“If Shadow Wing has three of the spirit seals, we know he’s going to use them together. They may not be able to break through all the portals here, not with just three, but the power compounds with each one. We’re in for a world of hurt, I think. And you know he’s going to send somebody new through sooner than later.” I kicked the ottoman.
“At least the daemons and demons don’t like each other. Which means, though we’re fighting on two fronts, Lowestar won’t be likely to join up with Shadow Wing. He’s got too much invested here Earthside to want to destroy it.”
Vanzir shrugged. “Trytian doesn’t like Lowestar either, for what it’s worth. He’s offered an olive branch—well, as much as he can. He’ll give us whatever information he finds on Radcliffe and his cronies. Because you know if there’s one daemon over here praying to Suvika, there have to be more.”
I picked up the letter Menolly had dropped on the table. Sure enough, it was a notification for a lawsuit. “We have to find a lawyer. Anybody know any good Supe lawyers?”
Chase nodded. “I do, actually. I’ve talked to several of them over the years. Tomorrow, when I go into work, I’ll get some names for Menolly.” Astrid started to fuss. “She’s hungry. I’m going to run her out to Iris’s and I’ll be back afterward. I think I’d better sit in on what’s going on.” With a little kiss on her forehead, he headed toward the kitchen, holding her like she was a fragile piece of crystal.
My phone rang and I moved to the side, out of the line of conversation, to answer it. It was Albert.
“We were just wondering if you’ve had any word on Violet yet?”
I could hear the concern in his voice, but there was no way I could tell him what we suspected. “We have some leads, but it’s going to take a while. Meanwhile, Albert, you’d better take good care of her cat for her, please. I don’t think . . . we don’t think . . . Violet went off on her own voluntarily.”
A thought struck me. “Listen, can you discreetly—and I do mean discreetly—ask around. See if any other Fae women went missing? Or Supes or . . . just put your ear to the grapevine to see if you catch news of any other missing persons, especially among women.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It isn’t. But right now, I can’t tell you any more than that. Except—you and Tad, don’t you go poking around. This is bigger than you think, and dangerous, and we need you guys to mind your manners and leave the detective work to us or you could endanger a lot of lives. Do you understand?” Perhaps it was pouring gasoline onto fire, but I had to make certain they understood that this wasn’t a Hardy Boys mystery where they could run out and play detective.
After a pause, Albert answered. “I get it. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I get it. We’ll keep our noses out of it, and I’ll take care of Tumpkins. Please though, if you can, save Violet. I know what monsters are lurking out there in the night.” A hush, then, “I am one of the monsters.”
My heart went out to the programmer. “No, Albert. Vampire or not, you’re one of the good guys. So is Tad, and so is my sister Menolly. To be a monster—that begins in the heart. It’s a choice.”
But even as I said good-bye and put my phone away, a little voice inside whispered, “No, Delilah. There is evil in the world, and you are facing it every day. There are monsters who come from the depths, who live in anger and hatred and desire . . . and they are born to it.”
“What you thinking, fuzz bucket?” Vanzir tweaked my elbow, and I shook myself out of the dark reverie into which I’d slipped.
I stared at the dream-chaser demon. He’d been born to evil, and he’d made a choice. He’d chosen to stand on our side, to fight the menace. Was he good? Probably not. But he’d chosen to turn his back on a greater evil. Life was full of all shades between black and white.
With a sigh, I flashed him a faint smile. “I don’t know. Good. Evil. Choices. It sounds like Hanna has dinner on, and here comes Trillian. Let’s go eat.” And with that, we all headed into the kitchen, to our own war council.
• • •
Trillian gobbled up the macaroni and cheese like he was starving. Along with the meat loaf, salad, and cherry pie, it was a full dinner and perfect on the drizzly October night.
“Kelvashan is destroyed. I have no idea of how many elves were killed, but the land is decimated. Almost all the villages are gone, and goblins swarm the lands. On the plus side, Tanaquar’s warriors are numerous, and there are armies on the march from Svartalfheim, Dahnsburg, Nebulveori, and the Moon Mother’s grove. Ceredream is holding its hand yet, which is not going over well among the northern lands. But we shall see. They’re probably worried because they are an easy target from the Southern Wastes, and it’s known that the sorcerers are based there.”
