Forged in Fire

by Juliette Cross

  I took a glass and sipped lightly from the sidelines. The myriad of masks had a fantastic effect in the dimly lit room while the ghostly melody echoed through the grand hall. Vibrant colors, curving shapes, glitter and satin, all enhanced the beautiful dancers under crystal chandeliers. Then there were others. Strange and bizarre masks—animalistic, suggestive of large cats, predatory birds and ravenous wolves—adorned the more eccentric.

  Nathaniel spun Mindy close by. She tossed her head back, laughing.

  “Hmph. He should be wearing one of those,” I said to myself, thinking of the slit-eyed wolf mask I’d just seen.

  “Who should be wearing one of what?” came the feminine voice next to me.

  I jumped, then relaxed. “Kat! Geez, don’t do that.”

  She wore a formfitting gown in leopard print, a feline mask framing green eyes swimming unnaturally with eddies of black. Her platinum hair spilled over her shoulders in crimped waves. I’d never seen it down. She was breathtaking.

  “Damn, Kat. If you’re trying to blend in, it’ll never happen.”

  “All in a day’s work, my friend. Just trying to fit in with the nobility.” She said the word “nobility” as if it were something contemptuous that might bite. Who knows? Maybe it would.

  “Has George seen you in this dress yet?” I grinned.

  Her head snapped to mine. “What do you mean? Who cares if he sees me?”

  “Oh, I think you care very much, Kat.”

  She huffed out a breath, gulping her pink champagne. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Yeah. But he’s got it bad too. The way he looks at you.”

  “Really?”

  Her austere gaze transformed to something more vulnerable. My heart hurt for her. I wondered what had happened between them, but this was certainly not the time or place to get the details.

  “Oh, without a doubt, Kat.”

  She swigged the rest of her champagne and placed the empty flute on the tray of a passing server.

  “So, have you seen any demons?”

  She asked this so casually I would’ve found it funny if it weren’t for the fact that they were here to kill me.

  “No. But I feel them.”

  “Yes. They’re definitely here. At least three, maybe more,” she calculated, scanning the crowds. “Bamal knows you have protection now, since his last two lower demons were expelled. He’ll have sent higher demons this time, some of his dukes or earls, so be careful. They can shape-shift. And sift you out of here.”

  “Awesome. I feel great now,” I said, a tremor quivering down my spine.

  Kat glanced at me and smiled. “Gen, you’ve got the leader of the demon hunters, the oldest and strongest demon hunter there is, and me here for your protection. You’re covered, girl. Don’t fret.”

  Jude was the oldest demon hunter? I didn’t realize that. I wondered for the hundredth time how one became a demon hunter. This secret was guarded, hidden for dark reasons, I was certain. But what?

  “Have you seen Jude?” Kat interrupted my thoughts.

  “No. Not yet.”

  “Okay. I’m going to mingle. You should move around. Let the demons see you. We need our bait out in the open.”

  “Terrific. A lamb in a den of wolves,” I said, tossing back the rest of my wine.

  Kat grinned at me, appearing even more like a cat with narrowed green eyes. She glanced at my dress for a second and let out a feminine laugh.

  “Just you wait till the alpha gets a look at you in this.”

  I knew she didn’t mean George, making me wonder why she considered Jude more dominant. Of course, I knew who was more dominant but found that intriguing, as George was their leader. I shivered, peering out across the crowd.

  “On that note, I’ll go mingle. Here goes the little lamb.”

  Kat laughed and stepped toward the crowd.

  “Kat, wait,” I stopped her. “What about Danté? Could he be here too?”

  She shook her head definitively. “No. Now that George has given you his power of protection and Jude plans on keeping you pure, though I’m sure it’s killing him, you’re safe.” She grinned.

  “Stop that, Kat!”

  She let out a throaty laugh. “Anyway, Danté will have to come up with some other plan. I’m sure he’s scheming, but he’s less powerful than Bamal and some of his other brothers.”

  “Seriously?”

  He seemed pretty damn powerful to me. I shuddered, remembering how easily he made me his puppet.

  “Just get out there. You have nothing to worry about.”

  With a wink, she pressed her way through the socialites laughing near the stairwell and headed toward the balcony on the second floor overlooking the ballroom.

