“You meant ‘ropes’ literally?”
“This braid can hold a ton.”
“Oh? Your people ever do a human stress test with this thing?”
“It’s not the rope about to snap here, Alec,” she fumed.
“My whole life is at stake!”
“Which is why I am being so darling right now. No! Don’t twist round. Just checking my knots.”
“What’s your knot of choice?”
“Trust, Alec.”
“Okay, okay.”
Suddenly Alec felt a whipping of air behind him. Wind pressure increased until he thought his hair would blow off the top of his head.
They were rising! Inches off the concrete! Dangling in place, picking up wing velocity, he realized he hadn’t discussed with her how they’d enter the building. He barely had time to process the thought, however, as they lifted, angled, and swooped up through a broken-out window on the second floor!
Hovering vertically in the dark interior of the second level, he fumbled for the flashlight dangling from his flashlight string. The small LED beam was strong, a welcome complement to the paler moonlight streaming through the holes his crew had chopped in the roof to vent the flames.
Getting his bearings, he spotted the jagged hole of his fall only feet away. His body jerked against Tia’s as he relived the helpless falling sensation. The all-encompassing dizziness, his heart being sucked up his throat.
“All right?” Tia murmured in his ear.
He inhaled deeply to steady his nerves. The nasal shot of kerosene and charred wood mostly made him want to gag.
Fire sites always stunk, of destruction, waste, and loss—all too often human.
It was common to deal with such things. He’d been good at it for so long.
And he could be good at it again. If only he could wrestle past his old demons once and for all. Seemed a matter of keeping his cool keeping the faith.
“What next?” Tia prodded.
“Circle slowly near the walls!” he shouted over the swish of her wings.
“Take it easy,” she soothed. “I have excellent hearing.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing!” she shouted back.
Alec gritted his teeth as Tia slowly began to rise and slant. Then let out a yelp as they did a jarring 360 spin! It was like somersaulting on the loopy-loop ride at the carnival—without a seat belt, or even a seat!
“Sorry, Alec,” she said, righting them once again in a vertical hold.
“You said you were trained for this!”
“I am certified. Regulation textbook training.”
“What about your experience carrying passengers!”
“A gaggle of kittens over a raging sea.”
“Tiny kitties?”
“There was also a troll rescue. All of them squirmy.”
“On second thought—”
“No second thoughts! I am perfectly capable. It’s only a matter of balancing your weight. I’m getting it.” Using her arms as added support around his middle, she leveled off and began to flutter toward the nearest wall.
Alec lost himself in the evidence as they floated in a horizontal hold along the perimeter, darting his flashlight at the charred walls and flooring. Plainly, this was no accident caused by drinking college kids or homeless people trying to cook. Rather, it was outright arson. There was no mistaking the stink of kerosene—an arsonist’s best friend—or the core burns it caused in the wood. Though hardly the work of a pro. Accelerant was slopped everywhere, making it a wonder anyone got out safely.
Not for the first time, Alec wondered if some unlikely character had pulled this off. Such as a disgruntled neighbor on this street, bitter because Helen’s charity would have lured lower-income traffic to the upscale area of shops and offices. Maybe a few of them were in cahoots. Then again, John was on many a shit list for any number of dealings. Even Alec’s own fire chief resented him. The investigation had to be tough going.
In any case, this was news better kept to himself.
Completing a full pass over the second level, Tia swept them to the center of the floor. Suspiciously near the hole.
Alec forwent preliminaries. “I’m ready. Watch out for jagged wood.”
Raising them directly over the gap, Tia plunged them through feet first. Alec felt his heart slide up his throat, only to come back down as they landed inches from the charred ground floor. He could see the disturbance where they’d likely hauled him out. Not that he remembered much after hitting the ground.
“All right, Alec?”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
Tia fluttered along the lower perimeter, which showed similar signs of arson.
“Good enough!” Alec shouted in her ear.
Upon hearing this, Tia took Alec’s breath away by swooping back through the hole in the floor. While Alec leaned slightly toward the window where they’d entered, Tia kept going straight up, right through a hole in the roof!
Flapping wildly in the crisp spring night on sheer gossamer wings, Alec never felt more exhilarated—or scared out of his wits. But all was good. He’d done it! Faced his greatest fear and conquered it.
All that was left was a gentle landing. The sooner, the better.
“Congratulations, Alec!”
“If this didn’t cure me, nothing can. Now let’s head for safer ground.”
“This doesn’t have to be the end.”
Exactly what he was thinking. “Please land.”“
Let’s take a quick tour of the city first, see the Statue of Liberty. C’mon, don’t be a goblin.”
Her tone clearly intimated some deficiency on his part. Not fair to a man who had skied the Alps, river rafted in the Boundary Waters, hiked the jungles of Costa Rica. But all she knew at the moment was her man had some exasperating limits. His macho pride had him giving in.
There was no denying the ride was spectacular. No doubt what news crews and tourists saw from helicopters. Alec and Tia headed south along the East River, over the medical center, the East Village, zooming out over the water—where it was especially damp and chilly—to Lady Liberty in all her glory. Tia was enraptured enough to circle once, twice, a total of three times, until he was nearly shivering out of his skin.
