Initiation (11 page)

“I wanted you to myself for a bit,” he whispered, sending sharp thrills through my body.

“By killing me?”

“Hardly.” He laughed. “Are you injured, Princess?”

“No. But that’s not the point!” I punched his arm.

“Ouch! Switch off the demon prongs. Now I’m injured. Wah, wah!” He pointed to the fresh burn mark where I had hit him.

I ignored his fake crying. My fingers must have inadvertently fused when I lost control after he bumped me. Served him right. That would teach him to mess with a demon. I unfused my fingers, but offered no apology. I spun away from him and got back on my feet. My skis had unfastened from my boots during the fall and were missing. I glowered at Jagger.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be angry. I just wanted to get you away from Quinn and spend some time with you. That’s all. What’s with Quinn and the girlfriend thing anyway? I told you to get rid of him.”

“I am his girlfriend!” I shouted crossly. “We’ve been going out since Initiation. He’s the best boyfriend ever. And I love him.”

“But you’re synched to me,” Jagger responded, his voice barely a whisper.

As if that had escaped my notice! “And? What exactly am I supposed to do about that? Can we unsynch?”

For a moment, he looked startled, but then he gave me a resigned shrug. “No. You’re stuck with me. Sorry.” He got up and shook the snow off his suit.

“Maybe a witch can help us–”

He was in my face in a flash, having obviously used his powers to instantly transplant himself inches from me. Again. He breathed down on me, each exhale bathed in fury. I stood glued to the ground, not moving a muscle. Paranormal to paranormal, I wondered who’d win a full battle between us. He was just a faery, after all. His powers couldn’t possibly match mine. But there was that unknown aura around him. I should have asked him about it earlier.

I tried to anticipate his next move, sensing for his currents. My reflexes weren’t fast enough. My face was pulled toward his in one swift, hard motion, with Jagger clamping his hand around my neck and yanking me forward. His lips met mine, parting them roughly.

Then, he suddenly stopped and brushed them gently, before he kissed me again, a long passionate kiss, which I totally lost myself in, surrendering completely. I was lightheaded, my mind halfway to undressing him to explore the rest of his body, when he pulled away slightly.

“I want to, need to…” he whispered hoarsely.

I unzipped his ski suit and continued my exploration.

“Where the heck did you guys disappear to?” Quinn yelled as soon as he saw me walking toward the chalet with Jagger. “What happened to your skis?”

After our bodice-ripper moment on the slopes, we’d used Jagger’s snowsuit to sled down to the foot of the mountain. We could have used our powers to beam us down, but sledding had been so much more fun. Plus, we needed an explanation for our disheveled state.

“Cordelia wiped out.” Jagger grinned.

So not true! I shot him the death glare. However, I didn’t dispute it. It seemed like the most reasonable explanation.

“So we decided to sled down the rest of the way, to cheer her up. That was fun. Wasn’t it, Cordelia?”

“That does sound like a hoot,” Faustine agreed. “I love tubing.”

“So how did you get on, Faustine?” Jagger asked.

“It was cool. Quinn made me stick to the run, but there was no way I was going over that cliff anyway.”

“She’s good, pretty amazing considering she was using none of her powers.” Quinn patted her shoulder.

Jagger smiled. “Where’s the rest of the group?”

“They’re by the fire pit, grilling their food. Let’s go join them.” Quinn took my hand and led me to the back of the chalet.

It felt weird touching him, after what I had just done. I could still feel Jagger all over me; the very thought sent my senses tingling.

“Happy to see me?” Quinn asked.

“Yes.” I put my arms around him for a hug.

“Come on, you two,” Jagger yelled.

We joined the others around the pit. Jagger made sure to stay by Faustine’s side. I noticed Delam casting drooly glances her way. I guessed vampires could never really be controlled, not even at Bonfire Academy. Delam’s obvious fascination with Faustine meant that she would definitely need to be protected from the other vamps. After all, if Delam was as disciplined as they got, she’d be in grave danger among the newborns. Until she learned to use her powers, at least. It would be important to get a start on that as soon as possible, once all the basic Initiation drills were out of the way.

“Here, eat this.” Jagger handed me a plate with a freshly grilled steak. “Quinn, help yourself.”

As soon as Quinn was out of earshot, Jagger put his lips to my ear. “I sprinkled yours with faery dust.”

I guffawed.

“What’s so funny?” Quinn asked, walking back to us.

“Jagger told Cordelia that he sprinkled her steak with faery dust,” Faustine chimed in.

