Fire in the Blood (11 page)

“What are the requirements?” Faust asked.

“Don’t worry about it, I got it,” I assured him. “Tell the Titania we’ll let her know when it’s done.” Or at least Faust would, I amended silently. I’d be stuck in some hell dimension, a newborn demon. I wasn’t sure if I’d even remember my previous life; the details were fuzzy on what happened after the change. It was a fate I’d been resigned to for some time. Now it was much more bitter knowing that I had a shot at love and happiness, but wouldn’t be able to have it.

“It requires that the summoner sacrifice a piece of his or her soul,” Simon said. I wanted to punch through his placid face at that moment.

“Gee, thanks for sharing that with the classroom. Now did you and your buddies want to take another stroll down memory lane, or are we free to go?”

“You can’t afford to lose another portion, Miss Roberts,” Mrs. Black spoke up. I bet she used her old seer powers to spot that one. My aura was about half and half now, and had been for awhile. It kept me from doing spells I knew would put me over the edge.

“What is wrong with you people? Is it official ‘get all up in Patience’s business’ week? I said I got this.” I turned to Faust to demand he port us out, and he was staring at me with an expression I could only assume was horror. My mouth dried up like the Sahara, and I licked my lips.

“Is that true?” Faust asked.

“Can we discuss this somewhere else?” I replied.

“It is true, I assure you,” Mrs. Black said.

I pointed at her. “Stop helping.”

She frowned, because making others frown is a special talent of mine. “I merely thought you would want to know—”

“Believe me, I know. I was there when I got that way. Yes, if I kill Kris, I’m done. All I can do now is hope I end up as something decent. I really don’t want to be a succubus. They’re a bunch of heinous bitches.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Faust asked.

“Because there aren’t any other summoners hanging around to handle Kris, so I’m handling it.” I turned away, not liking the hurt in his eyes, and turned my anger at the vampires. “Don’t you get it? Every summoner I’ve ever known—the council, my colleagues, my competition, even my own damn family from my parents to my baby cousins—they’re all dead. No one else is coming to help. There is no backup. No cavalry. I’ve been trying to keep the flood back, but now it’s one last battle for me, and then you’re all on your fucking own against the horde.”

“Surely it can’t be
that
bad,” Mr. Black said.

“It is. You better make your peace with the higher powers, because if things don’t change for the better fast, we’ll all be dead within a year.” Shoulders squared, I looked at Faust. “Let’s go. We have work to do.”

He nodded, still clearly flustered, and he took my arm and ported us out before the undead posse could offer any other helpful information that would piss my honey off. We appeared back in the bedroom of our suite, and he grabbed me and pulled me to him. The folder was knocked from my hand, and pieces of paper fluttered to the floor.

“No,” he said simply.

“No?” I repeated as my brow rose.

Faust held my face in his hands. “I won’t let that happen to you. I swear it.”

Magic tingled through my skin at his touch. That was no simple promise, and my eyes widened. “You can’t—” I started, and he interrupted me with a kiss. Faust pushed me back until I fell onto the bed, but before he could pin me I grabbed his tie, yanked him down next to me and pinned him instead. “Hey, pay attention. I
have
to do this. I’m the only one who can. It sucks and I’m sorry, but—”

“Let me do it.”

My train of thought ground to a screeching, derailed halt. “What?”

“Let me kill him. I’ve plenty of soul to spare.” He grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. This was no laughing matter.

“Not an option. There’s no telling what it’ll do to you. Introducing that kind of evil into your soul eats you up like a cancer,” I warned. I’d seen it happen time and time again in the summoner community, and I had personal experience with the subject. I struggled with it every day—the constant temptation. A million little chances to do the wrong thing. Once you let the darkness in, it’s hard to keep it out. Just like after you’ve made your first kill, the rest that follow are each a little easier.

“I’m sure I can handle it. I am shadowspawn, after all. Quite evil.”

He gave me a reassuring smile, and I shook my head.

“You’re not evil.”

