by Amy Sumida
As King of the Undergrounds, Daxon had the option of shirking some traditions adhered to by the Royals of Fairy.
“Are you kidding? I'd never miss a chance to get away from these yahoos.” He smirked and kissed my cheek. “And I applaud your cunning. Your father can't argue about you sending guards with Caelum, nor can he dispute your choice of guards when only your guards can twilight. It's brilliant and saves Caelum hours of traveling.”
“Thanks.” I grinned. “Oh, and the Fairy Council has a plane waiting at LAX for us. I just have to give the pilot half an hour to prepare.”
“I'll let you know when I start to pack. That should take about thirty.”
“Okay.” Frowning, I headed upstairs. “What the hell does he have to pack that's going to take thirty minutes?” I didn't bother to ask because with Daxon, ignorance was often bliss. Literally.
Chapter Four
Raza and Tiernan agreed to allow Daxon to attend this time, though Raza growled a lot before he gave in. He had gone on the last mission, so he had no reason to deny Dax, but he still made it clear that he wanted to be the one to go instead. In fact, he offered to come along in addition to Dax and Killian, but I refused. Raza had to learn to let me go on missions alone, even when it involved men he didn't want me around.
Daxon was Unseelie like Raza, which meant that he couldn't twilight—use the magic of twilight to move instantly from one place to another. Only Twilight Fey could access the In-Between—that place that our power stemmed from. By either stepping off the path inside a rath or by hovering over the ground at dusk or dawn, we could connect with the In-Between and use it to transport us anywhere we'd been before. Unfortunately, we couldn't take passengers, only lead other Twilight Fairies to a location (this comes in handy when you want to twilight a group somewhere that only one of you has been to). The closest I'd come to taking a passenger was when I carried Catriona, my Twilight puka companion. But that only worked because she was a Twilight creature.
My partial Star's Guard—I'd sent Torquil, Gilroy, Cleary, and Breasal home with Caelum—didn't complain about having to travel via plane instead of twilighting, though Conri, my only non-Sidhe knight, did whine a little that Killian would beat us to St. Louis because of it. Kill, as I mentioned, was a Twilight Fairy. In fact, he was the one who coined the phrase “twilighting.” Con and Kill were buddies who loved to rag on each other. Actually, they both liked to rag on everyone, they just happened to excel at it with each other. Probably because they never got butt-hurt like the rest of us. I don't know if being a Bargest—a type of canine shapeshifter—was what gave Conri his gnaw-at-a-bone personality, but I suspected it didn't help. It certainly made him antsy in enclosed spaces. By the time we landed in St. Louis, Con was ready to tear the door off its hinges. Or at least ram it with his Bargest horns.
A couple of black SUVs were already parked on the apron where our private plane rolled to a stop. Killian jumped out of one of them and strode toward the jet as the door folded down, becoming stairs. He looked fantastic in a pair of casual jeans, black boots, and a Megadeath T-shirt. Even beneath the layers of Kill's leather hoodie and long coat, the faded face on the band shirt looked menacing. Either he wasn't wearing his swords because of the coat or he had them under a glamour. I was betting on the former since riding in a car with two swords strapped across his back is a discomfort he only endured when heading into battle.
Killian flung back his leather hood with a gloved hand and peered expectantly into the plane. He loved that hoodie; even the harsh winter air of Missouri couldn't stop him from wearing it. Thus the addition of an overcoat. Kill had his shoulder-length, auburn hair loose, the thick waves covering his ears. Probably another way to combat the cold. It was certainly why I'd left my hair down, even though my black wool coat, with its thick fur color, covered my long hair and made it bunch around my face when I moved. I'd rather that than wear one of those massive fur hats. Or even worse, a knit cap with a ball on top. Why do people think those things are cute? They look like hats for children.
“Someone's eager,” Daxon noted dryly when he spotted Killian out the window. He pulled on his deep blue, cashmere coat and then his gloves before taking my hand.
“I haven't seen him in nearly six days,” I chided Daxon. “You were rather eager yourself when I showed up for our visit.”
“I hadn't seen you in nine days.”
“Oh, I see. So you only start missing me after the eighth day,” I teased as we headed toward the exit.
Three of my guards—Conri, Gradh, and Ennis—left the plane first. They scanned the area, then Ennis nodded to Felix and Ainsley, who were waiting just in front of Daxon and me for confirmation that it was safe to exit the jet. The two guards went down the stairs, then motioned us out. It may seem like a silly precaution, but I was the Queen of two fairy kingdoms and the Princess of a third. Since I'd sent four of my guards away, the least I could do was let the remaining five do their job.
Even without four of my guards, we still needed two vehicles to transport our group. In this case, the vehicles told me exactly who Killian was with. Only extinguishers drive SUVs. If hunters had been picking us up, they probably would have brought a van or a bunch of sports cars. After the conversation I'd had with Timberstride, I'd expected hunters. So, the extinguisher escort surprised me.
“There's my hot wife!” Killian exclaimed as he opened his arms.