  “Let’s go, little lamb,” I muttered to myself, steeling my spine and sauntering out into the open.

  While many men admired my passing, they were just men. My VS was sensitive, able to penetrate casts of illusion quickly. I was progressing in power. I focused to keep my cast of protection from wrapping my body—barring other Flamma from seeing me. Forcing myself to wander through the throng, knowing demons were here, made me feel vulnerable on a painful level.

  I circled around the dancers, seeing Mindy and Nathaniel, his hand sliding over her bare back in circles as he whispered something in her ear. Mindy smiled. She seemed to be having fun. Perhaps I’d misjudged the guy. The singer pulled my attention to the stage. Her voice harmonized with the violins, crooning out a melody of love and redemption. The music tugged on my heart, luring me closer.

  I paused near the orchestra, feeling the music vibrate through me, when a hand wrapped around my forearm. In swift reflex, I elbowed back into the ribs of my assailant. I heard an “oof” then felt a large male pressed close behind me, pulling me toward him. My free hand was going for the dagger when a familiar voice halted me.

  “Rumplestiltskin,” he whispered.

  “What?” I asked, dumbfounded.

  “Your code word, Genevieve. Rumplestiltskin.”

  I vaguely remembered our conversation eons ago about using a code word to avoid startling me. Too late. How this man made the name of an evil, twisted dwarf sound sexy was beyond me. Before I could even think of a snappy comeback, his arm wound around my waist, his hand flattened against my stomach and pulled me back into a private alcove, red velvet curtains sealing us in. No one occupied this one. No one but Jude. And me.

  He spun me around. My hands went to broad shoulders clad in a fine, obviously expensive, jacket. The simple black mask he wore perfectly framed eyes of flame and accentuated sensuous lips now curling into a smile as he drank me in.

  “Do you approve?” I asked lightly.

  He traced my bottom lip with a callused finger. I parted my mouth farther for him. His eyes brightened impossibly more.

  “Yes,” he said, trailing his finger down my chin, dipping along my throat, over the hollow to where his gift hung for the world to see. “I like you wearing this.”

  “I like me wearing this too.”

  His finger trailed ever lower, horizontally crossing over the slopes of my breasts, skimming along the line of the fabric. I closed my eyes, unable to handle the heat in his eyes, my breath coming quickly. He tipped up my chin to take my mouth, and I opened for him instantly. Waiting.

  “Genevieve.”

  His hands scaled down my sides, burning through the fabric.

  “What?” I panted, eyes still closed.

  One hand stopped on my hip with a proprietary hold; the other drifted to the small of my back.

  “You’re giving in to me so easily.”

  “Should I be a tease instead?”

  I opened my eyes to see a smug smile spread wide just below the line of his mask.

  “You give a man all kinds of ideas when you melt in his arms, all soft, beautiful curves and bitable skin.”

  My hand wove into the hair at his nape. I let my ring and pinky finger tuck beneath his stiff collar, caressing the sensitive skin
beneath. He shivered. That was a first.

  “Jude,” I said in all earnestness, sweeping my eyes down, then looking up through long lashes. “I only melt for you.”

  He took my mouth, crushing me close, kissing me deeply, tongue and teeth clashing in a maddening frenzy. His hand at my back lowered more, curving over my behind, pressing me up against his pelvis. His evident arousal made me moan. He broke from my mouth, sliding hot, lingering kisses down the side of my neck. Down, down. His hands pulled me against the hardness of him, his lips leaving a hot, wet trail along the top of my cleavage. The hand he had on my hip moved up to cup my breast, his thumb rubbing gently across the center. I arched into him and felt flames ignite me into an inferno, dazed by sheer sensation as orchestra music and whirling dancers laughed just beyond the red velvet curtain. It would be so easy to let go here and now. I couldn’t think anymore, encased by a seductive wall of heat.

  “Jude. Please,” I breathed, my hand clutched in his hair, pressing him closer.

  I didn’t even know what I was begging for. Did I want him to stop or go on? Though I couldn’t see his aura of flame, it burned me nonetheless, in a sweet, lapping caress. My mind reeled, forgetting everything but him—strong arms, caressing hands, imploring mouth. I was well beyond thinking clearly, wanting him so badly I didn’t care anymore.

