Risky Business

by J B Trepagnier

  “Come on, baby. You know you want to become magic for mama. Don’t let me down.”

  I felt it! I felt the temperature drop like someone just poured ice water inside me. My fire was a part of me, and it was just like me. You had to sweet talk both us to get us to do anything.

  “Let’s go kill some witches, baby. I’ll let you burn the entire place to the ground if you just get us there.”

  Like with me, bribery also helped. I laughed and pumped my fist as a beautiful portal opened up. I grabbed the nearest person and hugged them. Then shit just got all awkward when I realized it was Eiltan and not Fergus. Why did it always have to be uncomfortable? I was deciding right now, no more awkwardness. We put down a rebellion and cured the Fae together. Who said I couldn’t hug him without it being weird?

  I threw my arms back around his neck and squeezed him.

  “Ha! Did you see that shit? I made a portal!”

  I got hugs from all my men and smiles from Charley and Finn. My father just smiled at me.

  “I knew you could do it. I can’t wait to teach you all of your gifts.”

  “What all can I do?”

  “You have the gift of tongues. You can understand any language out there once you learn how to use it. It’s quite useful when you are making deals. Fae are weakened by iron. It can kill us, but your human blood cuts down on that drastically. I think, at most, you might be a little uncomfortable touching it, but I would avoid getting any into your system. We don’t do it often, but the Fae can shape shift in the sense that we can change our size and get smaller. It helped for spying during wars. Not much of that goes on anymore.”

  “Badass,” I said.

  Fergus snapped me back to reality.

  “We should get through that portal before it closes, my Ena.”

  Now was the moment of truth. When we stepped through that portal, were we going to be outside a castle in Romania or smack dab in the middle of the ocean surrounded by sharks?

  Chapter 40

  Serafina

  I

  ’d never been to Romania before. I’d never even been outside of the US. When I stepped through the portal, I saw a castle and an unfamiliar landscape. Did I do it? Did I make a portal to another country? This opened up so many possibilities. If I knew they weren’t going to arrest us again topside, there were so many places I could visit on vacation now. I was picturing my guys half-naked on a beach in Greece while we all rubbed suntan lotion on each other and drank fruity drinks.

  I felt bodies crowd around with me. My father put his hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t shrug it off. I found it didn’t bother me as much.

  “This is it. They must have suspected I had something to do with Skinner’s disappearance because there is iron all over the place. I can’t get close.”

  “Neither can I. It’s uncomfortable even being out here,” Fergus said.

  Roman and Skoll came up to stand beside us.

  “Iron doesn’t bother us. If Charley and Finn can take any nasty magic down, we can remove any iron we see and move it away. I don’t want to risk it hurting Serafina too,” Skoll said.

  I couldn’t sense iron like Eiltan and Fergus could, but there was something about that castle that made me not want to go near it. Good thing we had a team with us. Why hadn’t I ever murdered people using teamwork before? Oh, yeah. The more people involved, the more likely I was to get caught. Someone would always get caught and blab on the rest of the group to get a lighter sentence. I didn’t mind snitches when they brought me a bad guy to kill, but I didn’t want one ratting on me.

  Charley and Finn stepped forward, cracking their knuckles.

  “They’ve got some pretty nasty traps on the property. Nothing we can’t undo, but once their wards are down, they will feel it and know we are here. If someone will be going in and removing iron, best let Roman do it because he can move too fast for them to see. If they can’t see him, they have less of a chance of hitting him with anything.”

  Roman just shrugged.

  “The iron isn’t going to be buried, is it?”

  Fergus grinned.

  “If they were smart, they would have buried it, but they didn’t. They have iron totems around the property.”

  “And some of their protection spells are in those totems, so hold your horses, Roman. Just because iron doesn’t affect you don’t mean the spells on them won’t.”

  “Can you break all those spells from here? I don’t want to put anyone in danger,” I said.

  Finn pulled some sort of device out of his rucksack and set it on the ground.

  “I told you all I enjoyed working with my hands, right? This is a device of my own invention. It’s helpful when going up against a coven when you don’t have a clear shot. It’s kind of like a magical EMT. All I have to do is press this button, and it will disable any magic around the property.”

  That sounded great and all, but I still had questions.

  “What about us? Technically, we are all magical creatures. Is it going to neuter us, so we have to fight them with fucking rocks? None of us have guns.”

  “Yes, but I found a solution to that before I ever used this device. Charley?”

  Charley brought a rucksack too. She started pulling out these coins on leather straps and handing them out. I had no idea what it was, but I slipped it over my neck. If a warlock told you they were about to set off a magic bomb and handed you a coin, you put it on. I wasn’t stupid.

  “It was a lot of trial and error, but I found a spell to put on these coins that are immune to the EMT. Now, when I set this off, it will disable the wards, and anything magical within a fifty-mile radius will lose their powers for about six hours unless they have one of these coins. Whatever you do, make sure you have this coin on at all times. It’s not really an EMT. It’s a long-lasting spell. If you take the coin off or someone takes it off, you might as well be human. Get it?”

