Darkling

I raised an eyebrow. "Smoky's a big complication in your life. And there isn't much you can do about it." Dragons made their own rules. Learn that and you were halfway home to avoid being eaten by one.

"Tell me something I don't know," she said. "Think we'll ever know his real name?"

I snorted. "Oh sure, any day now. Hey, if he decides to kill us, he might just spill it." At her look, I said, "Honestly, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. You know very well that dragons guard their names like they horde gold. They're all a bunch of mercenaries." I expected her to argue but she just laughed.

"You got me there," she said as she headed up the stairs. "But sometimes they're too damned gorgeous for their own good—or ours." I followed silently behind her. At least we couldn't complain that our lives were boring.

Chase was waiting for us when we entered the living room. Delilah had volunteered him to watch Maggie, and he'd reluctantly agreed.

"I still think I should go to the meeting with you," he said.

Delilah laughed. "Oh come on, Chase. No way. For one thing, we promised everybody that at the first meeting, we wouldn't allow any FBHs around. If we break that promise, there will never be another meeting, I'll guarantee you that. I'll fill you in on everything when we get home. Be good, sweetie." She leaned down to cadge a kiss from him. He broke into a boyish grin and pulled her onto his lap.

"All right, you two, break it up," I said, bringing Maggie in from the kitchen. Her face, oddly cherubic, lit up when she saw Chase. For some reason, the gargoyle liked him. "Here, lover boy, take care of her while we're gone."

"Okay, okay," he said as Delilah climbed off his lap and he cuddled Maggie in the nook of his arm. "Just make sure that you don't leave me here all night. I'm not cut out for babysitting."

"Tell me another one," I said. "You look every bit the part of a proud papa."

Chase planted Maggie on one knee as Delilah handed him the remote. Iris brought him a tray with a bowl of chips and a couple cans of Sprite. She set it on the table next to him. Maggie busied herself playing with a plush bear that he'd bought her for Yuletide, and together, they looked entirely comfortable.

"Okay, okay… get out of here. Be safe. Hurry back," he said, shooing us out.

Iris rode with me as we headed out to the Supe meeting. Delilah took her Jeep and Camille, her Lexus. We might have to split up afterward and we'd learned the value in taking multiple vehicles. It cut down on scrambling for a ride. The motor of my Jag purred in the dark crystalline night as we sped along toward the V.A. building.

Iris had donned her blue dress and white cloak for the meeting. Her ankle-length golden hair was braided into an intricate design on her head. After a moment she said, "Bruce called me today."

"Bruce?" For a moment I drew a blank, then I remembered. "The sprite in the bar the other night?"

"Actually, he's a leprechaun. He asked me out on a date next week. I can't believe it—after thirty years, I'm finally wading back into the dating pool!"

"It's not like you haven't had other offers," I said. "Henry Jeffries adores you."

She made a face. "Henry Jeffries is a very nice man, but I'm not looking for a human companion, and he's too old for me. I may be older than he is in terms of years, but I'm still young enough to want a family and he's… well… it's just out of the question."

I repressed a smile. When Camille's devoted customer, Henry Jeffries, had finally steeled up his nerve to ask Iris out, she'd pleaded a stomachache. The second time, she feigned a headache. The third time, she couldn't come up with an excuse and had half-heartedly gone to the movies with him. He'd been a perfect, old-school gentleman and she'd been bored out of her mind. Since then, she'd made sure to stay out of the Indigo Crescent on the days she thought he was likely to come in. One of these days, she was going to deal with his infatuation.

"You're underestimating your influence on men, my dear."

"Oh, sure," she said in a snarky tone. "You do realize that being around the three of you all day is enough to squash anybody's ego. You're all so damned gorgeous."

I flipped on my left blinker before making a turn onto Baltimore Drive. "Iris, you don't get it. True, a lot of men immediately react to us, but most of them end up either scared shitless or get turned off by the fact that we don't fit their fantasies once they get to know us. But men love your openness, your smile, and your ability to stand up for yourself without making them feel like you could eat them alive. Even though you could," I added, thinking about her ability to swing a good heavy skillet, not to mention her way with magic. "We're here," I said, pulling into the parking lot. "Will Bruce be at the meeting tonight?"

