by Ann Gimpel
“Roz was with us,” Colleen said.
Understanding washed through him. “Three. You brought three to maximize your power.”
Colleen’s full mouth split into a chilly smile. “We were under attack by the Irichna. Would you have done any less?”
“Probably not. So after we, that is, the Sidhe—”
“We worked fine,” Bubba said flatly. “Unless you’ve decided to renounce your heritage.”
Duncan traded pointed looks with the changeling. “Speaking of magic, you’re stronger than any changeling I’ve ever come across.”
“That’s because you’re used to our feeble Scottish cousins. They were stronger before you stripped their magic and diverted it for your own purposes.”
“Enough.” Colleen snapped her fingers. “Or I’ll change you back into a cat. We don’t need a history lesson just now.” She shook her hair back over her shoulders. The movement strained her sweater tighter across her breasts. Duncan dragged his gaze elsewhere.
“About the Irichna—” he began.
“We can’t help you,” Colleen said flatly.
“Why not? We’d pay you well.”
“It’s not a matter of money, although I’m not sure you could afford us.”
“We have an, um, previous engagement,” Jenna offered.
“Whoever it is, we need you more than they do.” He looked from one witch to the other.
Colleen dropped her gaze and rubbed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index fingers. When she looked up, the skin around her eyes was pinched with worry. “I’m not sure it’s a matter of who needs whom more.” She speared him with her pale blue gaze. “Do the Sidhe know why the demons are so much more active here of late?”
He debated how much to tell her. Given her ability to burrow inside his head, it was unlikely he’d be able to hide much. If he told her everything, though, it might piss her off. Hell’s bells, it annoyed the crap out of him. “Not exactly.”
Her nostrils flared. “You can do better than that. If you can’t, the door is behind you.” She folded her arms beneath her breasts. “Talk now or leave now. It’s all the same to me.”
“Not to me,” Bubba grunted. “I think he should leave. Changelings in Scotland are weak because the Sidhe drained their magic to avoid another uprising.”
Duncan drew the smallest of spells in hopes the topic would die. The changeling was correct, but it wouldn’t be productive to haul that old bone out to gnaw on. “That’s very old history,” he said mildly.
“And not the least bit relevant right now,” Jenna snapped. “Colleen’s right. Either spit out the truth, or get out of here.”
“One,” Colleen counted. “Two…”
“All right. All right.” He spread his hands in front of him. “What do you know about demon history?”
“The Irichna work for Abbadon. Insofar as I know, they always have. Do things like that even have histories?” Colleen asked.
“Irichna are the only ones we’ve ever worried about,” Jenna chimed in. “The other demons are more of an annoyance than life-threatening.”
“Next question.” Duncan swallowed hard; embarrassment tightened his chest. “Do you understand why you have the power to corral the Irichna?” Both witches stared at him. When they didn’t say anything, he forced himself to keep talking. Heat rose to his face and the discomfort in his chest intensified. “It used to be us, but when the Irichnas’ power cycle intensified about two hundred years ago, we recognized they were in one of their upswings.”
An unpleasant light gleamed in Colleen’s eyes. “I could guess the rest, but I don’t have to because I see it in your mind. You foisted the demons off onto us.”
He gritted his teeth, determined to tell them the truth, no matter what it cost his pride. “It’s actually a little worse than that. We tried to get some other takers, but the Druids, undead, and weres turned us down, so we didn’t ask the next candidates.”
“You lily-livered bastards.” Jenna pounded a fist into the nearest object. It happened to be a display case. Glass shattered.
“Guess Great-Gran’s tale about being shanghaied by the Sidhe was truer than we ever guessed.” Spots of color splotched Colleen’s cheeks. She looked like she wanted to kill him and Duncan didn’t blame her. “What exactly did you people do to her?”
“Gene splicing. We actually augmented her power with our own, using a dominant pattern so all her offspring would have at least some level of power.” Duncan cringed at the defensive tone beneath his words. At the time, he’d bought into the concept wholeheartedly. Today, he castigated himself for being a fool.
