Feddrah-Dahns blinked. "My personal servant. A pixie."
Smoky let out a loud guffaw. "I see. You entrusted a fabled artifact to a pixie. Brilliant."
Uh-oh. That was an insult if ever I heard one. I backed away, noticing that Delilah and Iris were doing the same. Even Chase had the sense to excuse himself into the kitchen, presumably looking for caffeine. Menolly swiftly resumed hovering near the ceiling. She almost looked pleased, and the thought crossed my mind that my vampire sister might make a good addition to the Ultimate Fighting lineup. She enjoyed a good brawl, that was for sure.
Feddrah-Dahns let out an exasperated snort and a whiff of steam and mist rose from his nostrils as he shook his mane. "You presume too much, dragon. Mistletoe happens to be a extremely effective courier. His attackers overcame him with magic."
"Magic? But pixies are immune to most magic. At least, most Fae magic." Apparently Smoky knew his pixie lore. After a moment, he said, "What kind of magic can take down a pixie?"
"Precisely the question," Feddrah-Dahns said. "What kind, indeed? Pixies are the best choice for runners and couriers because they can't be affected by most spells from the Fae, whether Otherworld or Earthside. Which means this wasn't Fae magic at work. And it couldn't be human magic; no human has the power to stop a pixie. But there are darker spells, and magicians…" His voice trailed off.
"I wonder if magic of this sort has been detected lately? Pentangle, the Mother of Magic, might know." Menolly glanced over at me. "Perhaps we should ask her."
"I don't want to run to the Hags of Fate every time we have a problem. Look at what happened last time we asked an Elemental Lord for help," I said, nodding at Delilah. "Procuring a demon's finger was child's play compared to what happened to Kitten."
Delilah let out a loud sigh. "Don't remind me," she said, rubbing her forehead. The black crescent tattooed on her brow shimmered, all too alive and vivid.
"Speaking of magic, I've come to take Camille back to my barrow. I have need of her services." Smoky looked at me, then slowly patted his lap.
I swallowed the taste of my lunch again, which suddenly decided to make a long-distance phone call. Some Turns would be nice now. Or Mylanta. Or a good stiff drink. I glanced at Menolly and Delilah, but they merely shrugged.
Returning from the kitchen in time to catch Smoky's comment and gesture, Chase looked about to say something, but Delilah gave him a warning shake of the head, and he closed his mouth.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slid onto Smoky's lap. He wrapped one arm around my waist and gave me a delighted smile. As his fingers lightly pressed against my waist, my whole body gave a little shudder, and before I knew what was happening, I threw back my head, gasping as a wave of orgasm hit me. Cripes, he was on fire! And so was I. Hastily gathering my wits, I blushed and hurried to cover my tracks. "What do you want me to do?"
"Do you really want me to answer that in front of your friends and family?" Smoky snorted, and a little puff of steam rose from his nose.
I stared at him. Inserting foot in mouth, do not pass go. "I mean, why do you want me to come out to your land? This time. Today… that is."
"I don't believe it! Camille's actually blushing!" Delilah grinned like a Cheshire cat.
Menolly laughed, deep and throaty. "She is at that, Kitten. I'd like to be a fly on the wall of that barrow…"
"It's not my debt he's calling in," I said, protesting.
"She's right," Smoky said, relenting. "There's something going on out on my land, and I want your opinion. I choose to avoid getting entangled until I know more about what I'm facing."
Chase scowled. "What's going on? We already have a butt load of crap to contend with."
Smoky shifted. I started to get up, but he held tight to my waist, and once again, the heat from his hands burned into me. "It seems I have a visitor. I need you to find out just what she's up to. I believe you met her a couple months ago."
I glanced over at Menolly, who shrugged. "Who is it? And why don't you just ask her what she wants, yourself?"
He let out a slow laugh, almost ominous. "I don't care for the lady. I find her… off-putting. And Titania had some dealings with her centuries ago. The two are at odds. But she wants something, and she's made camp out near my barrow. I think she's trying to find Titania, to be honest, but the Fae Queen emeritus is making herself scarce these days."
