Fire Me Up
Page 58
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He gently untangled my fingers, smoothing them out until my hand lay flat on his chest. "I know you do not wish to admit to the fact, mate, but you do have the power to summon various beings, incubi included."
I stretched across him and pulled the amulet from where it lay with my talisman (I had to remove the latter whenever I made love with Drake, because the smell of the gold distracted him). "This is what summoned them, as you well know."
He shook his head, his eyes closing again. Framed as it was by the whiteness of the pillow, the dark line of his jaw, shadowed with a faint beard, stood out harshly. "The amulet focuses your power, kincsem, but it does not heighten it."
I slithered off him and slid both the amulet and my talisman over my head. "I hate to disillusion you, but the only time men throw themselves at my feet, figuratively or literally, is when I'm wearing this amulet. Everyone is wrong. I can't be summoning incubi without even knowing it."
Drake murmured something sleepily. I looked down at his handsome, hard face with fondness. Poor guy, he'd had a hard day. He might not have been abandoned on the top of a bridge and left to fend for himself, but I knew from a brief chat with him that Fiat was doing his best to break the negotiations, and Drake was left with the unenviable role of peacemaker. I pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, which curled in a little smile as his arm snaked around to pull me against him. I turned off the light, sinking down into his warmth. Despite my own strenuous day and lack of sleep, I was wide awake.
I mulled over everything Monish had told me about the two women's deaths, thinking over Nora's comments, spending a little time worrying about Jim, praying it wouldn't be so rummy from the treatment that it spoke without knowing it, and finally, wondering how on earth I was going to overcome the stigma of being once again a murder suspect, which I needed to do in order to find a mentor.
I made a few mental notes of things to do the following day: Drake had requested my attendance at an afternoon meeting, there was Jim to get in the morning, the amulet to deliver to Gyorgy, and oh, yes, the little matter of that dratted murder investigation.
I was just drifting off to sleep, my arms around Drake, his soft snoring as reassuring as the heavy thigh draped over my legs, when a distant pounding jerked me awake again.
Drake was off the bed, stalking toward the door before I could so much as brush the hair out of my eyes and clutch the sheet to my chest. I sat frozen for a moment, wondering if something had gone wrong with the dragons. Then I recognized a voice intermixed with Drake's and his bodyguards'.
I snatched up the nearest piece of clothing, which turned out to be Drake's satin bathrobe. Cursing softly, I found my sleeping T-shirt, yanked it over my head, and grabbing the bathrobe, ran out to the living room. Drake was standing in the middle of the room, his hands on his naked hips as Pal tried to wrap a blanket around a sobbing Nora. Istvan, also naked but armed with a wicked-looking pistol, glanced at Drake, then closed the door.
"What the hell happened?" I asked as I ran to Nora.
Incoherent and almost hysterical, she was trying to escape Pal. I shoved Drake's bathrobe at him and took the blanket from Pal. Nora's face was bloody and swollen, looking strangely naked without her glasses. Tears streaked her cheeks, while her body was racked by gut-wrenching sobs. I wrapped the blanket around her, aware of the scratches and bite marks visible on her neck and the upper parts of her breasts. She was wearing a simple cotton nightgown, one side of which looked like it had been shredded by a wild animal.
"Shhhh, it's OK, Nora. It's just me," I said, my arms around her as I looked over her shoulder at Drake. He was giving Istvan an order, which resulted in the bodyguard going back to his room, then emerging a few moments later in jeans and shoes, his gun stuck into the front of his belt. Istvan slipped out the door. "No one's going to hurt you here. It's just me and Drake and his men. You're safe here. No one can hurt you."
I managed to get her. onto the couch before her legs collapsed. She clung to me, holding me tight enough to leave bruises. I rocked her, stroking her back like I would a sobbing child. Pal finished his call, spoke quietly with Drake, then ran to his room.
Drake squatted at Nora's feet, careful not to touch her. "Nora, the watch is on its way. Who attacked you?"
