Darkling

"How are you doing?" I sat down next to him. "Have my sisters filled you in on what life's like over here?"

"I spent all morning watching tee-vee," he said, elongating the es. "I never quite realized how alien humans are. I had no idea how big of a schism has evolved over the millennia. I still thought they rode in buggies and fought with swords."

"Like we do at home?" I said, grinning. "Face it, we developed magic, they developed technology."

Shamas laughed. "Point taken. But how have you managed it? How did you adapt to the differences? I don't know if I can handle walking among the head blind all the time."

I stared at him, well aware that both Delilah and Camille had paused at his comment. It didn't bother me so much but I knew that any time one of the Fae—family or stranger—made a disparaging comment about FBHs it hit home for my sisters with a nasty smack.

Standing up, I leaned over and gave him a quick but sharp slap on the cheek. "Shamas, darling, you better remember one thing. Our mother was human. Full-blooded human. And that makes the three of us half-human. Walking among the head blind is no more difficult than walking among pompous asses who rely on their magic instead of their brains. Understand?" I gave him a little hiss to punctuate the veiled threat.

Blinking, he glanced at my sisters, then back at me. "I'm sorry." He ducked his head. "I had no idea how that was going to sound. I guess I'm a little frightened. I know my way around Otherworld, but I don't dare show my face back there anytime soon. But here… I don't know how to survive. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Well, plenty of our relatives stood behind their insults," Delilah muttered. "At least here we don't have to put up with it—this is our home." She squinted at him, and I could see the glimmer in her aura foretelling a change.

"Kitten, calm down. We don't have time for you to shift." I glared at Shamas. "Don't upset her like that. She's very sensitive to family criticism."

"It's all right, sweetie," Chase said, resting his hand on Delilah's knee.

Delilah glared at Shamas. "I'll be all right." But I heard her mutter something under her breath that suspiciously sounded like, "Fuck you, too."

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Impatient, I floated toward the ceiling. I always felt better off the ground. "Delilah, find anything yet?"

Delilah nodded. "Okay, here it is. Sixty years ago, the Halcyon was a lumber warehouse. The barges came in from the peninsula where there was extensive logging going on. Thirty years ago, as the lumber industry took a hit, the warehouse was converted to a storage facility. Four years ago Exo Reed bought it, lock, stock, and barrel, and converted it into the Halcyon Hotel and Nightclub, serving primarily Earthside Supes and some OW visitors. No connection with the OIA that I can see. Hmm… considered a four-star joint."

"And Exo Reed?" Morio asked.

"Lycanthrope. Activist on several fronts—Supe rights, NRA…"

"Kids? Wife?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, he's married. Three kids. It also says here that Exo's president of the Seattle Hunters League."

"Great, just what we need. A good ol' boy who carries a rifle and turns into a werewolf on the full moon," Chase muttered.

I tried to stifle a laugh but it broke through. Camille and Delilah looked at me quizzically.

"Hey, the man has a point," I said. "Lycanthropes can get trigger happy come the full moon. Anyway, so being such an upstanding businessman and a family guy, Exo wouldn't be likely to give Dredge a room if he knew what kind of a sick monster he really is, ya think?"

"Especially since he and his family live in the hotel." Delilah glanced at one last Web site. "Okay, well, that's about all I can find right on the surface."

"I think we'd better pay the Halcyon Hotel and Nightclub a little visit." I jumped up and grabbed my keys. "Who's riding with who?"

Delilah slammed the lid of her laptop. "I'll ride with Chase."

"Camille and I'll go together," Morio said as she slid off his lap and straightened her dress.

"Can I come?" Shamas asked.

"No, you stay here with Iris. You aren't ready for the kind of fight we're looking at. Damn, I wish Trillian was back from—" A knock on the door interrupted me. "I'll get it."

As I opened the door, a swirl of snow blew in on a cold gust of wind, followed by Roz, who was holding a bloody towel to his neck.

