Shades of Wicked

by Jeaniene Frost

  Tenoch had always seen the best in me, too. He’d also never given up on me, not even when he’d given up on himself. If I could have saved him from one more moment of pain, I would have done so. Gladly. That’s why I had only one response.

  “I won’t tell Mencheres about your deal with Dagon.”

  “Ever,” Ian stressed, tilting my chin so I’d meet his gaze.

  I looked into his vivid turquoise eyes and repeated the vow. “Ever.”

  He smiled then. The lines from his former pain wiped from his expression as if they had never been there. “Grand. Now, since I’m supposed to be following your lead—and don’t think that won’t change soon—let’s hear your doubtlessly boring plan to murder Dagon.”

  I forced the pain he’d brought to the surface back down until it was contained by the cell that had long housed it.

  “Well,” I said, my voice as light as his even though both of us were faking it, “I was going to start by parading you in front of other mages, witches, and demon-kin with a near reckless disregard of the danger so word of it could reach Dagon.”

  Ian laughed, throwing his head back until I could see the vibrations in the pale expanse of his throat. When he stopped and met my gaze, he had a devilish curl to his lips and his gaze was lit up with more interest than I’d ever seen.

  “Now you’re talking.”

  Chapter 9

  Several days later, we were in Horseshoe, Ontario, on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. I had a great view of those falls through the floor-to-ceiling windows in our hotel suite. I was surprised to see how crowded it was since it was winter. Perhaps the additional people were tourists who’d chosen to celebrate New Year’s Eve here. A few more might have braved the temperatures from the recent freeze to see the formations that coated the rocks and trees around the falls in dazzling layers of ice.

  Either way, it would serve to our advantage. We could get lost in the crowds, if need be. Furthermore, with the incredible energy these falls produced, it would be easy to tap into my connection with water to fuel a spell. As a last resort, the falls themselves could provide protection. A continuous mist rose from them, and I had several demon-repelling salt bombs that could be widely dispersed through it.

  Ian came out of the suite’s second bedroom. He wore black leather pants that hung low on his hips and a silver dress shirt. When Ian came closer, I saw his shirt was so sheer, it revealed far more than it concealed. Ian’s flawless skin gleamed beneath the fabric, catching the eye and holding it. That must be why he’d chosen such a wholly inappropriate garment. His only nod to the near-zero temperatures were boots and a thick coat slung over his arm.

  He laughed when he saw me. “You’re wearing that ridiculous uniform? Thought you left the other one in my room as a joke.”

  I cast a look at my long-sleeved, high-necked black unitard. “There’s a reason we have to wear these tonight.”

  “Let me guess: We’re cosplaying as Storm and Cyclops?”

  I was about to explain the need for the rubberized unitards, then I paused. Let him deal with the consequences of not following my lead, as he’d repeatedly failed to do.

  “Have it your way,” I said, encasing my high heels in thick rubber boots that gripped my calves.

  Ian’s pitying gaze swept over me. “If this is how you dress when you socialize, I’m starting to understand why you’re still single.”

  I arched a brow. “How do you know I’m single?”

  He sauntered over. “We’ve been together for days, yet you’ve not once called someone to check in. Furthermore, you certainly smell single. If celibate were a fragrance, consider yourself doused in it.”

  I ignored that. “Before we leave, I’m going to use glamour to change my appearance. Needless to say, I don’t want to be recognized.”

  “Lest every vampire run for their lives when they realize a Law Guardian caught them indulging in magic?” he supplied.

  “Exactly.” With that, I sprinkled some finely sifted powder over my head and spoke in a language Ian shouldn’t know.

  He regarded me with amusement. “Been a while since I heard Icelandic. Superb pronunciation, by the way.”

  Dammit! Did I need to speak Klingon to finally stump him? I ground my teeth but finished the spell. I could tell from the look on his face when it set in. A slow whistle escaped him.

  “Bugger. Me.”