She shuddered, her sobs slowing. Her left eye was swelling rapidly, a trickle of blood snaking from her eyebrow to her chin. Her upper lip was split and swollen, blood seeping from who knew how many spots on her mouth. Clearly unable to speak, she stared at Drake out of her good eye, her body shaking nonstop.
"Drake, she's too upset to talk."
"If we know who to look for, we might be able to catch him now, Aisling. To wait would mean he could escape."
"I know, but—"
"I can talk," Nora interrupted, her voice a ragged croak. She leaned into me, little ripples of horror still shaking her. "It was an incubus. He was awful. I didn't summon him. He just showed up. And he wouldn't leave me alone. He .. ." The words dried up as she swallowed hard.
Drake glanced at me, and I knew what he was thinking. "Did he rape you?"
I cringed on Nora's behalf at Drake's blunt question, knowing that there was no nice way to ask such a horrible question.
"No. Not in the sense you mean," she said at lastT her voice as shaky as the rest of her. "He assaulted me and struck me several times, and I believe would have raped me, but I fought him. He beat me, but I would not let him rape me. I broke his nose. He left me after that. I didn't know where to go, where I could go that he couldn't return and find me, but I thought of you, and.. ." She broke down again, clutching the blanket to her face as she sobbed into it.
"You did the right thing," I said soothingly, taking the cold washcloth and bowl of ice that Pal brought. Drake went to answer the abrupt knock at the door. "It was very smart of you to break his nose. And you don't have to worry—no incubus would dare step a smoky toe in here, not with three dragons and one really pissed-off wyvern's mate."
She tried to smile, but her mouth was too swollen. I murmured platitudes while gently cleaning off as much blood from her face as I could. To my surprise, the man whom Drake let in wasn't Monish but Gabriel. The two consulted for a moment, then Gabriel approached carefully, kneeling before Nora.
"This is Gabriel," I told her. She looked a little wild around the eyes, but nodded when I told her that his sept was known for their healing abilities. "He's very good," I added, showing her the faint line of scar that was all that remained of my knife wound.
I stretched across him and pulled the amulet from where it lay with my talisman (I had to remove the latter whenever I made love with Drake, because the smell of the gold distracted him). "This is what summoned them, as you well know."
He shook his head, his eyes closing again. Framed as it was by the whiteness of the pillow, the dark line of his jaw, shadowed with a faint beard, stood out harshly. "The amulet focuses your power, kincsem, but it does not heighten it."
I slithered off him and slid both the amulet and my talisman over my head. "I hate to disillusion you, but the only time men throw themselves at my feet, figuratively or literally, is when I'm wearing this amulet. Everyone is wrong. I can't be summoning incubi without even knowing it."
Drake murmured something sleepily. I looked down at his handsome, hard face with fondness. Poor guy, he'd had a hard day. He might not have been abandoned on the top of a bridge and left to fend for himself, but I knew from a brief chat with him that Fiat was doing his best to break the negotiations, and Drake was left with the unenviable role of peacemaker. I pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, which curled in a little smile as his arm snaked around to pull me against him. I turned off the light, sinking down into his warmth. Despite my own strenuous day and lack of sleep, I was wide awake.
I mulled over everything Monish had told me about the two women's deaths, thinking over Nora's comments, spending a little time worrying about Jim, praying it wouldn't be so rummy from the treatment that it spoke without knowing it, and finally, wondering how on earth I was going to overcome the stigma of being once again a murder suspect, which I needed to do in order to find a mentor.
I made a few mental notes of things to do the following day: Drake had requested my attendance at an afternoon meeting, there was Jim to get in the morning, the amulet to deliver to Gyorgy, and oh, yes, the little matter of that dratted murder investigation.
I was just drifting off to sleep, my arms around Drake, his soft snoring as reassuring as the heavy thigh draped over my legs, when a distant pounding jerked me awake again.