“Of course I am. I’ve done many bad things. Terrible things,” he replied.

The average person might’ve bought that argument, but not me. I knew better, because I knew the difference between bad and evil. I gently caressed his cheek. He was so damn pretty, and though he was full of wicked mischief, there wasn’t an evil bone in his body.

“No, Liam, you’re not. You’re only evil by association.”

Power zinged through me, and he shuddered as though he’d stepped outside on a windy, subzero day, and closed his eyes. “Say it again. No one’s said my name in so long.”

Though the idea of using his True Name again made me nervous, I brushed a light kiss across his lips and indulged him. “I love you, Liam. I want to stay with you…”

He opened his eyes and looked up at me imploringly. “Then stay with me. Let me do this for you. For us. You banish him, and I’ll kill him.”

“No. You’ll have to let me go at some point. I’m mortal, remember?” I pointed out. “I’m ready to go out in a blaze of glory. You shouldn’t have to endanger yourself like this for a few days more with me.”

“Patience, every moment spent with you is worth dying for.”

Tears stung my eyes, and I took a slow, steadying breath to fight back the sob clutching my throat. Lord and Lady, that might be the most romantic thing I had ever heard, and I knew he meant every word. There was only one thing I could do.

I lied.

“All right. Let’s go back to sleep, and we’ll start working on the spell at a more decent hour,” I said. Because our field trip hadn’t lasted long it was still around about six in the morning, and even creatures of the night have our limits. We’d sleep on it, and I would let him think he won the argument, right up to the end.

His serious expression melted into a mischievous grin as he flipped me beneath him. “I’m sure we can find more entertaining things to do than sleep.”

“Don’t you ever get tired?” I asked.

“Not often.”

Our clothing vanished, but before he could further his wicked plan, I pulled him closer and clung to him. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the familiar scent of him—smoke, he always smelled like smoke, which my inner fire faerie considered fine cologne. Faust was warm, and I enjoyed the simple pleasure of feeling his heart beat and the brush of his breath against my skin. Nothing felt better than being next to him…and nothing would hurt more than losing him.

“Make love to me,” I murmured.

“Gladly.”

I kept my eyes closed, afraid that if I looked at him I’d burst into tears. He kissed me, and then his lips trailed down the side of my throat, pausing to nibble just beneath my ear before continuing lower. Cupping my breasts, he teased the peaks of my nipples, and I moaned my approval. Exquisite sensations tingled through me, and an eager ache formed between my thighs. I needed him inside of me, but as he’d said, Faust preferred to be thorough, and I knew this was only the beginning.

When he was satisfied that I was a whimpering mass of need, he moved his attention down again and lowered his mouth to my sex. Though I was enamored of his talented fingers, they were nothing in comparison to the wickedness of his tongue. My hands tangled in the bed sheets as he licked and sucked, using his mouth and his fingers to pleasure me. I bit back a scream at the first orgasm, but he was relentless, and I gave up attempting to be quiet. I felt wonderful, and I didn’t care who heard me.

Amazing sensations flooded me until I was flushed and shaking, and Faust finally drew away. He laid his body over mine and kissed me deeply—I had no idea what I tasted like, but he seemed to enjoy it.

“Look at me,” he whispered. I opened my eyes and stared into his as he hovered above me. “I love you, Patience.”

“I love you too.”

I angled my hips toward him as his cock slid into me, and I shivered at the feeling of completeness. Soul mates…I never would have thought it possible, but as Faust began to move with long, slow thrusts, it made perfect sense. It explained why he stayed when no one else had, why I allowed him closer than anyone else. We needed each other.

Faust murmured endearments, finally in a language I understood, so I was able to enjoy each time he praised my beauty and proclaimed his love and undying devotion. Holding him tightly, I begged him not to stop. I needed more—I needed forever, but that wasn’t possible—and I reveled in the pure ecstasy as he increased his pace and rode me fast and hard. After he came, he kissed me slow and thorough, kindling the burn for a second round of lovemaking. He was insatiable, but I didn’t argue. I’d be grateful for the little time we had left together, and savor every moment as though it was our last.