Colleen looked right through him. “You broke the covenant. It says we get to choose something like that—not have it stuffed down our throats.”
He swallowed shame. It tasted acrid, bitter. “I’m sorry. It seemed like a win-win. Witches got more power and we—”
“Offloaded one of the Sidhe’s major responsibilities, which is to keep Earth safe from demons,” Bubba spoke up.
Duncan felt as if he’d been shot through the soul. Out of the mouth of a changeling… “I can’t change what’s happened. How many of you are there?”
“You mean of great-Gran’s descendants?” Colleen quirked a brow. He nodded. “Three.”
“That’s all?” Duncan didn’t even try to modulate the shock waves roiling through him. The Sidhe council had been certain there’d be more like forty or fifty. “What happened to all of you? You don’t live as long as we do, but still…” His voice trailed off.
“What do you think?” Jenna flapped her fisted hand at him. “Demons killed us.”
Guilt smote him, joining shame and remorse. “I’ll help you.”
“It’s a little late for that,” Colleen muttered. “Even Sidhe can’t raise the dead.”
Duncan shook his head. “No. When I first got here, you tried to get rid of me, said you had something important to do. I’ll go with you. Help you. It’s the least I can do to make up for…for…” He couldn’t get the words out. Sidhe meddling had set the altered witches up for what looked a whole lot like genocide. Because he couldn’t bear the pain and accusation in their eyes, he dropped his gaze. Even the changeling hated him, with good reason.
He could almost hear gears turning in Colleen’s head. She drew near him and he left himself undefended, wards down. She placed a hand on his head and sent magic auguring into him. Her touch was deft, if not terribly gentle. When she moved her hand, he fought an urge to grab it back.
“You told the truth,” she said, sounding surprised. “You can come with us. If things are as bad as I think they are, we’ll need all the help we can get.”
“I don’t agree,” Jenna spoke up.
Colleen’s mouth twisted as if she’d tasted something bitter. “Beggars can’t be choosers. If we’re not careful, there won’t be any demon stalkers left.”
Not on my watch. Duncan bowed formally toward both witches. “Thank you. I will do everything I can to ease your burden.” And see it shifted back onto my people, where it belongs.
Chapter Three
“Sit if you’d like.” Colleen pointed at a chair. “Jenna and I need to get a few things together and then we’ll leave. How are you with teleporting?”
He shrugged. “Fine. How far are we going?”
“Seattle.”
“Piece of cake.” He grinned. It transformed his face into something boyish and quite beautiful. Colleen blinked and looked away. If she didn’t keep her guard up, Duncan just might inveigle his way past barriers she’d had up for longer than she cared to think about. As it was, a warm, fluttery feeling started in her belly and spread outward. She warded herself so he wouldn’t notice.
Jenna made a grab for her arm. “Come on,” she growled, voice gravelly. Colleen gritted her teeth. Maybe the other witch had intuited her thoughts.
“I’m going with you,” Bubba announced. “Who knows what he’ll do to me if I stay here.” He stared meaningful
ly at Duncan. The Sidhe looked away and settled himself in a leather easy chair next to one of the display cases.
“Are you done talking?” Colleen eyed Bubba.
The changeling looked solemn. “It’s easier to transport me when I’m a cat, huh.”
“Much.”
“Okay. I’ll chase down a mouse or two while you and Jenna get what you need.”
Colleen flicked magic his way, watching to make sure the transformation was complete. She picked up his clothes, wondering why she bothered keeping him covered. The changeling didn’t mind being naked. Someday, she’d ask Bubba why the Sidhe had felt the need to drain the Scottish changelings’ magic, but today wasn’t the day. Tomorrow wouldn’t be, either. Until they got the Irichna on the run, there wouldn’t be time for anything else.
“Colleen.” Jenna’s voice vibrated with impatience and Colleen understood the other witch wanted her alone so they could talk.
