Blood, Smoke and Mirrors

by Robyn Bachar

  “Is that why you ignored my advice in the test today? You don’t trust my judgment?” Lex asked, sounding more than a bit offended. The change in subject threw me.

  “No. I couldn’t kill the shifter, not when I could help it. Or her, rather,” I corrected. Hadn’t been expecting that one, considering the few shifters I’d met at the café had all been men. “The imp had to go though, ’cause I figured that while you might be able to remove the wild magic from a shifter, you can’t un-imp an imp.”

  “That shifter has a death warrant out on her.”

  “And were any of her crimes committed before she was infected?” I pointed out, and he shook his head. “I didn’t think so. See, you haven’t changed, you’re still Mr. By-the-Book. The first time I screw up something as Titania you’ll go running off to rat me out to the faerie council, because you can’t risk jeopardizing your position as a guardian. Well I learned that lesson, and I’m not eager to repeat it.”

  “I didn’t have a choice, Cat.”

  “Yes, you did. I told you about the attack in confidence, because I was scared and I needed comforting from the man I loved, and you had to go all Law and Order on me and turn me in.” Slamming a cabinet shut, I crouched and started looking through the clutter under the sink.

  “You’re not bein’ fair. I’m not the bad guy here. You caused harm with your magic, and yeah, I couldn’t let it go, but I never dreamed the witches’ council would treat you so unfair. I tried to convince them to change their minds. I even testified on your behalf, just like Maureen did.”

  “You did?” Pausing in my search, I turned and looked up at him in surprise. I didn’t know he’d tried to help me. I always thought he’d testified against me, that he’d washed his hands of me when he’d found out I wasn’t a law-abiding citizen.

  “Course I did. I would’ve told you about it, ’cept you weren’t speakin’ to me at the time.”

  “Oh.” Feeling numb, I tried to convince myself it didn’t change how I felt about him. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of the package of bulbs behind a bag full of plastic grocery bags. Reaching back, I grabbed them and then got to my feet. Crossing the room, I handed the bulbs to Lex.

  “I never meant to hurt you, Cat.”

  “And now you want to pick up where we left off, like nothing ever happened?”

  “Somehow I doubt you’d ever let me forget,” he replied dryly. “I’d like you to forgive me, though, and give me a second chance.”

  Lex stared down at me as he waited for my reply, and it felt as though he was looking right through me. Did I want to try again with Lex? The physical attraction was obviously still there, but was that enough? I could hear Mac’s words nagging at me in the back of my head: What happened to you wasn’t Lex’s fault. You don’t think it killed him to do it?

  “I don’t know if this’ll work. I’m not ready to make any promises, but…I suppose we could try.”

  Lex nodded, appearing to accept my reply. Reaching around me, he gently lobbed the box of light bulbs onto the kitchen table, where it landed with a soft bump. He turned his attention back to me, and I caressed his cheek, running my fingers along the stubble of his jaw and down the side of his neck. I slid the tie out of his hair and let it fall around his shoulders, and then I grinned.

  “Then again, I’m not sure this is a good idea. I always hated that your hair is nicer than mine,” I teased.

  Lex laughed, and the sound made my stomach flutter. I squeaked in surprise as he picked me up and carried me into my bedroom. The stomach flutter kicked into high gear again, but it was replaced by a rush of heat as Lex set me back on my feet and kissed me. I clung to him, this time deciding not to hesitate about pulling his T-shirt off. He tossed the garment to the side and reached for mine, which joined his on the floor, along with my bra. His hands skimmed up my sides and cupped my breasts, and my knees nearly buckled as he ran his thumbs over my nipples. I moaned and grabbed hold of his waist for balance, and he kissed me again.

  My hands moved to the fly of his jeans, and then I paused. “Oh, shoot.”

  “What? What’s wrong?” Lex asked, frowning.

  “Condoms. I don’t have any. Well, I do, but they’re four years old, they can’t still be good. Damn it.”

  “Four years, huh?”

  “Yeah, I haven’t… I haven’t been with anyone, not since we broke up.” Sheepish, I blushed red enough to glow in the dark-I hadn’t meant to admit to that. It made me sound like an idiot girl who’d been pining for him all this time.

