Firewalker

by Allyson James

  “Then what is the point of a defense?”

  “Oh, now, sugar,” the mirror drawled. “I know that one. The defense is to convince the dragon council to give Micky an ordeal he might possibly survive. That’s why they don’t decide until he’s there.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “No, honeybunch. It’s what dragons do. Ferocious little beasties.”

  “This is bullshit.” I very much wanted to get my hands around the necks of the dragon council. “So, they’ll either give you a test you’ll never survive or, if they like Colby’s defense, they’ll give you one you have a slight chance of surviving?”

  “Yep,” Colby said. “You got it.”

  “I don’t believe this.”

  “It’s their job to make it damn hard on a dragon who breaks the law,” Mick said too calmly for my taste. “Dragons are powerful beings. We have to stay under control somehow.”

  I clenched my fists. “And your defense is going to be that I’m not really a threat to dragons? Not that I don’t want to strangle the two in this room right now.”

  “And Janet is a threat,” the mirror put in. “There’s nothing stronger out there than her. She’s a superbitch, though I love her to pieces.”

  I glared at the mirror. “Don’t help.”

  “Sorry, sugar. I call them as I see them.”

  “The mirror’s not wrong,” Colby said. “You gotta control yourself, or Micky’s toast.”

  Mick lifted his hands and let fire gather in them. “Get out.”

  “I’m only trying to help, old friend.”

  “The hell you are,” Mick said. “I wouldn’t put it past the council to send you here to figure out my plans, so they can prepare for contingencies.”

  “Aw, now I’m hurt.” Colby’s fingers started to burn. “I don’t take orders from the frigging dragon council.”

  “That doesn’t mean they didn’t send you. For punishment maybe. What did you do?”

  I wanted to break into the argument, but Colby looked so guilty, I stopped. “Wait, you mean Mick’s right?”

  “I didn’t lie when I said I’m working to make them give you a fair trial. Yes, they sent me to suss you out, but I told you, I don’t take orders from them. I’m not telling the dragon council shit.”

  Somehow I believed him. Even if it hadn’t been Colby’s completely altruistic idea to come here, he didn’t seem the type to rush out and tell an authority figure everything he knew.

  “So what did you do?” I repeated the question.

  “Maybe I poached one of the dragon council’s bit on the side for myself.”

  Mick shot him a look of disgust, but the mirror laughed. “Now, this I want to hear,” it crooned.

  “I want to hear it too,” I said. Colby was an asshole. Here I’d hoped that there was something he could do to help Mick, and now the fingers of worry were tightening around me again.

  “Is she a cute dragon?” the mirror asked. “A little red number, maybe?”

  “She’s human,” Colby said. “She lives in Texas, and she doesn’t know we’re dragons. The head of the dragon council is her sugar daddy, even though he’s mated. I just showed her a little fun.”

  “And got caught,” I finished.

  “Something like that. So I’m putting my ass on the line for you, Micky. They sent me to spy on you, sure, but I didn’t lie when I said I don’t want them offing me without a trial. So I’m helping you, not them.”

  “Why?” I asked Colby. “Why risk death betraying the dragons?”

  Colby shrugged, his tattoos moving. “Screw them.”

  Mick leaned back against the bar. “You don’t change, do you?”

  “Hey, love me as I am.”

  “You know,” I said, keeping my voice mild. “If I fried you now, it would save us all a lot of bother. Maybe the dragon council would spare Mick if I did.”

  Colby didn’t look worried. “Don’t bet on it. Besides, you don’t know your way around a dragon council trial. I do. And if you use your goddess-from-Beneath magic on me, you can kiss your hopes of saving Micky good-bye. You can murder the entire dragon council, of course, but what would that make you?”

  “Don’t think I hadn’t thought of it,” I said.

  “You’d better keep your little Stormwalker under control, Micky. She’ll be the death of us all.”

  Mick’s lips were tight with rage. “Let’s talk outside, Colby.”

  “What for?”

  “Now.”

  “Gods, you are still a bastard. What don’t you want Janet to hear?”

  “I’d like to know that too,” I said.