She shook her head. "No, he's got something going on with some Irish historical society. He's a charter member and has to be there."

The Belles-Faire Community Hall had once been an elementary school. As we entered the large basement meeting room Wade was there, along with Sassy, but none of the other Supes had shown up yet. They were busy sprucing up the hall. Sassy had hired a caterer, and an incredible buffet of finger foods covered one long table. Just about everybody should find something to eat here, I thought. Wade motioned me over. I allowed him to press a quick kiss on the top of my hand.

"Menolly, good to see you. You too, girls," he added, nodding at the others who straggled into the room behind me. "Could you help set up chairs? I'd appreciate it."

"We'll do that," said a gruff voice from the door. We turned to see Zachary Lyonnesse and Venus the Moon Child enter the room, followed by several other members of the Rainier Puma Pride.

"Girls…" Zach said, nodding as his gaze came to rest on Delilah's face. His longing was transparent. Chase wasn't the only one smitten with our Kitten. Come to think of it, doubly good that we'd left the detective at home. The promise of testosterone feuds was already too great, given the caste structures of the different clans and nests. The last thing we needed was a rutting contest over my sister.

As I looked beyond him to the rest of his retinue, I spotted a face that sparked a sudden flame in my heart. Shaken, I froze. Nerissa was staring at me as hard as I was staring at her.

She detached herself from the group and crossed to my side. "Menolly, I'm glad you're here. I specifically asked to be included as one of the emissaries from the Puma Pride tonight in hopes that we'd have another chance to talk."

Taller than me by a good head, she was also strong. Lean muscles rippled under the smooth skin of her arms as she slipped out of her coat and draped it over a chair. Of course, I had her beat because of the vampire thang, but she was more than capable of taking down a good-sized man.

She reached out, paused a moment, and then as I watched, she lightly placed her fingers on my arm. Something uncoiled at the base of my spine and I shivered. As I stared into those brilliant topaz eyes that mirrored a pool of limpid sunlight, she wavered and I took a step closer.

Everything began to phase out as the scent of her perfume, the scent of her skin, the beat of her heart overwhelmed my senses. Inhaling deeply to fix her fragrance in my lungs and memory, I felt the thirst begin to grow as my fangs unfurled. Her neck was shimmering under the glow of the light, beckoning me in as she licked her lips and quivered under my gaze.

"Menolly? Menolly? Come back," an urgent voice whispered from behind me.

I whirled as my eyes shifted for the hunt. Wade let loose a low growl and gave me one shake of the head. He glanced at Nerissa, then back at me. Suddenly aware of where we were, and that one wrong move could set off a panic among the Puma crowd who might misinterpret what was going on, I closed my eyes and fought for control as I edged my way back from the abyss. Damn it. It would be so easy to push Wade aside, to sweep Nerissa under my spell, into my arms, to taste her blood, to leave a trail of kisses down her body…

"Menolly. Stop. Now."

The words echoed through my passion-addled brain and I opened my eyes to find myself staring at an old hag, a woman cloaked in forest gray with steel teeth. She had more lines on her face than a tree had rings.

Oh shit. Grandmother Coyote! I'd never met her, but Camille had, and her description was enough for me to know whom I was facing. My fangs retracted and I swallowed the lump that appeared in my throat. One of the Hags of Fate, Grandmother Coyote could wipe me off the map without so much as a whisper, and she'd do it without remorse if the need arose.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I…"

"It isn't her fault," Nerissa said. "I started it." She glanced over at Zach, who was staring at her, his face a crinkled mask of confusion.

"I don't care who started it," Grandmother Coyote said. "Remember where you are. Remember why you are here. Much hinges on this evening. Do not disappoint me." She turned away then, and made her way over to Camille, who smiled uneasily. "So, are those demon fingers proving handy, my dear?" she asked, as I slowly relaxed and turned back to the werepumas.

