a glance over my shoulder at a small group of people who emerged from the restaurant, I gently pushed Jacob toward a tall hedge that would provide a bit of privacy— "I'd like to ask you some questions."

  "Questions?" He looked at me sullenly. "You question my ability to give you pleasure? I am almost six hundred years old, lady. I have pleasured thousands of women in that time. Hundreds of thousands!"

  Tm sure you have," I said softly, shoving him a bit farther along the hedge.

  "I am a lover extraordinaire! No matter how debauched your tastes, I will satisfy you."

  "Yes, yes, I'm sure you would."

  "Flogging, bondage, fetishes—T have experience in all methods."

  "Just so, but the thing is, I don't want to question you about your technique. I want to ask you about the number of times you can do it in a night."

  He stared at me, his mouth slightly ajar.

  "That thousand times you mentioned a minute ago— is there a limit to the times you can make love in one night, or are you pretty much the Energizer Bunny?"

  'The what?"

  "Limitless?"

  He looked taken aback for a moment, then he puffed out his chest again, his chin up, his eye
s blazing. "I am an incubus of the House of Balint. We are the oldest and most virile line in all of Eastern Europe. My loins can provide you with as much pleasure as you can survive."

  "Ah, but how much would it take to kill someone, I wonder?" I asked, one piece of the puzzle sliding into place.

  "A dozen times, perhaps less, depending on the strength of your heart," Jacob answered matter-of-factly. "Of course, that matters not if you are immortal."

  I looked up from where I was contemplating the hedge, startled by what he said. "Guardians aren't immortal."

  "No, they are not. Come, lovely one. Let us find your bed, and I will put your mind at rest as to the power to be found in my manhood."

  "Just a second. I have another question. You said you are from the House of Balint. Are all incubi from specific houses?"

  "Yes. It is a family designation, you understand."

  "And are they regional? That is, do all the incubi who work this area belong to the same house?"

  "Yes," he said, tugging me toward the hotel.

  "So you know all the others who hang out around here?"

  He stopped tugging and gave me an outraged look. "You will want no other after you have had me!"

  I held up my hand "I'm certain I won't. I just wanted ID know if you know everyone in this area."

  "They are family, brothers in the House of Balint. I know them. But none are such a good lover as me."

  I eluded his grasp. "You wouldn't happen to know if ooe of your brothers had been to the hotel the last couple of nights ... er ... visiting Guardians?"

  "Many of my brothers have pleasured women here," be said, grabbing me around the waist like he was going ID pick me up and carry me.

  "Lately?" I asked, trying to squirm out of his grasp without much Luck.

  "Yes, recently. The last few nights. Many have summoned us, just as you summoned me. Come, my adorable one, and allow me to worship you as you deserve to be worshiped."

  "Names," I squawked. "Do you have their names?"

  He let go of me, putting his hands on his naked hips as he glared. "I begin to think it is not me you desire at all. I begin to think you question me about another of my house."

  "It's not that. I'm just interested in who has been visiting Guardians during the last few nights. If you could give me their names, I'd be very grateful."

  He thought about it for a minute, then suddenly he scooped me up in his arms and started walking—buck naked—toward the hotel. "No. You have heard tales from these other women about their dream lovers, and you think that only they can satisfy you. But I tell you I am better than them. I will make you forget all about them."

  "Oh, look, there's Drake! My dragon!"

  Jacob stopped dead, but still held me.

  "Uh-oh. I think he's seen us. And he looks angry. Is that fire coming out of his nose? The last incubus he caught with me—ooof!" I hit the ground hard. Jacob, without waiting to see Drake (which was a good thing, since he wasn't there), dissolved into smoke and disappeared into the night.

  I got painfully to my feet, carefully brushing grass off my gorgeous dress before limping into the hotel. A quick stop by the front desk to get a room key, an elevator ride to the seventh floor, and before you could say "Ricky Ricardo" I was throwing open the doors to Drake's suite.

  Drake, Istvan, and Pal all looked up from where they were sitting.

  I stared at each one of them, letting them see everything they'd put me through before slamming the door behind me with a particularly meaningful "Honey, I'm home!"

  19

  “Asling, I am not lying. I do not lie."

  "Oh, I like that!"

  "When have I lied to you?"

  "Just three seconds ago when you told me you knew I would get off that damned bridge."

  "Kincsem—"

  I jerked away from where Drake was trying to grab me, marching past him with a glare so fulminating that it literally started a fire on the bureau behind him. "Don't you dare kincsem me!"

  Drake absently slapped the fire out, watching as I paced back and forth between the bed and the wall.

  "How could you do it, Drake? How could you park me on top of that bridge and just go blithely on your way?"

  "I told you, mate. I knew you would find a way down. If nothing else, you could have dived into the river."

  "And broken every bone in my body."

  "No." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps one or two, but I am sure that would be the most damage."

  I hitched my glare up another notch. The curtains burst into flame.