  Mick was pissed. He strode by me and caught Colby’s shoulder, propelling him out. I knew he didn’t want to talk to Colby in front of the mirror, because I could either listen in using my shard or command the mirror to report what they said later.

  Before Mick and Colby reached the door, it opened, and Maya Medina, in her white coverall, stopped and stared at the three of us. Colby let out an appreciative whistle.

  “Hey, senorita, want to throw back some margaritas with me?”

  Maya gave him a scornful look as only Maya could. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Your dream come true, sweetheart.”

  “I might puke.” Maya shoved past him, her toolbox just missing his groin. “It’s too early in the morning for assholes.”

  Mick’s anger softened enough for a chuckle before he shoved Colby out the door. I closed it behind them and, just to be annoying, locked it.

  “Really, who is that guy?” Maya asked me. “Mick is friends with someone like him?”

  “Mick is enemies with someone like him.” I still hadn’t gotten one of them to tell me what had gone on between them, but I would. “I thought you’d fixed that short in here. Don’t tell me there are more.”

  “Just checking on it. Actually, I came to talk to you.”

  “At six in the morning?”

  “I thought you’d be outside throwing grain around. I wanted to see you before anyone else was up.”

  “My office,” I said with one eye on the mirror.

  The mirror gave me a raspberry. “Beeyotch.”

  Maya, not being magical, didn’t hear it. I gave it the finger behind Maya’s back as we left the saloon and walked through the empty lobby. Cassandra wasn’t due in until six-thirty with the pastries, when early-rising guests would start checking out or looking for breakfast or both.

  Maya thumped her toolbox to my desk as I shut the office door, and she plopped, cross-legged, onto my couch. Even in her body-hiding coverall with her work cap on her pinned-up hair, Maya Medina was a beautiful woman.

  “Emilio Salas asked me out,” she said.

  Ah, girl talk. The incongruity between that and the discussion I’d just had in the saloon almost made me want to laugh. I didn’t, though. Maya looked too unhappy.

  I sat down next to her and rested my feet on the coffee table. “Did he?”

  “I know you’re not surprised, because he told me he asked you if he should.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I said yes.”

  I smiled. “Good for you.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve always liked Emilio, but...” Maya slammed her hat to the table and rubbed a hand through her ebony hair. “I’m lying to myself if I think there will ever be anything more between me and Nash. What we had was over a long time ago. We had a chance, and we blew it.”

  Maya’s lower lashes were damp, but her mouth was set, as though she’d be damned if she cried over this.

  “You really love him, don’t you?” I asked.

  “Yes.” The word tore out of her. “I don’t know why; Nash and I are totally incompatible. We fought all the time we were going out, and we fight now. It’s what I get for falling for a white guy, I guess. At least Salas is Latino. The Joneses, they bleed white.”

  “Nash’s whiteness never bothered you before,” I said. “Besides, he has a nic
e tan.”

  “Except on his ass. He always wears shorts, even if no one can see him.” A tear trickled down her cheek.

  Maya wasn’t the kind of woman who liked squishy girl hugs, and neither was I, so I didn’t reach for her. It was one reason we were starting to get along. “Did you come to ask me whether you should go out with Salas?”

  “I don’t know what I came here for.” Maya unfolded her legs to stand up. “Stupid idea.”

  “No, stay. We’re going to fix this.”

  Maya shook her head but slumped back to the couch. “There’s nothing to fix. Nash isn’t interested in me. I thought we might pick up again, but he hasn’t bothered to call, to stop by. He barely speaks to me when he sees me.” She wiped her eyes. “Well, fuck him. I’ll go out with Emilio and enjoy myself.”

  “Good,” I said with conviction.

  Maya looked crestfallen. “Bad. It’s not fair to Emilio.”

  I stretched my arm across the back of the sofa. “You’re going to have to make up your mind, Maya. If Nash doesn’t realize what a beautiful woman you are and loses you to someone else, it’s his own fault. You can’t wait around the rest of your life for Nash to get his head out of his ass.”

  Another tear ran down Maya’s face. “But it’s a really nice ass.”