I frowned. Who the hell was he talking about? But I knew better than rush him. He'd spill it when he was ready.
"This morning," he added leisurely, "a murder of crows came winging in, with one large raven at the forefront. They landed near Titania's barrow and were pecking around. I fried them for breakfast, save one as a warning to their mistress."
A murder of crows . . . hell's bells.
"I know who you're talking about," I said, prying my way out of his lap. I whirled around to face him. "Morgaine—Morgaine's on your land, isn't she?"
He tapped his forehead. "I knew you'd get it."
Feddrah-Dahns whinnied and stomped his feet. The look in his eye was far from friendly. "You must not let her know about the horn! She's been looking for it long and hard. Morgaine came to the Windwillow Valley not five months past to demand our help. We ran her off."
I slowly turned back to the unicorn. "What on earth does Morgaine want with the horn?" Other than to obtain incredible power, that is.
He nervously pranced in place. "I don't know, but I have a feeling it has to do with the Unseelie Court."
Chapter Six
"The Unseelie Court?" I shook my head. "But the supreme courts of Fae were abandoned right before the Great Divide. They only exist in memory now."
Delilah settled on the sofa, cross-legged. "It doesn't make sense."
"No, it doesn't." I turned back to Smoky. "Aeval, the Unseelie Queen, disappeared thousands of years ago. No one knows where she went to or if she's alive or dead. And Titania's pretty much running on empty, as we know."
Titania had been the Seelie Queen before the Great Divide, Aeval the Unseelie Queen. Aeval had been a terrifying spectacle of a woman, as beautiful and cruel and ruthless as Titania had been beautiful and gracious… and ruthless.
Smoky let out a perturbed huff. "I have no idea what Morgaine is up to, but I don't want her on my land. However, I thought you might like to find out what she has in mind before I turn her into my lunch." He stood, nearly knocking his head against the chandelier on the ceiling. He brushed past it with an irritated wave of the hand.
"As I said, Titania's in hiding," he added. "After you took that annoying man of hers away, she sank into a drunken stupor and disappeared inside her barrow. I believe she blames me for letting you take Tom. So, if I were you, I wouldn't count on her for help."
Iris headed toward the kitchen. "I'll get us all some tea. I think we can use it."
"Let me help you," Chase said, following her. "I'm about as useless as a blank book when it comes to Fae queens and Supe politics."
Menolly slowly lowered herself to ground level. "Morgaine was always a power-hungry thing. I wonder…"
I glanced at her. "Wonder what? Do you think she's trying to resurrect the past, only with herself at the helm? That's a possibility. But if so, why would she be seeking the Merlin? He'd put a stop to her plans immediately if she's looking to create a new Unseelie Court. Morgaine was his greatest pupil, but she's more apt to pull a Darth Vader on him than actually follow in his footsteps."
Delilah grabbed a bowl of Fritos off the table and began to munch. "The problem is, if any of the Fae queens—including any aspiring applicants—are looking to stage a comeback, there must be something going on to spur them into action. Are they looking to gain power to fight the demons? Maybe rally the Earthside Fae against the coming war? Remember, Morgaine did show up at the first Supe Community meeting we had. By the way, we've scheduled the next meeting in three weeks to see what progress everybody's made by then."
"Whatever the case, we can't ignore her," Feddrah-Dahns said. "If Morgaine were to gain possession of the horn of the Black Beast, she'd be as formidable as a demon and more unpredictable. She's never respected humanity, even though she's half-human like yourselves."
I glanced at the calendar. We were days away from the equinox. Could there be a connection between Morgaine's appearance and the coming holy day? There were too many questions and not enough answers.
"So what are our priorities? In order?" Menolly asked as Iris entered the room, tea tray in hand. It was almost as big as she was, I thought. We needed to buy a tea caddy for her.
Smoky graciously took the tray from her and set it on the coffee table. She gave him a winsome smile, her golden hair shimmering in the dim light.