  My golden bronze skin stayed the same, but my hair was now longer, thicker, and so light blonde it could have been mistaken for platinum. Gold and blue lowlights wove through it, giving the tricolored mass a dyed look even though it was natural. My dark blue-green eyes had also lightened to silver and I’d grown until I was just under his six-two frame in my heels.

  My body had filled out, too. Gone was the litheness that had led him to wonder if I was half his weight. Now, my breasts were round and generous, as were my hips, and my arms and legs were well fleshed with muscle. Even my scent had changed. After Ian’s gaze had done a thorough mapping of my body, it kept returning to my face, where features that had been moderately pretty before were now on the startling side of beautiful.

  I ignored his fixation and wound my hair into a knot on top of my head. Then I affixed a rubber hood over it and tucked it into my neckline so I was fully covered. The last touch was tight rubber gloves that went to my elbows.

  Ian finally stopped staring. “If your aim was to take the edge off this spectacular appearance, you failed. Everyone will still want to shag you, even if they laugh at your ridiculous onesie first. You should have glamoured a less dazzling appearance if you didn’t want to stand out so.”

  “This is my usual look when I visit these places,” I said, which was the truth.

  “’Least it will keep me from being called a cradle robber,” Ian said cheerfully. “You might be lovely, but you do look more like a prom queen than one of my usual dates in your normal appearance.”

  “I’m so glad I can protect your reputation,” I said with false sweetness. “More importantly, with this appearance, I can be recognized by my former friends, if any of them are here. Allies will be useful if we need to engineer a quick escape.”

  “You have friends in magical places?” His smile turned sly. “Why, little Guardian, do you indeed go ‘slumming’ at times?”

  “When you’re as old as I am, you end up doing a little of everything at some point,” was my evasive reply.

  His chuckle was a low rumble of amusement and sensuality. “I’d say I could imagine, but I’d rather you show me.”

  I gave him a pointed look. “Not in this lifetime.”

  He let out a dramatic sigh. “Another sexual hoarder. Can’t escape them these days, it seems. Ah, well, we have places to be and a demon to mercilessly taunt, so let’s get to it, shall we?”

  I hid my smile as I gave his barely clad chest and thin leather pants a last look. “Yes, let’s.”

  “What the bloody hell did you say?”

  The sound from the falls was loud, but I didn’t think that was why Ian was pretending he hadn’t heard me. He just didn’t like what I’d said. That’s why I relished repeating it.

  “We have to jump into the river so we can go over the falls.”

  He glanced at the churning waters, where thick ice chunks regularly crashed into each other. “Like hell we do.”

  “The place we’re going to is spelled to prevent just anyone from coming in,” I said, fighting back my grin. “I don’t know the new magical version of a password, but I remember the old one. It requires going over Bridal Veil Falls while wearing the right symbol.” Then I couldn’t resist adding, “I told you to put on the unitard. Next time, follow my lead.”

  He stared at the icy, frothing water before he gave me a truly evil glare. “Enjoy your victory now. I know I’ll enjoy mine when I repay you for this.”

  “Ooh, I’m shaking in my warm, waterproof boots,” I mocked, my grin finally breaking free.

  He kept glaring as he stripped off his
coat, shirt, and boots, placing them by a nearby tree. Then he gave the river a resigned glance. “My knobs will turn into ice cubes.”

  “Probably,” I agreed, and took a small rouge pot from inside my boot. The substance inside wasn’t rouge, so it didn’t leave a visible trail as I traced the necessary pattern first over my face, then over Ian’s. When I was done, I threw the pot aside and gave a final glance around.

  No one was watching us. The few remaining tourists out at this hour were near the head of the falls, where multicolored lights shone on the roaring waters, giving the falls an ethereal look as they endlessly spilled over the ledge.

  “Keep hold of my hand,” I told Ian as I held it out. My grip was strong but so were these waters. Plus, there were many rocks hidden beneath the surface, and all this was before the treacherous drop over the falls.

