by Linda Wisdom
“His body was found in the lower depths.” The imp placed something wrapped in black silk on Declan’s desk. He unwrapped the fabric to reveal a wickedly sharp blade. “This was found beside him, and his heart was missing.”
Declan placed his hand just above the curved blade that shimmered with color in its depths. Something dark and menacing seemed to cover the weapon. He was loath to pick it up, since some metals were dangerous to demons. “Not gold or brass.”
“It is Quetzalitzlipyollitli, the stone of the bird of paradise, otherwise known as fire opal,” Snips said. “The Mayans use it for rituals and mosaics.”
“Mayans again.” Declan flipped the scarf back over it. “Does Anton know?”
“He was the one who found Alexi. Anton slipped through the portal every chance he got. He should be punished for breaking the law. I can arrange for him to be lashed.”
Declan shook his head. “No. He’s had enough sorrow. Close the portal.” He took no notice of his assistant’s astonishment.
“But Master—”
“Close it!” he barked. “One of our own has been taken and viciously killed. I have a perfect right to close it. I should have done so in the beginning.” He poured himself a whiskey and downed the contents in one gulp, savoring the burn traveling down his throat. “I’m not Ratchet. I won’t take bribes to allow just anyone through it. It’s been a headache from the beginning.”
Snips’s dark eyes widened with shock. “There will be repercussions.”
“Right now, I don’t care. Just do it. Tell the trackers they aren’t to stop looking for that drone until they find him. After that, they can do whatever they wish with him as long as there’s nothing left. His death is to be slow and agonizing. And leave the knife here,” Declan ordered when the imp started to pick up the silk bundle.
Snips turned away and then spun back around again. “I have served many masters during my thousand years,” he said. “You are the only one who has been… kind to me. Who hasn’t punished me for being what I am.” His purple claws flexed. “I realize I have been distant with you, almost hostile. But I have come to see you are an honorable male.
“There have been rumors. Words of blood and sacrifice. That your sire plans a coup that could destroy many of us. I will keep my ears open and inform you of anything else I might hear. If there is any way I may assist you, Master, please let me know.” He bowed his head and slipped out of the office.
Declan looked at the closed door, still processing the imp’s speech. “And here I thought I couldn’t be any more surprised.”
He closed his eyes, sensing dark and dangerous words flowing through his mind. He heard promises of violence, rich with flowing blood and power, while his inner eye viewed images of a huge moon, tall stone temples, and rhythmic chants. For a moment, the rich taste of copper filled his mouth.
He was positive the sensations were coming from the knife lying not all that innocently on his desk. It wasn’t something he wanted to keep here any longer than he had to.
Maggie might not want to see him, but he was damn well going to see her.
***
“I thought school was over for a while,” Courtney whined as Maggie guided her into a classroom furnished with desks and chairs. “And why do I have to come here at night? Smallville is coming on.”
“That’s what DVRs are for,” Maggie said with a lack of sympathy. “You’re here at night because it’s the only time he would agree to come—and it wasn’t easy to get him here as it was. And he is coming because there’s a lot you need to learn about your heritage.”
“Is this the one?” The imperious voice from the front of the room brought Maggie to attention. She wasn’t afraid of much, but The Librarian always seemed to stoke the fear in her heart.
As always, he wore old-fashioned, bottle-green knee britches, a faded brocade waistcoat over a linen shirt the color of old parchment, and a bottle-green long-tailed coat. The front desk he presided over was covered with ancient scrolls and leather-bound books and even a few stone tablets. Narrowed black eyes peered at her over the rim of ancient half-spectacles perched on his beaklike nose. His scant brown hair held a neat comb-over.
“The Librarian.” Maggie inclined her head in respect, even if the grumpy old wizard refused to acknowledge it. “This is Courtney Parker.” When the girl didn’t move, Maggie gave her a strong enough shove to move her forward. “We are grateful you are willing to help us educate her in the ways of her ancestors.”