He glanced over at Camille and me. “I have no idea how you escaped the destruction of the palace, but when I saw what was left, my heart was in my throat. You are lucky and cunning.”
“We would have been trapped if it hadn’t been for the unicorn horn,” Camille said. “We couldn’t get those doors open.”
Trillian shook his head. “Well, the palace is obliterated. Sharah and Trenyth have their headquarters set up in a secret location and they put me under a geas. I couldn’t tell you where it is, if I wanted to. The Knights were scattered, of course. I managed to find Amber and her child on the outskirts of the city, hiding in the woods. Luke was nearby.”
“What about Tam Lin? Trenyth said he was captured?” Morio stabbed a piece of meatloaf with his fork.
“Rozurial was on the trail of Tam Lin when he saw a brigade of goblins swoop in and cart him away. They knew who they had, I’ll tell you that, because they didn’t hurt a hair on his head, even when he somehow managed to kill a good six or seven of them.” Trillian stared at his plate.
“How did he do that?” Shade handed me the salad and I passed it over to Chase, who gave me a soft smile.
“Roz said there was some sort of blinding light . . . it came from the spirit seal. When it cleared, several of the goblins lay dead. But there were too many, and they overwhelmed poor Tom. I wish him a speedy death, because being carted before Shadow Wing?” Trillian shuddered.
The thought of poor Tom, as broken as he was, being dragged before the Demon Lord was more than any of us could handle. I could see it round the table, crossing everyone’s face.
I spoke to break the silence. “You say Smoky and Roz are still hunting for Venus the Moonchild and Benjamin?”
Trillian nodded. “Yes.”
“Venus is crafty and he’s a shaman. Chances are, if anybody makes it out of there, he will. If Ben happens to be with him, so much the better.” I sent a silent prayer to Bastus that my old friend, the former shaman of the Rainier Puma Pride, had made it safe. “One thing is for sure, if the goblins catch Venus, he’ll take them down as hard as he can before he gives up the ghost.”
We filled Trillian in on what had been happening with us as the evening wore on. Nobody wanted to leave the table—it was too safe, too homey, and for a brief moment, it felt like we could rest.
But as dinner came to an end, a terrific gust of wind passed over the house and the sound of breaking branches hit the roof.
Trillian wiped his mouth and stood. “Sounds like it’s brewing up a storm out there. I’ll go and make sure there was no damage to the roof.”
“I’ll help.” Morio followed him out.
Hanna began to clear the table and Nerissa jumped up to assist her.
Chase stood and yawned. “I guess I’ll head back to Iris’s and hit the hay early. I’m exhausted and we’ve all got a long day tomorrow.”
Camille brewed a pot of tea while waiting for Morio and Trillian to return, and Menolly headed downstairs to keep Amber and Luke company. Shade and I said good night and wearily made our way upstairs.
Tomorrow, we’d have to start sorting out the pieces. Tomorrow, we’d face the mess we were mired in and figure out some way to deal with all of it. But tonight . . . ton
ight was for healing and resting, and hopefully, for peaceful dreams.
Chapter 20
Shade closed the door behind us and turned on the music. As the strains of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man” filtered through the room, we looked at each other. What could we say? So much had happened in the past few days, yet here we were, in a brief lull, not knowing how long the fragile moment would last.
He held out his arms and I slipped into them, leaning softly against his chest. He kissed my cheeks, brushing away stray wisps of my bangs. I caught my breath as his lips trailed down my face, softly pressing against my own. Melting into his arms, I inhaled deeply, the warm scent of his musk firing my hunger.
In silence, I reached down to unbuckle his belt. He held up one hand, and motioned for me to raise my arms. As I did, he lifted my shirt over my head, then softly turned me around to unhook my bra. His arms slid around my waist and he reached up to cup my breasts, breathing gently against my neck. I shivered at his touch, wanting him to throw me down, take me hard, make me forget the sorrow and tears and death that surrounded us.