  His fingers tightened on mine as he took it. Then he surprised me by grinning. “Can’t say I prefer the cold, but I have thought of doing this before. Here’s to crossing one more item off my bucket list!”

  With that, he yanked me into the freezing depths of the fast-moving water. I stifled a gasp as it hit the bare skin on my face. Extreme cold didn’t feel freezing—it burned. I instantly felt guilty as I imagined how much pain Ian must be in. I should have insisted he go back to the hotel to put on the rubber unitard—

  Ian’s roar when his head broke the surface caused more guilt to slam into me. That turned into amazement when I realized he was laughing. “Lucifer’s flaming farts, now this hurts!” he cried, attempting to spin me in a circle. The water was too strong. He only succeeded in dunking us both.

  “You can’t be enjoying this,” I sputtered when we broke the surface again.

  “Right you are!” he sang out, the words choppy because currents kept slamming water into his face. “Know . . . how many . . . props it takes to . . . duplicate this?”

  “Don’t want to,” I managed before the current choked off my reply. We were picking up speed as the precipice neared. Bridal Veil might be the smallest part of Niagara Falls, but it was still a very significant waterfall.

  “Brace!” I shouted, gripping his hands with all my strength when the horizon of water abruptly disappeared.

  I thought I heard him laugh again as we went over the falls, but I couldn’t be sure. The roar of water deafened me.

  Chapter 10

  I coughed out the water that had flooded my lungs, hearing Ian do the same. The alcove behind the falls fit us both, but I was surprised to see there was no longer a cave beyond it, too. At some point since I’d last been here, the cave must have been demolished. Good thing the place we were going wasn’t in there.

  I realized I was still holding Ian’s hand and finally let go. He immediately began rubbing his arms and torso. “T-tell me it’s w-warm where we’ll be,” he said through chattering teeth. Looked like he was over the thrill of the icy pain.

  “It should be,” I said, feeling guilty again.

  I went over to the farthest corner of the alcove. Good, the large, flat rock that marked the entry was still there. I rested my face against the smoothest part, making sure the invisible symbol on my forehead touched the rock. After a second, the stone dissolved and an entryway appeared.

  “This way,” I said.

  Ian sprang up and followed me through the new door. “What would happen if anyone tried to go through without this mark?”

  “If they didn’t have the other magical pass code, the wall would rematerialize and bash them in the face.”

  He let out a snort. “Effective.”

  It was, which is what had made this place a favorite sort of speakeasy for the magically inclined. Having to access it by going over the falls was inconvenient, but there were other ways to get in. If I had bothered to keep in touch with my old friends from this place, we could have found out those ways and climbed down the cliffs to this entrance without needing to go over the falls and get soaked.

  I began to strip off my hood, rubber boots and the rest of my wet suit as we walked deeper into the narrow passageway. Beneath it, I wore a form-fitting black velvet dress that redirected Ian’s attention in a flash when he saw it.

  “We’ll start off by looking for Rufus,” I said as I shook my hair out from its bun. “He’s an old friend of mine . . .”

  My voice trailed off as the passageway ended in a large, open space. The last time I’d been here, countless orbs had floated around the room, illuminating everything with their beautiful, silvery glow. It had also been filled with people, music, laughter and magic. Now, it was as silent and empty as an abandoned tomb. I walked further into the room, the remnants of old magic touching me like cobwebs. That was all that remained of the place I’d known. Everything else was gone.

  “I don’t understand,” I whispered.

  Ian looked around, then inhaled deeply. “Barely a hint of scent anywhere. This place hasn’t seen action in a decade, at least. How long did you say it’s been since you were here?”

  “Not that long,” I began, then paused. Uh, I guess it had been a while.

  “Ten years ago? Twenty?” When I stayed silent, his stare grew pointed. “More?”

  “A little over ninety years,” I said, feeling sheepishness wash over me.

  “Ninety?” he repeated in disbelief. “Why in blazes did you pick this place, then?”

