Kissed by Smoke

by Shéa MacLeod

  It made sense. If the others thought she’d killed Alberich, it would protect her position.

  “I thought I had seen the last of him,” the Queen continued.

  “Obviously not.”

  “Obviously.” Her voice was dry as dust.

  We walked on a bit, silently. I wondered where we were going or if we were even going anywhere at all. The scenery never changed, just column after column of black marble.

  “How does starting a war with the djinn get Alberich closer to the throne?” I asked.

  “You know that only very powerful magic can control a djinni?”

  I nodded.

  “The sidhe are, perhaps, the only beings left who have such power and I, alone, have the power to control a Marid.”

  Something about the way she said it struck me. “You mean, you and your brother have that power,” I corrected her. I was probably lucky she didn’t chop my head off or something. The look that crossed her face told me she’d have like to do just that. Obviously whatever favor she expected of me was a doozy.

  “Yes. My brother. He can also control a lower-level djinni, but not a Marid. He can no longer draw from the power of Fairy.”

  I wasn’t sure she was right about that. Alberich had been born a King, after all. Plus he had started playing around with some serious demonic stuff. But I decided to go with it. “Okay. So, that explains why he snagged one of the djinni and forced him into taking on the Marid’s appearance. He couldn’t get to the Marid himself because of the protection of the Binding, but he knew I’d go after the Marid if I believed him a murderer.” I frowned. “But why on earth would he think that my killing the Marid would start a war. I’m not sidhe. Neither was Vega. It would be a djinn/human thing.”

  The Queen’s face remained expressionless, her silver eyes focused straight ahead. Her silence spoke louder than words.

  “Shit. You lied to me. He wants to start a war between the djinn and the humans.” I completely forgot about the stupidity of calling the Queen a liar.

  “I did not lie. As you well know, the sidhe cannot lie. Not even the Queen.” Her expression took on an icy imperiousness that was kind of scary. “You assumed I meant a war between the sidhe and the djinn. I did not specify.”

  Fair enough. I’d give her that. My mind raced. “But since you’re the only one with enough power to control the djinn, the SRA would ask you for help once the war started.”

  “Yes.”

  “I still don’t see how that would gain Alberich the throne. Surely the sidhe can defeat the djinn.” I glanced over at her. “Can’t they?”

  Her smile was grim. “Not without hurting themselves. I could stop the djinn, but I would destroy myself in the process.”

  “I don’t understand.” I felt a little like I’d just fallen down yet another rabbit hole. Nothing was making sense.

  “You do not have to,” she snapped. “I am Queen here. All you need know is that should my brother succeed in his machinations, a great deal of power will be his for the taking. And take it, he will.”

  With the djinn gone and the sidhe under his control, I had no doubt she was right. There would be nothing and no one to stop him. Maybe the dragons. Maybe. But their numbers were small since the genocide wrought by Alister Jones’s ancestors.

  “Shit,” I said with a great deal of feeling.

  “I could not have said it better myself.” The amusement was back.

  “I still don’t understand how Alberich killing me would further his plans.”

  She shrugged delicate shoulders. “It would not. I told you, Alberich has a very short temper and a very strong desire for revenge. He wanted payback, nothing more. His … passions got the better of him. For the moment.”

  “What about Vega? Why murder him?”

  She pondered that a moment. “No doubt to simply draw you to where you needed to be. We all know that Hunters are the ones who investigate supernatural deaths. And you are the only true Hunter within hundreds of miles of djinn land.”

  “And Trevor? Why beat him up?”

  “My brother may not be entirely sane, but he does have a twisted sort of logic. I imagine,” she said drily, “that the plan was to kill Trevor. No doubt Alberich thought it would make you angry.”

  That was putting it mildly. “How do I stop him?”

  She smiled, the perfect image of the serene Fairy Queen. “You have already put a — how do you humans say it? — monkey wrench in his plans. The Marid is not only alive, but you now know he is innocent of murder. The control my brother seeks is now far from his grasp.”

  “But he’ll try again.” Of that I had no doubt.

