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“Love, what the hell happened? You look shaken up.” Nerissa was an Amazon of a woman. Aphrodite incarnate, she was five-ten, with a tawny mane that shook out wild and shaggy when she took it down from the chignon she usually wore. Curvy, she was voluptuous and ripe, and every time I saw her, all I could think was how wonderful it was that this woman was mine.
My lover, my wife, my companion. I played her body like a rock star’s guitar—wild, passionate, and with a grip that wouldn’t quit. And Nerissa gave as good as she got… she took me to heights no one else could. Roman, I could roughhouse with. With Nerissa, I soared.
I leaned into her arms, resting my head on her chest. “I had an accident.”
“You what? Oh, my gods!” Nerissa pushed me back, staring at me. “Are you all right?” She immediately began to pat me down, looking for broken bones. Delilah took off out of the kitchen and I heard her calling for Camille and Morio. I snorted. That told me what those two had been up to. They never went to bed this early unless they were up for a little action.
“I’m all right. I was shaken, but not hurt. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for my Jag.”
Vanzir headed outside to check on the car despite the fact that he had even less of a clue on how they worked than I did.
Nerissa shoved me toward the table and made me sit down. “What on earth happened?”
“Rain-slicked road. I skidded and went hydroplaning. The other driver was going too fast, too. But it was very odd… and I have no idea what to make of it all.” I dropped into one of the chairs, leaning on the table with my elbows. “An OW Fae hit me. But… she vanished before the cops could talk to her.”
“Whose fault was it?” Nerissa pulled a bottle of blood out of the refrigerator—one that Morio had enchanted, so it would taste like something other than type O negative. She popped it in the microwave for a moment.
I shook my head. “Hers. I was going under the speed limit and she pulled out from that driveway like a bat out of hell. I told the cops that, too. I’m not taking the heat for it. I tried to stop but skidded into her. If I hadn’t hit her just right, my Jag would have been mincemeat. She was driving a big old SUV.”
By that time, Camille and Morio had come running down the stairs, dressed in their robes. Camille was flushed and I had no doubt what they’d been up to. Delilah also had Shade in tow. As Nerissa handed me my warmed blood—which tasted like chicken soup—Vanzir popped back inside.
“The Jag looks like it hit the wrong side of a dubbatroll. I doubt if you’re going to get out for under a couple grand on damages, but it’s still drivable.” He shrugged. “At least you were able to make it home.”
I groaned. “Yeah. Would one of you take it to Jason’s tomorrow, to see what he says?” I looked around. “Is Trillian still here?” Trillian had returned home through the portals, escorting Amber and Luke, two friends who had also been caught in the destruction of Elqaneve. Shadow Wing would love to get his hands on them, since they both possessed spirit seals. Now that Queen Asteria was dead and Elqaneve in ruins, it was up to us to hide them and keep them safe.
“No. He went back to OW this evening. They need him there.” Camille’s eyes flickered, and her voice betrayed her worry. “Amber and Luke are sleeping. The spirit seals put high demands on their energy.”
“Damn fine thing. You do realize that, whatever plans Queen Asteria had for the Keraastar Knights, they’ve gone the way of the buffalo? Unless Aeval or Titania knows what her agenda was, we have no clue what she was up to. The knights are bound to their spirit seals—they’ll die if we try to separate them.”
There was no good answer to that one.
“When are the dragons coming for them?” Delilah asked.
Smoky had contacted the Dragon Reaches, and his mother and the Wing Liege had agreed to hide the knights for us. They owed Camille big-time, and this fell directly into the help they’d promised to give her.
“Within a couple of days. They are preparing for them now.” Camille turned as Hanna wandered into the room.
“I heard voices.” She rubbed her eyes. She’d obviously been in bed. So I launched into recounting the evening’s activities again. They needed to know about the Utopia, as well.
“I think we may have a serial arsonist targeting vampire bars. We’re going to have to take action before anybody else gets hurt.”
Hanna headed over toward the sink. “I don’t know about these fires, but the Fae woman you crashed into? She’s trouble. There has to be some reason she vanished. My guess is she was waiting for you. She was parked in the driveway of someone she didn’t know, and pulled out at the very moment you passed by? Too much of a coincidence.” As she put on the kettle, Hanna glanced over her shoulder. “I might as well bake a batch of cookies since you’re all up. I made the dough earlier so all I have to do is fire up the oven.”
I frowned. “Too much about the accident doesn’t add up. At first, I thought she’d just been careless, but yeah. Too many questions. And as to her disappearing? There has to be a reason she didn’t want to talk to the cops. She seemed unsettled when I told her I’d called them.”
“I’d think it was insurance fraud, but you have to stick around to file a claim. Have you called her agency yet?”
“Fraud? Seems more up an FBH’s alley than Fae.” I pulled out my phone, along with the information Eisha had given me, and punched in the 24-hour emergency number. I didn’t have to wait long—miracle of miracles.
The operator who came on the line took my information and asked me to hold, but when he returned, he sounded puzzled. “I’m sorry, Ms. D’Artigo, but we don’t have a record of having anyone by that name as a client, or the SUV in question. I checked our records for the license plate to be certain. Are you sure you have the correct information?”
I knew I hadn’t written anything down wrong. “Yeah, I’m sure. I guess she lied to me. Are you sure, though? You don’t even have a lapsed policy under that name or license?”
Another moment and then, “No, I’m sorry. Nothing. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
I hung up. “Great, the insurance information? A fraud. Want to bet she’s using a fake name, too? That caps it. For some reason, she tried to run me down and when she didn’t manage to get the results she wanted, she vanished. Which means…”
“She was probably trying to kill you. You said yourself that, had she been a fraction more on-target, your car would have been history. That could change the whole face of the game.” Camille glared at the table. “So what about… could Lowestar be behind this attack, too? We know he’s got to be the one behind burning down the Wayfarer. So was he sending another message this time, or was he trying to kill you in the bar’s fire, as well? Catch you in the blaze?”