Chapter Eight

While we were busy shopping for ritual components for my big banishing spell, someone burned down my office building. No one was killed, but they could have been. Despite the building’s old age, I knew it wasn’t a problem with the wiring that started the fire—one of my would-be assassins lit the place up. There was no way of telling if it was Kris, Harrison or the hunters, but my money was on the vampire. It sounded like something he would do. Spoiled brat. Nobody burns down my office but me.

Buying the ingredients strained my checking account—quality eye of newt costs more than you’d think—and composing the spell fried my brain like I creating a last-minute thesis, but I managed it. Faust and Harvey helped with moral support, when they weren’t arguing with each other. Harvey liked Faust even less after the discovery of our soul mate status. I didn’t understand it—seemed to me it would encourage him to give Faust a break, but if I didn’t know better I’d say Harvey was jealous. He shouldn’t be, because Harvey was a roommate and business partner, but that was it. Unlike many other summoners, I didn’t think it was appropriate to have an intimate relationship with my demon—there are so many men with succubus servants that summoner gatherings can feel like a trip to the strip club. Though it had never occurred to me before, I began wondering if he was lonely. Well, he’d be free of me soon enough. Our contract would end when I ceased to be human, and he could find himself a pooka girlfriend.

Though Harrison’s undead assassins had already hit Faust’s condo, we decided to do the ritual there. It was unlikely that the vampires would return, the hunters didn’t know where Faust lived and Kris hadn’t showed up there yet. We were about to change that, because I needed to summon Kris before I could banish him. And then I needed to banish him before I could kill him. It was going to be a busy night…

“Are you ready to begin?” Faust asked. He stood outside the summoning circle and peered at my handiwork.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said with a shrug. I didn’t want to do this, but it had to be done. A true summoner would’ve headed for the hills the moment the hunters came calling, but I stayed. I was the idiot trying to plug the holes in the dam just before the flood. My parents would be so disappointed in me.

“I am also prepared,” Harvey said.

“Well, then. Shall we?” Faust suggested.

“Right.” No time like the present to get us all killed.

The circle was massive, encompassing the entire living area of Faust’s condo and even edging into the kitchen. Bigger was often better as far as summoning was concerned. Normally I’d have Harvey outside the border in case the circle failed, ready to tackle our target and prevent its escape, but tonight both Harvey and Faust were in the circle with me. Their job was to keep Kris busy while I cast the banishing spell. A normal banishing spell is a few lines of text and a component or two, but because I needed so much extra power to boot him, this was going to be a long, drawn-out ritual. I prayed that it worked, because we would all die if it didn’t. Well, Harvey and I would probably die, Faust might make it.

As always, the first step to creating the circle was summoning the elements—four corners, four elements. I took wind and water, and let Faust have earth and fire, due to this Infernus roots. Now that I understood his background better, I knew he wasn’t just a fire faerie, but more like a lava faerie. My Fiera relatives are pure fire, so it was a sign of the growth in our relationship that I’d handed the element over to him.

After the elements were present, I nodded to Harvey at the edge of the circle. He opened a vein in his wrist with one long claw, and dripped a trail of blood as he walked the circumference of the spell. When he returned to his starting point the magic sealed with an audible snap, and the perimeter glowed with white heat.

“Be ready,” I warned.

“Always, my love,” Faust replied. Harvey made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, but I let him slide. Faust’s flaming sword appeared in his hand as I crossed to the center of the circle.

“Let’s hope he’s listening,” I muttered.

I didn’t know Kris’s True Name, and that made everything more difficult. His common name,
Kristoff Valkyrie,
didn’t hold much power, but because he was gunning for me I was counting on the fact that he’d come when I called. A small cast-iron cauldron waited in the circle’s center, and I sliced a shallow cut into the palm of my right hand and squeezed three drops of blood into it. I called out Kris’s name, and he appeared, right on schedule.