  “Oh, yes. He will try. But you will stop him.”

  I wasn’t sure she should put quite so much faith in me. What I was sure of was that she was still hiding something from me. Something big. There was more to Alberich’s bid for power than the Queen was letting on. Her comment about stopping the djinn resulting in her own destruction was ringing all kinds of alarm bells with me.

  “You still haven’t told me how I’m going to stop Alberich.” I so wasn’t looking forward to hunting down the sidhe version of a serial killer.

  “You are a Hunter,” she said with a smile. “Plus you bear the name of a Queen. You shall figure it out.” With that she dropped my hand and I found myself sucked down into deepest darkness.

  ***

  “Morgan? Morgan. Morgan you wake up right this minute or I’m going to wave a can of tuna under your nose.”

  I opened one eye to find Kabita standing over me with a distinct glare. “You know how I feel about fish. Why are you glaring at me?”

  “You used that damned key.”

  Kabita never swore. Well, almost never. Which meant I was in deep doggy doo. I sat up, wincing a little at the soreness in my ribs. “Listen, I didn’t exactly have a choice … ”

  “Oh, please. Don’t give me that,” she snapped.

  “Where’s Inigo? And how on earth did I get to your office?” The fake leather couch squeaked as I shifted on the cushions.

  “Actually,” Kabita admitted, “I don’t know. You just sort of … poofed.”

  “Poofed?”

  “Yeah. One minute I was alone, next minute you were sprawled out on the couch. Drooling.”

  I gave her a glare of my own. “I was not drooling.”

  One black brow hit her hairline. “You were so drooling.”

  I rolled my eyes and changed the subject. “Inigo?”

  “No idea.” She sank down into one of the chairs in the outer office. “He didn’t poof with you.”

  “Damn, I hope he’s okay.” I tried to get up again, but my ribs practically shrieked in protest.

  “He’s a dragon. Why wouldn’t he be okay? And sit down before you fall down.” Ever the bossy one, Kabita.

  “We were at my mother’s.”

  “Your mother likes Inigo. I doubt she’s going to bash him over the head with a skillet.”

  I shot her another glare. “When we left her place, we were attacked by a sidhe.”

  That got her attention. “Excuse me?”

  I told her all about Alberich and popping over to the Fairy Realm, and how I was supposed to stop a bloody war between the sidhe and the djinn. “I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to do next. I mean, obviously the Marid is fine. Alberich is hardly going to be able to start a war with the Marid alive and the Fairy Queen fully aware of his actions.”

  “But what he can do,” Kabita said, “is revenge himself on you.”

  “Give me a break.”

  “Why do you think he was waiting for you outside your mother’s house, Morgan? To take you to prom?”

  “I never went to prom.”

  Kabita looked like she wanted to strangle me.

  “Okay, fine,” I sighed. “Probably he’s not really happy that I spoiled his Super Evil Genius plan. It just means he might be a little harder to catch, that’s all.”

  “You want to catch Alb
erich? The second most powerful sidhe in existence.” Her voice was overflowing with incredulity. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, or be offended by her lack of faith in me.

  “You got a better idea?”

  She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “Why me?”

  I snorted back a laugh. “Yeah, it’s all about you.” This time I managed to get myself off the couch despite the pain. “I just got beat up by a sidhe, so I’m going home for a nap.” And to call Inigo to make sure he was okay.

  “Your car is back at your mother’s house,” Kabita reminded me.

  Oh, yeah.

  She shook her head. “I’ll give you a ride.”

  “You are too kind.”

  “Yeah, and if you get yourself killed hunting this guy, I am not going to be happy. You don’t want to make a Witch unhappy.”

  I grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll just haunt your ass for the rest of eternity. And I’ll keep all the boy ghosts out of your shower.”

  That made her laugh.

  ***

  “I thought we were friends, Priest,” the Marid snarled, drawing himself up to his full seven feet. Fury pulsed from him like a living thing.

