Burning Bright (Ivy Granger) (21 page)

“Jinx no!” I screamed.  “The incubus marked you, not
Forneus.  He’s here to help!”

But I was too late.  Jinx’s eyes widened, my words sinking
in at the same time as the blade.

 “Lucifer’s fiery prick, that hurts,” Forneus said.  He
looked down at the hilt protruding from his chest.  “Is that a blessed ritual
dagger?”

He cast a questioning gaze around the kitchen, and I
shrugged.  How should I know?  Knowing Kaye, it probably was.  I was guessing
from the look on his face that blessed daggers hurt, a lot.

He turned back to Jinx who was now scrambling to extract
herself from his lap.  They’d tumbled to the floor in a bloody heap of blankets
and tangled limbs.

“We really must do something about that memory of yours,” he
said.

He raised a hand to cup Jinx’s face and she went rigid in
his arms.  Oh crap.  Forneus was going to retrieve Jinx’s memory of their first
kiss, now?  Could this situation get any worse?

“Ivy, what’s going on?” Jinx asked, her dark circled eyes
meeting mine from across the room.

“Forneus is here to help and…” I said, letting out a
strangled groan.  “And he obviously wants to give you back a memory…from the
night we fought Puck.”

“Will it help?” she asked.

Oberon’s eyes, she looked tired.

“If this is our last moment together, I would have you
remember,” Forneus said, his hand still gently cupping the side of her face.

I nodded and Jinx gently bit her lip, turning to lock eyes
with Forneus.

“Okay,” she said.

Would she hate me for what I’d done?  I thought I was
protecting her by never telling her about that kiss she shared with Forneus. 
But now, I wasn’t so sure.  Maybe if I hadn’t run interference with those two,
they might be dating and she wouldn’t be in this mess now, fighting for her
life.

“Thank you,” Forneus said.

I don’t know if he was thanking me or Jinx.  It didn’t
really matter.  He slid an arm around Jinx’s waist as she shuddered, eyelids
fluttering closed.  When they opened again, I could tell that everything had
changed.

Her hands slid along his chest, his neck, and into his hair
as she devoured him with her eyes.  She may be human, but there was magic in
that look and Forneus was a man bespelled.  He gathered her into his arms,
pulled himself to his knees, and stood.

“May I enter your spell circle?” he asked, bowing his head
to Kaye.

As he broke their soulful gaze, Jinx turned to me and
scowled.  Her eyes narrowed and I knew what that look meant.  When this was all
over, we were having a talk.  I wasn’t looking forward to that chat, not one
bit.  I just hope I didn’t end up with an athame to the chest.

Kaye nodded to Forneus, her magic pulling back into her
body.  He laid Jinx gently on the cot that Arachne had set up for her and
settled the blanket up around her shoulders.  He kissed her forehead and
stood.  Her eyes fluttered closed, a smile on her lips.

“Kaye?” I asked.

The familiar tingling sensation of magic rippled across my
nerve endings and I knew that the spell circle had been reinvoked. 
Unfortunately for Forneus, the spell singed his boot heels as he was just
crossing the silver circle laid into the kitchen floor.  He yelped and Kaye
winked.

At least some things never changed.  Kaye was a prankster
through and through.  And she hadn’t killed any of us, yet.  That was something
to celebrate.

Forneus staggered to the table and dropped into his chair.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yes, so long as your witch friend doesn’t send me back to
Hell,” he said.  “My enemies would love to have another chance at me,
especially in my injured state.”

He grabbed the hilt of the athame, trying to pull the blade
from his chest, and hissed.  Kaye laughed and came forward in a rustle of
skirts and tinkling bells.  I let out a relieved sigh.  If Kaye was letting us
hear her coming, the danger had passed.  For now.

“Don’t be daft,” she said, pointing to Forneus’ chest.  “You
don’t want to touch that, demon.  That’s an athame, blessed by the Goddess
under a full moon.  Allow me.”

She reached down and yanked the blade from Forneus’ chest
with a sucking, grating sound that made me wish I hadn’t eaten that sandwich.  Judging
from the sickly sheen of sweat on his face, Forneus was wishing the same
thing.  But he already looked better, now that the blade was out.

Kaye carried the blade over to the stove and held it
vertically over a large cauldron.  Forneus’ blood dripped into the pot with a
sizzle.