  I got it loud and clear, and so did everyone else. We hadn’t known Finn long, but we knew he was an assassin with toys and a powerful warlock. There was no telling what was in that fucking rucksack, but if he started handing out dead toads and said they protected us from something in there, we’d happily wear them.

  Once we all had our necklaces on, Finn placed his device on the ground and pressed a button. He ran back to us, and at first, I wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen. When it finally went off, boy, did I find out. A blinding white light went off, and even with the coin around my neck, I turned around and barfed everywhere. I hadn’t felt that sick since college and an incident with watermelon vodka.

  I think we all ended up puking, even Finn. He wiped his mouth and gave us this apologetic look.

  “That was the one thing I couldn’t get rid of with these coins. It’ll go away in about five minutes, and then we can make our move.”

  “Speak for yourself. I just vomited blood,” Roman moaned.

  Amduscias and I both snapped to attention. I knew the witches and warlocks would be without power, but I didn’t want Roman going in there to remove all the iron totems so we could get close. What if they hired a shifter for some old-fashioned booby traps around the property? Roman needed to be as fast as possible, and for that, he needed blood. He took some from both Amduscias and me before he disappeared into a blur to remove everything.

  Eiltan just chuckled. He hadn’t said a single thing about me having several men in my life until now. I didn’t know how he felt about it.

  “Fate did well pairing you with him. I like the way he looks at you, and his speed is quite handy. He’s already gotten most of the totems. Can you feel it?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do. There was something about the place that made me not want to come close. I didn’t know if it was the magic or the iron, but it’s starting to feel safer to get close. I still can’t tell where the totems are like you can.”

  “They are gone now, my Ena. Roman got all of them.”

  “Then, where the fuck is Roman? He should be bac
k by now.”

  I didn’t like this. I didn’t want Roman going off by himself to take care of something when we were here as a team. If he didn’t come back soon, I was going in and burning anything that got in my way.

  Roman didn’t make me worry long. He skidded to a stop in front of me. I flung myself in his arms and squeezed him.

  “Any trouble?”

  “I tried to get a closer look on my last trip. They are all congregated by an open window on the second floor. That’s where I sensed all the heartbeats. They are trying not to be seen while looking out the window to figure out why they don’t have magic anymore.”

  Roman was safe. Fergus and Eiltan would be safe if we got close. The witches were now powerless. What could go wrong?

  Chapter 41

  Serafina

  S

  ince I had a fire dragon and liked to kill people, I used to have this long-standing fantasy about storming a castle and taking out the bad guys like some hero in the books I liked to read once I could afford them. Shut up. You know if you had a dragon, you’d be thinking that too. It looked like my fantasy was about to come to life—what a way to retire Elemental Batwoman.

  Okay, so we didn’t exactly storm the castle. We snuck up quietly and carefully just in case because Finn said we should still expect anything. We gathered behind some trees just outside the window Roman found. Without their magic, it was hard to sense them. I could always sense supernatural creatures, but without a magical signature to home in on, it was a lot more complicated.

  Finn didn’t have that trouble. He was aiming his big fucking gun right at the window.

  “They are in there, but I don’t have a shot.”

  I was curious. How did he sense them, but I couldn’t?

  “How do you know?”

  “My scope picks up heat signatures. Not everything has to be done by magic, you know.”

  Well, I was doing this by magic. I was burning those bitches alive. I stuck my head out from behind the tree and flicked my wrist so the curtains caught on fire. I heard a loud crack of gunfire. It wasn’t Finn, or my ears would have been ringing. Fergus yanked me back and slammed me into the tree. He ripped my shirt open.

  “Are you okay?” he yelled.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You’re hit, my Ena. And based on the wound, they used iron bullets.”

  I couldn’t feel anything. I didn’t know someone had shot me. My adrenaline was pumping too hard, and I was feeling no pain. I was feeling some pretty intense rage, though. Those bitches shot me. I’d never been shot before, but I already knew this would eventually hurt when my blood stopped pumping, and who knew what an iron bullet would do to me when I wasn’t pure Fae?

  “Nobody shoots me and lives,” I growled.

  Eiltan was furious.

  “They just shot Fae royalty, and I won’t stand for that. Fergus, have you taught her to channel?”

  “We need to get her out of here,” Fergus argued.

  “No, those assholes are dying right now. You can take me back to Hell after I’ve killed them.”

  “Then, grab my hand, Serafina,” Eiltan said.

  Eiltan held out his hand, and Fergus held out his. I got the feeling this wasn’t some hippy moral support thing because I’d just been shot, so I grabbed their hands and squeezed. Eiltan and Fergus linked hands, and Eiltan’s eyes were boring into me.

  “We are burning those witches, and then you are leaving immediately for medical treatment. We can’t leave that bullet in too long, or you’ll get iron poisoning. You have a little longer than Fergus, or I would because you are not full Fae, and the bullet hit your shoulder.”

  “She’s still bleeding,” Fergus argued.

  “They die now, Fergus. Serafina, call to your fire and let it mingle with mine and Fergus’s. Let it rage as hot as you can, but don’t release it.”