  “I am sorry.” I attempted to sooth him, but there was no calming the enraged djinni. “I truly am sorry, my friend, but this is necessary. It is the only way.”

  We stood on a balcony overlooking the sea. The wind whipped up, snatching at our robes.

  “And how many others have been ensnared in such a fashion?”

  Sadness gripped my heart. I hated what I was doing to him. To the others. “Four. There are four of you. I wish I could explain, but I can’t. In time, you will understand.”

  The Marid turned his back on me. “I will never understand the betrayal of a friend and a brother.”

  “No,” infinite sorrow, “you would not. But I swear to you, I had no other choice. This is the only way to save the Key of Atlantis.”

  “There are always choices. Always.” The Marid whirled on me, fists clenched. But he did not strike.

  “This time, there was but one choice. And when the Key returns and the Binding ends, you will know I made the right one.”

  Muscles flexed under red skin. “So you say.”

  “If I’m wrong, there is no hope. For any of us.”

  ***

  I woke with my heart in my throat. I was really starting to hate these dreams. I could feel the rage of the Marid, the true regret of the Priest, almost as if it were my own rage and regret.

  The Marid had told the truth about the Binding. And about the betrayal. Ten thousand years of betrayal. Talk about sucking big time.

  I threw back the duvet and managed to haul myself out of bed without too much pain. The tenderness in my ribs had already decreased, which meant my Hunter healing ability was doing its thing.

  I padded barefoot to the kitchen where Inigo was tapping away at the keys of his laptop. His glasses had slid down his nose. He looked totally geeky and totally adorable. “Hey sexy.”

  He glanced up, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Apparently I’m not the only sexy one around here.”

  I hadn’t bothered with a robe. I figured he’d seen me naked, so what was the big deal about a t-shirt and panties.

  “Perv,” I laughed, walking over to wrap my arms around him. “Did I mention I’m glad you’re okay?”

  “Once or twice.” He wrapped his arms around me and we just held each other for awhile. I think my absolute favorite thing about Inigo was how much he loved to cuddle. I never thought of myself as the cuddly type, but apparently I was. Who knew?

  My house line rang. Nobody but my mother ever called my house line.

  I leaned over to grab the phone, my ribs protesting a little. “Hello?”

  “Morgan, it’s Trevor. What the hell is going on?”

  “Uh, what do you mean?”

  “There’s a djinni in my hotel room. She keeps babbling about you being in trouble, and the Marid going missing. And why on earth does she look like Marilyn Monroe?”

  Shit. “That’s Zip. She’s a … friend.”

  “Why is she in my room?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe she doesn’t have a cell. Wait,” I frowned, “did you just say the Marid is missing?”

  “Hang on.” I could hear him having a muffled conversation with what was obviously Zip. I’d know her breathy Marilyn voice anywhere. Finally he came back on. “Yeah. Apparently right after your visit, he vanished off djinn lands.”

  “That’s impossible. The Binding won’t allow him to leave,” I insisted.

  “True. Not willingly.”

  “You’re saying someone kidnapped the Marid.”

  “It’s looking that way,” he admitted.

  “How is that even possible? No one can get onto djinn lands … oh, shit.” It hit me then.

  No one could get onto djinn lands without the permission of one of the djinni. Zip had given me permission because she knew who and what I was. There was no way a djinni would give anyone else permission. Unless they were coerced.

  And, other than the Fairy Queen, there was only one person alive who could coerce a djinni: Alberich.

  ***

  “Sounds like Alberich has been a busy boy.”

  I shot Kabita a look. “No kidding. I seriously think the guy has a screw loose.” I ran my blade over a whetstone until the steel sung. Is it wrong that I love the sound of a really sharp blade?

  “Don’t underestimate him, Morgan. He may be nuts, but he’s a very dangerous nuts.” She was filling up some kind of aerosol can at the kitchen sink.

  “What are you doing?”

  She grinned. “Salt water.”

  “Salt is for demons and ghosts, not the sidhe.” Though I had to admit the whole idea of salt in a spray bottle was kind of awesome.

