Kissed by Smoke Read online

  “How do you know my name?”

  She blinked. “I don’t understand.”

  Was she stupid? “I never told you my name. How do you know who I am?”

  Her laugh danced in the air like a living thing. “Because,” she shook her head, sending her blond ringlets bouncing, “you are the Key. We have been waiting for you for centuries.”

  ***

  “What is it with people?” I snarked at Inigo under my breath. “Royal freaking princess. Stupid ass Atlantean Key. Are they all drinking the same Kool-Aid?”

  Laughter danced in his eyes as he pulled me to his side and kissed me. It was a pretty thorough kiss and left me more than a little breathless. “Morgan, you are quite possibly the most stubborn person I know.”

  Somehow I didn’t think he meant that entirely as a compliment.

  “Fine,” I sighed. “So, I’m the Key and a freaking Atlantean Princess. But why does everyone have to get so bloody worked up about it? Every time I turn around people go all cryptic on me. It’s getting old.”

  My tirade was interrupted by a shriek from Zip who was a little ways ahead of us. We both took off at a run.

  “What is it?” Inigo asked, his eyes scanning the flat countryside, nostrils flaring. I couldn’t see a damn thing that would have made the djinni freak out, but it looked like he sensed something.

  “Oh, no,” Zip whispered in her breathy Marilyn voice. “You have to run.” She pointed for a low mount in the distance. “There. Fast as you can. It’s coming.”

  “What’s coming?” I demanded. I was damn tired of cryptic.

  She turned to me, eyes wide with terror. “You have to run,” she pleaded. “I can’t stop it.”

  I was about to demand why when Inigo grabbed my arm. His voice was low and tense. “Run, Morgan. It’s got our scent.”

  My feet took off, but my mouth was still running. “What is it?”

  “Death Worm.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The ground heaved and rolled under my feet, nearly knocking me on my ass. “Holy shit, what is that thing?”

  Inigo grabbed my arm and yanked me up against him, practically carrying me as he hauled ass toward the low mound of rocks. Zip had disappeared and something was definitely coming. Something really big.

  We staggered over the increasingly unstable ground and scrambled up onto the rocks. “What is it?” I yelled.

  “Mongolian Death Worm.”

  I must have looked as dumbfounded as I felt because Inigo laughed. Laughed! We were about to be attacked by a Mongolian Death Worm, whatever that was, and he was howling like a lunatic.

  “Seriously. You are going to stand there and laugh?” I braced myself against one of the larger boulders as the ground gave a particularly vicious shake.

  “Sorry, love.” He made an effort to hold back the laughter, but his eyes still twinkled at me.

  “Now what the frakk is a Mongolian Death Worm, and why is it here instead of Mongolia?”

  He grinned. “It’s a really big-ass worm that supposedly spits acid and can zap you like an electric eel. No idea why it’s here instead of Mongolia.”

  I stared at him. “Are you nuts? There’s a giant bug zapper out there and you are laughing?”

  “I’m a dragon, Morgan. This is fun.”

  “You are insane. That’s what you are. You may be resistant to acid, but I am not.” Another ground quake sent me tumbling on my ass. “You sure there’s only one of those things? How big are they anyway?”

  The ground in front of us erupted in a shower of earth and a scream nearly shattered my eardrums. The giant, bulbous head was covered in sticky reddish pink skin. Needle-like teeth jutted from a gaping maw. It was one of the most disgusting creatures I’d ever laid eyes on.

  “Um, it’s big,” Inigo said.

  “No shit, Sherlock.” The Worm was bigger around than I was. No telling how long it was, but there was a good five feet of it sticking out of the ground shrieking at us like something out of a really bad sci-fi movie. I figured it had to be at least ten feet in length overall.

  The giant head zeroed in on us and let out another scream. A second shriek answered it from the other side of the rock pile. Then a third.

  “Holy shit, Inigo. There are three of them.”

  “Yeah, I heard.” His eyes had definitely lost their twinkle. Apparently three Mongolian Death Worms weren’t nearly as much fun as one.

