AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"It would have hurt more that way. This is going to sting when I clean it, but we have to make sure there aren't any metal shavings in there."
As he poured water over the wound, I gritted my teeth, promising myself I wouldn't scream. When he dried it and sprinkled on the antibiotic powder, I decided to forget my dignity.
"Great Mother, are you trying to torture me?"
"Breathe, breathe," he said, stroking the palm of my hand with one finger. As his flesh met mine, I began to lose track of the pain, and when he ran his fingers up my wrist, I had totally lost track of it, instead following the silken movements of his skin grazing my own.
"That's right, just follow my voice, breathe out the pain, feel only pleasure." His gaze met mine, and I wanted to jump him then and there. It was only with difficulty that I pulled my attention away.
"Feel better?" he asked, a smile playing on the corners of his lips, and the warm glow of his body receded back out of my aura.
I looked around the room. Delilah and Chase were watching me, and I wondered if they knew just how close I'd come to having an orgasm right there in the kitchen. Morio had been using his powers of mekuramashi on me.
"You should bottle that and sell it," I said hoarsely. "I'd buy a whole case."
"Only too happy to help. I'll help more, later." His voice was low enough so that only I could hear.
I swallowed hard, thinking that when we were done with Luke, there was only one sure way to relieve the tension we were under. "When we have the time," I said, and he leaned over and placed a light kiss on my lips.
Just then, Menolly returned. "Wisteria's locked up and the key is safe with me." She held it up for us to see, then slid it into her pocket. "Now, what about Luke?"
What about Luke, indeed?
"I guess there's no putting it off." I motioned to the living room, and we gathered around the fireplace. "If this works like it did with the harpy, then we're in trouble."
Delilah pulled out her long knife. Guns wouldn't work on Luke, unless we happened to have an AK-47, and that wasn't even in Chase's arsenal. Menolly extended her nails. Morio closed his eyes, and I could feel the energy rise around him as he summoned his magic. And Chase pulled a weapon out of his jacket, one I'd never seen him wield. A steel pair of nunchakus. I gave him a questioning look.
He smiled. "I do have a background in defense other than just pulling a trigger, Camille. Trust me, I know how to use these. You said bullets won't be effective against a demon of Luke's caliber, and somehow, I don't think bitch-slapping him will do any good, will it?"
I laughed. "Chase, you're all right. Okay, we're ready. I just wish Trillian was here with us—we could use his talents. Let's see," I said, looking around. "I need my scrying bowl, along with a bottle of clear spring water."
"I'll get it," Delilah said, taking the stairs two at a time.
"Anything I can do?" Chase asked, looking around the room. "Need any furniture moved or anything?"
"Thanks. I'd normally light candles, but Luke is a creature of fire, and if he shows up in the living room, I don't want any flames going. He could use them in his attack and burn down the house just that much easier." I frowned, looking around as I tried to assess what we might need. "I know. You can get the fire extinguisher from the kitchen. We could probably blind him with it. At least temporarily." The truth was, I had no idea what effect the foam would have on a demon, but it couldn't hurt to try.
Chase trotted into the kitchen and brought back the extinguisher. As he set it down next to me, I caught his hand in mine.
"Chase, I hope you and Delilah enjoy what you've found together—for however long it lasts," I said, keeping my voice low. For all I knew, Menolly and Morio were both listening in. All of us had better hearing than an FBH, but Chase didn't have to know that.
"I've been pretty snide to you over the months," I continued. "But Delilah likes you, and you seem to have lost your fear of being around her."
His eyes glimmered. "I know I've been a pain in your side since we met. You're just so… I don't know. Vital? Alive? But the other night when Delilah and I were working together alone, something just happened. I've never looked at her before like that, but without you around, I could see her for who she is."
I wanted to tell him he had no idea who she really was, that he'd barely scratched the surface. And I'd be right. But I also knew that was for him to discover, and for Delilah to reveal.
"Just remember, she's half-Sidhe. And the Sidhe may look human, but we're not." His expression told me I was about to overstep my bounds, so I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
"Okay, I'll want the coffee table in front of the armchair and—here comes Delilah with the bowl."
Delilah bounded into the room, my scrying bowl in one hand and in the other, a bottle of water that came from the Tygerian River back in Otherworld.
The Tygerian Well was a holy spring that bubbled up from a place high in the mountains. It flowed so quickly and so fast that it had become a river. The water and well were continually blessed by a group of priests who lived far up the slopes of Mount Tygera in an ancient monastery. The Order of the Crystal Dagger was one of the oldest spiritual brotherhoods in Otherworld, and the monks were as reclusive as they were deadly. However, they had no objection to people using the blessed water, as long as no one harmed or defiled the river, the monastery, or the mountain.
I poured the water into the bowl and set it on the table, waiting a moment for the ripples to settle. A few sparkles of light played on the surface. I motioned for everyone to be seated. "When I start, please be quiet. If Luke comes rampaging through some gateway from hell, then you'll be the first to attack because it will take me a moment to break out of trance. Are you ready?"
Everybody nodded.