The Librarian frowned. “Speak up, girl,” he snapped. “You must have a voice.”
“Uh, hello?”
“It is a good thing I appreciate a challenge, since I can see this girl will need a great deal of work.” He gestured toward the empty desk. “Sit. We have much to do and little time in which to do it. I only hope you have the intelligence to follow what I have to say.”
Courtney had a frantic look on her face as Maggie pushed her into the chair.
“Don’t leave me with him!” she pleaded.
“Just show respect, and you’ll get along with him fine.” Okay, she was lying, since The Librarian didn’t like anyone. “I’ll be back later.” She stiffened her spine and walked out, feeling as if she’d left her chick with the fox.
“Do not bother returning until I send for you,” The Librarian called out after her. The door closed with a final click.
“O’Malley, now.” Mal’s voice echoed from the walls.
Shoot me. Shoot me and put me out of my misery. Maggie wasted no time making her way down to her superior’s office.
“Hey, Maggie!”
She spun around at the sound of a familiar voice. “Zouk!” She almost ran over to the team leader then stopped short at the sight. “No offense, dude, but you look disgusting.” She grimaced at his yellow, leathery skin covered with red spots that oozed a nasty-looking pus. His three team members didn’t look any better. “And smell worse.” She pinched her nostrils with her fingers. “What happened? Mal said you and your team disappeared.”
“We did. Fuckin’ building was a portal to a plane world populated with a goblin nest,” he explained. “They were the ones sucking the life out of the teens then popping them back to this plane.” He shook his head in disgust. “We managed to capture the leader and brought him back. The rest didn’t need to come along. Mal took one look at us and told us to get out of his office.” He grinned.
Maggie nodded, understanding his unspoken words. The rest were killed and, as far as she was concerned, good riddance. She would have done the same.
“You think there’s more out there doing this?” she asked, figuring that’s why Zouk brought back the leader.
“Oh yeah. We want to know where so they can be taken care of.” He winced at another spot popping with the putrid-smelling pus. “We gotta get to the healers. This shit itches like a son of a whore.”
“I’m glad to see you back,” she told him before moving on to Mal’s office. Knowing there was a good outcome to her fellow team leader’s situation put a spring in her step.
“I just saw Zouk and—” her words to her boss halted when she saw who else was there.
Seeing Declan was a welcome surprise, although she schooled her features not to betray her. After thinking about it, she knew she might have overreacted the last time they were together, but being the stubborn witch she was, she wasn’t anxious to apologize.
His offer to find Courtney a family of her own wasn’t unusual among demonkind. Many times, demon families had fostered children who lost their parents. Except Maggie already saw Courtney as one of her own. The teenager might chatter like a magpie and might as well have her iPod surgically grafted to her ears, but she also showed an inner strength that Maggie admired.
She was positive she saw warmth flash across Declan’s face when she walked in.
“Declan,” she said quietly.
“Maggie.”
Mal looked at them and shook his head. “This is why I remain single,” he m
uttered, finishing one cigar and lighting up another. “Declan brought us a present.” He pointed his cigar at a lump of black silk on his desk. The object was encased in an iridescent bubble.
Maggie walked over, feeling the strength of the protection spell as she looked down. The fire-opal blade winked multiple colors at her while darkness tried to sneak into her mind.
Drums, chanting, the wet smell of vegetation. The musky scent of skin anointed with herb-infused oils. All of it overlaid with the metallic smell of blood.
She shook off the vision before it overtook her and stepped back from the knife. How could it do that even with the protection spell on it?
“What is it?”
“It’s called Quetzalitzlipyollitli, the stone of the bird of paradise,” Declan replied. “Fire opals are used in Mayan rituals. This one was found near the body of my missing portal keeper. His heart had been cut out.” His eyes turned silver. “You felt it, too, didn’t you?”
She didn’t need to ask him what he meant. “It’s almost as if it’s looking for more death, and by winding its way into someone’s mind, it can tempt that person into killing someone.”