“Coming.” She trailed after Jenna across the shop and through the kitchen curtain, pulling magic as she went to shield their conversation that hadn’t happened yet. Jenna headed for the narrow, hanging ladder staircase that led to a bedroom nested beneath the old building’s eaves. Colleen followed her up. By the time she got there, Jenna was half naked and in the midst of changing into traveling clothes.
Not a bad idea. Colleen opened the two drawers where she kept a few things, and eyed their contents. She and Roz shared a ratty, older house on the southern outskirts of Fairbanks. Jenna lived above the shop. For all her earlier hurry, Jenna remained ominously silent as she dressed and chucked a few things into a rucksack.
Colleen unlaced her boots and toed them off. She pulled on warmer pants and a long john top, layering fleece over it. “I know you want to talk about something. What?” She stuffed a stout rain jacket into a small pack and bent to get her boots back on.
Jenna stalked to where Colleen stood and bent so close Colleen saw her shoulder muscles bunch. “We. Do. Not. Need. Him.” She bit off each word. If she’d been a cat, every hair would have stood on end. “Besides, you want to fuck him.”
Defensiveness tightened her stomach into a sour ball. “So what if I do? He’s gorgeous. Any woman would want him, plus I can’t remember the last time I got laid.”
“I can. Beltane.”
Colleen counted on her fingers. “Okay. Six months, give or take a few days. And the last time before that was the Beltane before. It’s not exactly like I’m a slut.”
Jenna shook her head. “That’s not it. I wouldn’t care if you entertained a different man every night.” She crossed her arms over her chest and winked lewdly. “It might actually improve your disposition. You’re not thinking, Colleen. The Sidhe is a complication. We’re stretched so thin, we don’t need anything else to deal with right now.”
Colleen blew out a tired breath. “He may be a complication, but we need some kind of help,” she countered. “I wanted to talk about this before Roz left, but somehow the opportunity just never presented itself. Besides, when the demons aren’t very visible, I suppose I always pretend they’re gone for good.”
“Talk about what?” Jenna’s mouth curled suspiciously.
“The Irichna. We know they’ve been getting stronger. Especially after that last skirmish in California a few months back, where they killed five of us.” She scrubbed the heels of her hands down her face and gazed at Jenna. “Bottom line is they want us dead. All of us. Once we are, they’ll have free rein here on Earth.”
Something flickered in the depths of Jenna’s hazel eyes. It was gone so fast, Colleen couldn’t name it, but it might have been fear. The other witch straightened. “I still say we can get all the help we need from other witches.”
“Christ! Be reasonable, Jenn. Other witches are great, but they’re helpless against Irichna. The demons may have killed five of us, but thirty other witches died defending us in that disaster.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Colleen’s temper, never on a long fuse, stirred to life. They needed to leave, not have a philosophical discussion about what the demons were up to. It went against the grain, but she focused her gaze so Jenna had to look at her. “Once we’re not in their way anymore, the Irichna will open Abbadon’s gates and all those hideous creatures will flood Earth. Panic will overcome everyone and everything. World governments will declare martial law—”
“And it won’t make a fuck’s worth of difference at that point, because we’ll be dead. Goddammit, Colleen, I know all that. So does Bubba. He’s worried changelings will be the first ones targeted.”
“What?” Shock raced through her; bile splashed the back of her throat and she swallowed painfully.
Jenna nodded. She looked more sad than angry; lines formed around her eyes like wagon wheel spokes. “He told me that all the old creatures were vulnerable. Virtually all of them have demon blood and it’s a two-edged sword. It makes them valuable allies when we battle the Irichna, but it also draws demons to them like a lodestone.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
Jenna shrugged. “I think he tried, but you soft-soaped him.”
A confusing welter of feelings rocked her, but the one that swam to the top was guilt. Sometimes months went by when she didn’t pay much attention to the changeling, beyond making certain he had food. “Yeah.” She had to take a breath to force the rest of the words out. “I can see where I haven’t been very present for him.” She squeezed her eyes shut. Damn good thing she didn’t have kids. She’d probably end up on some sort of Child Welfare list for being a crappy mother.