Man, she had good ears!

“Faery dust? That’s a good one. What’ll happen now? Is she gonna grow white wings?” Quinn chuckled.

“No. White wings are an angel thing. Right, Cordelia?” Faustine nudged me for confirmation.

“I guess. I don’t know much about angels, never met one.”

“I have,” Sienna said. “They’re highly overrated. Anyhow, tell us more about Lady Annabel, Faustine.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Who’s her favorite designer?”

“She doesn’t really have a favorite, but she does have mostly Chanel in her closet.”

The talk morphed to fashion and Paris. Runway shows and the next season’s collections were discussed at great length, until Jagger had enough and led us up the slopes again for a second run. We all changed partners. I skied down with Jewel, while Jagger accompanied Faustine. Quinn stepped off the ledge with Patrice, and Delam with Sienna. We repeated the cycle four more times before we called it a night.

I had been completely focused while on the mountain, but once I switched off the light and drew the coverlet over me, my mind treated me to a flash of images from my adventure with Jagger on the slopes. I wanted to go find him, creep into bed with him, and run my fingers up his bare chest. Instead, I closed my eyes and cuddled against Quinn.

O
ctavia’s vampire-white skin was covered in expertly applied makeup that made it hard to guess her age. Her straight, long blond hair, ruby-red lips, and red eyes covered in heavy dark eyeliner and mascara made her look more ready for a Victoria’s Secret fashion show than for court.

She eyed Faustine and took a long sip from her bottle of fresh blood. “So, you’ve been through quite an ordeal. Way to start Initiation, Faustine. Now, I need to talk to you both separately, though Jagger insists on being around when I talk to you, Faustine. You know, in case I get the urge to snack on you.” She laughed. “Just kidding, of course. I never snack on my clients.” She rolled her eyes. “Since he isn’t here yet, let’s start with you, Cordelia. Faustine, can you excuse us for a bit? Quinn is waiting outside to take you back to your room.”

I wondered where Jagger was. We were sitting in his office. Was he asleep in the next room? I fought the urge to check it out, and potentially jump his bones again, the memories from the ski slope still fresh in my mind. I shook myself and turned my attention back to Octavia. “So, what do you think?”

“Like Jagger told you, I’ve seen the video. Now I need to hear the story from you. Your impressions may uncover additional clues.”

“Like what?” I asked, confused.

“Smells, for instance. There could be other things as well, so start from the beginning and tell me everything. Don’t leave out any details. Try to remember smells, colors, and things like nails–manicured or not–designer labels, everything, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Play the scene in your head in slow motion, analyze every nuance.”

“Okay.” I did what she said and told her everything I knew, which wasn’t much more than the video would show. I described the rancid smell of the shifters. “You know, just regular shifter smell.”

“Male or female?”

“There were four males and one female. You can see that on the video.”

“No, I mean how many female and male scents did you pick up before you actually saw them?”

I closed my eyes, trying to remember. Truth was that I wasn’t very good at the whole sniffer thing. Demons weren’t, in general. However, I had assumed that they were all male before I’d seen them. I shared that with Octavia.

“I have no idea why I thought that, though.” I shrugged. “Obviously, I was wrong.”

“Hmm. Interesting.” She jotted something down on her pad. “At the moment, the four in custody are denying that they were even there.”

“What? That’s ridiculous.” I stood and stomped across the room angrily.

“What the heck is going on?” A shirtless Jagger stood by the door to his bedroom, looking at me sleepily. “What’s with the yelling?”

“Those flaming mongrels are claiming not to have been there at all!”

Jagger slumped down in the seat I had recently vacated. “What did you expect? Of course they’re claiming that. What else would they do?”

“But it’s all caught on the surveillance video!”

“Which, as you know by now, is not admissible as evidence.”

“So basically, we’re screwed. They’ll go unpunished and probably try it again, just for laughs.” I stomped over to the door. I figured I might as well go back to my room and catch up on some more sleep. Plus, I needed to feed.

I bumped into Jagger. Again. “Get the hell out of my face. I’m going back to bed.”

“Sit back down, Cordelia,” he drawled. “Don’t make me make you.”

“Hmm. Interesting,” Octavia remarked.

“What is?” I asked, irritated.

“You two. Anyhow, that’s not relevant. What is relevant is that we find some way to prove that they were indeed at the scene. Did the crime scene team find any evidence that we can use?”

“Not much. A few feathers, some broken claws.”