If he could have reached her bottom, he would have paddled it. All he could manage, however, was an urging nudge of elbow.
Getting the message, she soared back, north along the Hudson over the West Village, the twinkling lights of the Theater District.
As they came up fast on their 60th Street brownstone, Alec began to wonder how on earth they were going to land. As Tia dipped and slowed and scanned, he sensed she was wondering the same thing.
He couldn’t help but be reminded that he weighed a damn sight more than some kittens.
They ended up dropping into Central Park, skidding in a pond near the Hallett Nature Sanctuary.
They slogged to the water’s edge like a couple of drowned rats. The only thing with any spring left between them was a pair of gossamer wings. Pulling off his hooded sweatshirt, Alec wrung it out. “We’ll have to walk home from here. I didn’t bring my wallet.” Then he thought to pat his front jeans pocket. “My key ring is gone!”
“Is it so important?”
“It’s the one with all the building keys on it.” He slapped the sweatshirt down on the lawn. “Dammit!”
“Don’t give up yet.”
“For all we know, Lady Liberty is chewing on them.”
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“Remember that three sixty we did in the building?”
“Oh, right. That could’ve jogged ’em loose, along with my kidneys.”
“You go on home, Alec. I’ll fly back for a look.”
“I’d better come along.”
“No. You’re angry, annoying, tired. And heavy. Very heavy.”
He preened. “You say the sweetest things.”
She preened back. “I can zip back, make use of my night
vision, and land on my feet near the brownstone again in no time. In fact, I wager I’ll beat you back there, ready to let you in for a nice, hot shower.”
He aimed a finger at her. “You’re on.”
Sure enough, when a sodden Alec trudged up to their building gripping his soaked hoodie, he found Tia perched on the top step, dressed in her original dry jeans and shirt. He decided to forgive her smugness, however, when she held the ring high above her head and jingled the keys in glee.
“You found them! Thank . . .” He paused as she popped up and held them out of reach. “What are you up to now?”
“A negotiation break. I swept you off your feet. Now it’s your turn to sweep me—onto the dance floor.”
“Oh, Tia—”
“I know you want to pass the fitness test first. After tonight, that certainly will happen.”
“There is no guarantee.”
“If and when it does . . .”
“Look, there’s more to the story now that we’ve seen the arson signs. John will soon be notified officially. That banquet could be extremely awkward.”
“Not before Saturday night, surely! He doesn’t have to know we checked on the building.”
“Just the same, he’s sure to ask me if I heard anything. I’ve never lied to him yet. I can’t imagine starting now, at a public event in my honor.”
“You can stall. Evade the issue.” She wound her arms around his soggy body and kissed him thoroughly. “Please, do it for me.”
He smiled down at her, touching her loose silvered hair. “There’ll be other nights, other dances.”
Her baby blues gleamed. “Really? When?”
“The Winters love their fancy dress parties.”
“How often do you attend, Alec?”
“Whenever I can’t worm out of it.”
“I thought so! You own a couple sad-looking suits and a total of five crumpled ties.”
He tapped her nose. “You’ve been snooping.”
“Don’t change the subject. Don’t be so difficult!”
He surveyed those blue eyes again, noting a deeper tension he’d missed. “What am I missing here?”
“A dazzling party hosted by my father,” she coaxed.
“The chance to waltz in his arms as well as yours.”
“So he’s your real target.”
She blushed. “Not exactly. Not totally. Surely you can understand how irresistible this opportunity seems. To dress my best, put on a radiant face similar to my mother so long ago. It could be enough to jar his memory, validate an old dream.”
“Ah. Guess I do understand. Say I go along with this scheme.”
“Yes, Alec?”
“Will you accept the verdict either way? If John has no clue to who you are, will you settle into the idea of friendship?”
She bit her lip. “Suppose I’ll have to, won’t I?”
Alec was seated on the stoop of the brownstone later Friday afternoon when Tia alighted from a cab. “Where ya been?” he called out merrily.
“Buying the perfect dress for tomorrow night,” she blithely announced with the sweep of a Nordstrom garment bag.
“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
She leaned over the stoop to kiss him. “Pretty sure of you.”
“As it happens, you have a right to be. I passed inspection! Back to work on Monday.” Popping off the steps, he grasped her waist and lifted her in the air for a twirl on the sidewalk. Caught off guard, she squealed. He kept turning with a laugh. “This is how humans fly when they’re happy!”
“Would you like to go for another real ride, Alec?”
He swiftly set her down. “Not really. Let’s go upstairs.”
Back in her apartment, Tia airily whisked the garment bag right by him. “This is going to be a surprise. So don’t follow me to the bedroom.”
“Guess I’m more interested in the kitchen anyway. Anything to eat?”
“Help yourself!” Tia laid the bag on the bed and went to check her hair and makeup in the dresser mirror.
“Found your tools of the trade!” Alec called out.
“Oh, yeah.”
“You working on something?”