  “So what do we do?” I kept my voice low. I had no idea if the giant worms could hear me or not, but I wasn’t going to test the theory. “If they really do spit acid, we’re in big trouble. Or, well, I am anyway.” Inigo could transform. His dragon scales were impervious to acid.

  “I’d say killing them would be a good start.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And how are we going to get close enough without getting either spat on or electrocuted?”

  “Well,” he thought for a minute, “I don’t actually know that they spit acid or electrocute people for a fact. It’s just what I’ve heard.”

  I glared at him. “I am so not about to run out there in the hopes they don’t.”

  “Well, I was thinking more along the lines of I fly over them and you chop their heads off.”

  I perked up at that idea. “They could still spit at us. You know, if they spit acid.”

  “And I can wheel and protect you. Since when has Morgan Bailey, bad-ass vampire Hunter, ever been afraid of a little old earthworm?”

  I flushed over that. “Don’t be stupid.”

  He just laughed and pulled me up tight against him. “I will protect you, Morgan.” His voice was deadly serious. “I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  I nodded against his chest. “I know.”

  “Good. Then I fly. You chop. Deal?”

  I grinned. This was going to be hella fun. “Deal.”

  ***

  Cold wind slapped my face causing my eyes to tear and my cheeks to sting. I was freezing my ass off, but I wanted to laugh with pure joy. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and my right hand firmly clasped around the handle of my machete. Thank the gods I’d thought to bring it with me.

  Ready? Inigo’s voice filled my mind.

  I gave him an answering squeeze with my thighs. Was I ever.

  With a smooth push of wings, Inigo wheeled in the sky, scales flashing blue and silver and gold in the afternoon sun. As beautiful as he was in human form, he was breathtaking as a dragon.

  I lay low over his neck as we headed toward the first Worm. The thing swivelled its head toward us as though sensing our approach. This was it. Either the creature was going to spew acid or … not. I was really hoping for not.

  Inigo made a sudden jerk to the left, nearly tossing me off his back in the process. I was about to give him holy hell when I saw the spray glistening and sizzling against his scales just inches from my right foot.

  Acid. Shit. So, the rumors were true. I hoped the acid wasn’t hurting him. Dragon scales were impervious to just about anything, but the worm spit looked nasty.

  Don’t worry. Can’t feel it.

  I gave him an acknowledging squeeze. I hoped he wasn’t being all macho and lying to me.

  Another pass. Ready?

  I pressed myself against him as flat as I could. It was hard without a harness, but we’d practiced this enough times that I was fairly sure I wouldn’t fall off and break my neck.

  We wheeled again and came in for another pass, this time from behind the Worm. It swivelled, but not fast enough. With muscles honed from years dusting vampires and boosted by Hunter strength, a single hack was enough to separate the Worm’s head from its soft body.

  The head splatted against the ground, spraying Worm gunk everywhere. The body kept writhing as though still half-alive.

  You ever hear about how you can chop an earthworm in half, and it’ll grow two heads?

  Damn, damn, double damn. We couldn’t let that happen. The last
thing we needed was a whole herd of Mongolian Death Worms running around. Or crawling and burrowing around, anyway.

  An idea struck me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t mind-speak to Inigo like he could to me. I tried to yell my idea at him, but with the wind and the other two Worms still screeching their heads off, it was obvious he couldn’t hear me.

  So, I did the only thing I could think of. I closed my eyes against the wind and let my mind travel down to that place where the Darkness lived. It blinked at me sleepily, like a napping cat, but I ignored it. I needed something else.

  The Fire came to me in a rush, but I gripped it tight. Tamed it. I was in control.

  It curled out of me slowly and gently, blooming from the center of my palm and wrapping itself up along my arm. We were too far away from the Worm’s body for me to set the thing on fire, but that wasn’t my purpose. Instead I sent a tendril of Fire dancing along Inigo’s scales to tickle him under his chin.

  Are you nuts, Morgan? This is no time to play.

  I did it again, dancing the flame up and down the side of his neck. I knew the flame wouldn’t hurt him while he was in dragon form, but he’d feel the warmth. And the tickle.