  “No one else seemed right?” he asked quietly.

  “How’d you kn-? Wait, you haven’t either?”

  “I had a few dates here and there, but it never went anywhere. After awhile, I figured out that I kept comparin’ them to you, and no one measured up.”

  “Really?” I could hardly believe it. Sure, I hadn’t been interested in anyone, but I’d only had a handful of relationships before Lex, so it wasn’t much of a change. Lex, on the other hand, had plenty of girlfriends before he met me, so I figured he’d moved on.

  “Really. I do have some in my bag though.” I raised my eyebrows at that, and he grinned. “Wishful thinking, I guess. Was hopin’ there might come a time when I wouldn’t have to sleep on your couch. I also brought a first-aid kit, in case things went the other way and you decided to stab me or light me on fire.”

  Shaking my head in amusement, I laughed. “Always good to be prepared.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  While Lex was gone, I wriggled out of my jeans and panties, and then turned down the air conditioner so it was a little less chilly. I barely noticed the room’s temperature though, my entire body warm and tingly now. Nudging the covers aside, I sat on the edge of the mattress, waiting.

  When Lex returned he set the box of condoms on the nightstand, and I again reached to undo his jeans. I stripped him, and I only had a moment to admire the sight of his gorgeous body before he joined me on the bed. We kissed each other hungrily as we slid beneath the thin blanket-eagerness was wearing away our patience. My hands roamed over him, reacquainting myself with the feel of his lean muscles. Lex’d acquired a few new scars since we’d last been together, and I wondered how he’d gotten them-I’d ask about them later.

  He lowered his head to my breasts, and my back arched as he ran his tongue over one nipple and sucked it into his mouth. I moaned his name, running my fingers through his hair. Impatient, I guided his face back up to mine for a long, lingering kiss. “Lex, please,” I murmured. My hips ground against the hard length of him, leaving little doubt as to what I was asking for. Kneeling above me, he reached for the nightstand, and after a few moments we were ready.

  Lex kissed me again as he entered me, and I gasped, holding him tight. His pace was fast and frantic as he thrust into me. Later we’d have time for tenderness, but now our rhythm was all raw heat and need. Moaning, I clung to him as I climaxed, but he didn’t slow, allowing me no time to recover. Instead, he continued to kiss me, my lips almost bruised from the force. Lex moved to my neck, trailing kisses up and down my throat and then murmuring my name against my ear. I shuddered, feeling another wave of pleasure building.

  “Don’t stop,” I nearly shouted. I felt him come the same time as I did, both our bodies shaking from the force of it. I held him close, and the scrape of his stubble rubbed against the skin of my throat as we regained our breath.

  “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too, sugar.”

  Chapter Nine

  There were more gadgets, bells and whistles in Lex’s SUV than there are on the space shuttle. After five minutes I began to understand Tybalt’s fascination with them as I resisted the temptation to push buttons just to see what would happen. As though sensing my torment, Lex reached over and captured my left hand, holding it in his. I smiled at the sight of our entwined fingers. It was very high school, but still sweet.

  We were headed for LaGrange, a suburb that’s not too far f
rom my apartment. LaGrange is the sort of place I’d want to live in if I had kids. The area is nice, plenty of shopping, old Victorian houses, decent schools. It’s got character, something some of the newer, trendier suburbs with their identical Borg-cube subdivisions are severely lacking.

  “Who exactly are we going to meet? A librarian?”

  “Of sorts.”

  “Of sorts? Does that mean not a librarian? An alchemist with delusions of grandeur?” I frowned-you’re either something or you’re not in the magician world, you can’t mix and match your skill set. Sure, I could try summoning something, or stirring up a potion, but I wouldn’t be nearly as good at it as an actual summoner or alchemist. In fact, there was no guarantee I could get their spells to work at all. This is one of the reasons why the different factions don’t intermingle very often: not much in common, not much to talk about.

  “Means he was a librarian, now he’s something else.”

  “Like what? A Republican? Just spit it out, Lex. I’m not as clever as you think I am.” I sighed.

