Master of Smoke

by Angela Knight

  “Up until the Dark Ones showed up, it was pretty idyllic. Thanks to Smoke. We had plenty of food, and we rarely encountered other tribes, so we didn’t go to war very often.” He shrugged. “Before I was twelve or so, I gathered food with my mother and the other women. I learned which berries and roots you could eat, and which ones would give you one hell of a bellyache. I also learned how to make an arrow that would fly straight, and how to flake a pretty decent axe head out of this green rock we called ca’ita.” David smiled. “Basically, they taught me everything a man needed to know in the equivalent of, oh, 10,000 B.C. or so.”

  “What about after you were twelve?”

  “I started hunting with the men. Smoke always led the hunting parties, so we were generally pretty damned successful. We certainly never went hungry.” He paused, one hand rubbing his thigh, a frown on his face.

  His expression made her sit up. “What’s the matter?”

  “Damn. I suddenly remembered the day I almost died. I haven’t thought of that in years.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’d gone fishing alone—I guess I was fourteen or so. My people didn’t have all that good a grasp of the passage of time, so it’s hard to tell. Anyway, I was in the shallows of the river, tying to spearfish, when this snakedog burst out of the brush and hit me like a compact car.”

  “Snakedog?”

  “It looked something like a furry crocodile. Mean little bastards. Had a set of teeth like you wouldn’t believe. Anyway, it ripped the hell out of my thigh. I managed to ram my spear through its left eye, which killed it, but it still did a hell of a lot of damage.”

  “Oww.” Eva felt sick, remembering the sensation of teeth ripping through her own flesh.

  “Yeah. I was bleeding to death, when all the sudden, Smoke was there, my parents wild-eyed on his heels. He started licking my leg ...”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Eeew.”

  “Hey, don’t knock it. Smoke could do a hell of a lot of magic with a lick.”

  “I’ll buy that,” Eva said, grinning. “So can you.”

  “Smart-ass. Anyway, he saved my life.” His grin faded. “It wasn’t long after that when the Dark One found us. Those creatures were big, horned bipeds, looked like a medieval woodcut of a devil. Mostly because they inspired the woodcuts. Smoke damn near died fighting off this particular devil. Ri’ae said she’d had a vision that he needed to merge with one of us warriors.” He fell silent.

  Eva studied him. The expression on his face was a little chilling. Finally she prompted, “Who was Ri’ae?”

  “His priestess. Smoke had enhanced her magical abilities a century before so that she could assist him in running the tribe.”

  Eva sat up with a jerk. “That’s the one Cat said was a bitch!”

  “Exactly. She and Smoke held a contest among the warriors. I won and merged with him, which is when she became my lover.”

  “Big surprise there,” Eva grumbled.

  He gave her a smile. “Jealous?”

  She bared her teeth. “Who, me?”

  David snorted. “Don’t be. She was a psychotic little bitch who eventually decided she didn’t like sharing power with me. Or sharing me with Smoke, which made no damned sense whatsoever. Anyway, she killed the whole damned village one day. Murdered everyone, including my parents, brothers, sisters, and nephews.”

  The pain on his face made Eva lean forward and cup his cheek in her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

  His bleak gaze met hers. “I killed her.”

  And it had devastated him, she realized suddenly. My God, he loved her. She searched for something to say, managed nothing more than a lame “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, well.” David rose to his feet and flicked his fingers. The picnic vanished. Eva looked around, blinking in surprise.

  “Come on, I’m still hungry.” He reached down for her hand.

  She let him draw her to her feet. “After eating all that?”

  “Not for food.” His grin flashed. “For magic.”

  EIGHTEEN

  Eva watched as David drew an elaborate pattern in the air with his free hand, conjuring a dimensional gate like the one Belle had created the night before. “Shouldn’t we tell Arthur and Gwen we’re leaving?”

  “It’s already taken care of.” He tugged her toward the shimmering opening. “I’m not completely rude.”

  “Do you people ever walk anywhere?”

  “All the time. But the spot I have in mind is too far.” He flashed that grin at her again, all promise and temptation.

