Motor City Mage

by Cindy Spencer Pape

  “Smart. You might need it later.”

  “It’s not safe in these woods at night,” Vin said. If the Gravaki was affected by the heat, he didn’t show it. Fish, however, looked miserable. “There are venomous insects and meat-eating vines. I’m going to flash this guy the hell out of here, before the climate kills him. You two, do you see that village down the hill?”

  Lana and Des both nodded. There were a few faint flickers of light in the distance.

  “There are some farms between the woods and the town. Make for the first barn you see. I’ll try to find you there come morning.”

  Des raised one eyebrow. “Morning?”

  “I’m almost out of magic,” Vin said with a shrug. “I’ll have to rest before I flash back.”

  “Understood.” Des said. He was just about drained as well.

  Lana thought to hug Fish, though she wasn’t sure exactly how. “Goodbye,” she told him instead. “Enjoy your wife and little ones.”

  “Goodbye, friend,” he said in return, patting her on the back. His hand squeezed her shoulder. It was sort of slimy and squishy, but he was her friend so she didn’t let herself be grossed out. “Be safe.”

  Then Fish and Vin locked arms and with a flash they were gone.

  Even without Vin’s light, Lana could see. Her eyes had adapted to the darkness. She took a moment then to study Des, who appeared to be in rough shape.

  “Heal yourself, you idiot,” she snapped.

  “I don’t have much power left,” he told her. “Might need it for defense.”

  “Might need it more if I kick your ass for being stubborn. Heal as much as you can before we go on.”

  “Fine.” He concentrated for a few moments, a slight halo of light circling his body. Some of the visible wounds on his shoulders closed, and he stood straighter. “There. Just scratches left. Happy?”

  “Fucking ecstatic,” she snarled. Then she flung herself into his arms. “Try not to get yourself killed, you jackass. Your sister will eat me for lunch.” To her horror, tears clogged her throat, making the last few words all but incoherent.

  “Oh, shit, chán-láng, don’t fall apart on me now.” There was a note of panic in his voice, even as his arms closed around her, holding her tight.

  She’d probably never cried in front of him before, not even at her grandfather’s funeral. It was more her style to hold things in until she was alone, but after all they’d been through, he could bloody well live with her cracking for five minutes.

  He rubbed his lips in her hair. “We’ll get back somehow. I promise.”

  “Shh.” She lifted her head from his chest. “’S okay. I just needed to…” She choked back a sob. “Let it out for a minute.” There’d been so much death that she was reminded of the night her grandfather and other packmates had died. Jeez, had that only been a month ago?

  “It’s all right.” He seemed to understand and just held her, stroking his hands up and down her back until she pulled herself back together.

  A few minutes later, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded. “So. First barn we see, right?”

  “That’s what the man—and I use the term loosely—said,” he agreed. He used his thumb to catch one stray tear she’d missed.

  “It’s hard to see them the same way now, isn’t it?” She asked as they began to walk, hand in hand, down the narrow, winding path toward the clear valley at the base of the hill where the portal was apparently hidden. “Before they were just demons. Now they’re people.”

  “Right,” he said shortly. “Just don’t let anyone in the League know I admitted that, okay? I’d like to keep my job.”

  “Have they really given you trouble about Elise marrying a Fae, or being friends with my pack?” That idea pissed her off to no end. The Wyndewin should be working to minimize tension between the races, not encouraging it. Bastards.

  “Yeah. Though mainly it’s been my direct boss, and since we just found out he’s in bed with the demons—bad ones—hell, who knows? The League has a lot of updating to do on its policies regarding other species. Maybe this will give them a little nudge.” He started to push a vine out of his way, but stopped just short. “Wait. What did Vin say about vines?”

  “Carnivorous,” Lana replied. She picked up a stick and threw it at the vine, which wrapped around it and carried it off the path. “I’m guessing we want to steer clear of those.”

  “You think?”