  Sensing the danger, Jude slid his hands away from sensitive curves to my waist, pinning me in place against him but not with the crushing force as before. His mouth found mine again, sweeping more gently, slower, softer. He nipped at my full lower lip, pulling his body an inch from mine, bringing me down from a rapture that had nearly consumed us both. I was dizzy, heart pounding like a frightened rabbit’s.

  “No,” he said, voice deep and husky and out of breath. “I don’t want you to be a tease, though I do believe abstaining is going to kill me.”

  I sort of laughed, unclenching my hand in his hair, moving it to his shoulder. “I thought you said a gentleman didn’t fondle ladies in doorways, or perhaps behind curtains, in this case.”

  A self-satisfied grin quirked his beautiful mouth.

  “I never professed to be a gentleman. That was an assumption on your part.”

  “Oh, well, in that case, let me go find one.”

  I pretended to pull away. He snapped me back against him.

  “No man of any kind will fondle you or do otherwise ever again.” It was a promise, not a threat. He planted a tender kiss on my forehead and held me there. “I would love to take you out onto the dance floor, hold you in my arms, and show every man here that you are mine and no other’s.”

  “So, why don’t you?”

  Lion-gold eyes captured me. His hands drifted to my hips and squeezed, but not in a seductive way this time. Protective. Possessive. After a long moment, he blinked and broke the connection.

  “Bamal’s demons will know me on sight. I need to keep my distance if we are to lure them into the open.”

  I nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out. He evidently had no desire to keep his distance, nor did I, but we had a mission tonight—to capture Bamal’s henchmen and negotiate a deal with the high demons in his employ. I didn’t ask Jude what that entailed. Honestly, I didn’t want to know.

  With my mind on present matters, I pulled out of his arms. “Well, I better get back to work then.”

  He cupped my face with large, warm hands, gazing into my eyes for what seemed like forever. His thumb brushed my cheekbone. “Be careful, Genevieve.”

  I smiled, tiptoed and planted a swift kiss on his lips. “You too.”

  I slipped out of the curtain and skirted the perimeter of the dance floor, returning back to Mindy, hoping she was in the alcove.

  “Genevieve.”

  I turned to find Nathaniel looking down at me, having removed his mask. He was handsome, a strong jaw and steady gaze telling me he was used to getting what he wanted.

  “May I have this dance? Mindy’s sitting this one out.”

  I was pretty sure Mindy forced him to ask me to dance to make sure I was enjoying myself. If she only knew I’d enjoy myself better without Nathaniel’s attentions.

  “Sure,” I replied, taking his offered hand.

  Normally, I would’ve refused politely, but I needed to be in the open. Perhaps a spin around the dance floor would tempt the demons to come out so the others could find them. Thankfully, Nathaniel placed his hand on my waist in a respectable way, gracefully taking my other hand to guide me around the dancers. I was in no mood to fend off roaming hands.

  “Are you feeling well?” he asked. “You appear flushed.”

  Crap. Evidence of Jude’s caresses were all over me, in the pink of my cheeks and probably in marks along my neck and chest as well. Pale skin revealed everything.

  “Perhaps it’s the heat.”

  “Ah. Yes.” His lip twitched. I couldn’t tell whether he was mocking me, perhaps having seen me reappear from someone else’s alcove and put two and two together, or whether he naturally seemed like a snide ass all the time. “It is a little warm in this crush of people.”

  He led me along, spinning smoothly between the couples. Though I didn’t let on, a prickle of unease warned me that I was being observed.

  “So, you and Mindy go to school together at Loyola?”

  “Yes.” I nodded with a smile. “Are you in school?”

  “Tulane.”

  Condescending smile. How did Mindy fall for these guys? I found myself wishing Dazzling Dave would make a sudden appearance.

  “So what’s your major, Genevieve?”

  Ugh. If you don’t know what to talk about, ask a girl her major. “English literature.”

  “And what are your plans with your degree? English teacher?”

  He said English teacher as if it were a disease. It made me want to slap that smug look off his face. “What is your major, Nathaniel?”

  “Business.”