  True. I’d seen it. Nash had a great body, and maybe if I didn’t know Mick, and Maya wasn’t in love with him, and Nash didn’t despise me, I might let myself grow interested.

  Maya angrily wiped away her tears and slapped her hat on her head. “Forget this. I won’t go out with either one of them. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Let’s you and me put on our party dresses and go out to this club I know in Flagstaff. Screw all men.”

  “Nash doesn’t want me leaving town,” I said glumly. I’d already left town, but I’d sneaked out and back and gone barely thirty miles. “Mick doesn’t either, for that matter.”

  Maya gave me an incredulous look. “And you’re listening to them? I thought you had more balls than that, Janet. Why let men push you around?”

  I sat up with her, fanning my annoyance. “You’re right. I didn’t do anything, and it’s not like I’m skipping the country. Why shouldn’t I have some fun?”

  Maya held up her hand, and we high-fived.

  My elation lasted all of ten seconds. “Oh, wait. I don’t have anything to wear.” I had jeans and leather chaps for Harley riding, and while I liked my body-hugging tops, turquoise jewelry, and high-heeled boots, I’d never had the time or reason to shop for party dresses and pumps.

  Maya waved this away. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll fix you up. You’re smaller than me, but I have something perfect for you.”

  I got up with her, excited. I’d never had a girls’ night out before, never having had a true girlfriend in my life.

  Maya departed, looking much happier than when she’d come in. I knew damn well Nash would give me hell if I went to Flagstaff, and so would Mick, but I was beyond caring. Why shouldn’t I snatch five minutes of fun? Or at least an evening out in a town barely an hour away? Nash could yell at me all he wanted—after I got back. And between my Stormwalker and Beneath magics, there wasn’t a being out there who would mess with Maya and me, if he or she were smart.

  Maya and I met at Fremont’s house the next night, because one of Nash’s cousins lived across the street from Maya, and Maya didn’t want to take the risk of him reporting our activity to Nash.

  We shut ourselves in Fremont’s back spare bedroom, while he provided us with more chips and dip than we could ever eat. He was excited to be in on the conspiracy, and Maya had a great time fixing me up.

  Maya wore a turquoise body-hugging dress and matching pumps, and she got me into a bright red tube dress that bared my shoulders, arms, and a lot of my legs. The dress was a little loose, but Maya more or less sewed me into it, and it stayed put. Maya had finagled a pair of strappy silver heels from Naomi Kee, since Naomi and I wore the same size, without, of course, telling Naomi we were sneaking out of town.

  Maya put makeup on me and combed out my long black hair. When I looked at myself in the mirror I saw a comely young woman with straight black hair hanging in a shimmering swath down her back. I wished Mick could see me, but then, if he did, he’d lock me into my room in the hotel. I wanted my night out.

  When we emerged into Fremont’s living room, he flipped off his television. “Wow.”

  “Aren’t we gorgeous?” Maya grinned, pivoting.

  Fremont draped his arms around our shoulders. “Man, I’ve got two beautiful women in my house, and they want to go out without me.”

  “You have a girlfriend,” I reminded him. Fremont had been dating a woman from Holbrook for a while now, though I’d never met her.

  “True.” Fremont withdrew. “She’d kill me.”

  “That’s why you’re not going to tell anyone,” Maya said. “You don’t tell Mick and Nash we’re going out, we don’t tell your girlfriend you let us change over here.”

  Fremont rubbed his balding head, a habit he had when concerned. “Janet, are you sure about this? There’s someone killing people out there. Why not stick to the club in Flat Mesa?”

  Maya snorted. “Because we want to have fun, Fremont. We can’t do that unless we leave this entire boring county.” She waved at him as we left the house. “Don’t wait up.”

  The September night was cool and would be even colder in Flag, so I slid my leather jacket over my party dress as we walked out. We stashed my bike in Fremont’s garage and drove out in Maya’s red truck, under cover of darkness.

  Maya and I didn’t talk much until we reached Winslow, as though we had to keep the chatter down in order to sneak out of town. As soon as we pulled onto the freeway and headed west, Maya threw back her head and laughed.

