Light My Fire
Page 13
Gabriel gently unclasped my arms from where they were wrapped around his waist, easing me back from his chest.
My brain did a mental jaw drop that just about had me on my knees in surprise. The man who had saved me from certain death wasn’t Gabriel—it was Fiat.
“What. . . what... Fiat?”
“Ah, your wits return to you. Excellent. This way, cara.”
My wits hadn’t returned. That’s the only reason I can think of that Fiat got me almost out of the train station before I realized what he was doing.
“Wait,” I said, pulling my arm from his grasp, looking around me wildly. We were at the entrance of the departure area, next to a bank of metal detectors and security people checking everyone who came into the station. “This isn’t right. I’m going home.”
“Si. My home. Renaldo?” Fiat inclined his head toward the big blond behemoth who had been in front of us. I recognized him as one of Fiat’s bodyguards, a man who, like his wyvern, was utterly ruthless when it came to getting his own way.
“I am not going home with you,” I said in a low, determined voice, taking a few steps to the side so Fiat couldn’t grab me. “Look, I appreciate the fact that you just saved my life—I’m more grateful than I can ever say—but I am not going home with you. I’m going to my own home, where I can sit and cry for a good day or so to work through the horror of being shoved in front of an oncoming train. So, thank you a thousand times for the rescue, but no thanks to the domestic arrangements.”
I turned to walk away, but Fiat grabbed my arm, pulling me up close to his body. I was reminded again just how well built the man was—I swear there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him anywhere. He was as rock solid as Drake. “Cara, you owe me your life. You will come with me now so that we might discuss how you can pay this debt.”
His fingers bit hard into my upper arm. I turned my head slowly and narrowed my eyes at him, meeting his sapphire gaze without a single waver. “If you do not let go of me in the next three seconds, I am going to scream.”
“You will not make a scene,” he answered, yanking me hard toward the exit.
“One, two, three,” I said quickly, then opened my mouth in an eardrum-piercing scream. “He’s got a bomb!” I pointed at Fiat. “Terrorist!”
Fiat swore under his breath as he dropped my arm and spun around, his hands up as the security people rushed toward him, guns at the ready. A second before they reached us, Fiat’s mind brushed mine.
I am not through with you, cara.
Goose bumps marched up my arm despite the warmth of the evening. I rubbed them as the swarm of security people descended upon us both, three-quarters of them pouncing on Fiat, the rest surrounding me, belting me with questions in French.
Five hours later I dragged myself from a ubiquitous black London taxicab, bruised, battered, exhausted, and on the verge of what felt like a breakdown. I weaved slightly.
“You are sure you are all right, mon amie?”
I nodded and waved a limp hand at Rene. “Fine. Pay you tomorrow.”
“Peh. The payment, she is not important. You are. Get some rest, and then call me tomorrow and tell me exactly what happened.”
“K. Night. Thanks for picking me up,” I answered wearily, staggering slightly as I headed for the door to the stairs that would lead me up to sanctuary.
“Anytime, my friend, anytime.” Rene sped off in a cloud of diesel fumes as I crawled my way up to Nora’s apartment, too tired to dig the key out of my purse. I thudded on the door a couple of times, leaning heavily on it as my brain whirled around in a circle of residual shock and horror, pain, and exhaustion.
“Aisling? Is that... oh, my lord. Are you all right?” The door suddenly swung open, causing me to stagger into the living room. I righted myself and stood swaying for a moment, blinking in the bright lights Nora had turned on.
“Yeah, I’m OK. Just sore and tired. Going to take a bath.”
“But—what happened to you? Is your French friend all right?”
“Fine,” I said, stumbling to the bathroom. “Tell you all about it in the morning. Jim, I summon thee.”
My demon appeared in a puff of black demon smoke, its mouth open to harangue me for leaving it so long in limbo, but for once Jim had the foresight to not light into me.
“You look like Abaddon,” was all it said.
“Feel worse,” I answered, then closed the bathroom door in its face and gave myself over to a long, hot soak. I knew I’d have a lot of explaining to do to both Nora and Jim, not to mention mulling over what had happened in the train station, why Gabriel hadn’t grabbed me, and why Fiat had when my death was sure to mean the death of Drake, his arch nemesis. But all that could wait until the morning. Things always looked more manageable in the morning.
I am so often wrong about things like that.
“Morning, Nora ... oh. You’re going out?” I stifled a yawn as I squinted across a small kitchen made bright by the morning sun. Jim was flaked out in a pool of sunlight, cocking an eyebrow at me, but saying nothing as it read the morning paper.
“Yes, I got a call this morning that there’s been an imp outbreak near my portal,” she answered, taking a last sip of coffee before rinsing out the cup and setting it to dry. “Jim went out for a walk with Paco and me earlier, so it shouldn’t need to go out right away.”
“Oh. Thank you. Um... imps. In Green Park? I should come help with them.”
“You have dragon business to attend to,” Nora interrupted, putting Paco in his traveling carrier. She snapped it shut, then laughed when she saw me. “Such a guilty expression! Aisling, I knew when I took you on as an apprentice that there would be times when you would be unable to assist me as a normal apprentice might. This is one of those times, and since the imps aren’t dangerous in any way, I have no problem whatsoever in taking care of them myself. I’m just going to remove them, then I’ll catch a train to Chichester to deal with the kobolds I mentioned yesterday. It was a false alarm then, but I want to keep an eye on it. With luck, I should be back by dinner.”
I glanced at the clock. I had the dragon thing to go to in a couple of hours. Nora might be generous enough to excuse me from helping her with the imps, but I was too conflicted to do that. Obviously she’d gotten along just fine without me up to that point, but now that I was signed on as an apprentice, it was my duty to help her wherever and whenever she needed me. “I’ve got a few hours yet. Do you think the imps will take long?”