“I'm a rather cold wife now,” I grumbled; the weather in Missouri was a sharp contrast to the warmth of Los Angeles.
I went eagerly into Killian's embrace, nuzzling beneath the square edge of his jaw. He held me a minute but wasn't satisfied with that. Kill eased back to lower his full lips to mine and kiss me more thoroughly than he should have in public. I pressed tighter to him, frustrated that the layers of clothes between us prevented me from feeling the thick curves of his warrior body.
Someone cleared their throat and then a familiar voice said, “I don't mind PDAs, but it's damn cold out here, Ambassador.”
I jerked back from Kill with a grin and exclaimed, “Wayne!”
“Well, shit, Twilight, you seem more excited to see him than me,” Killian muttered good-naturedly.
“I didn't expect to see him,” I pushed Kill away so I could hug Councilman Wayne Williams.
Wayne had worked with us on the last magical drug case, but he was stationed out of Kansas City, not St. Louis. I had expected the Human Council to assign us a new team with extinguishers from the St. Louis Council House.
“It's good to see you,” I said to the handsome, African-American man.
For a councilman, Wayne was exceptionally fit, which was a plus when you were on a mission that could turn into a fight or a chase. He was also shrewd and seemed to have an endless supply of helpful toys as well as a fake F.B.I. badge that came in handy.
Wayne pulled his knit cap down further around his ears as he said, “It's good to see you too, Ambassador. I'm glad to be working with you again.”
“Did you bring your team with you?”
“I did. Though they're technically Sloane's team,” he said, referring to Extinguisher Lance Sloane, who had led the team on the last case. Council members usually served in a more advisory capacity, so it wasn't unusual to have a councilman and an extinguisher team leader on a mission together. Wayne grinned wider, his teeth looking bright against his rich, brown skin. “The Council decided that our previous experience here was worth the price of the flight. The locals will still assist if needed, but we've got control of the mission.”
“Wonderful. How's Dan?” I asked, referring to the Head Councilman of the Kansas City Council House.
“Seren,” Daxon stopped me with a hand on my back. “Let's get out of the cold before you catch up. That was the whole reason for the councilman's interruption.”
“Oh, sorry.” I grimaced at Wayne's hunched shoulders.
“It makes me sleepy,” Killian said and stamped his boots.
“The cold?” I lift
ed a brow at him.
“Yep.”
“Cause you're a snake. Duh,” Conri huffed as he opened the back door on one of the SUVs.
“Huh,” Kill said pensively. “Yeah, that could be it.”
“Keep warm, babe. We need you awake.” I gave Kill's face a pat, then headed to Con, who was waving us toward the first vehicle.
“Dan's doing good by the way,” Wayne said as we walked. “Kansas City has been relatively quiet. We haven't even had any of the drug deaths they've had here.”
“Dude, let's not get into that yet.” Kill looked around warily.
Wayne nodded. He looked as if he was about to climb into the SUV with us—they were the extra-large sort that had two rows of passenger seats in the back and could hold seven passengers plus a driver comfortably. But three of my guards jumped in the back seat and Killian jumped in the middle.
“Take the front passenger seat, Wayne,” Kill offered as I went to sit beside my husband.
“Thanks!” Wayne went to the front as Daxon took the seat beside me.
My last two guards went with our luggage in the other SUV.
“Extinguisher Sloane,” I said in greeting to Lance Sloane, who was our driver. He was also the brother of a female extinguisher who had a major crush on Killian. “How's your sister?”
Sloane smirked at me through the rearview mirror. “She's fine, Ambassador. She says hi. To Killian, I mean.”
I chuckled along with him while Killian grimaced.
“Kill says hi back,” I said for him.
“Yeah, very funny.” Kill rolled his eyes.
“Oh, Councilman Wayne Williams and Extinguisher Lance Sloane, this is my husband, King Daxon Tromlaighe. Dax, this is Wayne and Lance.”
“How's it going?” Wayne turned in his seat to shake Daxon's hand.
“Not bad so far, thank you.” Daxon grinned as they shook.
“Your Majesty.” Sloane nodded to him.
“So, where's the hunter team?” I asked. “I thought they were going to be meeting us.”
“They're at Drostan's,” Killian said with a heavy look my way. “He offered to put us up again.
“And you accepted?” Daxon growled.
“You expected me to say, 'No, sorry, dude, you're lusting after my woman so I'm not gonna stay at your place even though it's completely awesome and free?'”
“Yes. I would have even supported the use of those very words,” Daxon snarled.
“Dax.” I widened my eyes at him.
“Yes?”
“You haven't even met him yet. Perhaps reserve judgment until you do,” I suggested. “He offered us the use of his home, not a swim in piranha-infested waters.”
“I don't need to meet the man to know that he'd do anything to have you,” Daxon declared. “You forget that I was in a similar position once. I know he's dangerous.”
“But you were called,” I shot back.
“And he believes he is too.”
