"What about Smoky? He takes care of Georgio. Could this Benjamin live out there with them?" Menolly sipped at her blood wine. She was staring at the chicken with open lust, and I realized that she must be craving what she'd had to leave behind.
"I don't think Smoky would go for that," I said as Chase's cell phone rang.
"I'll be right back," Chase said, stepping into the hall to take the call.
"Even if Smoky agreed, Benjamin's family would eventually track him down. They have money. Even though they tucked him away in a nice quiet padded cell, they'd use every means they had to trace him. I know people like that. No, if Ben's to get out of there, he's going to have to go somewhere they can't follow him."
Morio caught my attention and stared at me. "We know of one place they can't trace him."
"You're talking about Otherworld?" I put down my fork, suddenly full. The thought of turning Benjamin loose in OW was frightening. He'd end up dead in no time. There was no way in hell that he was prepared to take on an entirely new world. He couldn't even cope with the one he was already part of.
"I think—" I stopped as Chase returned, a strained look on his face. "What happened? More Cryptos run amok?"
He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Though it's hard to tell for sure. I just got a call that the rug shop—the one you were checking out because of the demons? It's burned down, along with the building next to it. The cops think it's arson. Know anybody who might be out firebombing a demon's hangout?"
Delilah slowly pushed her chair back. "You don't think it was one of us, do you? Chase, how could you? We'd never endanger innocent lives that way!"
Chase sputtered and held up his hand. "Did I say I thought you guys did it? The fire marshal is down there, talking to Mr. Karvanak. He apparently passes himself off as a pretty tame human. What crosses my mind is this: if this demon is as tricky as you say he is, won't he mention that you guys don't like him? He knows you aren't going to go blabbing about Shadow Wing's attempts to take over Earth, so he's safe from you outing him."
Holy hell. The thought that he might use FBHs to interfere with us hadn't even occurred to me. "We all have excuses. I was out at the Mountain Aspen Retreat with Morio, and they can vouch for that—"
"No they can't," Morio said. "You charmed the nurse and told her not to mention our visit so that Benjamin's parents can't ask any uncomfortable questions."
"No, I told her not to mention it to Benjamin's parents. Let's see… Delilah and Menolly's asses are covered. Iris, too." I squinted, staring at the table. The chicken caught my eye. My stomach rumbled.
"So we can prove your whereabouts. Good. What about the unicorn and the pixie?" Chase was jotting down notes as fast as he could. "Could they have done it?"
That quieted us all down. Feddrah-Dahns was still missing, and we had no idea where he was, or even if he was okay. I was about to say something when the doorbell rang. I excused myself and went to see who it was.
Smoky was standing there. I gazed up at him, and before I realized what I was doing, I was pressed against his chest as he wrapped himself around me. His lips lingered on mine, his tongue toying with them just enough to get me going. The stress from the day made me tremble, and he ran his thumb down my back, pressing my spine taut.
"You see, your body knows where you need to be," he whispered.
With a shiver, I finally let go, trying to catch my breath from between my thighs, where it had spiraled. "We have a problem. Several problems." I motioned him in.
"One of them, I think I can ease your mind on," he said, following me into the kitchen. "Feddrah-Dahns is out on my land, along with the pixie. The unicorn has been hurt, but he'll survive."
Everybody started talking at once, but Smoky gazed around the room, then held up one hand. "Enough."
I waited until everyone quieted down. "Who wounded him? Demons?"
Smoky nodded. "That's what he said. The Raksasa managed to get in a few swipes before Feddrah-Dahns and the pixie got away. Apparently unicorns can outdistance demons. He shook the Raksasa just as I was headed down the trail to speak with him. I hastened him and his pixie away immediately but didn't have enough time to stop and tell Iris."
"And you say Mistletoe is okay?"
Smoky blinked. "What? I don't have any mistletoe out there that I know of. Moss, yes. Lichen, definitely. Mistletoe? None."
Delilah let out a long sigh. "Not mistletoe the plant. Mistletoe, the pixie."