  I’d never done this before, but I was able to call more fire and even hotter than usual when I was holding hands with Fergus and Eiltan. This was pretty fucking cool, but I had no idea where Eiltan was going with this. I usually had to see something to set it on fire, and I didn’t want Fergus and Eiltan sticking their heads out from around this tree if they were shooting Fae kryptonite.

  “Now, on three, we need to imagine all the fire we are holding going to that room the witches and warlocks are in. Are you ready?”

  When he said three, I did what he asked and holy shit—the second floor where the window was exploded into flame. I’d burned plenty of buildings and people but never had that result before. It always took time for the fire to build. When I craned my head around the tree, the roof was already on fire.

  No one could have survived that fire, and it started in a way they couldn’t have put it out. Everyone in there was dead. We did it, but I was beginning to get dizzy.

  I started laughing.

  “I finally got my revenge for those assholes sending me to Scorchwood and experimenting on me.”

  That was the last thing I said because I passed out after that.

  Chapter 42

  Fergus

  I

  was furious at Eiltan. He should have had my back about Serafina getting treatment for that bullet. He knew just as well as I did that iron poisoning was no joke. Neither of us knew how it would affect a halfling, but I’d spent her entire life trying to keep as much iron out of her life as possible. That was my error. If I’d made a bigger deal about it, she would have known this was serious and left before we took out those witches. I would have gone back myself and killed them for shooting her.

  Serafina was passed out in Doctor Bogthon’s clinic, and I didn’t think he should be treating her. There were no Fae in Hell. I didn’t think elementals had the same reaction to iron. Did he even know how to handle this? Serafina needed to be treated by a Fae doctor.

  He wouldn’t even let any of us in the room, and he warned me not to go in there as my invisible form to spy either because I might startle him. The only reason I wasn’t in there looking over his shoulder was that I didn’t want to do that. Instead, I was picking fights with Eiltan.

  “She needs to be back with the Fae getting this treated. You should have made her leave!”

  Eiltan just shrugged.

  “Could you have made her leave? She’s known you longer than she’s known me. Could you have gotten her to leave before they were all dead? Can you say with a straight face that you didn’t want them dead for shooting her? If we left, they would have moved, and we might have lost them for good. They would have put up better protection, and people could have died this time.”

  “She might be in there dying now!” I yelled.

  “She won’t, Fergus. Once the bullet is out, she will just need chelation therapy.”

  I just sat there and grumped. I already knew he was right about her refusing to leave until the witches were dead. She would have taken it as an affront to her person that one of them shot her. If they had just shot at her and not hit her, I would have resumed my dragon form in an instant and burned that entire castle down. It was different when I knew the bullet struck her, then I saw the black strands spreading from the wound and realized it was an iron bullet.

  I was going crazy, and I needed to burn something or someone. The witches were already dead, and I already knew Bael would be mad if I killed someone here. I wouldn’t mind beating the crap out of Eiltan for not helping me make her leave, but I already knew how that would go down. It would be the one thing we fought over, and I’d end up coming between them. Eiltan was on her side, and I wasn’t. That would be all she saw if I beat her father up.

  Skoll, Amduscias, and Roman came to sit next to me.

  “I don’t know a thing about iron poisoning. What does it mean for her? She wasn’t acting like anything was wrong until she passed out,” Skoll said.

  I didn’t feel weird sharing Fae secrets with them. I knew they would never use it against my people, and if they knew this, they could help me keep Serafina safe.

/>   “Iron weakens Fae. If you keep us in iron chains, we can barely move. If it gets into the bloodstream, it becomes fatal. It’s supposed to be a long, painful death that way. I’ve got no idea how that affects Serafina since she’s half Fae, but her wound reacted the same as I’ve seen for iron poisoning. It’s considered a dirty way to kill someone back where I come from. There’s no iron in the Fae realm. Only the truly dishonorable risk trying to sneak some in to give someone iron poisoning. It could kill them too.”

  Roman chewed on his bottom lip.

  “If there’s no iron in the Fae realm, then isn’t there no treatment? Isn’t the best place for her here in Hell?”

  Well, I’ll be damned. Sometimes, that crazy Vampire said the damnedest things that made sense. As far as I knew, there wasn’t a remedy in the Fae realm, but I’d learned from living topside with Serafina that humans could get iron poisoning too from vitamins and supplements. I’d researched that because I didn’t want Serafina near any iron.

  If humans could treat iron poisoning, it made sense Hell could too. And Hell had a remedy tailored for supernatural beings. I clapped Roman on the back.

  “Thanks. That actually makes me feel better.”

  Eiltan was still pacing, but he didn’t look as worried as I felt.

  “The Fae got our remedy for iron poisoning from human research. It does work. We’ve used it on Fae who were exposed when they came topside for business. We learned the hard way not to take certain vitamins topside. We thought they might help us back in the Fae realm, but the ones with iron made us sick. Instead, we researched and formulated our own. Serafina is in capable hands.”

  I stood and balled my fists. I was having trouble not punching Eiltan. Both of his eyes were already nearly swollen shut, and it looked like Doctor Bogthon had reset his nose where Serafina broke it. I wanted to break it again and knock out a few teeth.

  “I don’t care if you knew the treatment would work. She had just been shot. That should have been your priority, not revenge on those witches.”