  For god’s sake, Morgan … His voice trailed off. Oh, fuck me, I’m an idiot.

  This time when he wheeled he opened his great dragon mouth and strafed the Worm’s still twitching body with fire. The creature was immolated in seconds.

  My Fire stroked him approvingly before making its way back to my hand and slipping back inside me. It gave me a strange sensation, the Fire. Normally it burned with hunger, longing to feed, to destroy. This time it felt … different. Almost, sensual. Something I’d definitely have to explore. You know, sometime when we weren’t trying to chop the heads off acid-spitting Death Worms.

  One down. Two to go.

  Inigo dove for Worm number two. This time with a bit of fancy flying he managed to avoid the acid. One hack and its head dashed against the rocks below, spraying slimy chunks of Worm. Nasty.

  Unfortunately, Inigo’s flame hadn’t built back up, so we’d have to wait to burn the thing. I really hoped they weren’t quick regenerators. That would suck.

  One more pass to get the last Worm. It should have been easy, but just as Inigo wheeled in the sky, a ridiculously strong gust of wind hit me like the smack of a giant hand. I went tumbling off Inigo’s back, barely managing to grab his neck.

  Morgan!

  I tried to climb back up, but my fingers were numb from too much time in the cold air. My arm muscles trembled at the strain of holding on midair while flying. I knew I had seconds at best.

  Morgan, hang on. I’m landing.

  I tried. I really did, but there was no strength left in me. My fingers slipped and I plunged toward the ground.

  Chapter Seventeen

  They say that right before you die your life flashes before your eyes. It’s bullshit. Mostly I was just thinking, “Oh, fuck, I’m going to die!”

  Everything slowed, smoothed out. I could see the ground rushing toward me, hear the shriek of the last Worm, and sense Inigo’s panic. This was it. I wondered what waited for me on the Other Side. The ground was mere inches away.

  A pair of claws snatched me mid-fall, swooping down on me like a giant bird of prey. Only the wings weren’t those of an eagle, but the brilliant blue of a dragon. My dragon.

  My heart tried to pound its way out of my chest. He’d saved me. I wasn’t going to die. Not yet anyway.

  Suspended in mid-air with giant talons wrapped around my middle, I couldn’t see what was going on. I heard a Worm shriek and then the answering scream of a really pissed-off dragon. Hot air brushed against me and the Worm stopped its shrieking. Heh. Mongolian barbeque.

  Still, we had the other Worm body to deal with, and Inigo was out of fire again. Strange how the mind works. Here I’d almost died, and I was worrying about frying a stupid Worm.

  Inigo set me gently down on the rocks away from the splattered Worm. The beating of his wings stirred up dust and debris as he hovered above me.

  I reached out a hand and stroked his leg. “Come on, calm down. I need you.”

  Surprisingly enough, I meant it. Me, the bad-ass Hunter who needed nobody.

  He landed beside me, his bulk shifting the rocks slightly. In a shimmer of gold and blue sparkles the dragon disappeared. I didn’t even wait for him to regain his balance. I just wrapped my arms around him and buried my face against his neck.

  “Thank you,” I whispered against his throat.

  Inigo’s arms wrapped around me, squeezing me almost too tight. “I would never let any harm come to you.”

  I pressed my lips against his throat. “I know.”

  I would have liked nothing more than to haul his ass back to town and a comfy bed — or at least the back seat of my car — but we still had another Worm to burn. And a djinni to find. Again.

  “Do you think it’s safe to go out there? Could it still be doing its electric thing?” I glanced over Inigo’s shoulder at the still twitching body of the giant Worm.

  “No idea. Why don’t I transform and blast the Worm the minute my fire builds up again?”

  “Bad idea. Look.” I nodded at the Worm. Already the slimy reddish-pink skin was bulging and stretching. The thing was growing a new freaking head.

  “Crap.”

  “No kidding.” I closed my eyes and inhaled. “I have to burn it.”

  “No way. You are not touching that thing.” Inigo was adamant. But it was the only way.

  “Listen,” I cupped his face in my palms. “I’ll be fine, okay?”

  “Morgan, I almost lost you.” There was pain in his eyes and it shattered my heart.