“He's a good guy, Daxon! And he saved my life, killing the woman he loved in the process,” I snapped. “I'm not going to insult him and split our team by staying in a hotel.”
“We're going to be there with her the entire time,” Killian said to Dax. “Drostan won't be able to pull the shit you did.”
“I did not 'pull shit,'” Daxon said the words disdainfully. “I expertly seduced her. Something you are obviously incapable of.”
“All I have to do to seduce Seren is take my shirt off,” Killian said with a smirk.
“I rest my case.” Dax smirked back.
“Oh, this is gonna be a fun mission,” Sloane said gleefully.
“Speaking of which, maybe we should move the conversation to where it should be,” I said crisply. “Kill didn't have a lot of information to offer when I talked to him earlier, so someone needs to tell me what's going on.”
“Everything's at Drostan's,” Killian said. “Let's wait until we get there.”
“Are you serious?” Daxon looked at Kill in surprise. “You're not even going to give us some basic information?”
“People are dying in weird ways,” Killian said grimly. “They get violent, then they burn to death.”
“As in spontaneously combust?” I asked in surprise.
“You got it, babe.” Kill angled his body to lean against the window so he could look at me. “Poof!” He moved his hands to mimic an explosion. “They go nuts and burn.”
“How is that related to Newt?” I scowled, referring to the magical drug that Verisande had been peddling.
Newt had been made with Alp Luachra mucus that was altered by Sidhe magic. At first, it gave humans a euphoric high—the same sort of high humans get from touching Alp Luachra mucus. And how might a human come into contact with the mucus? By falling asleep beside a body of water that happens to be home to one of the little, aquatic fairies. Alp Luachras can shapeshift into lizards, and their favorite thing to do in lizard form is to slide down a human's throat and eat the contents of their stomach. As if that isn't gross enough, the lizard excretes mucus as it goes down. That mucus keeps the human in a euphoric state so they won't know they're giving up their last meal. Last meal as in the most recent meal they'd eaten, not their final meal. Alp Luachras generally don't kill people.
But I digress. Newt gave humans a high without any side-effects—something that attracted people who wouldn't normally use drugs—but after a few doses, the drug killed them. The formula wasn't right. The corpses had all the signs of a drug overdose but nothing more than that. Things got worse when Verisande started tweaking her recipe. She discovered that adding her magic to Newt created a couple of those previously missing side-effects. The main one was that it bound the humans to her, giving them fey immortality while she got control over them. Those who took the later batches of Newt did get violent, but that was before Verisande perfected her recipe. Either way, they didn't burn as these new victims had. No, that had been Verisande's fate.
“Autopsies show the same levels of magic in their blood, along with an unknown substance, just like with the Newt victims,” Wayne answered me. “It's not Verisande's version of Newt, obviously, but our technicians say the substance looks similar.”
“Similar,” I mused. “Verisande was able to control humans with her drug.”
Killian nodded at me, waiting for me to reach a conclusion that they must have come to already.
“So, you think a new fairy has taken over and added their magic to the mix?”
“Got it in one, Twilight,” Kill said proudly.
“We can't confirm that yet, of course,” Wayne said. “But it's our current theory.”
“If it's correct, it means the humans could be under this fairy's control,” I said. “And the fairy likely has fire magic.”
“Yes, we've thought of that as well,” Wayne said.
“Well, it sounds as if you don't need me at all,” I teased. “You can just turn around and take us back to the airport, Extinguisher Sloane.”
“I think Dealan might have a problem with that,” Sloane shot back, then winced when his statement was met with furious silence. “Sorry.”
“He's a baron, isn't he?” Daxon asked me.
“Yes. Of Seelie.”
“Did he have anything to do with the Fairy Council reinstating you?”
I sighed. I couldn't have loved a stupid man, but sometimes my husbands' quick wits could get irritating. “He may have.”
“We are staying at a hotel,” Daxon announced.
Chapter Five
I started to get nervous as we drove up the long, winding, private drive to Drostan's Huntleigh mansion. The view was a bit different now, what with most of the trees bare and the swans stashed away somewhere warm. The house was built so that you approached it from the back, driving along the extensive backyard before curving around to the front of the house. The property was on a slight incline with a small lake at the bottom and an expanse of grass rolling up to the back patio that perched on a man-made ter
race. A magnificent swimming pool sat within the shelf of land, going right to the edge where a pane of glass bisected the stone retaining wall to give a glimpse into the empty pool.
The patio was enormous, sweeping from the left side of the house where a grand set of stairs led down from the back door, then going across the length of the main house to end at the guest house on the right. The pool, Jacuzzi, and several sitting areas sat between the stairs and the guest house. But the pool was covered for winter, even the hot tub had a thick pad over it, and the outdoor furniture looked bleak beside them, especially with only a few outdoor lights on to drive back the dark. The flight to St, Louis had only taken three and a half hours but with the time difference, it was now late evening in St. Louis. The glass gazebo, perched on the extra-wide balcony, jutting over the end of the pool, looked beautiful though.