“That’s how I felt, too. That’s why I brought it here. I knew I couldn’t keep it secured at Damnation Alley.”
“And you don’t trust your father not to find out you have it and come for it,” she guessed.
He inclined his head. “Victorio would love to have this knife. It’s obviously been baptized in blood and seeks more.”
She watched the bubble as if the knife would find its way out. “Such as Courtney’s.”
“I’ve had scouts down in Central and South America,” Mal said. “A few of the temples are suddenly not available for visitor tours. Signs are up stating they’re closed while restorations were going on, but there’s no hint of anyone working there. There’s also a dark cloud covering a temple well-known for sacrifices. The time is fast approaching, you two. That means the kid can’t even step one toe off this compound. And we need to go down there and take out the trash.”
“Take out the trash?” Maggie parroted. “Sheesh, what movies are you watching, Mal? Fine, my team will head down there the day before the sacrifice is scheduled,” Maggie said. “We can take care of it.”
“I’m going with you,” Declan said.
“No civilians allowed. I can’t afford to be worrying about you,” she retorted.
“You won’t be.” He leaned forward. “I didn’t have to bring this to you. I’ve been a part of this situation from the beginning. You’re not leaving me out of it now.”
“He’s going with you,” Mal said. “And he’ll look after himself. Something tells me you’ll need someone with demon blood down there. Where’s the kid now?”
“She’s with The Librarian. He’s giving her a crash course in Demonology 101.”
“Someone she won’t be able to talk the ears off,” he muttered. “Fine, go set up the mission. And Declan sits in on the planning session.”
“What about that?” She nodded toward the knife.
“Someone will be here to pick it up.”
“I hope you like the tropics,” Maggie told Declan as they walked out into the courtyard.
“I’m half fire demon, remember? The heat doesn’t bother me a bit.” He was quiet for a moment. “Did you mean what you said?”
“Yes.” She didn’t bother to pretend to misunderstand him. Without warning, she was spun around and into his arms.
Declan’s kiss said it all. The way he felt about her—whether it was aggravation, lust, or the other L word that turned a male upside down and caused a female to see stars and hearts—was all mixed up in the heat of his mouth.
Maggie embraced it and returned the emotion.
“Get a room, Mags!’ someone hooted.
Applause soon followed.
She pulled back, shook her head at the grinning audience, and pulled on Declan’s hand.
“Tell me we’re getting some privacy very soon.” His words tickled her ear.
“Oh, yes.”
“No Courtney?”
“I doubt The Librarian will release her until close to dawn.” She almost dragged him along. “Plus, she has her own quarters now.” She laughed when Declan looped his arm around her waist and hugged her against him. Then realized something was different. She stopped and took a close look from head to toe.
“You’re not wearing a visitor medallion.” She touched his chest, savoring the heat of his skin through the silky cotton of his shirt.
“Mal seems to think I need open access.” He flexed his arm. “He didn’t tell me it required an implant. Hurts like a son of a bitch. But I was even able to spend a few minutes checking on Anna. She’s completely absorbed in being a Seer-in-training.”
“Then let’s get going, so I can kiss your boo-boo, along with a few other places,” she added with a significant look further south.
“I’m yours.”
Maggie liked hearing that and made sure they wasted no time going to her quarters.
Elle looked down from her computer surfing, realized she wasn’t needed, and returned to her task.
“Very nice,” Declan commented, admiring the rose-pink wall behind the bed that echoed the rose in her bedspread. The room was deep rose and cream, sparked here and there with jewel tones, and adorned with paintings and a few figurines that reflected a life of travel to exotic locales.
His attention was caught by the blonde Barbie doll dressed in fatigues and armed to the teeth, and he had to smile.
“Blair gave her to me last Yule,” Maggie said. “She gave us each one that reflects us. I guess she sees me as a Lara Croft type.”