“Do I even want to know what she is doing?” he asked.

“No, probably not,” I said.

Arachne shook her head and swallowed hard.  Yeah, that
couldn’t be good.

“Now,” Kaye said, coming back to the table to loom over us. 
“Tell me what you’re all doing in my kitchen.”

No, not good at all.

W
e told Kaye
all about the fire imps, which she took pretty well all things considered, and
what we’d learned from The Green Lady.  It was the part about Kaye’s pending
death that I was getting hung up on.

“We were thinking that we could pull a Romeo and Juliet…” I
said.

My heart raced and I started to sweat.  God, this sounded so
much better when Ceff had said it.

“You want to fake my death?” she asked.

I fidgeted with my gloves.  What are the right words for
telling the most powerful witch in the city that you don’t just want to fake
her death—you need to kill her and, fingers crossed, bring her back to life?

“Ah, sweet Goddess, dear,” she said.  “You really do intend
to kill me.”

“Not…exactly,” I said.  I cleared my throat, and studied the
pattern of tattoos that traced their way along Kaye’s hairline, not able to
meet her piercing gaze. Mab’s bones, why did this have to be so hard?  “Not
permanently, I mean.”

“You wish to kill me truly, but not permanently?” she asked,
eyebrows reaching up into her headscarf.  Oh yeah, I was making a total mess of
this.  I shot Forneus a pleading look and he, thankfully, came to my rescue.

“Mistress Kaye, it was our hope, Ivy’s hope, that in your
great wisdom you may possess the knowledge of a potion that would kill
you…temporarily,” he said.  “In order to fulfill the faerie bargain, you must
experience a true death, but there is no rule that says you cannot be revived,
either my magical or physical means.”

“Yeah, what he said,” I said.  “I could get my hands on a
cardiac defibrillator if, for example, you had a potion that stopped your
heart.”

I winced and looked down at the well-worn table.  That
sounded callous, even to my ears.  I sucked at trying to negotiate killing
someone.  Though, if I ever got good at it, I’d really start to worry.

Kaye tapped her chin with her wand, deep in thought.  She’d
pulled the wand from one of the many pockets of her voluminous skirt, and had a
tendency to wave it around and punctuate her words by pointing it at us as we
talked.  She may not need the wand to cast a spell, but the threat was there
all the same.  Behave or get turned into a toad—got it.

If only I didn’t have to ask for her death.  Rock on one
side, hard place on the other—story of my life.

“If I agree to this lunacy,” she said, pointing her wand at
me.  “And that’s a big if, dear, then I would want to use the most effective
means possible of revival.  But fetching the item that I need will not be
easy.  It will require a hero’s journey.”

That sounded about as fun as rolling around in a pixie nest,
but I nodded.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked.

I wasn’t being overly presumptuous.  These days, I was the
hero in the room.  Trials and tribulations, that was my life.

Years ago, that person would have been Kaye.  Someday, when
she’s older and better trained, Arachne might even step up to the plate. 
Forneus?  Not so much, though the jury was out on Sparky.  I was still trying
to get over the fact that the cutie was a Tezcatlipocan demon.  Try saying that
three times fast.

“You must travel to Emain Ablach,” she said.

A trip to the Otherworld?  To Emain of the Apples?  “Just
peachy—apple-y, whatever.

“Okaaay, that’s doable,” I said.  “I’ve been to Mag Mell and
back and survived.”

“Once there, you must pass Manannán mac Lir, guardian of the
sacred isle, and retrieve one of the apples from the silver tree that grows
from the grave of his tragic love, Ailinn,” she said.

“This Manannán guy, I take it he’s no marshmallow?” I asked.

“No,” she said.  “He is a powerful sea deity. “

“Of course he is,” I said.  I rubbed my face.  “Fine, how do
I get to Emain Ablach?  Might as well get this party started.  We need to
converge on the carnival tonight, after it closes for business.”

I didn’t want to have to wait another full day.  Fire imps
could do a lot of damage in that amount of time, and I didn’t know if Jinx and
I had that long.

Kaye narrowed her eyes at me and skewered me with a look.

“Don’t be so hasty, Ivy,” she said.  “There is more you must
know.”

That’s what I was afraid of.  Hadn’t she ever heard that
ignorance is bliss?

