by Sharon Green
I hated the idea of running away even if it proved to be possible, but my mouth was dry and my insides were twisting from something other than the wounds. I didn't even know if running would get me away from the monster, but everything inside me screamed that I had to at least try.
And then a very weird thing happened, almost more weird than the appearance of the giant to begin with. The giant had looked kind of smug and very amused from the minute he started after me, but suddenly that expression changed as he stopped dead. He seemed to be looking at something behind me that he didn't like at all, but I wasn't about to turn my head and see what it could be. I wasn't in the mood to be suckered into taking my eyes off the opponent in front of me, not when that usually got you attacked while your attention was elsewhere.
A minute later I didn't have to turn my head to see what the giant did. The object of his attention moved past me on the right, and then it was the giant doing the backing up. The big man going past me had very dark red hair and was holding up one hand, not to mention saying something under his breath. It wasn't possible to doubt that Jaril was doing some kind of magic, and the giant's gleaming black eyes stopped looking eager and started to look scared.
Then the giant decided to run, but not the way I'd been doing it. He'd originally formed from smoke, and suddenly he was going back to that state of being. He started to go gray and insubstantial, but before he disappeared into nothing but the smoke he screamed as if he were being torn apart. It was still possible to see as well as hear him, and then the smoke burst like a balloon and shot out in all directions. The giant was gone, but not, I was willing to bet, back to wherever he'd come from. Jaril had destroyed the giant with magic, which might have been the only way to destroy the monster.
As soon as the giant was gone, pandemonium broke out in all directions. People were shouting or screaming again, and some of Allison's people came over cautiously to speak to Jaril.
For my own part I just sank down to the carpeting where I stood, glad I hadn't had to retreat to the uncarpeted part of the lobby near the doors. It was more comfortable sitting on something other than cold floor, a fate I wouldn't have been able to avoid even if the carpeting had only been a couple of steps away. Adrenaline can keep you going when your neck is on the line, but once it stops coursing through your blood…
"Taz, are you all right?" I heard the words from very close, and only then did I realize I'd closed my eyes. The pain I'd been holding off had come back full strength, and I'd need more than a couple of minutes before I could function again.
"Excuse me, sir, but what was that?" I heard in a voice I didn't recognize, obviously speaking to Jaril. The task force co-leader was the one who had spoken to me, and his voice had been close enough that he was probably crouching next to me.
"That was an ifrit," Jaril answered, his tone suggesting that anyone ought to know that. "It's sometimes called an afrit or afreet or other variations of the same, and it's a kind of jinn. The only way to kill or capture it is with magic, so that's what I used."
"Where did it come from?" another voice demanded, a voice that was more pain-filled than courteous. Eric had obviously been hurt when he'd been tossed away, but he'd still been able to make it over here.
"Ifrits don't just appear, so someone must have sent it," Jaril said, a kind of stiffness behind the words. "What have you been up to, Taz, that people are sending ifrits after you?"
"It must be my new hair style," I said after opening my eyes and trying to take a deep breath - that hurt. "I kind of liked my hair like this, but if somebody feels that strongly about the point I'll just have to go back to - "
"Why do you always have to be like that?" Jaril interrupted from where he did crouch to my right, faint annoyance now perfectly clear. "If the task force and I hadn't been in the hotel across the street, I never would have felt the ifrit arriving and you'd probably be dead by now. Tell me what you were doing that brought an ifrit down on your head."
"The only thing she was doing was protecting me," another voice intruded. Then Boughton was there and standing next to Eric, who stood hunched over a little and had one hand to his side. "She and this other gentleman were both protecting me, so their being hurt is my fault. Whoever wants to end me must have decided to get rid of my guards first, the guards who have saved me twice now. How dare you speak to one of them as if she were guilty of some crime?"
Boughton's words were almost a hiss, and power flowed so strongly from him that it almost knocked me over. But I wasn't the one the power was being aimed at, Jaril was. He took a deep breath and struggled up straight, and then there was another version of him stepping between him and Boughton. Grail had no trouble facing Boughton's power, and then the other task force leader smiled.
"Actions like this are frowned upon, Dr. Boughton," Grail said, the words so mild that only the way Boughton's lips peeled back from his fangs showed how hard the scientist was trying to reach the twins. "I know you've never been taught that truth the hard way, but only because it hasn't been necessary until now. If you aren't going to act like a civilized being, you won't be allowed to mix with others as if you were. Do you really want that?"
"I will not stand by and allow Jane - Taz - to be treated badly," Boughton said through his teeth, a touch of desperation showing through the anger in his light eyes. "She happens to mean a lot to me, and she's also going to be working only for me from now on. She - "
"No, Zachary, I won't be working for you from now on, and in fact I won't be working for you again," I said. At the same time I got to my feet, an action that took a lot more effort than it should have. "I appreciate your concern, but that concern is a little too intense for my peace of mind. Not to mention the fact that I won't become a full-time baby sitter. I have more interesting things to do with my life."