Slowly, I pressed back against him, as he fingered my nipples, bringing them to attention. With a long breath, I unzipped my jeans and shoved them down, using my feet to kick them off. He slid his hands down from my breasts to slip his fingers under the sides of my panties, and with a smooth gesture, pushed them down my hips. Still with his arms around me, he traced his way across my stomach, his fingers tickling as he brought them down to finger my clit. I moaned gently, moving in rhythm to the music as he began to stroke me, circling softly at first, then harder as he picked up the pace.
I squirmed, letting out a loud groan, but still he moved with precision, not hurrying, not letting me hurry him. I could feel his erect cock through his pants, pressing against my back, and all I could think about was how much I wanted him inside me, filling me up, thrusting deep to take me out of my head.
“Shade—” I started to say but he shushed me.
“Quiet. Let me do this.” Abruptly, he turned me to face him, and slid his arms around my waist and began to dance with me, his knee pushing between mine as we moved to the sultry music. I laughed, suddenly, and kicked off the panties from where they’d fallen to my feet.
“I want to feel your chest,” I whispered, tugging at his shirt.
Still grinding against me, he let go and quickly divested himself of his shirt, then his arms were right back around my waist. I pressed my breasts against his bare chest, the coffee of his skin warm against my paleness. Draping my arms around his neck, I pressed my lips to his, my tongue dancing with his. We kissed, slow and long and deep, the fire kindling between us.
Shade chuckled, one hand caressing my lower back as he cupped my butt with the other. “Oh Delilah, you are ripe on the vine. You are my puss in heat.”
I let out a little growl, playfully nipping him on the nose. “What are you going to do about it? Going to scratch my itch? Going to give me a taste of what you have under those pants?”
“You want it, babe? You want it hard and fast?”
“Hard, fast, and deep.” And the energy shifted again, from playful to serious as I pulled away, crooking my finger as I backed up to the bed. “Come get me if you want me.”
He unbuckled his belt and slid it out from the loops, then stripped out of his pants. He was glorious, dark and rich skin shimmering in the dim light. I gazed at his cock, hungry and licking my lips.
Responding to my challenge, he strode over, grabbing me up and tossing me on the bed. The next moment, he landed between my legs, his lips fastening around one nipple to tease and nip at me. I let out a little cry as he lowered his lips to between my legs, and the next moment, he was licking me, his tongue creating delicious swirls. I could barely catch my breath as he continued, unrelenting, until I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything but the pulse of his tongue driving me higher. Panting, I let out a choked cry as I came, hard and sharp, and tears began to run down my face as the stress of the past few days let go in one long wave of release.
Shade immediately rose up to thrust his cock deep inside me, and I wrapped my legs around his back, rocking with him as we drove the demons into the night, pushing them away with our passion.
And, in the midst of death and destruction, there was this: the stroke of his cock, inside me, creating the union that made all the pain and worry worth it. As he came, I let go and, once again, tumbled into the minor death that is orgasm. And there, watching over both of us, stood my lord Hi’ran, Elemental Lord of the Harvest, the fire of passion crackling between the three of us even as the fires of war raged on in my homeworld.
CAST OF MAJOR CHARACTERS
The D’Artigo Family
Arial Lianan te Maria: Delilah’s twin who died at birth. Half-Fae, half-human.
Camille Sepharial te Maria, aka Camille D’Artigo: The oldest sister; a Moon Witch and Priestess. Half-Fae, half-human.
Daniel George Fredericks: The D’Artigo sisters’ half cousin; FBH.
Delilah Maria te Maria, aka Delilah D’Artigo: The middle sister; a werecat.
Hester Lou Fredericks: The D’Artigo sisters’ half
cousin; FBH.
Maria D’Artigo: The D’Artigo Sisters’ mother. Human. Deceased.
Menolly Rosabelle te Maria, aka Menolly D’Artigo: The youngest sister; a vampire and jian-tu: extraordinary acrobat. Half-Fae, half-human.
