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"How are you feeling this morning? Any better?" Smoky propped himself up against the headboard and patted his lap. I squirmed up to lay my head on the soft Egyptian cotton sheets, and he smoothed my hair away from my face as Morio ran his hand gently over my back, lightly massaging my aching muscles.
I winced. "I'm sore as hell, and I feel two quarts low on joy juice. Seriously, I depleted all my reserves last night. And for what? The demons won."
"The demons may have won this battle, but they haven't won the war," Smoky said. "Always remember: no one is unilaterally successful. We can't let this stop us if we're to prevent them from getting any more of the seals. But we'll have to be very careful from now on. Shadow Wing will be able to make use of the power in that gem, even if it's not full strength."
"Stop us?" I glanced at his face. "You aren't headed toward the Northlands?"
He shrugged, smiling gently. "It seems, since I'm to marry you, my plans are subject to change."
I forced myself to sit up. Sweet mother, every part of me hurt. "I feel like I'm bruised from head to toe." I bent my knees up and propped my elbows on them, leaning my chin on my hands. "What are we going to tell Queen Asteria? She's counting on us."
"We'll figure that out when we talk to her," Morio said. "But last night does answer one question."
"And what's that?" I blinked, jonesing for some caffeine so bad I had the shakes. "I need coffee. Now."
He snorted. "You always need caffeine. The question I'm referring to is why you seem to take to death magic so easily when your own innate Moon magic fritzes out a lot."
Smoky began rubbing my shoulders, and I melted under his hands. The night was starting to come back—after the fight, returning home—and then I blushed as images flooded my mind. Smoky and Morio in my bed, leading me out of the pain, out of the sorrow over our failure, helping me to forget the battle. Smoky bracing me up as Morio thrust deep inside of me, Smoky's hair once again coiling around my wrists… oh yeah … No wonder I was so sore in places no punch nor flying bolt of magic had touched. This was going to be one hell of a rocket ride, all right.
"So tell us," Smoky said. "I'd like to know, too."
Morio slid down to the bottom of the bed and began rubbing my feet. If I'd been Delilah, I'd be purring like an outboard motor.
"It's because of your heritage," he said. "Morgaine is one of your ancestors. Morgaine works with heavy magic—not unlike Aeval—and her connection with the Moon Mother is through the shadowed side. She said you both come from the original family who founded the Coterie of the Moon Mother. Camille, you must have inherited some of the same magical ability that Morgaine did. You think you work best under the full moon, but my guess is the dark of the moon will sing in your blood, too, with all of the shadows that walk beneath it."
It made sense, I had to admit. Perhaps my link to the Moon Mother went beyond the half-Fae, half-human aspects. Perhaps I had focused on the wrong phase of the moon when I'd studied with the Coterie.>"You know I can't give it to you; I can't let you have it. Shadow Wing must not be allowed to break the seals." I held my ground, trying to buy us some time. Show fear, and it would be over before I could breathe.
The Raksasa let out a growl and motioned to Jassamin. She nodded and moved forward. She was wearing a skintight PVC catsuit and thigh-high boots, and I swore that if she died and I managed to live, I was stealing her outfit. She threw back her head and laughed.
"Djinn against Moon Witch. Fitting, but you look bedraggled to me. Tired, sweetie?" And with that, she let loose and sent a blast of wind at me.
I braced myself, trying to throw up what shields I could. The bolt of air hit me head-on, but instead of breaking every bone in my body and sending me flying, seconds before it touched my skin, the gust parted and flowed around me on both sides.
What the… ?
"I am here. We will do what we can to protect you, though we can't give you the energy to cast spells."
The Master of Winds. The Elementals were trying to help me. Jassamin jerked back, staring at me quizzically. I took advantage of her confusion and leapt toward her, slashing out with the sword. The silver nicked her skin, and she let out a howl as the blade sizzled against her. Apparently djinns did not like silver. At least, not this one.
"Bitch," she said with a hiss, and backhanded me across the face. That blow struck, and I went flying back to land beside Feddrah-Dahns.
The unicorn began incanting something in a language I didn't recognize, as Chase grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I had barely managed to stand when Jassamin was on us again, this time a razor-sharp scimitar in her hand. She swung wildly, barely missing me, but the blade made contact, landing on Feddrah-Dahns's shoulder before the unicorn could get out of the way. He let out a loud whinny as blood spurted to stain his milk-white coat. Mistletoe screamed, showering the ground with pixie dust.
A haze began to rise between the demons and us. I frantically glanced around the cave, searching for something more than the sword to use as a weapon.
Jassamin burst through the mist, her eyes watering. She was sans scimitar, but she was still aiming for me. I stumbled, trying to get out of the way, but there was nowhere to go from where I was standing. Instead of attacking, Jassamin grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward her. Her strength was immense; there was no way I could pull away.
"No!" I tried to focus the Moon Mother through me, but it was like trying to coax water out of an empty tap. I just couldn't muster the energy to summon the lighting. Not even a spark.
"Good, very good," Karvanak said as Jassamin pushed me into his arms. He gave me an insolent grin. "First the seal…"
"Please don't… Think of what you're doing. Do you really want to destroy two worlds? No one in their right mind can see the—" The feel of his fist smashing into my jaw shut me up, and I moaned, tasting blood in my mouth.
He laughed, then, and thrust his hand down my top, fumbling in my bra. A light glimmered in his eye that I didn't like as he felt for the seal. I froze, praying that some miracle would happen, but his fingers found it between my breasts, and he wrapped his hand around it the gem.
"If we had more time," he whispered, pulling me close, "I'd eat you up, I would. In so many ways, ending at the table. But I'm on a schedule…"
I heard Chase shouting and turned my head to see him grappling with Jassamin. "Chase, no! Leave her alone. She'll kill you!"