"Jane, please don't say that!" Boughton begged, the power he'd been sending toward Jaril and Grail now spreading in my direction. I had just enough time to gasp before Grail shifted over, and then it was Boughton who cried out and went to his knees.
"If you'll make some effort to control yourself, I'll be more than happy to release you," Grail said to a whimpering Boughton, his tone as hard as steel. "If you aren't able to control yourself I'll do it for you, but you won't enjoy the experience even a small bit. Which will it be, Dr. Boughton?"
"Please, stop," Boughton whispered, staring down rather than looking up at Grail. "I've never felt such incredible strength… I won't lose control again, I swear it."
"I'll accept your word - this time," Grail said, moving back a step. "I trust you take my meaning."
Boughton nodded even while he took a deep breath, still on his knees with his eyes closed. The scientist seemed to be in pain from whatever Grail had done to him, but he wasn't the only one hurting. I moved away from the knot of people and used one of the mirrors on a nearby wall to take a look at myself without having to look down.
The … ifrit's claws had opened my middle in four parallel rows, but the slash had been angled downward so the tail end of the wounds were lower than my waist. I'd bled enough to soak the outfit I still mostly wore, the streams of blood running down my legs to make a mess of my pantyhose. The smell of blood wasn't getting to me because the pain hadn't eased enough, but right now I wouldn't have minded being bothered by the smell of blood. Instead of feeling like death warmed over…
I went to a chair and sat down carefully, wondering if Allison's people would be offended if I asked one of them to get the shoulder bag I'd dropped just before facing the first attack. I had some money in the bag along with my hotel room key and such, enough money to use a cab to get back to my own hotel. But first I needed to close my eyes for another minute or two…
"Well, Taz, we meet again under distressingly familiar circumstances," a voice said, what might be called a distressingly familiar voice. Since Jaril had already had his turn at me, this time it had to be Grail. "I hope we're not going to continue making a habit of this."
"This
kind of thing is what I do for a living," I pointed out as I reluctantly opened my eyes again. "If the situation bothers you, next time don't show up. I'm grateful to Jaril for saving my life, but not grateful enough to put up with you."
I saw his jaw muscles tighten, as though he wanted to snap something in response, only he wasn't letting himself do it. While he fumed and glared at me, Jaril and Eric also came over. Jaril wore a tan shirt and dark green pants while Grail wore a yellow shirt and black pants. The clothes were perfectly ordinary, but with almost every other male in sight in a tux, they looked very much out of place. The three of them stood in a half circle in front of my chair, and Eric already looked as if he was hurting less. Grail glanced at him, nothing of friendliness in the look, and then he squared his shoulders.
"You had no business hiring a man who simply walked out on the place he had with us," Grail stated, the words close to a growl. "I demand that you fire him, and right this minute."
I studied Grail for a moment, wondering if he really considered me that easy. Giving flat-voiced orders would be one way to make a stubborn female do the exact opposite, but not if the female in question could think and already had her suspicions about the newest addition to her team. Eric showed a wry and mocking smile as he looked at something behind me in the lobby, but it didn't matter if he was just being scornful or enjoying Grail's tactic. I already knew what had to be done, so I went ahead and did it.
"No problem," I said to Grail, then shifted my look to Eric. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wellman, but your services are no longer required. The team will be continuing on without you."
"Very funny, Taz," Eric said, his expression the same as he looked down at me. "I know you're not going to take orders from him, so I also know you're not serious."
"Oh, but I am serious," I disagreed, realizing that George was behind me and that's who Eric had most likely been looking at. "You ignored my orders over that matter we had words about earlier, and then you ignored me a second time while we were working. I told you to get that woman out of your way fast, and because you didn't I had to face six of those fanatics by myself. Which could have turned out a hell of a lot worse than it did. If this was a baseball team you'd still have one strike to go before you were out, but we're not playing baseball so you're out right now. Does that satisfy the demands of the task force?"
Grail was now staring at me with a really odd expression while Eric frowned, so it was left to Jaril to pick up the ball.
"It's gratifying to see that you're finally coming around to a point of cooperation," Jaril said, his tone on the bland side. "I'm hoping it won't be long now that you'll get to the point of agreeing to join us."
"That won't ever be happening," I stated, meeting his light-eyed gaze to make sure he understood I was serious. "I don't like the way you people operate, and although you have my thanks for the way you saved my life you all still make my skin crawl. For instance, how is it you just happened to be in the hotel across the street when all hell broke loose in here? Nothing but an oversized coincidence, was it?"
"We're here on task force business," Jaril answered with a shrug that almost looked real. "The fact that our business takes us to most of the places you happen to be is nothing more than coincidence. If you think we're following you, I admire your level of … self-appreciation."
"I don't appreciate me nearly as much as you folks seem to," I countered, still staring at him. "As many times as I've told you to take a hike, you're still trying to get us to join you. And by the way, what did you learn from that female vampire who wanted to make me her personal pet? Since I'm the one she was after, giving me a heads-up would have been nothing more than common courtesy. Or is sharing information a little too common for you?"