“Manannán mac Lir wields Fragarach, The Answerer,” she
said.  “Fragarach can slice through any armor as if it was marzipan, and with
the sword at your throat the sea god can force you to tell the truth.”

Apparently, they didn’t call it The Answerer for nothing.

“Great, sea deity guardian, magic sword, pluck an apple from
some dead girl’s grave, got it,” I said.  “Anything else?”

“Manannán mac Lir has the ability to control the mists of
Emain Ablach,” she said.  “Do not believe all that the eyes see.”

Yeah, that wasn’t cryptic or anything.

“And how do I get to this Emain Ablach?” I asked.

“The ways to the Otherworld are hidden,” she said.  “You
will need a guide to take you.”

“You mean Torn, don’t you?” I asked.

Kaye nodded and an evil grin spread across Forneus’ face. 
Torn had been flirting ruthlessly with Jinx lately.  I’m sure that Forneus had
a little payback planned.  Too bad I had something else in mind for the demon.

I lifted Sparky from my lap and sighed.  It looked like I’d
have to hit up my least favorite
cat sidhe
lord for a roundtrip ticket
to the Otherworld.  Oh, goody.

I
left Sparky
with Forneus, who wasn’t too happy to be on babysitting duty.  Forneus would
much rather have come with me, but I reminded him that this wasn’t the time to
get into a pissing contest with Torn.  I needed the
cat sidhe
lord to
get me safely to Emain Ablach, and back again.  He couldn’t do that while
dodging hellfire.

Sparky hadn’t been happy about the arrangement either.  The
little guy was mewling and clinging to me until I gave him a new glitter pencil
and told him to guard Forneus until I returned.  I meant guard, as in protect
Forneus, but I’m pretty sure from the direction he was pointing his pencil that
Sparky thought that the demon attorney was his prisoner.

I snorted and left the two on the corner of Water Street. 
Forneus was going to try to work reconnaissance while the witches brewed up
spells and I went on a sightseeing trip to the Otherworld.

But before I went apple picking, I needed to call in backup. 
I punched in the number to my burner cell and Ceff answered on the first ring.

“Ivy?” he asked.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” I quipped.

“Oberon’s balls, I was worried about you,” he said.  “Thank
Mab, you are hale and whole.”

He sounded out of breath, and I winced at the relief in his
voice.  I probably should have checked in sooner, but I’d been busy.

“I’m fine,” I said, stretching the truth a bit.  “How goes
the battle?”

“The fires are now under control,” he said.  “I have
enlisted the help of my guards and sent word for reinforcements.  The humans
are fortunate.  They would not have fared as well without our water magic.”

Yeah, and they’d never know about it either.  That was the
faerie way, though usually their magic wasn’t being used to help the humans.  I
was proud of Ceff.

“Casualties?” I asked.

“No deaths, though many are being treated for smoke
inhalation,” he said.  “Flynis and her family are safe.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding.  The
bean tighe
were safe.  I smiled.

“Good,” I said.  “You up for a road trip?”

“Something tells me you do not mean a simple excursion where
we ride in an automobile and argue over what radio station to listen to,” he
said.

“Um, no,” I said, with a snort.  “Different kind of road
trip.  More like a hero’s journey in which I have to face down a sea deity and
steal a magic apple.”

“Sea deity?” he asked.  “Yes, you will require my help on
your quest.  Where are you now?”

I gave him my address and cooled my heels while I sent
messages to Torn and Master Janus letting them know I’d located Kaye, and in
Torn’s case I gave him a heads up that I’d be stopping by.  I figured it was
best to cultivate my assets, instead of my usual habit of being a thorn in
their backsides.  See, a girl can learn.

I felt Ceff before I could see him, a strange new blossoming
of my faerie powers that I had yet to understand.  It was as if our auras
recognized each other and became stronger when intermingled.  Ceff’s presence
buoyed me, and I felt a surge of much needed energy.

A smile split my face, made even larger by the smell of
coffee and the super-sized cups Ceff carried in each hand.

“Is that smile for me or the coffee?” he asked.

He drifted up, leaned against the wall beside me, and handed
me the largest cup.  I closed my eyes and took a swig of coffee and let the
caffeine sing all the way down to my toes.  A hot guy and a perfect cup of
coffee, maybe this day wasn’t so bad after all.