  “True,” she admitted, “but this sidhe is different. He’s been corrupted by demon magic and hate. I doubt the salt will hurt him much, but it might slow him down. Besides, he could have more demons under his control.”

  She made a good point. I checked over the rest of my weaponry. Machete or dao? Machete or dao?

  The machete was more multi-purpose, but since I wasn’t headed into a jungle, I settled on the dao. Unfortunately, I knew very well that none of our weapons would stop Alberich for long.

  There was a knock at my backdoor. Kabita and I exchanged glanced before she shrugged and went to open it.

  “Kabita. How lovely to see you.” It was Eddie, a smile beaming from ear to ear.

  “Eddie, we’re about to go on a Hunt,” Kabita began.

  “I know, I know.” He waved her away and plopped into the kitchen chair across from me. He withdrew a hand from his coat pocket and laid a thin silvery strip on the table.

  I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. It looked just like the plastic zip cuffs a lot of the cops used now, except it was made of some kind of metal, etched with what looked like runes.

  I glanced up at Eddie. “What is this?”

  “You’re going up against a sidhe, Morgan. And not just any sidhe, but a Fairy King.”

  “He was banished.”

  Eddie shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. He was born King, and King he remains. At least when it comes to power. You will not be able to kill him, but you may be able to capture him.” Eddie tapped the metal strip with his finger, “With this.”

  “How?”

  “This little zip cuff not only contains iron, which is anathema to sidhe magic, it’s also imbued with the most powerful magics I know.” He glanced at me through his thick spectacles, an odd expression on his face. “And a few I don’t. Get this thing around his wrists, and he’ll be powerless long enough to get him to the Other World.”

  So, all I had to do was track down a crazy sidhe, subdue him, slap on a pair of cuffs, and haul his ass over to the Fairy Realm. No problem.

  ***

  Trevor was waiting on the edge of the djinn lands
when we pulled up. Zip was with him, still dressed in her ridiculous Marilyn dress and practically dancing with excitement. I hadn’t realized a djinni could be so … perky.

  “How do we know the Marid is still on djinn lands?” I asked after everyone had done the greeting thing.

  “We don’t,” Trevor admitted. “But Zip says she can track the Marid, so this seemed a good place to start.”

  I glanced over at the djinni, who gave me a little wave and flashed Inigo a far too flirtatious smile. I managed not to roll my eyes. “That true, Zip?”

  She grinned merrily as though we were all about to go on a picnic, instead of hunt down the evil sidhe who had her Marid. “Oh, yes. All djinni can sense their Marid. It’s part of the … ” she trailed off, eyes going wide. Very Marilyn. “We’re not supposed to talk about that.”

  “Because of the Binding. Yes, I know. What I want to know is, how did Alberich get to the Marid in the first place?”

  She pouted a little. “I don’t know. The Binding is supposed to protect the Marid.”

  “Unless Alberich used the magic of the Binding to control one of the lesser djinni. He did it once, he could have done it again,” Kabita pointed out.

  Frankly, it was the only option that made sense. Somehow Alberich had tapped into the magic the last High Priest of Atlantis had used to bind the djinn. The very magic that was supposed to protect them, had now become their Achilles’ Heel.

  But that begged the question: Why hadn’t he done it before? With the first djinni he bound? He wouldn’t have needed to kill Vega or Trevor. He wouldn’t have needed me.

  “Shit.” I turned back to Trevor. “What about the SRA? Surely they can’t care about keeping a low profile at this point. Can’t they send, I don’t know, backup or something?” After all, they’d helped out with my last baddie: A dragon Hunter gone rogue.

  He shook his head. “They’re refusing to get involved.”

  We all stared at him in absolute shock. Except for Zip who was still smiling perkily.

  “What do you mean?” Inigo spoke up first.

  “I had a little chat with a friend of mine who works in Operations. She told me on the down low that the SRA is well aware of the possibilities of a war between supernaturals and they want to … wait and see.”

  “What about a war between the djinn and the humans? Or the sidhe and the humans? Have they thought about that?” I practically shouted.