My brain did a mental jaw drop that just about had me on my knees in surprise. The man who had saved me from certain death wasn’t Gabriel—it was Fiat.
“What. . . what... Fiat?”
“Ah, your wits return to you. Excellent. This way, cara.”
My wits hadn’t returned. That’s the only reason I can think of that Fiat got me almost out of the train station before I realized what he was doing.
“Wait,” I said, pulling my arm from his grasp, looking around me wildly. We were at the entrance of the departure area, next to a bank of metal detectors and security people checking everyone who came into the station. “This isn’t right. I’m going home.”
“Si. My home. Renaldo?” Fiat inclined his head toward the big blond behemoth who had been in front of us. I recognized him as one of Fiat’s bodyguards, a man who, like his wyvern, was utterly ruthless when it came to getting his own way.
“I am not going home with you,” I said in a low, determined voice, taking a few steps to the side so Fiat couldn’t grab me. “Look, I appreciate the fact that you just saved my life—I’m more grateful than I can ever say—but I am not going home with you. I’m going to my own home, where I can sit and cry for a good day or so to work through the horror of being shoved in front of an oncoming train. So, thank you a thousand times for the rescue, but no thanks to the domestic arrangements.”
I turned to walk away, but Fiat grabbed my arm, pulling me up close to his body. I was reminded again just how well built the man was—I swear there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him anywhere. He was as rock solid as Drake. “Cara, you owe me your life. You will come with me now so that we might discuss how you can pay this debt.”
His fingers bit hard into my upper arm. I turned my head slowly and narrowed my eyes at him, meeting his sapphire gaze without a single waver. “If you do not let go of me in the next three seconds, I am going to scream.”
“You will not make a scene,” he answered, yanking me hard toward the exit.
“One, two, three,” I said quickly, then opened my mouth in an eardrum-piercing scream. “He’s got a bomb!” I pointed at Fiat. “Terrorist!”
Fiat swore under his breath as he dropped my arm and spun around, his hands up as the security people rushed toward him, guns at the ready. A second before they reached us, Fiat’s mind brushed mine.
I am not through with you, cara.
Goose bumps marched up my arm despite the warmth of the evening. I rubbed them as the swarm of security people descended upon us both, three-quarters of them pouncing on Fiat, the rest surrounding me, belting me with questions in French.
Five hours later I dragged myself from a ubiquitous black London taxicab, bruised, battered, exhausted, and on the verge of what felt like a breakdown. I weaved slightly.
“You are sure you are all right, mon amie?”
I nodded and waved a limp hand at Rene. “Fine. Pay you tomorrow.”
“Peh. The payment, she is not important. You are. Get some rest, and then call me tomorrow and tell me exactly what happened.”
“K. Night. Thanks for picking me up,” I answered wearily, staggering slightly as I headed for the door to the stairs that would lead me up to sanctuary.
“Anytime, my friend, anytime.” Rene sped off in a cloud of diesel fumes as I crawled my way up to Nora’s apartment, too tired to dig the key out of my purse. I thudded on the door a couple of times, leaning heavily on it as my brain whirled around in a circle of residual shock and horror, pain, and exhaustion.
“Aisling? Is that... oh, my lord. Are you all right?” The door suddenly swung open, causing me to stagger into the living room. I righted myself and stood swaying for a moment, blinking in the bright lights Nora had turned on.
“Yeah, I’m OK. Just sore and tired. Going to take a bath.”
“But—what happened to you? Is your French friend all right?”
“Fine,” I said, stumbling to the bathroom. “Tell you all about it in the morning. Jim, I summon thee.”
My demon appeared in a puff of black demon smoke, its mouth open to harangue me for leaving it so long in limbo, but for once Jim had the foresight to not light into me.
“You look like Abaddon,” was all it said.
“Feel worse,” I answered, then closed the bathroom door in its face and gave myself over to a long, hot soak. I knew I’d have a lot of explaining to do to both Nora and Jim, not to mention mulling over what had happened in the train station, why Gabriel hadn’t grabbed me, and why Fiat had when my death was sure to mean the death of Drake, his arch nemesis. But all that could wait until the morning. Things always looked more manageable in the morning.
I am so often wrong about things like that.
“Morning, Nora ... oh. You’re going out?” I stifled a yawn as I squinted across a small kitchen made bright by the morning sun. Jim was flaked out in a pool of sunlight, cocking an eyebrow at me, but saying nothing as it read the morning paper.
“Yes, I got a call this morning that there’s been an imp outbreak near my portal,” she answered, taking a last sip of coffee before rinsing out the cup and setting it to dry. “Jim went out for a walk with Paco and me earlier, so it shouldn’t need to go out right away.”
“Oh. Thank you. Um... imps. In Green Park? I should come help with them.”
“You have dragon business to attend to,” Nora interrupted, putting Paco in his traveling carrier. She snapped it shut, then laughed when she saw me. “Such a guilty expression! Aisling, I knew when I took you on as an apprentice that there would be times when you would be unable to assist me as a normal apprentice might. This is one of those times, and since the imps aren’t dangerous in any way, I have no problem whatsoever in taking care of them myself. I’m just going to remove them, then I’ll catch a train to Chichester to deal with the kobolds I mentioned yesterday. It was a false alarm then, but I want to keep an eye on it. With luck, I should be back by dinner.”
I glanced at the clock. I had the dragon thing to go to in a couple of hours. Nora might be generous enough to excuse me from helping her with the imps, but I was too conflicted to do that. Obviously she’d gotten along just fine without me up to that point, but now that I was signed on as an apprentice, it was my duty to help her wherever and whenever she needed me. “I’ve got a few hours yet. Do you think the imps will take long?”