“I’m ready to go.” Jenna draped the strap of her bag over one shoulder. “About the Sidhe…I don’t trust him. They hung us out to dry. He as much as admitted it.”
“Yes, I went into his head. He didn’t fight me at all. He feels bad about what’s happened to us, almost as shitty as I do about ignoring Bubba.”
“Maybe he made it up. He could have ulterior motives.”
Colleen tossed a couple more tops into her bag, zipped it shut, and shouldered it. “No, he was telling the truth. What kind of ulterior motives could he possibly have?”
Jenna raised a hand, waved it around in the air, and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he’ll divert our teleportation spell.”
“Not likely. If you understood that spell better, you’d know it has zilch in the way of stealth elements. I’d know immediately if he were trying to route us back to the U.K.”
Color rose to Jenna’s face and stained her sharp-boned features. “Touché.”
Colleen grunted. “We’ve been up here so long, he may have given up on us and left.”
“A girl can dream. Let’s go. I’d like to get there while Roz is still alive.”
Colleen’s eyes widened. “That bad?”
“I couldn’t tell, but when’s the last time you remember her asking for help?”
“Hmph. Good point. She’s not the type.” Colleen walked to the trap door, faced inward, and grasped the sides of the ladder. She slithered down it, hurrying so Jenna, who was right above her, didn’t step on her hands.
“I’ll spell the place,” Jenna muttered and raised her arms with her hands positioned palms up. “Won’t take but a minute and it should keep most everybody but a really strong mage out.” She chanted softly, calling on the four directions and four elements to protect their shop. Colleen tossed some magic into the mix. Jenna didn’t need any help, but nervous energy frizzled Colleen’s nerves and it felt better to do something beyond simply standing there.
Bubba rocketed out of a dark corner. He meowed loudly and wove around their feet. Still feeling remorseful, Colleen bent and scooped him into her arms. He purred loudly and leaned into her as she straightened. Jenna dropped her arms. “Ready?” Colleen asked.
Jenna didn’t answer. She pushed past Colleen and strode through the curtain into the main part of the shop. Colleen heard muffled cursing and wondered if it was because Duncan had left—or because he was still there.
She sent a thread of magic questing outward, and was ridiculously pleased to sense the Sidhe’s energy.
Stop! Just stop. He’s probably got half a dozen paramours back in the U.K. waiting for him to come home.
She clutched Bubba closer, made sure her bag was solidly around her shoulder, and followed Jenna into the front room. “I think we’re all set,” she said brightly.
“Excellent.” Duncan flowed to his feet. The mage light hovering near him flickered and went out. “How do you want to do this?” He quirked a brow.
“Huh?” Confusion rocked her. “Do what?”
“You asked for my help with teleporting. Are you just coming along for the ride, or—”
“Sorry,” she cut in, voice brusque to mask her sudden feelings of stupidity. “I was hoping you’d lend power to my spell, since I know where we’re going.”
He walked two paces closer, green gaze boring into her. “I don’t mind doing the whole thing. Just send me an image of our destination.”
She tried to look away and couldn’t. Damn! His magic is hella strong this close. Because she hadn’t been careful, he’d mired her in a spell. Fury vied with helplessness and she gritted out, “Stop that right now.” Bubba writhed in her arms and hissed.
Duncan had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry.” The aura dancing around him shrank to a pale glow.
Jenna stalked between them, glowering. “I told you this was a shit-for-brains idea. He just tried to force you with compulsion.”
Colleen rounded on the other witch. “You think I can’t recognize a spell I just got trapped in?”
Duncan rolled his eyes. “Oh for the love of Titania, would the two of you back off. Yes, I drew magic.” He threw his hands in the air. “Guilty as charged, but my motives were pure. It takes a lot of magic to teleport. It will deplete you far faster than me. You didn’t say much about why you’re racing to Seattle, but you didn’t have to. What if the Irichna are lurking where we exit? If you drain a great deal of your own power getting there, you’re dead ducks.”
Colleen felt her face heat. She’d worried about exactly the same thing. “Thanks,” she mumbled.