  “It’s about time I got out of that hellhole,” she shouted to the night.

  “Why do you stay in Magellan?” I asked. “You’re a good enough electrician to work in any of the big cities. You can go anywhere you want.”

  Maya shrugged and didn’t answer, but I knew why. As much as she railed about Nash, Maya didn’t want to live anywhere without him, and Nash would be glued to Hopi County until he died.

  By eight, we were nearing Flagstaff, the city’s lights spilling around the pile of mountains that thrust out of the plateau. I expected Maya to pull off, but each exit went by without her so much as turning her head.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. “We’re leaving Flagstaff in the dust.”

  “We’re not going to Flagstaff,” Maya announced calmly as she moved out to pass a slow-moving truck.

  “Okay.” I drew the word out slowly. “Where are you taking me, then?”

  Maya flashed me a smile, her teeth white in the darkness. “Flagstaff is boring, Janet. We’re going to Las Vegas.”

  Fifteen

  “Maya!”

  “What the hell?” Maya pressed her foot to the accelerator, and her truck leapt forward. “I said I wanted to have some fun.”

  I tried to be sensible Janet, well-thinking Janet, ever-mindful-of-danger Janet. Any second now, I’d talk Maya out of it, make her turn off at the next exit and drive sedately back to Magellan. Any second.

  Then I burst out laughing. “What the hell?”

  “The club I have in mind stays open all night,” Maya said. “We’ll have a good time and be back home by morning.”

  Convinced me. I leaned back to enjoy the ride.

  I got a little nervous as we shot through Kingman, remembering the Nightwalker lying in wait on the road to the dam. He had to have been a one-off; there couldn’t be a gang of them sucking people dry at the checkpoint.

  Maya made the point moot by taking the turnoff to Laughlin, bypassing the dam altogether. The traffic was light by this time, and Maya’s speed ate up the miles to Laughlin and across the river into Nevada. The highway shot across the flatness of a dry lake bed on the Nevada side and eventually climbed a steep hill to meet up with the main highway into town.


  Maya laughed again as the city lights spread out before us. “Party time,” she shouted. She cranked on the radio, letting music pour into the truck.

  By the time we reached the club on the Strip and left her truck in the care of valet parking, we were both boiling over with excitement. The club was perfect, crowded and noisy and dark, with music pumping high. We were in a high-dollar hotel, and the men and women inside were dressed to kill. The retiree crowd was either in bed by now or planted at the slot machines in the casino, the hard gamblers were at the baccarat and poker tables, and the partiers like us were in the club.

  After a dash to the ladies’ room to freshen up, Maya and I squeezed into a tiny table and ordered drinks. Then we hit the dance floor. I hadn’t let go in a long, long time. One sip of my fancy martini, and I was ready to explode.

  I had fun gyrating to the music, but Maya could really dance. She raised her arms and rolled her hips, her skin-tight dress showing off her beautiful body. If I’d been a man, I’d have been all over her. As it was, it was a pleasure to watch her as she gave herself entirely to the music. I wished Nash could see her, because he’d want to sweep her into his arms and carry her off to make love. No, wait, Nash would swear at her and probably find some excuse to drag her back home. Asshole.

  We attracted attention. And men. We couldn’t help it. Maya was a siren, undulating like the best harem dancer. Men flocked to her, each trying to cut in and dance with her. A few tried to dance with me as well, but it was Maya they wanted. Maya foiled them by sidestepping them all and dancing with me.

  “They’re going to think we’re gay,” I shouted at her.

  “I don’t care. Let the sons of bitches eat their hearts out.”

  I understood. She wasn’t here to pick up men but to make herself remember that she could attract them anytime she wanted to.

  We danced, we drank, and we danced some more. No Nightwalkers tried to pick us off, no dragons tried to burn the place down, and no gods came to admonish me. Maya and I simply had a good time.

  “I’m tired,” I said into her ear as I slumped into my chair after hours of dancing. I had no idea what time it was, and I didn’t care. “We’re too drunk to drive home.”