Drake was off the bed, stalking toward the door before I could so much as brush the hair out of my eyes and clutch the sheet to my chest. I sat frozen for a moment, wondering if something had gone wrong with the dragons. Then I recognized a voice intermixed with Drake's and his bodyguards'.
I snatched up the nearest piece of clothing, which turned out to be Drake's satin bathrobe. Cursing softly, I found my sleeping T-shirt, yanked it over my head, and grabbing the bathrobe, ran out to the living room. Drake was standing in the middle of the room, his hands on his naked hips as Pal tried to wrap a blanket around a sobbing Nora. Istvan, also naked but armed with a wicked-looking pistol, glanced at Drake, then closed the door.
"What the hell happened?" I asked as I ran to Nora.
Incoherent and almost hysterical, she was trying to escape Pal. I shoved Drake's bathrobe at him and took the blanket from Pal. Nora's face was bloody and swollen, looking strangely naked without her glasses. Tears streaked her cheeks, while her body was racked by gut-wrenching sobs. I wrapped the blanket around her, aware of the scratches and bite marks visible on her neck and the upper parts of her breasts. She was wearing a simple cotton nightgown, one side of which looked like it had been shredded by a wild animal.
"Shhhh, it's OK, Nora. It's just me," I said, my arms around her as I looked over her shoulder at Drake. He was giving Istvan an order, which resulted in the bodyguard going back to his room, then emerging a few moments later in jeans and shoes, his gun stuck into the front of his belt. Istvan slipped out the door. "No one's going to hurt you here. It's just me and Drake and his men. You're safe here. No one can hurt you."
I managed to get her. onto the couch before her legs collapsed. She clung to me, holding me tight enough to leave bruises. I rocked her, stroking her back like I would a sobbing child. Pal finished his call, spoke quietly with Drake, then ran to his room.
Drake squatted at Nora's feet, careful not to touch her. "Nora, the watch is on its way. Who attacked you?"
She shuddered, her sobs slowing. Her left eye was swelling rapidly, a trickle of blood snaking from her eyebrow to her chin. Her upper lip was split and swollen, blood seeping from who knew how many spots on her mouth. Clearly unable to speak, she stared at Drake out of her good eye, her body shaking nonstop.
"Drake, she's too upset to talk."
"If we know who to look for, we might be able to catch him now, Aisling. To wait would mean he could escape."
"I know, but—"
"I can talk," Nora interrupted, her voice a ragged croak. She leaned into me, little ripples of horror still shaking her. "It was an incubus. He was awful. I didn't summon him. He just showed up. And he wouldn't leave me alone. He .. ." The words dried up as she swallowed hard.
Drake glanced at me, and I knew what he was thinking. "Did he rape you?"
I cringed on Nora's behalf at Drake's blunt question, knowing that there was no nice way to ask such a horrible question.
"No. Not in the sense you mean," she said at lastT her voice as shaky as the rest of her. "He assaulted me and struck me several times, and I believe would have raped me, but I fought him. He beat me, but I would not let him rape me. I broke his nose. He left me after that. I didn't know where to go, where I could go that he couldn't return and find me, but I thought of you, and.. ." She broke down again, clutching the blanket to her face as she sobbed into it.
"You did the right thing," I said soothingly, taking the cold washcloth and bowl of ice that Pal brought. Drake went to answer the abrupt knock at the door. "It was very smart of you to break his nose. And you don't have to worry—no incubus would dare step a smoky toe in here, not with three dragons and one really pissed-off wyvern's mate."
She tried to smile, but her mouth was too swollen. I murmured platitudes while gently cleaning off as much blood from her face as I could. To my surprise, the man whom Drake let in wasn't Monish but Gabriel. The two consulted for a moment, then Gabriel approached carefully, kneeling before Nora.
"This is Gabriel," I told her. She looked a little wild around the eyes, but nodded when I told her that his sept was known for their healing abilities. "He's very good," I added, showing her the faint line of scar that was all that remained of my knife wound.