  “Simon is a chronicler. It’s the librarian version of vampire.” My frown deepened even further, because that didn’t make any sense.

  “Librarians don’t become vampires.”

  “As a rule, they don’t. Simon’s Order is unique.” Lex glanced over at me. “Most people haven’t heard of them, and they like to keep it that way. I figure since you’re about to become Titania you need to know these things, but you also need to know this information shouldn’t be shared. Understood?”

  “Right, totally classified.” I nodded. “But if the vamps have a hit out on me, isn’t going to one’s lair an inherently bad idea?”

  “Not this vamp. The Order has a strict policy of noninvolvement. They observe, record and broker information.”

  “Oh, good to know. Friend of yours?”

  “Simon doesn’t have any friends that I’m aware of,” Lex replied, and I fidgeted in my seat. I so did not want to go have a chat with a vampire right now, or ever for that matter. And not just a vampire, but a “special” vampire. A friendless vampire. Lucky me.

  “And this is the last-resort contact that you didn’t want to talk to?”

  He pondered that for a moment before nodding. “I wanted to avoid talking to him, if possible, but he’s our best bet for finding out what Laura’s up to.”

  “Why did you want to avoid him? Aside from the obvious dead-guy reason.”

  “Because he’s expensive.”

  “I didn’t bring my checkbook.” Not that I could write a check even if I did. Anything more expensive than a fast-food meal would probably overdraw my account right about now. My financial future was looking pretty bleak too, considering that with Mac gone I was out of a job.

  “Don’t worry about it, I’m buying this round.” Lex flashed me a reassuring smile and I rolled my eyes.

  “Right then. So, what really happened to your pickup truck? You loved that thing.”

  “Dragon,” he answered.

  “Get out. Serious?”

  “Serious. It didn’t go home quietly, totaled the pickup. I’m gettin’ used to this one though. Not bad, for an SUV.”

  “Glad the dragon I met was polite. Though he did say he wasn’t going to eat me since he only eats virgins.” I smiled dryly, and Lex laughed. “I’m still not sure why I let myself get dragged into this mess.”

  “You saw what needed to be done, and you did it. You’re a tough one, Cat. You’ll get through this.” Lex squeezed my hand, and I smiled.

  “At least one of us has faith in me. Hey, how’s Nick doing?”

  Though Nick was a New York guardian, he was one of Lex’s closest friends. They were about the same age and had the same tastes in movies, music, and all-black clothing, but Nick had a rowdier sense of humor than Lex did. Lex sighed, his expression somber as the playful light disappeared from his eyes.

  “Forgot you hadn’t heard about that. Nick was killed in the line of duty, ’bout a year ago now.”

  “What? What happened?”

  His fingers tapped a tense beat on the steering wheel as he considered his answer. “You familiar with Poison Apples, the band?”

  “Yeah, a little bit.” They were a rock band, and I lean toward folksy chick music, but I’d heard of them. I remembered something about them in the news a while back, but because I wasn’t a fan I hadn’t paid attention.

  “They’re an all-magician band, so they have a unique fan base. Ivy-she’s the lead singer-picked up a vampire as a stalker, real sick psycho, and Nick was assigned to protect her. Well, you know how girl-crazy he was. He got too wrapped up in her, and it made him sloppy. Got him killed. The vamp tore the girl’s throat out and then took Nick out, but he’d done enough damage to it that the bastard died too.” He spoke in a flat, tired tone that hinted he’d told the story too many times. Lex stared straight ahead, concentrating on the road, and there was a tightness around his eyes. I knew that expression all too well. It takes a lot of practice and control to pretend to be nonchalant about a loved one’s murder.

  “Oh, Lex. I’m so sorry.” I rubbed my throat lightly with my free hand, thinking of my mother. It’s a horrible way to die. Lex spotted the gesture and shook his head.

  “She lived, Ivy. They say she probably won’t sing again though. You know, Cat…” he started. Continuing to drum his fingers on the steering wheel, Lex looked as though he were considering his words carefully. “Never mind. Don’t worry about it, we’re almost there.”