  “Wait,” Eva protested, resisting the pull of his hand. “Where the hell are my clothes?”

  There was that grin again. “Where we’re going, you don’t need clothes.”

  “But what if somebody’s there?” Before she could get another protest out of her mouth, he’d tugged her through the gate. Magic rolled across her skin, and she was on the other side.

  They stood in a clearing in what looked like an honest-to-Tarzan jungle. Mounds of blossoms covered trees and bushes and stood in brilliant clumps of flowers—deep crimson, shimmering yellow, a dozen shades of blue shading into purple, white petals edged in pink. Leaves in every shade of green—emerald, olive, Kelly, hunter, fern, moss—blazed so vibrant they made her eyes ache.

  In the center of the clearing lay a rock-edged pool of water that foamed around the foot of a waterfall. The falls danced and tumbled down the face of a cliff, trees jutting here and there from the wet black stone. Eva tilted her head back, tracing the splashing path of the water until it passed inches beneath a rippling oval high overhead. “Is that a dimensional gate?”

  David paused and surveyed the pool, a smile curving his sensual mouth. “Oh, yes.”

  She frowned up at the oval. There seemed to be clouds on the other side, boiling and misty. “Who cast the spell to open it?”

  He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, as if enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. “Nobody. Or possibly the gods. It’s been there as long as I can remember. And I can remember a very, very long time.” Opening his eyes again, he stared up into the rippling oval, his gaze going distant. “It leads to another universe, one where magic is even more potent than it is here, where the rules of physics are so alien, they’d rip you or me apart. Smoke’s home universe.”

  “He’s from another universe?”

  “Yep. If Cat hadn’t been drinking at this pool, Smoke would have lasted no longer here than we would have there.”

  “Then why come here?”

  A frown gathered between his dark brows. “Now, that’s a little tough to explain. I guess you could say they were having a war on his world, and his people were losing. The winners meant to exterminate Smoke and his kind, so the survivors came here. A lot of them died anyway if they weren’t able to find the right kind of hosts.” Sadness darkened his eyes. “Many of those that did survive fell prey to the Dark Ones.”

  “Okay, that sounds sinister.”

  “It was. The Dark Ones fed on life force, so they just loved the elementals, who were basically nothing but life force. There are only a few of us—of them—left anymore.”

  Eva studied him, fascinated. “What happened to the evil aliens?”

  “Merlin and the Sidhe ran them off. They didn’t care for the ugly bunch either.” David padded out onto a finger of smooth black stone that thrust into the water. He stood there a moment, morning sunlight gilding his shoulders, before leaping upward, ass and thighs flexing. Light painted a golden glow across his shoulders and the hard curves of his arms as he cut into the water with barely a splash.

  He surfaced a moment later and rolled over onto his back, an almost sexual pleasure on his face. “As that waterfall rolls past the gate, it picks up ambient magic,” he called. “Which makes this pool the most magically potent spot on the planet. Since that bastard Warlock used me to power his magic like a flashlight battery, I need to soak some of that energy up. Being in the Mageverse has helped, but to fully
recharge, I need quality time in here.”

  Eva frowned, remembering the orgasmic surge of magic when they’d made love. “Did what we did this morning drain you?”

  He shot her a grin as brilliant as a boy’s on Christmas morning. “It was worth it. Besides, I drew in as much magic as I gave you.” David began to backstroke across the water with smooth kicks and powerful sweeps of his strong arms. His cock rolled over his wet, gleaming thighs.

  Yum, purred Fluffy, I have an urge to go bobbing for dick.

  Grinning, Eva strolled onto the stone and dove in a long, flat leap that carried her well out over the pool. She plunged deep, arrowing toward the bottom, savoring the cool rush of bubbling current around her. It should have been darker so far underwater, but the liquid seemed to glow. Did glow, in fact, the air bubbles around her glittering with a magical sheen. Arching upward, she broke the sunlit surface with a splash. Her flesh buzzed and tingled, reacting to the intoxicating energy of the pool’s magic.