"Ah, I see." Smoky lifted one eyebrow with a quirky grin. "Yes, Mistletoe is fine. Feddrah-Dahns got raked on the side. He has some nasty wounds, but I had a batch of powders and ointments that Titania left with me some time back, and I used those to patch him up. Seems to have stanched the bleeding and slowed down the pain. There's something odd, by the way."
Not another out-of-place puzzle piece. "What?"
Smoky stared at the food on the table. "The dream chaser demon that walks with him?"
"Dream chaser?" I frowned. "I've never heard of them."
"Vanzir, his name is. Dream chasers feed on human energy during sleep—from inside a person's dreams. Anyway, Vanzir apparently stumbled between the Raksasa and Feddrah-Dahns right during a critical swing. Missed getting hurt but foiled the demon's last attempt to kill the unicorn. Apparently his stumble gave Feddrah-Dahns enough time to get away."
I motioned for Delilah to help Iris clear the table. "Somebody just burned down the rug shop that belongs to the demons. You can vouch for Feddrah-Dahns being on your land all afternoon, right?"
Smoky snagged a piece of chicken before Delilah whisked it away. "Yes. He's been out there for several hours. We need to talk about that portal downtown. I hopped through to take a look where it went."
"That's what Delilah said. You're positive it leads into Guilyoton?"
He nodded, biting into the drumstick. I watched as he fastidiously cleaned the bone in under a minute flat, but without ever seeming to chew or drop anything on his bleachy clean trench. The trench covered his usual gray turtleneck and butt-hugging white jeans, doing wonders to beckon my thoughts away from where they should be lingering. Smoky caught my eye and gave me a sly wink and pursed his lips in an air kiss. I weakly slid into my chair.
After he finished eating, he tossed the bone into the garbage and turned a chair around, straddling it and leaning his elbows on the back. "I'm all too aware of the goblin lands over in Otherworld. The creatures are still numerous in the Northlands, and in some of the higher mountain peaks here Earthside. They breed like vermin and taste just about as bad. I had a suspicion that the portal might lead there, and when I jumped through, saw that I was right. The bogs and swamps reek of goblin, and the land feels tainted by their magic."
"That would be Guilyoton, all right." Forcing my attention to return to the matter at hand, I retrieved a notepad and pen.
"Okay, what do we have going here? We have the Crypto problem, which is getting worse. I'm sure the goblin portal isn't the only one working overtime."
"The demons are our biggest concern at this point. Especially since they're well aware of who we are and where we live. And they think we have the spirit seal or know where it is." Delilah pulled out her laptop and fired it up.
"We do know. Now. Another problem—Morgaine and Titania. They're searching for the same cave Benjamin found. I know it in my gut. Which means if they find it before we do, they'll have the spirit seal." I jotted down another note. "Also, I have the unicorn horn, and both Morgaine and the demons would love to have that little goody."
"Don't forget, the demon's shop burned down. Who do you think they're going to blame?" Menolly leaned in. "Even if we have proof we weren't there, they're going to find a way to blame us."
"And Benjamin. We can't forget him," Morio added. "If we discovered that he knows about the spirit seal, my guess is the demons will figure it out before long. What if they tailed us out there? They'll tear him apart to get the information about the cave."
"Shit," Menolly said. "The demons are the crux. If we can get the spirit seal first and deliver it to Queen Asteria, then they won't have a reason to bother Benjamin. But they'll still be after us, so we have to take them out. The djinn, too. If she's mixed up with them, you know whose side she's on."
"I wish Trillian and Roz were here," I said. "With Zach and his men guarding the portal, we're down on manpower. And Karvanak is going to be a difficult kill. Hell—I forgot! Smoky gave us information on the Raksasa, and with all that's gone on today, we haven't had a chance to look it over." Rushing into the living room, I found my bag where I'd dropped it. Yanking the papers out of the side pocket, I hurried back into the kitchen and sat down.
Smoky reached for them. I handed them over. "Since you're here, maybe you can fill us in on what we need to know."