“Our worlds are so different. Even with what you do, you have color in your life,” he commented, picking up a pillow and setting it back down before fingering the silken spread.
“Don’t tell me. Your place is all black and chrome.”
“Pretty much.” He sat on the bed and grasped her hand, pulling her to stand between his spread thighs. Her hands landed on his shoulders. “I think the only color that’s ever come into my life came from you. You make me think of the sunlight. How am I supposed to return to my murky life after meeting you?”
“Watch out, Declan,” she whispered in his ear. “People might think you’re a real softie. Besides, you don’t have to go anywhere without me. Who knows, I might get you wearing bright colors yet.” She punctuated her words with a kiss that trailed down the side of his neck. “Now if your implant is where mine is…”
She pushed up his T-shirt and tossed it to one side. Only a faint spot of red showed on his skin where the implant had been inserted. She bent down and kissed it gently and smiled when the redness disappeared. She trailed her lips up his arm, back to his throat, and then up to his mouth while she slipped off his shirt and then worked on his pants.
“I do love you,” he whispered. “More than life itself. You’ve found a way into my heart.”
Maggie pushed him backward and straddled his hips. “How perfect a match is that?” Her smile dimmed. “I was really ticked off at you for wanting to take Courtney away from me.”
“I figured that out.” He kept his hands resting on her hips. “I was only thinking of her. I thought it would be good for her to have a chance to learn about her heritage.”
“The Librarian can help with that. That wizard may be cranky, but he knows his stuff.” She caressed his face, enjoying the rough texture. “Plus, it gives us all this alone time.”
Declan inched his way up the bed, carrying Maggie with him. Along the way, he tossed her T-shirt to one side and her pants to the other.
“You don’t need this.” He unfastened her bra and threw it across the room. “So beautiful.” He cupped her breasts as he arched up, covering the dark rose-colored nipple with his mouth. He sucked gently, pulling it into his mouth and sending shock waves through her body. “Perfect.” He transferred his attention to her other breast.
Maggie blindly ra
n her hands down his chest, feeling the heat of his skin against her palms, taut skin over bones. It was easy for her to intertwine her legs with his, lying fully on top of him. His cock was hard against her belly, silky to the touch. She rubbed against him, feeling it jump against her.
“I can’t wait,” she told him, inching down and rising up, taking him inside her. She hissed with relief as he stretched her inner tissues. She rocked, adding to the friction, but Declan wanted more. He flipped her over with ease and loomed over her, thrusting as she arched up to meet him.
“Mine,” he reminded her.
“Mine,” she agreed.
As she echoed what sounded like a vow, flickers of flames encircled them, giving off heat that echoed the love between them but was harmless to their surroundings.
Maggie threw her head back, laughing with joy and the sensation they shared of such strong emotions that she wanted to fly.
That was all it took for them both to fall into the abyss that sent them spiraling out of control.
***
“The last time we made love, I woke up to Wreaker’s ugly face,” Declan told her as he fought to catch his breath. “That’s enough to make sure I never close my eyes again.”
“That sounds more like a nightmare.” Maggie snuggled in against him. “Don’t worry. He can’t show up here.”
“He’s an incubus. That gives him pretty much carte blanche wherever there are females.” He trailed his fingers along her spine.
“Not here. Not even a bug could cross the boundaries without ending up as a spot of ash.” She nibbled on his shoulder while she snuck her hand down his abs. “Short recovery, mister.”
Declan rolled over to face her. “Some might call it witchcraft.”
This time was soft and tender. The warrior and the demon whispering words of affection and exchanging light touches and featherlight kisses. This time, Maggie brought golden snowflakes falling down around them, and Declan reveled in the clean, cool magic.
“Everything’s changed,” he said as they lay in each other’s arms.
“For the better.”
“I can fight, but not the way you can.” He rose up on his elbow, resting his head on his cupped hand. “I’m a businessman. Mal’s offered me free entrance here, but I’ve got the feeling he has something more in mind for me.”