  Eva shivered in pleasure, gasping. And gasped again as strong arms closed around her waist from behind, turning her into David’s hot kiss. Moaning softly, she hooked her arms around his strong neck. Their legs brushed together as they kicked lazily, keeping themselves afloat.

  He swirled his tongue around hers, stroked softly over her lower lip as he cupped one breast in his hand, his thumb flicking back and forth over the hard little nubbin. She felt his cock grow as it pressed against her belly, stretching upward between them. “You’re so beautiful.”

  A sudden realization struck her. “You don’t sound like you did before. Not as formal.” Pinpointing the difference, she felt her eyes widen. “You’re using more contractions.”

  Unease flashed through his eyes. Will we be David enough for you? His smile looked forced. “Want me to start talking like the cast of Lord of the Rings again?”

  She frowned. “No. I ...”

  Before she could say anything else, his mouth took hers, so fierce and hot it snatched her breath. His thumb went back to teasing her nipple, until she gasped at the heat that rolled through her in shivering waves of delight. His free hand scooped under her ass, lifted her in the water as he went on kissing her, tongue stroking, thrusting, licking. She wrapped her legs around his waist, hooking her ankles together, holding his big body close and tight.

  The smooth head of his cock found her sex and drove to her depths in one hot thrust. She gasped, and he ate the sound out of her mouth, hunching, driving, a breathtaking surge of hot flesh and male power. Bending her backward across his arm, he lowered his head and covered one pebbled nipple with his mouth. Growling in satisfaction like a cat, he began suckling, fierce and strong. Pleasure shot through her like burning arrows that lanced deep in time to every delicious thrust. She came with a high, helpless yowl, dimly aware of his bellow of triumph.

  They were floating lazily in the pool, their breathing beginning to slow, when a mental voice rang out like the peal of a great bell. “Smoke?”

  Eva lifted her head from David’s shoulder and caught her breath in a combination of surprise and awe.

  There on the water’s edge stood a huge white stag with the most magnificent rack of antlers she’d ever seen. He had to be six feet at the shoulder. Sparks of magic danced around the thick, sharp points like fireflies. The creature’s eyes were the same crystalline blue as David’s. He took another step into the water on shining cloven hooves.

  “Smoke?” he asked again.

  “Zephyr!” David pulled away and gave her a smile. “Eva, that’s one of my—Smoke’s—fellow elementals. Come on, I’ll introduce you.” He started stroking toward the shore, strong legs kicking. Curious, Eva followed.

  “It has been some time since we last spoke,” the stag said, cocking his magnificent head. “And you have found a mate. Congratulations. I know you had grown lonely, even among your humans.”

  “Actually, she’s trying to decide if she’ll have me.” He pulled himself out of the pool and grinned as he swept his soaked and streaming hair out of his eyes. “How goes it with you?”

  “Well enough. The dragons have grown no more fleet of wing and claw, thank the gods. The hellhounds, too, chase me still, just enough to keep my horns sharp.” The stag eyed Eva as she cautiously climbed from the pool to stand just behind David. “And you, girl.” He extended his elegant head to give her a sniff. He smelled of forest shadows and magic so strong, she found herself taking a wary step back. From the glint in his intelligent gaze, she suspected she had amused him. “You are wolf.”

  “Umm, yeah. I guess,” Eva said out loud, having no idea how to project her thoughts as they were doing. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “And you. He needs such a one as you to run with.”

  “And you do not?” David retorted. “You should seek some Sidhe warrior to bond with, that you may take a bride of your own among them.” He’d fallen back into more formal speech again.

  The stag looked away, off into the distance. Sadness darkened his great blue eyes. “It is too late for that, my friend.”

  David stiffened. “What do you mean? What have you seen?” He took a step closer and caught his friend by the horns, pulling the great head around to face him. “If you need help, you know I’ll fight for you. I always have. I drove that Dark One away, remember?”

  “I could not forget such courage, my friend. The demon would have devoured me had you not killed it first, at great cost to yourself.” Gently, the stag twisted his head, pulling his antlers from David’s light grip. “But everything has an end time. Even immortals. And I fear I have come to mine.”