  So they were back to being snarky at each other. That was probably good. Even if it sucked, which it did. Part of her wanted to jump him, here, now, and to hell with the vines. They’d broken out of a demon prison and both survived, while others hadn’t. Even her tears hadn’t quite dissipated the adrenaline rush that came with unadulterated terror. On the other hand, now that they were at least sort of safe, what her rational side wanted to do was find water, food and a place to sleep. And she wouldn’t mind at all if that sleeping was done curled up in Des’s arms. Maybe they could even work off a little of that adrenaline in a nice, cozy hayloft somewhere.

  Somehow she doubted it would be that easy.

  An insect ran over her toe, and she remembered Vin’s other warning. “There are also supposed to be toxic insects. I should probably turn furry—my pelt is thicker than my skin.” There was also the fact that she didn’t have shoes.

  “You have better night vision that way, too, and a better chance of scenting any trouble,” he agreed. “Go ahead. I’ll carry your gun. And I have enough juice left for a little spell. It should keep the bugs off but won’t have enough oomph for the vines.”

  Lana peeled off her tunic and handed him that, along with her stolen rifle. She dropped a quick kiss on his cheek and said, “Thanks for letting me fall apart for a minute,” before she changed.

  Now that she was in wolf form, she took the lead, her nose and ears on full alert as she guided them down the hill. More than once, she stopped and waited while Des threw a stick, distracting a vine.

  Finally, they reached the open fields below.

  “There. Farmstead about a quarter mile that way.” He pointed to the left. “Think that’s the one he meant?”

  Lana nodded. There was one off to the right, but that was farther away by half. She smelled wood smoke, which might mean this world was a low-tech one, or could just indicate that someone had lit a fire for some other reason. It was a chilly night, but not frigid—warmer than it had been in Detroit, anyway. Two moons shone in the sky, one bluish and one more of a sickly green. Hell, Toto, I guess we’re not in Kansas anymore. Oh wait—in this case, she was the one on four legs. She didn’t think Des would be amused at being called Dorothy.

  The path grew wider and straighter once it was out of the brush at the verge of the woods. She trotted between fields toward the barn and potential shelter.

  A barn should at least have water for the animals, she hoped. Maybe even food. If it came down to it, she could hunt in her wolf form, but that was a poor choice as she’d thrown the rabbits back up, each of the two times she’d tried.

  Sometimes it sucked, being an urban, grocery-store kind of werewolf.

  They followed the path, which eventually met up with a wider, gravel road. Something that looked kind of like wheat, if she squinted in the dim light, grew in the tidy fields that lined either side. They weren’t far from the farm when Lana heard a wagon approaching in the distance. They weren’t going to make the barn in time, so they ducked into the field, crouching between rows of the crops until the vehicle passed. Her impression of a low-tech world had been right. The vehicle had been drawn by some kind of six-legged animal, the size of a cow, but with a trunk like an elephant. It had sniffed that giant snout in their general direction, but the driver, who did bear a small resemblance to Fish except that he seemed to have four arms, clicked and whirred something at the animal that was pretty understandable even without translation. It probably meant something like, Quit fooling around, it’s late and time to get home. With a grunt, th
e animal put its trunk down and shambled on its way.

  Now they just had to get past the house. The thatch-roofed wooden structure was up on low stilts, unlike the barn, which was ground level and round, though still with a grass roof. Lana wondered if the house was raised because of flooding or predators. Hopefully floods, which had to be out of season due to the dryness of the air.

  Half a dozen windows were dark, but one at the top of the two-and-a-half-story structure had a soft, flickering light. Someone was awake. She wondered if they had gunpowder yet. Magic, almost certainly. And Des was fresh out. Here’s hoping the barn isn’t guarded. Even in her fur, she was tired and dragging. Des’s long strides had slowed. She didn’t think they were up for another fight.

  They skirted the house by ducking into the field across the road. Once past the circle of light from the window, they crept across the road and followed the dirt drive to the round barn. The door faced the house, but none of the windows on this side were lit, so when Des moved up to the door in his dark clothes, she didn’t think he’d be spotted.