  Drake sighed as he looked at them. "You must learn to control my fire, Aisling. I know you are angry at me for allowing the punishment to be carried out, but I assure you that it was by far the least objectionable of all the punishments suggested."

  I growled something physically impossible, snatched a tiny fire extinguisher from the wall, and plastered the drapes with white chemical foam. "Oh, right, like I'm supposed to believe that? I could have died up there, Drake."

  "But you didn't."

  "No, but that's no reflection on you."

  "I agree." I toyed for a moment with spraying him, too, but in the end set the extinguisher down and stared at him. His normally expressive eyes were unreadable. "But it is a reflection on you, mate." He stopped me as I made a disgusted noise, about to walk out of the bedroom. Just the feel of his hands on my arms sent little frissons of fire whipping through my body. "Aisling, I knew you would find a way off the bridge. You are smart and resourceful, and you command more power than you can imagine. I knew that you would either start a fire on the bridge, thus summoning aid, or summon a being to rescue you."

  Damn. I hadn't thought about starting a fire. I bet that would have brought the fire department out pretty quickly.

  "All right," I said, holding on to my anger just a little bit longer despite knowing it was mostly unwarranted. "That excuses you from trying to kill me. But you could have given me a couple of hints on how to get down off there before you went zooming off. You could have reminded me that I can bring up your fire."

  His hands slid down my arms, a slight smile playing around his mouth. My anger melted at the sight of it. "You don't need me to rescue you, kincsem. You never did."

  'That doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice once in a while," I said, relenting. I knew in my heart he was right—he hadn't left me in as dire a situation as I could have found myself. I did possess power, and although I didn't have the confidence he seemed to have in my brain's reasoning abilities, there was a certain satisfaction to be found in the fact that I didn't have to rely on a man to save me. "You're going to have to work very hard tonight to make up for all that time I stood shivering on the top of the bridge."

  His hands swept up my exposed back, his dragon fire leaping between us. "I will do my best, mate."

  I leaned forward to lick his lips. "I know you—oh, crap!"

  The ornate carriage clock on the bureau behind him chimed the half hour.

  I gave him a crooked kiss, then gathered up the skirt of my dress and ran for the door to the living room of the suite.

  "Aisling? I thought you wanted me to bathe you in fire?"

  The room was empty of dragons, but my purse and wrap were sitting on an end table where I'd thrown them before storming into Drake's bedroom to chew him up one side and down the other. I grabbed them, racing for the door. "I have an appointment with Nora. It's the apprentice ritual. It has to be done tonight or else I'll be expelled from the conference. Be back as soon as I can."

  I started to close the door, then popped my head back through it to blow a kiss to Drake. "Keep your fire stoked, dragam. I'm going to need a lot of warming.7'

  It was only thirty-five after by the time I ran, breathless,- into a now dark and empty coffee lounge, Nora was sitting at a table reading by the light of one small floor lamp. She looked up when I started sputtering my apologies.

  "There's no need to apologize," she said, tucking a bookmark in t
he book and closing it carefully. "As long as the ritual is completed by midnight, you will be fine. Are you ready to begin?"

  "Yes." I said, trying to catch my breath, calm my beating heart, and focus my mind to whatever task she was going to ask.

  "Very well," she said, making a gesture to take in the immediate area. "The first test of the ritual is to locate the five wards that I have drawn. Please point them out to me."

  I looked around the room. The coffee lounge was a large alcove off the main lobby, with a long counter bearing a couple of espresso machines, a number of small round tables, and a couch along one wall. I didn't see anything that looked wardish, not that I knew what a ward looked like.

  "Um. Wards. Do I get a hint as to what kind of wards?"

  She shook her head, her eyes dark and watchful. I frowned as I looked around again, walking the perimeter of the alcove, looking carefully at the tables, chairs, walls, pictures . . . everything. Nothing jumped up and said "Warded!" to me.

  Even Nora's body language screamed that I was failing the test. I was going to be kicked out. Before I even had a chance to learn, I was going to be kicked out. It just wasn't fair! I didn't ask for this, it was pushed on me. One minute I was fine and dandy, and the next minute people like Amelie, the shopkeeper in Paris, were telling me I had to look at all the possibilities to see beyond the mortal world.

  Hmm. I turned back to the room, my eyes scanning it again. Nothing. But what if I opened that magic door in my head? I closed my eyes and did that, released the power of my mental sight, and suddenly the room burst into glorious color. Reds, greens, deep indigos—all the colors that I had seen before were heightened tenfold, so bright it was almost blinding. And glowing a sparkly gold, five intricate, knotted symbols floated above various objects in the room.

  "There's a ward on the big espresso machine, one on the tall palm in the corner, two more on the two windows, and the last one is on the tile at your feet."

  "Correct." Relief was visible for a moment in her eyes, but it was gone before I could do more than smile weakly. "Now you will draw the following five wards on any object of your choice: binding, protection, restraint, luck, and forgiveness."