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“Why? Why would you say such a thing? Think such a thing?”
“I thought that maybe then I could be in your world. I could be with you in the ways you can’t take me now. We would be a good match.” She smiled then, and shook her head. “And after I thought about it, I realized that I can’t do it. I will never ask that of you, because then I wouldn’t be who I am. And Nerissa… the werepuma? That’s who I am. I made up my mind that, if I’m not enough for you, then that’s the way it will have to be.”>I turned to the others. “Get out. Get out of here now. We can’t stop him. He’s just too powerful. We need to know more before we take him on.” Even as I spoke, I was pushing them toward the door, Smoky helping me.
We raced out of the temple and to the stairs, running as fast as we could up the spiral case. As we cleared the broom closet, we didn’t bother going back to the basement or sewers. Smoky rampaged right through one of the plate glass windows and we made our way out. Another rumble and we crossed the street, heading for the parking lot. Five seconds later, the entire structure imploded, and a roiling storm billowed down the street, in clouds of dust and debris.
As we turned, staring at the destruction, a light rose from the chaos, and streaked into the sky. Suvika. He was awake and free, and who the fuck knew what that meant?
Chapter 19
As the pile of dust and debris settled, Shade came up beside us, the two captives with him. He’d given the girl his duster to cover her nakedness. The young man had been wearing a loincloth. Both looked shell-shocked and dazed.
“They’re still drugged. I found out her name is Sealy, and his is Grynald. She’s from Siobhan’s pod—a Selkie—and Grynald is a water nixie. For some reason, Lowestar decided to pick on the water Fae for sacrifices.”
Why? We would probably never know, but there had to be some reason.
“What the hell now?” Delilah stared up at the sky. “Suvika… he could be anywhere.”
“I’m hoping he decided to hike it a long, long ways away. But it’s been a while since he’s been in the world. Look at how much money there is flowing now… look at the corporate greed. He’s not going to go far, I think. Not with all the bright shiny toys to attract him.”
In the distance, sirens wailed as the fire department and the cops responded to what had to be an avalanche of 911 calls. The noise must have been heard around the city for miles. You don’t just explode an entire building without somebody taking notice.
“Let’s head back to Carter’s.” I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. We’d killed Lowestar—or rather, Suvika had—and considering a good share of his cronies appeared to have been with him, I had a feeling Supernatural Matchups was going down the toilet, as well as their slavery operation and a number of other sideline businesses.
We’d done a bang-up job… but everything felt surreal and I wondered if the others felt as confused as I did.
Slowly we headed to our cars. As we pulled out of the parking lot, the first-responders were starting to sift through the rubble. I called Nerissa to let her know we were safe. All in all, the night was turning out to be one hell of a clusterfuck.
Carter was waiting for us. I’d called ahead to let him know we were there. But he wasn’t alone. A woman was just getting ready to leave. She was tall—Delilah’s height—and she had long hair that tumbled down her back to her butt. Multicolored, it was dark brown with streaks of purple and blue running through it. She was muscled, sturdy, and busty, and there was something about her that struck me as odd. She seemed familiar. Something about her eyes struck me. They were brilliant blue, and flashing. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a V-neck tank, which showed off the muscles in her arms as well as her impressive cleavage. A silver belt wrapped the low-riders, ending in a knotwork buckle.
“I’d like you all to meet Shimmer, my date.” Carter introduced us one by one, and covered in dust and blood, we shook hands as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
She gave us the once-over, a smile playing on her lips as she came to Smoky and Shade. “Well met.” She curtseyed, which seemed odd enough, but Smoky’s response was even odder.
Smoky let out a little harrumph and he inclined his head in acknowledgment. “Well met, Shimmer.”
Shade cocked his head, a smile creasing his face. “Well met yourself.”
Before we could ask what that was all about, she slid on her coat and vanished out the door. As the door swung shut, Smoky turned to Carter.
“Since when are you dating a dragon?”
Immediately Camille and Delilah turned to stare at him.
“For a week or so now.” Carter motioned for us to have a seat. “But we’ll talk more of her later. Now sit and tell me what happened.”
And so we did. We told him about Lowestar and Suvika, and we introduced him to the Selkie and the nixie. “They need to go back to their homes. They’re drugged, and we have no clue with what.”
Carter nodded, then let out a long sigh. “All the records are gone then in the destruction. We can’t ever begin to realize the full extent of Lowestar’s holdings, or who he might have partnered with, or how many of the Fae he ran through his slavery operation.”
“I can’t see how, unless we can find the people he was working with. Even then, I think we’re running on empty with this one. But he’s gone. His precious demigod gave him a present for waking him up, all right. A crushed skull.”
I couldn’t find it in my heart to give one fuck for Lowestar’s fate. He’d been cruel and ruthless, and he deserved every bit of what he got. “I have a feeling there won’t be any more fires now, at least not like the one that destroyed the Wayfarer and the Utopia Club. I’m pretty sure we will find that Vistar-Tashdey Enterprises was one of Lowestar’s holdings. And most likely, the lawyers behind it were among the group of ritualists that went down for the count.”
“So where does that leave us?” Camille wearily accepted a muffin from Carter’s maid.
“I’ll do what research I can to figure out where Suvika might turn his sights next, but I’d say, for now, there’s nothing you can do. Lowestar is dead—the Fae you rescued can come out of hiding and go back to their lives now. And you… I suggest you go home and rest. Be with your loved ones. Take a moment to breathe because you know what’s happening in Otherworld is going to need your attention soon.”
“There are two spirit seals running loose now. And Shadow Wing has three. We have to intensify our hunt for the one that disappeared from Benjamin’s body and the one that was already still missing. Whoever took his hasn’t handed it over to Shadow Wing yet, that we know of. Which means it could be someone keeping it for themselves. And that will draw Telazhar’s attention. He’s good at picking up on things like that.” Morio looked as dragged out as the rest of us.