"What we learned is task force business, so if you want to share you know what you have to do," Grail put in, cutting off whatever Jaril had been about to say. "And as a matter of fact, I think I'll make our stance a little stronger than that. I'm giving you one last chance to change your mind and join us, and if you don't then we go on the offensive. I'm tired of you being the only offensive one around."
He gave me a smile without any amusement in it, but the lack was made up by a really good view of his fangs. A moment later he was striding away, and after a brief hesitation Jaril went after him. Eric had turned away to stand with his hand to his side again, and on the other side of the lobby I could see Boughton, keeping his distance but still staring at me hungrily. My vampire admirer didn't seem ready to give up on the ideas he'd developed, which was just what I needed.
And all that on top of the disturbing but unshakable feeling I had that Jaril and Grail knew exactly why an ifrit had been sent after me. But they weren't telling, and I didn't want to remember what Freemont had said about Eric not surviving if he didn't stay with us.
Maybe being clawed up by an ifrit would be like being attacked by a shapeshifter, and in a few days I'd find it possible to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Could I possibly be that lucky…?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
With the fight with the ifrit over, people were moving freely through the hotel lobby again. I got to sit in my chair long enough that some of the pain I felt began to lessen, and then one of Allison French's people came over with the clothes and things I'd dropped in order to fight.
"Taz, if you're able to stand and walk, now would be a good time for us to leave," George said, suddenly appearing next to the chair to my right. "Let's go before Dr. Boughton works up the nerve to come over here again. Eric has already called for the car, and you and he could use a doctor looking you over."
"I should be fine soon without a doctor." As I spoke I gathered up my removable skirt, hung the shoulder bag on my shoulder, carried rather than wore the sling-back heels, and forced myself to my feet. "Since Eric is also a shapeshifter, he'll soon be just as fine."
"I think Eric has broken ribs," George murmured as we moved toward the front doors of the hotel. "That ifrit hit him really hard more than once, and if Eric had been human he'd probably be dead now. And as soon as we get back to the suite, you and I and Freemont have to talk."
Since I knew what George wanted to talk about, I didn't say anything as we approached the place where Eric stood waiting for the limo. Grail had demanded that I fire Eric, so I'd obliged. It hadn't been the demand that had made me do it, but even so I wasn't looking forward to the upcoming discussion.
Eric glanced at us but didn't say anything, and neither did the staring doorman. The doorman must have been close to shock over the way I carried my skirt and shoes - not to mention the blood all over me - but that was too bad about him. The skirt would have made walking harder right now, and the high-heeled shoes would have made walking impossible. Movement still provided too much pain, so the tender sensibilities of those around me would just have to suffer.
Williams, our driver, brought the limo to a stop right in front of us, and Eric opened the door without waiting for the doorman to do it for him. But he did just stand there waiting for me to get in the car first, a real, honest-to-gosh, gentlemanly gesture. I didn't actually hesitate before accepting the silent gesture, and not because of the pain I felt. It would have been stupid to argue about which of us was hurting more, and there had been enough stupidity committed tonight.
As soon as Eric closed the door Williams drove off, and a tightness inside me eased up just a little. Boughton hadn't made the effort to approach me again, and I really hoped he'd given up his ideas about me being his permanent bodyguard. During the last fifty years he might not have used the power his being a vampire gave him, but that didn't mean the power level was puny.
The silent ride lasted until we reached our own hotel. We made a slow parade through the lobby to the elevators, and it was a good thing the lobby was almost empty. We got enough stares from the clerks behind the registration desk, even though the stares were on the restrained side. Going up to the eleventh floor where our suite was located was just as silent, but as soon as we reached the door Free
mont was there to end the silence.
"A doctor is on the way, so both of you come in here and sit down," Freemont said as he held the door open for us. He also looked really worried, which meant he definitely knew what had happened. "And I want you to sit in the chairs because they're easier to get out of."
"Good idea," I said as I walked past him, and some of the heavy thinking I'd done during the trip here gave me an answer I hadn't had sooner. "Now we know why there was a shadow over what you saw about the trouble. The first bit involving those religious fanatics was overshadowed by the thing with the ifrit."
"Not just overshadowed," Freemont corrected as he followed behind Eric after closing the door. "Someone was trying to hide the involvement of the ifrit, but I still managed to break through part way. Not that it helped…"
"You can't possibly consider the incident a total loss," George said to Freemont as I moved to the chair farthest from the door, dropped the stuff I carried on the floor, then eased my way to sitting. There was also a cup of coffee on the table between the chair and the couch, so I picked up the cup before leaning back. By that time Eric had taken the closer chair and had also appropriated his own cup of coffee before hunching over one arm of the chair.
"You're missing the point of what happened, Freemont," George said, sitting on the couch with Freemont following to sit next to him. "Whoever our enemy is, he, she, or it wanted you to know nothing at all about the ifrit. But you managed to get that shadow, and if - or when - it happens again we'll know what the shadow means. Some kind of ambush involving more than ordinary trouble."
