She's No Faerie Princess (34 page)

The second blast didn't have near the intensity of thefirst, and she knew even before it hit the second demonsquarely in the chest that it wouldn't make any difference. The creature barely paused, then seemed to shake like adog coming out of the rain before it continued onward.

She didn't know what else she could do. Her magic wasgone, but she couldn't
 
not
 
try. She could still move. Shecould try to wrestle the sword from its hand, although herrational mind told her the attempt was doomed to failure. Maybe scratch its eyes out or find out with her kneesexactly how much like a human man its body really was. Either way, she knew she couldn't stand by and justwatch while it killed her mate.

She made it about halfway across the clearing when thesecond demon drew close to where Walker struggledwith the first. She could see that her wolf was weakening. The demon had landed several bone-crunching blows,and the gash in his side continued to bleed, soaking hissilver-gray fur. She was never going to make it in time tosave him. Feeling her heart tear inside her chest, Fionascreamed his name.

Distracted, Walker spun around and fixed her with a

dazed golden stare just as the second demon lifted its sword high overhead and plunged it straight down into the heart of its bovine kin.

CHAPTER 25

Too late and too startled to arrest her momentum, Fionacollided right into the second demon. She might as wellhave thrown herself against a brick wall. It would havehad more give. One large hand curled around her arm tosteady her before setting her firmly away.

With a low growl, Walker did the demon one better,grabbing his mate around the waist and setting her aside. Battered and bleeding, he still managed to hold himselfupright on his wolfish hind legs and snarl a warning at thedemon. His altered vocal cords distorted the words, buthe made sure they were understandable. "To touch her,you'll go through me."

The demon raised an eyebrow. "At the moment youwouldn't offer much challenge." Slowly and carefully, itslid its sword into a long scabbard at its back. At theirfeet, a small charred pile of flesh smoked where the bull-headed demon had stood. "Besides, I didn't come herefor you. I came for Morgagch, and that is who I slew. Youare in no danger from me."

Walker snorted. "We're to trust a demon?"

The demon shrugged. "You can do whatever you likewith your trust. That's none of my concern."

"What is your concern?"

"As I said, I came for Morgagch."

"Was that the demon's name?"

"The fiend's, yes. I don't think you and I mean the same thing by the other name." The demon glanced down at the wound in Walker's side. "Its claws were poisoned, and you've taken a significant dose."

Fiona made a sound of distress. How could she haveforgotten? Leaning down, she peered closer at theragged gash. The scent of it confirmed it had beenpoisoned. It stank of the demon's sulfurous, decayingtaint. Laying her hand over the opening, Fiona tried tomuster up the energy to heal it, but she'd used everythingshe had on spells she had already cast.

Walker looked down at her furrowed brow, and one hugeclaw-tipped hand came up to cradle her cheek. "I'll be allright," he said as softly as his shape would allow. "Shifting will force the poison out."

"It might," the demon said, reaching into a small pocket that hung at the side of its belt, "but I doubt the experience would be a pleasant one. Morgagch's venom runs deep and fast. Already it infects not only the wound site but your bloodstream as well. To force it out of this body would put a dangerous strain on the other." It pulled out a small, clear vial about the length and thickness of its thumb. "This is an antidote. If you drink it, it will neutralize the poison. Then when you shift, your body

can concentrate on healing the tear rather than purging

your bloodstream of the fiend's taint."

Walker looked at the vial and sneered. "There's that trustissue again."

Fiona frowned. She knew shifting helped Lupines healtheir wounds at an astonishing pace, but she could see Walker was already weak. If the demon was right andthere was a chance he might injure himself further duringthe shift, she didn't want him taking the chance. Shestood for a moment, torn.

A firm tug drew her attention downward.

"If you wants the furry mortal guy to gets better quick, he better takes the medicine, Miss Fiona," Squick said in a loud whisper. His eyes kept jumping from her to the demon, and they were wide with awe. "He the kind who would knows."

Confused, Fiona continued to frown. "But it's a demon,

Squick."

"Yeah, but not like the other one were. And you gots to hurry, Princess. Your furry mortal guy, he not looking so good."

Her eyes flew to Walker's face and confirmed the imp'sassessment. Her mate's eyes looked glazed andfeverish, the rims red, and she could see sweat beadingin his fur. Unable to bear the sight of him in pain, shesnatched the vial from the demon's hand before shecould lose her nerve and uncorked it.

"If this harms him, I will find a way to destroy you," she bit

out, then lifted the small vessel to Walker's lips.

He tried to turn away, but she followed the movement. "Please,
 
mo fáell
," she encouraged. "Please. Take it. Squick said you have to, and I trust him. Can you trustme?"

Walker's eyes, the warm gold faintly dull in the dim light,met hers, and a ragged breath hissed from between hislips. Then they parted, and he swallowed reflexively as ifthere was no question of his trust for her.

Fiona held her breath and waited. A quick glance at thedemon revealed neither satisfaction nor malice. It lookedas neutral as granite, and she wasn't sure whether or notto find that reassuring.

Before she could make up her mind, she heard Walkergasp. Alarmed, she reached for him.
 
Sweet Lady, pleaselet him be all right
! Fiona's arms closed around him, andthe feel of him had her eyes opening wide. The fever shehad seen just seconds ago seemed to have vanished. Hefelt warm but certainly no hotter than usual. Pulling back,she looked into his eyes and saw the glaze over themclearing. She felt the strength surge back into hismuscles, felt them shift and flex as he shifted back to hishuman form. She looked immediately down to his sideand saw the pale pink scar that was the only reminder ofthe demon's attack.