  Before David could say anything more, the stag whirled away and leaped across the pool in one long, soaring bound. With the rapid thump of hooves on the loam, he vanished into the trees, leaving a trail of sparks in his wake.

  “Wow.” Eva scraped her dripping hair back and stared, but there was no sign of the stag. “He’s really ...” She searched for a word and had to settle for “Powerful.”

  “In many ways, yes.” David frowned after his friend as if troubled. “But remaining a deer has limited him. Even with Zephyr’s magic, that stag doesn’t have the brain power he needs.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The host form contributes a great deal of will and intelligence to shape the elemental’s magic. Deer are not particularly bright to begin with, and they are prey animals. He needs a large predator at the very least.” He sighed heavily. “The warriors of my tribe would have fought for the honor of hosting him, but he’s always preferred to be as he is. I don’t think he wanted to share his mind the way I do.”

  “Why?” Eva wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Something about the conversation chilled her.

  “He saw what happened to me when I lost my people. He said he did not want the grief.” David noticed her quiver and stepped closer, running one big hand down her back. Instantly a thick towel appeared around her shoulders. He picked it up and began to dry her off. “Unfortunately, I know him well enough to know he’s too damn stubborn to let me help him. Short of chasing him through the woods for the next year—assuming he’d even let me—there’s nothing I can do.”

  Warlock woke sprawled across the center of the spell circle, Kevin Wheeler’s cold body lying beside him. He was covered in the Dire Wolf’s dried blood, his white fur matted with great sticky brown smears and sprays of it. He felt sick and weak, scarcely able to think at all.

  Worst of all, he felt powerless. The cat had taken his stolen abilities back. True, Warlock had driven Smoke out before the creature could kill him, but that was all he’d accomplished.

  Still, he lived. One does not survive as long as Warlock had without tasting the occasional defeat, and he knew living meant he still had the opportunity to regain the power to avenge himself.

  Rolling onto his back, Warlock considered the ceiling through narrowed orange eyes. His first thought was to attack Smoke yet again, but that sounded far too much like the definition o
f madness: attempting the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.

  So no. He would not let that creature back into his mind again. He’d come far too close to being destroyed. He wouldn’t court death that way again.

  What he needed was a power source that did not have so many teeth. One unprotected by ruthless will and feral intelligence. Unfortunately, he knew of no such power source.

  But Smoke might.

  When he’d first realized that maintaining control of the cat’s memory and powers might not be as simple as it seemed, Warlock had set to work creating a backup of sorts, in case the beast stole his memories back.

  Now he rose from the spell circle and padded over to the workshop table where he’d spent so many nights of late. In the center of that table sat a book flipped open to reveal pages of notes. He no longer remembered exactly what he’d written, but he intended to find out.

  Warlock smiled in grim satisfaction, then grimaced as he scented himself.

  First, however, he was in desperate need of a bath.

  The bell over the Comix Cave door gave its habitual merry jingle as Eva walked in. “Hi, Dad, I’m ...”

  The shop was splashed in red paint. Great swaths of it cut across the new arrivals racks, splashed the walls and the expensive hero statues. Oh, shit, she thought. The stock is ruined. Dad’s gonna have a stroke. Who the hell did ...

  She saw them.

  They lay in a tangle on the floor, Bill Roman huddled over Charlotte as if trying to protect her from the claws that had ripped into them both. Her father’s throat was gone, his empty eyes staring in horror. Her mother had no face at all.

  “Mom! Dad!” Eva woke changing, her voice spiraling from a scream of horror to a roar of agony. She rolled to her feet on the blanket where they’d made love yet again before drifting off into sated sleep. “Daddy!” It was a shriek that made the bushes sway.

  “Gods and demons!” David sprang upward and came down with a sword materializing in his hand, hard eyes scanning the clearing for whatever had torn that sound out of her. “What the seven hells was that?” As he caught sight of her face, his voice dropped to a more soothing register. “Did you have another nightmare?”