  “It was the most recent magic club I’d been to,” I admitted.

  His brows nearly flew into his hairline. “Ninety years? Blimey, no wonder you’re so uptight! Every senior citizen in the world has cut loose more recently than you.”

  I stiffened. “I don’t appreciate the sarcasm—”

  “And I don’t appreciate my balls freezing to my bishop,” he interrupted. “Yet here we are, and since we’re being honest, you’ve got something stuck in your teeth.”

  “What?” I didn’t remember eating any real food . . .

  “Right between the two front ones,” he said, pulling out a compact cosmetic mirror from his pocket. He must be more vain than I’d realized, bringing that with him. I’d brought weapons.

  “See for yourself,” he said, holding the compact open.

  I glanced at the mirror—and the dark cavern vanished while an endless array of mirrors shot up to surround me. I tried to run and more popped up, blocking my path. Incensed, I punched the nearest one. The shiny, reflective surface didn’t even crack. Instead, more mirrors appeared, until I began to feel dizzy from the endless copies of myself.

  “Damn you, Ian!” I shouted, punching another mirror. Once again, it did nothing except make my fist sore.

  I couldn’t see him, but the laughter that rumbled into my ears was unmistakably his. “I can’t believe you fell for ‘you have something in your teeth.’ Really, little Guardian, that has to be as old as you are.”

  I stopped my attempts to beat my way out of this. They only served to increase the mirrors and my own sense of disorientation. “Impressive spell,” I said in a tone that belied the rage coursing through me. “Where did you learn it?”

  Another laugh, sounding closer this time. “From a witch who caught me and several other vampires in it. None of us could get free until the spell expired. Necromancers couldn’t break it when we used it on them later. Even Mencheres hadn’t heard of it. That’s how I reckoned it should work against you.”

  He’d actually shown me a spell I’d never seen before. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t so furious. “Don’t congratulate yourself yet. I’m not done trying to get out of this.”

  It sounded as if he’d settled himself into a more comfortable position. “By all means, do your best, but the spell expires in three hours. If you can’t find a way out by then, I win.”

  I could buy more time by using my abilities to freeze it, but I wouldn’t use that power unless I had to. Until then, I had other tricks to try.

  By the end of the first hour, I was cursing Ian in every language I knew, although I made sure to do it in my head since vocalizi
ng the curses only amused him. When I was well into the second hour, I’d stopped being angry. Instead, I was testing the limits of the spell with a growing sense of excitement.

  So far, I’d been unable to beat it. Blasting all my supernatural power at the mirrors did nothing to break them. I finally resorted to freezing time in an attempt to move around the mirrors while everything was still. It didn’t work. Punching and kicking the mirrors only served to multiply them. So did stabbing them with one of the silver knives I’d hidden in my boots. In fact, the mirrors were so impervious to harm, I finally came to the conclusion that they couldn’t be real.

  If they were, I should have been able to at least cause a hairline crack in one. The fact that I hadn’t meant I probably wasn’t doing any of the things I thought I was doing. For all I knew, I was still standing in the same spot I’d been when I first looked into the mirror Ian had spelled to become a trap.

  If so, I shouldn’t be focused on trying to destroy the mirrors or get away from them. I shouldn’t pay attention to them at all. Instead, I needed to focus on myself. I closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths in an attempt to center myself.

  It sounded like Ian shifted from his seated position. “Breathing? Think you can meditate your way out of this?”

  I ignored the amusement in his tone to focus on the more important issue: He’d noticed what I was doing. He hadn’t commented on any specifics of my actions before. That only strengthened my suspicion that I hadn’t been doing any of it. Ian would have been unable to resist mocking me for trying to beat my way through the mirrors, let alone my other efforts.

  I continued to focus on my breathing, until through force of will, I couldn’t hear Ian anymore despite the fact that he was still talking. After several minutes, I became aware of something I’d been oblivious to since this ordeal had started.