  “No lock,” he whispered and opened the door a few inches. No alarms or screams. So far, so good.

  Lana moved up to his side and slipped into the small opening ahead of him, knowing she’d be able to see more. One side was sectioned into five stalls filled with snoozing ele-cows, or whatever had been pulling the cart outside. A couple of the draft animals snorted and sniffed at them as they moved inside and shut the door, but none of them put up too big a fuss.

  Along the section of wall opposite the door sat a similar cart and a variety of farm implements, probably pulled the same way. Across from the animals was a raised pen that held something small—maybe the local version of rabbits or chickens? Above those, a loft held, wonder of wonders, hay. They’d have a place to sleep.

  The floor was smooth, packed dirt that wouldn’t cut her feet. Lana shifted into her human shape and moved toward a barrel beside the rear stall. “I smell water. Thank heavens.” After sniffing it carefully, she decided it was clean and scooped some up with her hands and drank.

  “There’s some kind of fruit here.” Des peered into the next barrel over. “Are we hungry enough to take a chance on it?”

  Lana picked up one of the fruits and sniffed it while Des drank. “Smells okay. Kind of lemony-papaya.” She took a test bite, knowing as a werewolf, she’d likely throw up anything her system couldn’t handle. The taste was a blend of sweet and tart, maybe a little too tart, but certainly edible. When no apparent ill effects occurred, she took another bite and handed one to Des.

  One of the cow-ephants made a quiet gurgling noise and waved its snout at them. The other soon joined in and the noise began to swell.

  “I think we’re stealing their treats,” Des said. “A friend had horses when I was growing up, and they’d act like this if you gave one of them an apple and not the others.”

  “Well, then, treats all the way around.” She handed a piece of fruit to the nearest beast, who slurped it up with its trunk, soft bristly whiskers brushing against Lana’s hand. It chewed, and a slow rumble shook its massive belly.

  Des laughed softly. “I think it’s purring. You may have made a friend for life.”

  Even so, he doled out the treats to two more of the animals, while Lana dealt with the others, returning to the first to tentatively stroke its trunk while she nibbled on her own snack. It rumbled more, which she took to be a happy sound.

  They each ate two pieces of fruit, enough to stop their stomachs from rumbling, but not enough to make them feel full. Lana scrubbed at her face with a tiny bit of the water, loath to use too much, in case it was hard for the farmers to come by, given the dryness of the weather.

  “The hayloft or the wagon?” Des asked when they were done. He peeked into the wagon and came up with some kind of coarsely woven blanket or rug. “This should give us something to lie on.”

  “The hayloft is a better hiding place in case the farmer comes in before Vin.” And with the mat, they wouldn’t wake up full of scratches.

  “Smart as well as sexy.” He motioned her toward the ladder set into the wall beside the hutch or coop or whatever it was.

  She gave the ele-cow one last scratch on the nose and wiped her hands on the seat of her tunic. “I hope Vin can come up with some clothes,” she muttered. “Preferably with only two sleeves.”

  “I just hope he comes up with a way to get us home,” he said. “Then I can figure out how to prove Brewer is corrupted.”

  “You’re looking up my tunic, aren’t you?” She could practically feel the heat of his gaze on her skin. The tunic was baggy and torn, and didn’t cover much even when she wasn’t climbing a ladder above him.

  “I can’t see much in the dark,” he assured her. “Nothing I haven’t seen before anyway.”

  “Jeez, you are such a guy.” She stepped off the ladder into the hayloft. It was big, leaving them plenty of room to sleep at the back without any worry of rolling off. There’d be plenty sufficient space for other activities too. Her body responded instantly to that thought, although she knew it was a bad idea.

  “Glad you noticed.” He handed up the guns, tossed her the blanket and then made his way up. “Not bad.” Without comment, they spread the blanket as close as possible to the curved outside wall. It was almost too warm up here, so they wouldn’t need to use it as a cover.

  “Should we take turns sleeping, do you think?” Lana sat cross-legged on the blanket.