"Crap, get in here!" I hustled him into the living room. "He's been hurt. Get some water and bandages while I…" Stopping suddenly, I backed away. His blood smelled like ambrosia and a wave of hunger rolled through me. I couldn't take my eyes off that bloody towel. "Camille—"

She heard the tremor in my voice and immediately ran to my side. "Go over in the corner and look out the window until you can steady yourself. Delilah, get Iris to help you—towels, water, and bandages. Now."

As Delilah hurried out of the room, I forced myself over to the window and stared out into the dark night, trying to ignore the fragrance that beckoned. After a moment, I was able to focus.

"What happened? Are you okay?" I asked, careful not to turn around.

"Yeah," came the rough reply. "I found them. I don't think I found Dredge's hangout, but I found the newborns. And that veg-head creature you call Wisteria."

"Wisteria? You found her? Where the hell is she?" I whirled around. The sight and smell of his blood didn't matter now—not when I knew that the little bitch was within our grasp.

Roz glanced up at my face and did a double take. "What the hell happened to you? You look so different," he said. "Calmer, if I had to guess."

"Never mind that. Just take my word for it. I can fight Dredge now, and I have a chance of winning. Tell us everything."

Delilah returned then, followed by Iris, bringing with them a basin of warm water, several towels, and a first-aid kit.

"I decided to scout around up by the zoo, since the attacks were taking place near there. By the way, did you see the headlines—"

"Yes, yes. Go on."

As Camille began to dab the wound with a warm washcloth, he winced. "Fine, just thought I'd ask. As I said, I went scouting. I decided to prowl around down by this one thicket of trees in the park, so I used a camouflage spell. Sure enough, about two hours ago, I heard what sounded like a struggle. I followed the noise and I saw one of the newborns that got away from us the other night. She was hanging around with a floraed."

"Floraed!"

"Yeah, by your description, I figure it's probably your babe. Anyway, that boy from the other night?"

"You mean the teenager?" Camille let out a long sigh.

"Yeah. He wandered into the thicket with a girl on his arm who couldn't have been more than sixteen. I don't think she knew what he was, but the minute she saw Wisteria and the other chick, she turned to run. Wisteria grabbed her and held her down so teen-boy could make a meal off of her right there."

"Did he succeed?" I gave him a hard look.

Roz cocked his head to the side. "You think I'm an amateur? I decided to break up their little party. The girl escaped with little more than a scare. The boy's toast, as is the other vamp. But Wisteria went crazy. That bitch caught me a good one with her nails." He jerked. "Ouch! What the hell are you doing?"

"Sit still," Camille said as she deftly slathered both an antibacterial ointment and a fungicide on his neck. "If you aren't careful, attacks from dryads can lead to a nasty fungal infection. Two more minutes and I'm done. One of these gashes is bad enough that I'm going to have to stitch it."

"Gross," Chase said, grimacing as he turned away. "You're going to sew the man's neck up? Here? I still can't believe the crap you girls expose me to. Next thing, you'll be introducing me to Frankenstein or… well, damn it, Dracula's real." He sighed so loudly that I snorted.

Shamas laughed. "They too much for you, man?"

"They're too much for any man," Chase said, flashing him a smile. "But I wouldn't change things. I guess."

Delilah wandered over to watch as Camille deftly wove the needle through the opposing sides of flesh, stitching up the worst of the gashes. "Boy, she got you worse than she got me," Delilah said, showing him the scar on her throat. "It seems Wisteria has a thing for throats. Maybe she wants to be a vampire?"

"I think it's more likely she's just lost every stitch of common sense she ever had. She's a scroo-loose, as bad as a rabid dog." Roz shivered as Camille leaned near his neck to bite through the thread. "Baby, you smell like sex," he whispered, wrapping one arm around her waist and speaking loud enough for the room to hear.

"What did I tell you—" I started to say, but Camille flicked him on the forehead with her thumb and index finger and sauntered away.