Zach stared at Nerissa. "What the hell is going on? Nerissa?"

She shrugged. "I think I'll be staying in town after the meeting, cousin," she said, shooting a questioning look at me.

I hesitated. I hadn't given myself to anyone since Dredge. He was the last man—living or dead—to touch me in my most private of places. Was I ready for another relationship? The thought of a man's hands on me scared me shitless—the memory of Dredge still way too fresh. But a woman… not just any woman but there was something about Nerissa… Could I take her into my world and keep her safe? I gazed at her as she blew me a gentle kiss. I had to find out, one way or another.

"She's staying at our house for the night, Zach. Nerissa, you can ride back with me." Without another word, I turned and headed back to the front of the room where my sisters were in a whispered conference with Wade, Sassy, Grandmother Coyote, Morio, and Trillian. Iris had taken over hostess duties and was greeting folks at the door, putting them at ease.

Camille cleared her throat. "Good of you to join us," she said dryly. "People are starting to trickle in. We've lined up several guards from the major clans to keep order and planted them around the room. Let's hope nobody gets his muzzle bent out of shape."

I glanced around the rapidly filling hall. Most of the groups who agreed to participate had sent a handful of emissaries, the number depending on the size and position of the clan within the Supe community.

The Rainier Puma members stood out, of course, with their height and their Scandinavian good looks. But the wolf clans were just as striking. Lean and muscled, the majority of their members looked Mongolian by nature and they walked with a refined arrogance that was hard to ignore. There were members in from the Olympic Wolf Pack, the primary pack in the state, but also a few from the Loco Lobo and Cascadia Packs.

The werepumas were limited to two groups—the Rainier Pumas and the Icicle Falls Pride, who were leaner and shorter than Zach's group. They rivaled Trillian for the obsidian glow of their skin, but Trillian had that OW look in his eyes and his hair was brilliant platinum, while the Icicle Falls Pride looked more like earthborn humans than Fae. They were black panthers, hiding out in the wilds of the forests, and their hair was as dark as their skin.

Camille hedged in beside me, Trillian right behind her. She nodded at the door. "Looks like some of the real closet cases have decided to show."

She was right. I wasn't sure just what kind of Supes they were, but a group of three disparate looking characters entered the room. And characters they were, with a fashion sense that looked about two hundred years out-of-date. I nodded at her and said, "Let's go greet our new friends."

We headed over in their direction and Camille gasped. "They're old Fae, Menolly. Very old Fae. I can feel it from here."

A woman and two men, they turned as we approached.

Their eyes glowed with an inner light impossible to miss. I wasn't sure whether they belonged to the Sidhe, or whether they were from a line far older than that, but whoever they were, the pall of dark magic hung heavy in their auras.

The men were average height, on the short side even, but they were sturdy with shoulder-length hair caught back in braids, and they wore golden cloaks around their shoulders. The woman was shorter than me, four-eleven at best, with long dark hair and a silver crescent branded on her forehead.

She inclined her head ever so slightly toward Camille. "Good meet, my Sister of the Moon."

Camille seemed transfixed, her face flushed with excitement. She returned the bow and held out her hands. "Welcome. We sure didn't expect to see the likes of you come through these doors."

Still in the dark as to who they were, I cleared my throat. "Camille, do you know this woman?"

Camille glanced at me, a wary look on her face. "Mind your manners," she whispered, then turned back to the trio. "Thank you for coming. We need all the help we can get."

"We'll reserve our decision on whether to get involved until we know more," the younger of the men said. He glanced at me. "Creature of the night, and yet one of us… though not quite. You and your sisters are from the Otherworld, correct?"

I inclined my head slightly, still wary. "I'm Menolly D'Artigo, this is my sister Camille, and the blonde over there is Delilah. We're from Otherworld, yes, though our mother was Earthside human. And you are?" Camille might be willing to pussyfoot around them but until I knew who they were, I wasn't about to drop to my knees for anybody.