"Well, obviously, our top priority is to find the third spirit seal before the Raksasa does. Second, locate Mistletoe and the horn, and destroy the demon spying for Shadow Wing." I accepted the cup of steaming tea and settled back in the rocking chair, letting the fragrant scent of Richya blossoms waft up to soothe my throbbing head. "And third, we deal with Morgaine and whatever the hell she's up to. I suppose we better find out if she's in league with Shadow Wing first. That's still a possibility."
"Morgaine? Involved with Shadow Wing?" echoed a voice from the hall. The door closed, and Trillian, my Svartan lover and the alpha member of my triad, sauntered into the living room. With skin black as obsidian and silver hair tinged with cerulean that cascaded down to the middle of his back, he was refined, elegant, and his eyes glinted robin's-egg blue, haunting in their magnetism.
Oh, hell. Trillian and Smoky were constantly bickering. The chances for a testosterone match had just jumped sky high.
I started to sweep past dragon-boy when Smoky reached up and pulled me down on his lap again, nuzzling my ear. He was staring directly at Trillian, a hint of challenge baiting that icy cold look of his.
"Not really necessary—not now!" I pushed my way out of his embrace.
Trillian glowered. "I thought I smelled the stench of dragon sweat outside. I see I was right. What are you doing here?"
I tapped Trillian on the shoulder. "Pull in the claws."
"I need to speak with you." He was testy, all right. "Alone. Now."
I shrugged and pointed to the parlor. "Fine. I'll meet you in there." Private was good. Privacy might prevent bloodshed.
Trillian strode past me, ignoring Smoky as he crossed in front of him. I flashed a tight smile to Menolly and Delilah. "While I'm filling Trillian in on what's happened, why don't you guys try to figure out where Mistletoe might have gotten himself lost to. If he hasn't used a Whispering Spell to contact Feddrah-Dahns again, he might be worried the goblin can home in on it and use it like radar. And Menolly, can you keep your ears open at work tonight? Maybe you can glean some information about where to find the demon."
Delilah flashed me an impish grin. "And what are you going to be doing?"
"Gee, I dunno. Try to defuse a bomb before it blows?" I shot a scathing look at Smoky. "Got anything to say about that? Or do you just enjoy creating havoc for me?"
He met my bet and raised me twenty. He folded his arms and planted himself in the middle of the room. "I like watching you handle your men. I've seen you handle Morio, remember?"
Once again, I blushed. Smoky had been witness to the first time when Morio and I hit the sheets. Or the grass, rather. We'd been bewitched, and Smoky had a front-row seat for the tryst of the century, though we hadn't known he was there at the time. Hell, under that lust spell, I doubt if we would have even cared. I whirled toward the parlor.
"Camille," he said, and I stopped short. His voice had dropped a good octave, and I felt the force behind the command.
"What?" My voice squeaked, and he grinned.
"Good, you're paying attention. Be sure to tell the Svartan that you may be his, but I'm still a dragon, and he'd do best to remember it." He winked, but I could tell he was deadly serious, and I had the distinct feeling I'd been given a warning that might save Trillian's life.
As I entered the parlor, Trillian silently held out his hand, and I walked over to his side. He pulled me into his arms and held me for a moment, nuzzling my neck. My skin began to tingle, as I always did when I was close to him. As magnetic as Smoky was, Trillian was familiar territory, safe and inviting.
"So, he's come to claim you?" He stepped back, his expression aloof, but a grumble in his voice told me just how he felt.
"He didn't come to collect on his debt. Not yet. But he will soon, and you know that I have no choice. The deal was struck, and I always pay my debts."
"This is ridiculous," Trillian said with a growl. "Fox Boy, I can handle. In fact, I've gotten used to him, and he's all right, though don't you dare tell him I said that. But the idea of that dragon mauling you repulses me."
I could tell he was close to exploding. The fact that we'd both recently healed up from some serious wounds—Trillian from an arrow, and me from a vampire's claws—made us both vulnerable to injury. If Trillian got into it with Smoky, I wasn't sure he'd make it through alive.
"Listen to me," I said. "You know that you're my alpha lover, and that's the way I want it. Smoky's a dragon. He could skin you alive with a flick of his talons. But he's also one of our greatest allies. We can't afford to tick him off. And…"