Tia gazed down at two pieces on her dresser, a narrow silver one buffed to perfection and a charred nugget of as-yet undetermined metal. “Something pretty for the gala. A surprise.”
Tia returned to the kitchen fully expecting Alec to be examining the black felt roll holding her glittery craftsman tools. Rather, he was peering at two far more mundane red ceramic mugs bearing traces of tea.
“So which tenant have you been ear-bending?” he teased.
“Would you like some tea, Alec?”
He sank into a chair. “Not in this lifetime.”
“Let’s go out, to Forliti’s.”
“You’re evading the question,” he realized with surprise.
“I think I’ll have some tea.”
He snagged her arm. “Tia, we made a deal to be direct with each other—answer questions as asked.”
“Okay, it was the little man you met in the park.”
“Mr. Blot? Didn’t waste much time.” His dark brows narrowed. “I knew it was wrong to give him your number.”
“His name is simply Blot and he didn’t really need my number. He already sort of had it.”
Alec squeezed her arm. “What are you saying?”
“He is a dear friend from the Enchanted Realm. Specifically, a leprechaun.”
He released her with a flick. “We actually discussed him. You should’ve told me then!”
“Your instant dislike for him has made it awkward. As has Blot’s disapproval of my mortal quest here. He’s not exactly in favor of me spreading my wings beyond the Enchanted Realm.”
“He’s important in your life,” Alec realized.
“Very.” Tia went on to explain Blot’s role as family friend, his illustrious job regulating the pots of gold at rainbows’ end. “He should be retiring soon. I’d like nothing better than to see him seriously romance Mamma. All he’d likely have to do is stick around the Realm for a change and turn up the steam.”
“Still not sure what rubbed me the wrong way about him,” Alec conceded.
“Maybe nothing.”
“No matter. For you, I’ll give the imp a chance.”
“Don’t ever insult him with a prissy name like that, Alec. Blot has magical powers you don’t want to mess with.”
“Such as?”
“He can relocate anywhere in a blink—taking anyone he wishes along. Temporarily freeze creatures like statues. Cloak himself in invisibility. Carry several times his body weight.”
“Huh. Maybe I’ll tap him next time I need a lift.”
Chapter
6
“My suit is lost! The cleaners lost my suit.” Late Saturday afternoon Alec barged into Tia’s bedroom, where she was scooting around wrapped head to knee in terry.
“The drab brown one?” she asked hopefully.
“The very sharp navy one.”
Tia pulled open her lingerie drawer with a shrug. “If they were going to lose one, it is too bad—”
“They lost the only one I was having cleaned of course! That’s what I get for taking it to the overnight place.” He paced between the bed and the dresser, distracted by her holding up two pairs of lace panties.
“Pink or beige?”
“You want my opinion on what to wear under the dress I can’t see yet?”
“Eventually, the dress will be coming off. So . . .”
He narrowed in on the quandary. “Let’s do pink.”
“So you like pink.”
“I dunno. They’re . . . lacier.”
All of a sudden the air between them seemed heavier. Tia could feel herself melting into his desire. “Alec! You need to go buy a new suit.”
He snapped back to attention. “No time to have it altered.”
“They can tack it up. Humans must have an idea.”
�
�Yes! You’re right. I’m going to head for Madison Avenue, bring my shoes, shirt, and stuff along.”
He tugged her close for a kiss. “I’ll hurry.”
“No reason we can’t meet up at Winter Towers.”
“Oh, no. I want to be the first to see you in that new dress. Wait for me in the vestibule. I’ll swing back for you.”
Tia tried not to glance too compulsively at her watch as she waited for Alec in the brownstone’s lobby that evening. It was drizzling outside, which had already sent her back upstairs once for an airy gold chiffon scarf to keep the moisture from her lacquered chignon. Preserving the specific style was a priority, as it was her mother’s favorite. How, Tia was certain, Maeve would have worn it seducing seafaring males.
It might not be sensitive to reveal herself to John outright, but there seemed nothing wrong in giving nature a nudge in the right direction.
Finally! A streak of yellow at the dark curb and a honk of horn. By the time she had the heavy glass door open, Alec was alighting on the steps, looking handsome in a new suit, as slick and black as his hair and shoes.
“Hold it!” Alec pushed her back inside to view her in the golden light of the cramped lobby. He ran a tender eye over her clingy peach shade gown, stalling on the exposed cleavage adorned with a topaz necklace. He attempted to remove the scarf from her head, but she pulled back with a smile. “Don’t you dare muss me.”
He affected exasperation. “How this reminds me of senior prom.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll tell you to night in bed, while I’m working on those pink panties.”
“More and more I think we’ll have our busiest night in bed yet.”
Easing Tia into the cab ahead of him, Alec instructed the cabby to Winter Towers on FDR Drive.
Tia watched out the window as they approached from 47th Street. The glittering glass and steel skyscraper dominated the strip of buildings overlooking the East River.
John Winter, vital king of New York City! An amazing contrast to the vague father image she had long carried of a perished faery lord.
Traffic was snailing along the drive as doormen at the brightly lit entrance assisted guests out of vehicles. Finally, it was Alec and Tia’s turn to alight.
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