Sephreh ob Tanu: The D’Artigo Sisters’ father. Full Fae. Assumed deceased.
Shamas ob Olanda: The D’Artigo girls’ cousin. Full Fae.
The D’Artigo Sisters’ Lovers & Close Friends
Astrid (Johnson): Chase and Sharah’s baby daughter.
Bruce O’Shea: Iris’s husband. Leprechaun.
Carter: Leader of the Demonica Vacana Society, a group that watches and records the interactions of Demonkin and human through the ages. Carter is half demon and half Titan—his father was Hyperion, one of the Greek Titans.
Chase Garden Johnson: Detective, director of the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation (FH-CSI) team. Human who has taken the Nectar of Life, which extends his life-span beyond any ordinary mortal, and has opened up his psychic abilities.
Chrysandra: Waitress at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Human. Deceased.
Derrick Means: Bartender at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Werebadger.
Erin Mathews: Former president of the Faerie Watchers Club and former owner of the Scarlet Harlot Boutique. Turned into a vampire by Menolly, her sire, moments before her death. Human.
Greta: Leader of the Death Maidens; Delilah’s tutor.
Iris (Kuusi) O’Shea: Friend and companion of the girls. Priestess of Undutar. Talon-haltija (Finnish house sprite).
Lindsey Katharine Cartridge: Director of the Green
Goddess Women’s Shelter. Pagan and witch. Human.
Luke: Former bartender at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Werewolf. One of the Keraastar Knights.
Maria O’Shea: Iris and Bruce’s baby daughter.
Marion Vespa: Coyote shifter; owner of the Supe-Urban Café.
Morio Kuroyama: One of Camille’s lovers and husbands. Essentially the grandson of Grandmother Coyote. Youkai-kitsune (roughly translated: Japanese fox demon).
Neely Reed: Founding Member of the United Worlds Church. FBH.
Nerissa Shale: Menolly’s wife. Worked for DSHS. Now working for Chase Johnson as a victims-rights counselor for the FH-CSI. Werepuma and member of the Rainier Puma Pride.
Roman: Ancient vampire; son of Blood Wyne, Queen of the Crimson Veil. Menolly’s official consort in the Vampire Nation and her new sire.
Rozurial, aka Roz: Mercenary. Menolly’s secondary lover. Incubus who used to be Fae before Zeus and Hera destroyed his marriage.
Shade: Delilah’s fiancé. Part Stradolan, part black (shadow) dragon.
Sharah: Elfin medic; Chase’s girlfriend.
Siobhan Morgan: One of the girls’ friends. Selkie
(wereseal); member of the Puget Sound
Harbor
Seal Pod.
Smoky: One of Camille’s lovers and husbands. Half-white, half-silver dragon.
Tavah: Guardian of the portal at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Vampire (full Fae).
Tim Winthrop, aka Cleo Blanco: Computer student/genius, female impersonator. FBH. Now owns the Scarlet Harlot.
Trillian: Mercenary. Camille’s alpha lover and one of her three husbands. Svartan (one of the Charming Fae).
Ukkonen O’Shea: Iris and Bruce’s baby son.
Vanzir: Was indentured slave to the Sisters, by his own choice. Dream-chaser demon who lost his powers and now is regaining new ones.
Venus the Moon Child: Former shaman of the Rainier Puma Pride. Werepuma. One of the Keraastar Knights.
Wade Stevens: President of Vampires Anonymous. Vampire (human).
Zachary Lyonnesse: Former member of the Rainier Puma Pride Council of Elders. Werepuma living in Otherworld.
GLOSSARY
Black Unicorn/Black Beast: Father of the Dahns unicorns, a magical unicorn that is reborn like the phoenix and lives in Darkynwyrd and Thistlewyd Deep. Raven Mother is his consort, and he is more a force of nature than a unicorn.
Calouk: The rough, common dialect used by a number of Otherworld inhabitants.
Autumn Whispers (An Otherworld Novel) Page 30