"Oh my Goddess," she breathed, reaching a hesitant

hand out to touch the mark. "You… you're okay!"

He pulled her tight against his side. "I'm fine." Raising hisgaze to the demon in front of them, he nodded. "And I'min your debt."

The demon shook its head. "No. There is no debt

involved in completing my mission."

"Your mission?" Fiona asked. "You mean you really came

here to kill that… Morgagch?"

"I did. And now that it's done, I'm afraid I have still more

work to do."

The demon turned to leave, but Fiona stepped forwardand Walker let her, adding his own protest. "We'dappreciate if you could answer a few questions," he said. "It seems we've spent a lot of time lately with the exactsame goal in mind, only we weren't planning to stop withjust one of the demons."

The demon's eyes sharpened. "You've seen the others?

You know where they can be found?"

"Not exactly, but we've seen their handiwork. We know at least one or two other demons have been snacking their way across the city. We've been trying to locate them before they do any more harm."

"You shouldn't interfere. They will not be easily taken. Let

me handle them. It is my duty."

Fiona blinked. "It's your duty to hunt down and killdemons?"

"Fiends," the demon corrected. "We call his kind 'fiends.'"

Walker raised his eyebrows. "His kind? There are kinds?"

The demon's expression never changed, but Fiona gotthe feeling he wanted to roll his eyes. She also realizedwith a jolt that she'd stopped thinking of this particulardemon as an "it." There was no argument to be made

that he was human, but he clearly had a code of ethics, and if she hadn't known him to be a demon, she would have assumed he had a soul.

"There are kinds of everything," he said. "Very few things

in the worlds are unique."

"You must be," she said, the words tumbling out before she could think about them. "That sun spell didn't even make you blink. You're a demon. I know you are. It should have at least blinded you, if not knocked you on your ass."

The demon's lips curved. "Yes, I should thank you forthat. Your assistance made Morgagch's defeat muchswifter."

"But why didn't it bother you? You didn't even blink, but

demons hate sunlight."

"Fiends hate sunlight," he said. "I am not a fiend."

"And that's the root of our problem," Walker said. "Every time you open your mouth, we end up with more questions, not less. I think we're going to have to ask you to fill us in on quite a few pertinent details. In exchange, we can tell you what we know about the other d—er… the other fiends you're looking for."

"If you like." The demon's mouth quirked, and he glanced down at Walker's bare skin. "But are you certain you wouldn't prefer to have this discussion somewhere… warmer?"

They found out the demon was called Rule, although that

wasn't quite his name.

"Names have power for my kind," he said. "We guard

them closely."

"Yeah, but I prefer that any other men who've seen me naked not be complete strangers," Walker had said ruefully.

After a brief discussion, they decided to head directly to Vircolac. It would save time if Graham and Rafe got tohear their story all at once, and once Fiona and Walkerexplained the role those two held in Other society and inthe current negotiations with the humans, Rule had notobjected.

Fiona tugged on Walker's hand. "Give me a kiss."

He frowned down at her. "What?"

"Give me a kiss," she repeated. "You can't go walking out of the park naked, because for some reasons, humans seem to take issue with that. And I used up everything I had trying to kill our new friend. I need a kiss if I'm going to get you some clothes."

"Furry mortal guy can puts his old clothes back on,"

Squick piped up. "They lying right over there."

Fiona wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, covered in demon blood.

I don't think so." She raised her face to Walker's. "Kiss

me."

She saw her mate's eyes lift uneasily to Rule's face,which was blank of expression. Tugging on Walker'sshoulder, she grumbled something about the prudishnessof mortals and pressed her lips against his. As usual, it

took about two nanoseconds for him to not only respond but also seize control of the kiss from her and make it his own. She forgot all about their audience, forgot all about the goal of this little exercise, even forgot her own name as the familiar wave of pleasure and magic crashed over her.

When Walker lifted his head, she blinked up at him for afew dazed seconds before her brain clicked back intogear. Unable to resist, she skimmed her hands along hisbare skin one last time before covering them incomfortably worn jeans and a dark knit shirt.

"Thanks," he rumbled, placing a swift kiss on the end of

her nose.

They turned back to see Rule watching them with atroubled expression. "You're not just Fae," he said. "You're sidhe. High Fae."

Fiona wasn't surprised he'd made the correctassumption. The sidhe were well-known for their ability todraw energy out of passion, and she'd never shared anunpassionate kiss with Walker. "Yes. Why?"

Rule just shook his head, but his mouth had settled into agrim line. "We should discuss it with your friends. It maywell affect your thinking on the situation."

He refused to elaborate, no matter how they questionedhim. He kept silent on the trip to Vircolac, not evenresponding to a fascinated Squick's babbling questionsabout his age and his ancestors and his adventureshunting fiends in at least two dimensions. Not until theywere met at the door of the club by Rafe and Tess did Rule speak.

"I'm not sure what you mean by bringing a demon here, Walker," the Felix said, his voice low with displeasure, "but I have reservations about letting him into this club."

"Shouldn't that be Graham's decision?" Walker asked,

one eyebrow raised. "It's his club."

"And his family is inside. He feels the same way I do."

Fiona stepped forward. "Rule saved our lives tonight. Ifhe meant us any harm, I'm sure he would have donesomething about it by now."

"Why, thank you, Fiona," the demon said, sounding

amused. "I appreciate your confidence in me."

"I don't think either of us is confident," Walker said. "We're just desperate for information. And once we get you inside and you're surrounded by my pack, the entire Other staff of the club, the head of the Council, and his witch of a wife, I'll be more confident that we could take you down if we had to."