  I kissed him, then, full and deep. My tongue tangled with his as I poured every ounce of emotion I felt for him into that kiss.

  I pulled away, both of us a little breathless. Okay, more than a little. I gave him a smile and then hopped off the rocks.

  “Morgan!”

  “My soles are rubber, so stop worrying.” I strode toward the twitching, growing Worm. Its new head wasn’t completely formed, so I was pretty sure it couldn’t spit acid at me. I was not sure if it could electrocute me. But what I couldn’t do was let it get away and terrorize the countryside.

  As I approached the Worm, I called up the Fire again. This time there was nothing lazy about it. It sensed what I wanted and it rushed up out of me, hungry. My body glowed with flame, but I hesitated at touching the Worm’s slimy skin. What if the skin were acidic? Or electrified?

  The Fire snarled at me. It wanted to be let loose. It wanted to feast.

  That’s when it happened. The Air spiralled out of me in a whirlwind, snatching at the Fire and turning it into a vortex of flames. It danced from my hands, independent of me. Within seconds it had reduced the Worm to cinders, along with the vegetation around it.

  My hair whipped in the wind, my cheeks ruddy with heat. The Fire and the Air wanted to play. They wanted to dance across the high desert and eat everything in sight. I’d seen the results of a wild fire in this desert. It wasn’t pretty. And I wasn’t about to let that happen.

  With every ounce of strength I could muster, I used my mind to grab hold of the Fire and the Air and pull them back to me. They resisted. Of course they did, but I am nothing if not stubborn. I pulled back harder.

  Reluctantly the whirlwind of wind and flame zigzagged across the ground back toward me. I think I heard Inigo call to me, but I was too focused on what I had to do. With one last pull, I yanked the Fire and the Air into my body and slammed the metaphorical lid down.

  For a moment I stood there, alone in the cold desert wind, my body drained of energy. Then I slowly slid to the ground, my eyes fluttered closed. Darkness swallowed me whole.

  ***

  I woke to Zip’s face looming inches from mine.

  “Holy hell.”

  “My goodness she has a potty mouth, doesn’t she.” Zip sat back, her pretty face twisted in a frown. She was still wearin
g that ridiculous, white Marilyn dress. Completely unsuitable for the cold weather.

  “I’m a Hunter. Ladylike isn’t my thing.”

  She pouted. “Obviously.”

  “Where’s Inigo?”

  She fluttered her hand around vaguely. “He’s having a chat with the Marid.”

  “The what?”

  “He’s the most powerful of all the Djinn.” She propped her chin against her fist. “He’s like our king. He’s way-hot. Totally dreamy.”

  “Uh, right. And why has Inigo gone to see him?” I was getting a bad feeling.

  “Well,” she seemed to think it over. “We don’t really like people in our territory. You know, human people. We discourage it.”

  “What do you do to human people who wander into your territory?”

  “Well, usually the winds take care of that. If that doesn’t work, a few hallucinations. They leave. You,” she gave me a pointed look, “are different.”

  No kidding. “So, what are you going to do to us?”

  “Oh, it’s not me,” she assured me. “I like you. You’re pretty. And fun. And you killed those yucky Worm things.”

  “Speaking of those yucky Worm things, where did they come from?”

  She shivered. I wasn’t sure if it was from cold or fear. I was going with fear. “Don’t know. They showed up a couple months ago.” She leaned in closer and whispered, “I think they were hunting.”

  “Hunting what?”

  She shrugged. “Don’t know.”

  I decided to take another tack. “So, if you don’t decide what happens to us, who does?”

  “I told you. The Marid. That’s why Inigo is talking to him.”

  “Right. Because what would happen if Inigo didn’t talk to him?” I prodded.

  “Oh, the Marid would have killed you outright. But I convinced him to give you a hearing.” She beamed at me like she’d just done something super smart.

  “So, the Marid isn’t going to kill us?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe yes. Maybe no. You never know with the Marid.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I struggled to my feet, fighting the woozy feeling that came over me. Whatever had happened in the desert, it had really taken it out of me. “Take me to the Marid.”