  The SUV turned off the street we had been driving on and bumped down a less-than-pristine stretch of paved road, something that immediately caught my attention. A city girl is always suspicious when surrounded by trees, and it looked as though we were entering a forest preserve. We continued forward until the street behind us disappeared, and we rounded a bend to emerge into a clearing, approaching a huge, lonely house. It was in a sad state of disrepair-the faded paint peeled, the shutters hung from their hinges, dirt coated the stairs and porch. It looked like a haunted house from a bad horror film, and probably drew amateur ghost hunters from all over the area. All the scene needed was a creepy old family graveyard in the back, but thankfully there was none to be seen. Strangely out of place, an expensive black sedan was parked next to the building, likely miserable without a garage to hide in.

  “What, does he have some sort of religious objection to hiring a groundskeeper?” I blinked as we pulled up to the front steps.

  “Nope. Just likes to keep the neighbors at bay.”

  “Yeah I imagine it works on salesmen too.” I hopped out of the car and walked toward the house, hesitating at the stairs as an image of my foot crashing through rotted wood danced through my head. For a moment Lex paused next to me, studying the sedan, and then he shrugged.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Lex said, taking my arm and leading up the steps before I could protest. When we reached the front door he opened it without knocking. I followed, feeling awkward at entering without an invitation. The interior of the place wasn’t any more appealing than the outside. Cobwebs hung thick on the doorways, and faint sunlight filtered through windows that had been boarded up from the inside.

  “Geez, who’s his decorator? Béla Lugosi?” I wrinkled my nose. Lex chuckled as he led me down a hallway into what might have once been a kitchen. Opening a door, he began to disappear down a flight of stairs into the darkness of what had to be the basement. The scent wafted up toward me on a slight draft, the slight ozone smell that follows when a match refuses to be extinguished.

  “Oh hell no.” I stopped, shaking my head emphatically. “I’ve seen this movie. There’s no way I’m going down those stairs.”

  “C’mon, Cat.” Lex paused and turned around, holding his hand out to me.

  “No. I’ll wait in the car, thank you.”

  Sighing, he came back up the stairs and stood in front of me. “I’ll throw you over my shoulder if I have to, but I’d rather not. Won’t make a good impression o
n Simon, and you want to make a good impression on him.”

  I snorted. “The only impression I want to make on a vamp involves a sword.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  Now there was a loaded question. Before last night I would’ve answered with an immediate no, but now… “Yes,” I grudgingly admitted.

  He held out his hand again and I took it, letting him guide me down into what my instincts were screaming at me was certain danger. It reeked of vampire magic-the place was completely saturated in it like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Then again I’d never set foot into a lair before. I’m not that stupid. And yet here I was, being led into the proverbial lion’s den. I had to wonder if my I.Q. had dropped dramatically in the past few days.

  When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we stood in the near total darkness. The only light in the room shone down from the open door at the top of the stairs. It was a tiny, cramped space, the kind that frequents the nightmares of claustrophobic people. I clung to Lex’s hand like a scared little girl.

  “Okay. Now what?”

  As though on cue the door at the top of the stairs swung shut with a bang and plunged the basement into total darkness. I jumped, adrenaline shooting through my veins in a frightened rush, and Lex’s grip tightened in what I assume was a futile attempt to comfort me. Off to our right, a door I would’ve sworn had not been there moments before opened. A figure stood outlined in the doorway, the soft diffuse light of candles glowing behind him. Though I wouldn’t have thought it possible, the vamp smell became even stronger, and I sneezed twice in reaction.

  “Duquesne,” the figure said, inclining his head slightly.

  “St. Jerome.”

  “This must be Miss Morrow, I presume?” I noticed a slight accent when he spoke, a bit of British. The vampire tilted his head to the side as he looked me up and down, an expression of detached interest on his face. If not for the odor assaulting my nose, I would have thought sorcerer on first seeing Simon. He was dressed in the type of long, full robes so many sorcerers seem to prefer. Black of course-in fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sorcerer wear robes of another color. I’ve never seen a librarian dress like a Lord of the Rings reject though, so either this vamp was a fan of fantasy fiction or he was actually old enough that his attire had at one point been socially acceptable during his lifetime. I was banking on the latter rather than the former.