"And you smell like trouble." She grinned at him. "Hands off. I'm spoken for. Three times over."

"Touché." Roz looked around. "Okay, slap a bandage on this puppy and I'm ready to roll. I take it you were just heading out?"

"We know where Dredge is—"

"And I know where your friend is," Roz broke in. "That's the main reason I came—other than needing some TLC and a throat full of cat gut. No offense, Delilah."

"None taken," she said.

"You know where Erin is?" Camille leapt to her feet and shrugged on her capelet. "Why didn't you say so first thing?"

"Because I needed medical attention, wench. Anyway, yes, I smelled Erin. The newborns have her in their private little nest. I don't know where that is, exactly, but I'm pretty sure we'll find it in the general vicinity of Veggie-Girl."

"Then she's not with Dredge?" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If he didn't have her, she might not have been put through the wringer yet. On the other hand, that meant we still had to find her.

Camille broke in. "Dredge will keep for a few hours, but Erin might not. Especially if Wisteria's pissed. Look what she did to Delilah, to Roz… think what she could do to an FBH, Menolly. And you know how she feels about humans."

I stared at her. "You're right. Erin's in a nest of newborns, along with a wacked out floraed who has a bone to pick with humanity. Yeah, we have to go after her first. Roz, show us where you found them. Their nest has to be nearby."

He shrugged back into his duster. "Not a problem. Who's going besides you and me?"

"Delilah, Camille, Chase, and Morio." I glanced around. "Shamas, stay with Iris."

"I'll make sure he behaves," Iris said. "He can help Anna-Linda and me make cookies." And with that, she hustled our cousin out of the room before he had a chance to say a word.

I motioned to the door. "Let's roll." I wasn't sure how he'd gotten out to our house, but Roz hadn't come by car. "Roz, you come with me."

Delilah rode with Chase, of course, and Morio and Camille headed out in her Lexus. One thing for sure, I thought. We'd need a vacation by the time this was all over, because the playground we were headed for sure wasn't on the Travel Channel's top-ten list of destinations to see before we died.

CHAPTER 17

On the drive there, Roz unbuckled the belt of his duster and opened it, checking out his supplies. The clatter of metal was enough to tell me he was well armed. "Spikes, check. Nunchakus, check. Blow gun and darts, check. Micro Uzi, check. Daggers, check—"

"Slow down there, tiger. Did you say Uzi?" I glanced at him and sure enough, he was holding up what looked like a miniature machine gun. What the hell was an incubus doing with an automatic weapon? A nasty automatic weapon? "Where the hell did you get that?"

"I've got my sources," he said, grinning. "But this won't do us any good against vamps." He tucked it away in a shoulder holster and held up an assortment of spikes. "No, these, these babies are what we need tonight. By the way, I've also got silver chain and a few binding talismans… Let's see, what else…" He pulled his bag onto his lap and poked through it while I tried to keep my eyes on the road.

"You've got a regular arsenal there, cowboy. I'd still like to know why Queen Asteria sent you to us," I said.

"Yeah, well, I'd like to know a lot of things, too," he countered. "But she did, so just accept my help."

"Does she know you're packing all that crap?"

"Yeah, so don't sweat it." After zipping up the bag, he pulled his belt off, letting the duster hang open for easy access to his weapons.

I glanced at his skintight black leather pants, the mesh muscle shirt straining over finely honed pecs, and the glistening skin hiding beneath the clothing. His stomach glittered with a fine sheen through the mesh netting. Something flipped inside me, like a light switch, and I yanked my gaze back to the road. Enough of that.

He met my gaze with an insolent smirk. "Like what you see?"

"I'll ignore that. We're out to save Erin. Nothing else."

"Whatever you say." He shrugged obligingly. "But you do realize your friend might be…"

"Dead? Or worse? I know. Camille and Delilah do, too, but we can't just write her off. If there's any chance to rescue her, we have to try." I took a left on Aurora and headed south.