He pursed his lips. "They're masters of illusion. After tonight, you're going to have to make sure that when you've been separated for any amount of time that you aren't talking to an impersonator. In other words, Dispel Illusion spells would come in very handy at this time. Who besides Morio has them? I can set up a barrier that will force illusions to be shed, but I can't cast a spell on a person, per se."
Iris cleared her throat. "I can dispel illusion, especially when a nonhuman creature tries to pass as human."
"Don't look at me," Chase said. "I can't even twitch my nose."
Delilah snorted. "Yeah, but you've got other saving graces." She gave him a delicious grin, and I let out a soft laugh. Demons or not, it was good to see her happy.
"Well, none of my spells are good for clear sight, so that pretty much leaves Iris, Morio, and to some degree, Smoky. Iris and Morio, we need to make sure we only split into two groups, and that one of you is with one, the other with the second." I stared at the paper. "I guess our first task is set. Find the cave and retrieve the spirit seal. I'm exhausted—we all look tired—but we've run on less sleep before. Let's head out there now. Menolly can come with us that way."
Morio spoke up. "Want to bet some Freedom's Angel member found out the demons aren't human and burned the shop? He wouldn't have to know they were demon, maybe thought they were a Supe."
Chase tapped the table with his pen. "You have a good point there, Morio. I've decided that I'm coming with you tonight, then I'll pull a double shift at work. I've got a cot there I can catch a few hours of sleep on. I'm running two departments now." He sighed and stuffed his notebook into his pocket and stretched, yawning.
"Okay, baby," Delilah said, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a long kiss. "But be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you, and we're facing some pretty potent enemies."
The phone rang again. I snagged up the receiver, hoping it was just a telemarketer for once. But no such luck. It was Nurse Richards.
"Ms. Welter? I'm afraid I have some bad news, and since Benjamin's parents aren't in the country and didn't leave contact information, I thought I would call you." She sounded frantic.
Hell. What now? "What's wrong? Is Benjamin all right?"
"That's the problem. We don't know. He seems to have… disappeared."
I stared at the phone. "Disappeared? What the hell do you mean? Where did he go?" Even as the words escaped my mouth, I realized how stupid they sounded.
"We have no idea. We're searching the grounds for a third time. Tonight, two men and a woman showed up, asking about him. They weren't family, they said as much, and they insisted on speaking to him. I called the doctor, and he denied their request. They left, but they were in a foul mood when we turned them away."
The demons and the djinn. Had to be! On… Morgaine, Mordred, and Arturo.
"You did right," I said. "They were probably media folk, looking for ways to expose our family problems. So what happened to Benjamin?"
She cleared her throat, and I could hear the wheels turning. She was probably terrified the Welters would sue.
"When we went to give Benjamin his nightly medication, he wasn't in his room. We scoured the residence hall, and we've been searching the grounds, but no luck. Right now, we're hoping he just found a quiet place to sleep in one of the empty rooms. But I wanted to tell you. You asked me to call if anything unusual happened."
Thank gods for Fae glamour. I thanked her and said we'd be out as soon as possible, then hung up. "We have to find that cave. Benjamin is missing, and I think the demons were there, looking for him."
"Crap," Menolly said. "Come on. Iris, you stay here with Maggie. Lock the doors and go hide in my lair. You know the secret exit, in case anything should happen."
Iris nodded, pale and looking worried out of her mind. She hurried to gather up Maggie as we readied ourselves. I tucked my silver dagger and sheath onto my belt, then made sure the unicorn horn was firmly in the inner pocket of the cloak Eriskel had given me. In a nod to speed, I switched from stilettos to granny boots with thick heels.
Delilah, in thick jeans and a V-neck sweater, shrugged into a leather jacket and fastened her silver short sword to her leg holster. Menolly slid a blue denim jacket over her black turtleneck and traded her heels for a pair of Doc Martens Eye Zip Boots. As soon as Morio made sure he had his bag with his skull familiar, we headed out the front door.