  Definitely a snide ass.

  “And what are your plans with your degree? Take over Daddy’s business?”

  A flash of anger sharpened those hazel eyes, then the shadow was gone. He smiled coolly. “Touché.”

  “Pardon me, but may I cut in?”

  I glanced over my shoulder to see George smiling charmingly at me. He gave Nathaniel a curt and cold nod, swinging me out of his arms without an answer. As George spun me around, I glimpsed Nathaniel’s dark expression before he walked off the floor alone. Hah!

  “George, you’re my hero.”

  He laughed, his dimples and bright eyes revealing how gorgeous he was. The candlelight cast a reddish glow on his chestnut hair.

  “I am ever endeavoring to be the hero, Genevieve. It’s so nice to hear that I’m doing a fine job of it.”

  I laughed at that. “But should you be seen with me? Won’t the demons recognize you?”

  “No, I doubt it. I tend to stay out of the fray. Most demons don’t know what I look like. They only know me by name. Still, we’ll keep this dance short and sweet to be certain.”

  I glanced up, feeling a sudden sinister tug in my core.

  “Oh God. George, up there.” My voice came out in a whisper.

  He followed my gaze to the balcony. Two men, dark-haired and dressed in all-black tuxedos, wore identical cold expressions. They stood like stone glaring down at us—me. Their wicked glares were fixed unwaveringly. I was definitely their prey. I reached out with my VS, touching on an aura of menace seeping down from the balcony area. My eyes flickered to the stairwell where Jude was already making his way up the stairs.

  “And, abracadabra. There they are.”

  George spun me expertly to the far end of the dance floor near the stairwell, sweeping a kiss on the top of my hand and ascending the stairs. George and Jude could catch the demons faster if they sifted, but then this place might erupt in chaos. I backed away, walking toward our alcove, glancing nervously around. I saw another man standing behind the stage looking out. My VS homed in on him. He was identi
cal to the two at the top of the balcony. Wait, they weren’t there anymore. Neither were Jude and George. The three demons could’ve been triplets. The one behind the stage turned away from me. A statuesque blonde in leopard print leapt from the shadows. Kat grabbed his shoulder, and they both sifted out. No one noticed.

  I reached out with my VS, sweeping the dance floor, the stairs, the balcony. Nothing. I didn’t feel Flamma anywhere.

  “Wow.”

  Just like that, they sifted out with Bamal’s demons to a safer place for negotiations. They’d told me the plan. Once they identified the demons, it was a simple step to take them elsewhere and deal with them. I inhaled a deep gulping breath, my heart pounding. Still afraid, I swept the area again with my VS. All safe. Relief washed over me. I couldn’t believe our luck or that I’d escaped a near-death experience. I suppose it wasn’t too shabby having this badass trio of protection.

  I walked back to the alcove to find Miss Donna and Mrs. Clark whispering over some sort of gossip.

  “Miss Donna, have you seen Mindy?”

  “Oh yes, dear. She and Nathaniel headed out for some fresh air.”

  Fresh air? Yeah, I bet. I ambled back out into the ballroom, laughter and music swelling as the night wore on. Mindy had been flirting with this guy since we got here, but I knew she wasn’t the cheating type. She might let Nathaniel think he was getting somewhere, but she and David were still an item. The problem was, I also knew Nathaniel’s type. He owned lots of things. He was the kind of guy who believed wealth equaled power, and power meant the world could deny him nothing or no one. Panic seized me. Mindy had been knocking back quite a bit of champagne. I made my way to the main foyer in longer strides.

  “Excuse me,” I asked one of the statue-like waiters at the door, “have you seen a small blonde in a white dress with a tall guy?”

  He nodded down a darkened hall along the front of the house. I hurried along the marble floor, the click-clacking of my shoes sounding hollow on the walls. The hallway wrapped around to the back of the house. Turning the corner, a set of French doors stood ajar. I pulled off my mask and stepped out onto a patio. Moonlight spilled brightly, casting blue shadows on the pavement and lawn. A damp chill settled in the air. I walked with careful steps over slate stones, around a gurgling fountain, and scanned the shadowed garden. There on the third step was Mindy’s white purse, a lipstick having spilled out.