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“Yeah,” she said, pushing herself up and wiping off what she could of the gunk that clung to her clothing. “I’m cold and wet, but I’ll be all right.” She shivered and Trillian offered her his duster, but she shook her head. “I move better without a long coat. I’ll be fine for a bit.”
I considered trying to dry her off with a spell, but the better part of wisdom prevailed, and I refrained.
“You cannot travel while chilled. Take off your clothes and lay them down on the ground.” At her look, he shook his head. “Just do it.”
Delilah obeyed as Smoky moved to the edge of the bog and, without another word, was in his dragon shape again. He swung his long neck toward her clothes and let out a great belch. Instead of fire, smoke came out, and soot. Even from where I was standing I could feel the intense heat behind the gust of air, and after two or three more puffs, he turned to her and blew a gentler gust over her.
“Thank you, Smoky.” She grinned at him, and headed over to her clothes, which were dry, if still dirty. As she pulled on the stiff material, she caught my gaze and shook her head, trying not to laugh. I repressed a smile as Smoky shifted back and—looking pleased with himself—motioned for us to move on.
As we headed inland, toward the mushroom ring, my only regret was that Smoky hadn’t managed to kill Yannie Fin Diver. Right now, I wasn’t feeling very merciful toward my enemies.
We came to the mushroom ring before long, and once again a surge of trickster energy blasted out from it. Trillian blinked, shaking his head.
“Damn, whatever sort of gateway it is, it’s strong. And cunning.”
“Cunning is right. Remember—Chase was captured by what sounds like a spider-related Fae. Cunning and webweavers go hand in hand. Spider creatures are smart.” I pointed toward the edge of the ring. “I put my arm through there and it was kind of freaky. Okay, we ready for this?”
Smoky grunted and started to take the lead, but Trillian motioned him back. “This is Fae territory, dude. This is more my speed than yours. You stick close to Camille and Delilah.” He stepped forward, and, reluctantly, Smoky moved back, a skeptical look on his face.
We tied up—portals like this weren’t safe to travel through without having some connection to one another. Otherwise, who knew if we’d end up in the same place? Then, without another word, Trillian stepped through, me following, then Smoky and Delilah.
Most portals are disorienting; this was a freak show. The moment I passed through, a spiral of colors began to run around me as reality melted into a swirl of color and sound. I was still tied to Trillian, but the only thing I could see were brilliant blues and greens, rotating in on themselves, like the spiral on the old Outer Limits program.
My body felt like it was melting, it was so hot. Sweat trickled down my forehead, slowly forming rivulets along my cheeks. Droplets trickled down my nose, onto my tongue as I reached out to catch one. Salty. Sweet. I wanted to rip my clothes off—the heat was stifling. As I considered undoing my capelet, something in the back of my mind whispered, Don’t—it’s the portal. It will pass. Don’t fall for it.
Keeping my wrap on, I shifted beneath it, the pain fading from my thighs, from my heart, from my back and bones. All I could feel was the heat—the mind-numbing heat, the heat rising in my body, spreading through my stomach, making me ache for someone strong to come along, to push me down on the ground and fill me full. I struggled not to strip bare at the thought that Trillian might be close enough to touch.
Music swept up—panpipes and drums, a tambourine, a lute—the dance called me in. To dance, to spin, to whirl under the stars, to leap into the great cosmic orgasm of the universe and never stop dancing . . . the swell of desire rose within my heart and I began to wander away from the path, but the rope around my waist stopped me.
Confused, I stared at the nylon coil wrapped around me, wondering how to get rid of it, when someone on the other end tugged—hard. Unprepared, I went sailing forward, stumbling through the swirls of color until the heat suddenly lessened and I tripped, finding myself lying prone in a snow-covered meadow, with Trillian waiting anxiously. Oddly, the snow didn’t feel all that cold.
He knelt by me and took me by the shoulders. “Camille, are you all right?”
I looked around, perplexed. Smoky and Delilah were there already, but I’d been second. “How . . . what happened?”
“You got lost in there. The energy is magnetic and glom-med onto you. We were trying our best to pull you out, but you were resisting. What was it?” My love searched my face, the dark gleaming skin of his hands stark against my skin. I kissed his fingers, reveling in the feel of them against my face. The seducing energy still held me in its grasp.
“I . . . I wanted to strip naked and run . . . to screw my brains out with somebody.” I inhaled deeply and slowly let it out. After a moment, my head began to clear. “Whoever opened that portal is powerful and has a yen for magical energy. It’s not quite the same as the portal through which we initially came, but there was the same seductive pull—the same sort of siren song.”
“Hmm . . . perhaps a creature who feeds on magical energy?” Smoky extended his hand and I placed my left in it, my right in Trillian’s, and allowed them to lift me to my feet.
“It wouldn’t be the first we’ve met like that. Come on, let’s see where we’re at.” As we began to look around, I realized that although we were in a frosty meadow, everything had an artificial look to it—as if it were two-dimensional. It was almost as though we were on a movie set.>He covered my hand with his for a moment, then nodded. “As you wish. We will discuss it when you are ready. And I will do everything in my power to make sure you’re never hurt again.”
Uh-oh. That sounded a little too ivory-towerish for me, but I knew he needed to say it—needed to feel he could keep some control of the situation. Nodding, I motioned to Trillian and Delilah, who were waiting up ahead.
“Let’s go get Chase.” I sucked in a deep breath, wondering when life would ever return to normal. If that were even possible.
We approached the portal, and I turned to them. “I have to go first, but we form a chain. Once we’re inside, we head toward the mushroom ring. Now that Smoky’s with us, we can go through it and still get out of wherever we end up. And once we go through, I think from there, we head to the astral. That’s where Chase managed to jump over.”
They nodded. Delilah tossed me a bag, and I opened it up. “My iron! You brought me my handcuffs and flail!” For the first time since Hyto had caught me, I felt a smile truly break over my face.
She handed me a pair of gloves. “You’ll need these, too. Now let’s go get our detective.”
We formed a line, with me in the front. Smoky insisted on being second, and neither Delilah nor Trillian countered him. Delilah went third, Trillian last. As we took aim toward the portal, I took a deep breath and led them through. The crackling energy was like a recharging burst of ocean air, and I sucked it in, holding it within my breath, within my very cells. I needed the charge. The surge of power felt like a glass of long, cold water to my parched body.
Through the portal and we were once again standing in the jungle of frosty foliage. Smoky and Trillian went on instant alert, Trillian drawing his serrated blade. Delilah and I glanced around. Neither Tra nor Herne was anywhere in sight, and I slowly let out my breath.
Now if we could just keep Yannie Fin Diver at bay, we might get through it without too much of a battle. But I didn’t have my unicorn horn with me, so that should take care of the latter. He’d been after the horn, not so much me. With a little luck, if we hurried past the bog, he might not notice we were here.