  “Probably.” Des sat beside her and pulled off his shoes. “But since we’re not sure how long we have before Vin shows up, it might be better if we both catch as much of a nap as we can. I sleep lightly, and I suspect you do, too.” He lay between her and the door, but rolled to face her instead of watching for trouble.

  “But first…” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, his lips coming down on hers.

  “Mmm.” She sighed against his lips when they came up for air. “I needed that almost as much as the water.”

  “Me, too,” he whispered as he combed his fingers through her tangled mass of hair. “You were good today. You held your own through some nasty-assed fights.”

  From Des, this was high praise indeed, and Lana felt a swell of pride. “Even though I fell apart afterward?”

  “Yeah, even so. If I’d had to rip a chunk out of a Gravaki with my teeth, I think I’d have puked my guts out. Crying once it’s all over isn’t such a bad reaction.” He kissed her again, his hands finding her breasts through the deep sleeve openings of the tunic, and she decided she had better things to do than argue. She returned his kiss, her tongue tangling with his, even while she reached between them to unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans. He pulled away just long enough to push them off, along with his boxers. Lana yanked the tunic over her head and lay back on the mat.

  This wasn’t making love. This was oh-my-god-we’re-not-fucking-dead sex. She didn’t want gentleness and he didn’t offer it, though they were both careful to make as little noise as possible. He leaned over her and found her cleft with his hand, stroking her until he was sure she was ready, which she was. From the moment they’d climbed into the loft, she’d been thinking of sinking her teeth into him. She widened her legs as Des rolled on top of her and slid home without any further preliminaries.

  Lana wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders, gripping him tightly. He leaned up on his elbows and took her hard and fast, kissing her with the same ferocity. His tongue thrust into her mouth as his lips and even teeth ground against hers. She gave back as good as she got, bucking up into his hips and kissing him back just as fiercely. Her belly tightened almost to the point of pain as she closed in on her peak faster and harder than ever before.

  “Damn, woman,” he gasped when he pulled his mouth away. Lana gulped in a breath before moving her mouth to his shoulder. Her fangs had elongated and without thinking, she sank them into the ropey muscle of his deltoid.

  The moment she d
id, she came, an explosive release that would have had her screaming the place down if her teeth hadn’t been locked into Des’s shoulder. Her eyes closed as the waves of her climax crashed over her, stealing her breath and her mind. Nothing existed, no demons, no danger, no worried families, just Des and this unbelievable passion they generated when they touched.

  “Yesss,” Des hissed as he thrust one final time and emptied himself into her pussy, his cock held deep as it pulsed and jetted streams of liquid heat into her core.

  They lay entwined for so long that Lana, exhausted as she was, began to doze. Des had collapsed down onto her chest. He was heavy, but his weight wasn’t unpleasant. And if she was a little over-warm with a large human blanket, she was too replete to make him move. Yes, they were still in a precarious situation, but now, just for a little while she wanted to enjoy the illusion of safety here in his arms.

  All too soon, Des groaned and rolled to his side next to her, bringing her back to full wakefulness. “You are amazing, woman. Sorry if that was a little rough.”

  “It was fine.” More than fine, it had been exactly what she wanted, needed. “Sorry about the bite.”

  “Compared to all the other holes in my hide in the last few days, a couple tooth marks are nothing.” He reached a hand over and pushed a strand of hair off her face, which like the rest of her was damp with sweat. “Get some sleep.”

  The holes weren’t nothing. In the lupine community, wearing another wolf’s mark on your skin was a serious sign of a potential mating. The instinct to mark her partner had never surfaced for Lana before. It meant she had some deep feelings for Des, feelings she didn’t even want to admit to herself, let alone explain to him. She’d have to make sure he healed those before they got back home. Her cousins would never let them hear the end of it.

  She meant to speak, to let him know, but she was too drained to find the words. Tomorrow, she thought as her eyelids fell shut. We can deal with that tomorrow. Before she could finish the thought, the darkness closed in around her.