Kissed by Smoke (18 page)

Her face serene, she turned to me. “He wants
to start a war.”

“Yeah, I already figured that out,” I told
the Queen. “What I want to know is why? You know, other than the
fact that he’s bat-shit crazy.”

She threw me an amused look. “He wants to
rule the Other World, of course. We are twins, you know.”

“I picked that up, yes.”

“He was born first, and so he should have
been King.” She shrugged. “But as you say, he is bat-shit crazy.
Our parents deemed him unfit to rule. So did our people. And so
when the time came, I took the throne. I should have killed him
then, but I was weak.” The ice bitch peeked through again. “I
banished him instead, with the understanding the rest of our people
would believe him dead.”

It made sense. If the others thought she’d
killed Alberich, it would protect her position.

“I thought I had seen the last of him,” the
Queen continued.

“Obviously not.”

“Obviously.” Her voice was dry as dust.

We walked on a bit, silently. I wondered
where we were going or if we were even going anywhere at all. The
scenery never changed, just column after column of black
marble.

“How does starting a war with the djinn get
Alberich closer to the throne?” I asked.

“You know that only very powerful magic can
control a djinni?”

I nodded.

“The sidhe are, perhaps, the only beings
left who have such power and I, alone, have the power to control a
Marid.”

Something about the way she said it struck
me. “You mean, you and your brother have that power,” I corrected
her. I was probably lucky she didn’t chop my head off or something.
The look that crossed her face told me she’d have like to do just
that. Obviously whatever favor she expected of me was a doozy.

“Yes. My brother. He can also control a
lower-level djinni, but not a Marid. He can no longer draw from the
power of Fairy.”

I wasn’t sure she was right about that.
Alberich had been born a King, after all. Plus he had started
playing around with some serious demonic stuff. But I decided to go
with it. “Okay. So, that explains why he snagged one of the djinni
and forced him into taking on the Marid’s appearance. He couldn’t
get to the Marid himself because of the protection of the Binding,
but he knew I’d go after the Marid if I believed him a murderer.” I
frowned. “But why on earth would he think that my killing the Marid
would start a war. I’m not sidhe. Neither was Vega. It would be a
djinn/human thing.”

The Queen’s face remained expressionless,
her silver eyes focused straight ahead. Her silence spoke louder
than words.

“Shit. You lied to me. He wants to start a
war between the djinn and the humans.” I completely forgot about
the stupidity of calling the Queen a liar.

“I did not lie. As you well know, the sidhe
cannot lie. Not even the Queen.” Her expression took on an icy
imperiousness that was kind of scary. “You assumed I meant a war
between the sidhe and the djinn. I did not specify.”

Fair enough. I’d give her that. My mind
raced. “But since you’re the only one with enough power to control
the djinn, the SRA would ask you for help once the war
started.”

“Yes.”

“I still don’t see how that would gain
Alberich the throne. Surely the sidhe can defeat the djinn.” I
glanced over at her. “Can’t they?”

Her smile was grim. “Not without hurting
themselves. I could stop the djinn, but I would destroy myself in
the process.”

“I don’t understand.” I felt a little like
I’d just fallen down yet another rabbit hole. Nothing was making
sense.

“You do not have to,” she snapped. “I am
Queen here. All you need know is that should my brother succeed in
his machinations, a great deal of power will be his for the taking.
And take it, he will.”

With the djinn gone and the sidhe under his
control, I had no doubt she was right. There would be nothing and
no one to stop him. Maybe the dragons. Maybe. But their numbers
were small since the genocide wrought by Alister Jones’s
ancestors.

“Shit,” I said with a great deal of
feeling.

“I could not have said it better myself.”
The amusement was back.

“I still don’t understand how Alberich
killing me would further his plans.”

She shrugged delicate shoulders. “It would
not. I told you, Alberich has a very short temper and a very strong
desire for revenge. He wanted payback, nothing more. His … passions
got the better of him. For the moment.”

“What about Vega? Why murder him?”

She pondered that a moment. “No doubt to
simply draw you to where you needed to be. We all know that Hunters
are the ones who investigate supernatural deaths. And you are the
only true Hunter within hundreds of miles of djinn land.”

“And Trevor? Why beat him up?”

“My brother may not be entirely sane, but he
does have a twisted sort of logic. I imagine,” she said drily,
“that the plan was to kill Trevor. No doubt Alberich thought it
would make you angry.”

That was putting it mildly. “How do I stop
him?”

She smiled, the perfect image of the serene
Fairy Queen. “You have already put a — how do you humans say it? —
monkey wrench in his plans. The Marid is not only alive, but you
now know he is innocent of murder. The control my brother seeks is
now far from his grasp.”

“But he’ll try again.” Of that I had no
doubt.

“Oh, yes. He will try. But you will stop
him.”

I wasn’t sure she should put quite so much
faith in me. What I was sure of was that she was still hiding
something from me. Something big. There was more to Alberich’s bid
for power than the Queen was letting on. Her comment about stopping
the djinn resulting in her own destruction was ringing all kinds of
alarm bells with me.

“You still haven’t told me how I’m going to
stop Alberich.” I so wasn’t looking forward to hunting down the
sidhe version of a serial killer.

“You are a Hunter,” she said with a smile.
“Plus you bear the name of a Queen. You shall figure it out.” With
that she dropped my hand and I found myself sucked down into
deepest darkness.

***

“Morgan? Morgan. Morgan you wake up right
this minute or I’m going to wave a can of tuna under your
nose.”

I opened one eye to find Kabita standing
over me with a distinct glare. “You know how I feel about fish. Why
are you glaring at me?”

“You used that damned key.”

Kabita never swore. Well, almost never.
Which meant I was in deep doggy doo. I sat up, wincing a little at
the soreness in my ribs. “Listen, I didn’t exactly have a choice …
”

“Oh, please. Don’t give me that,” she
snapped.

“Where’s Inigo? And how on earth did I get
to your office?” The fake leather couch squeaked as I shifted on
the cushions.

“Actually,” Kabita admitted, “I don’t know.
You just sort of … poofed.”

“Poofed?”

“Yeah. One minute I was alone, next minute
you were sprawled out on the couch. Drooling.”

I gave her a glare of my own. “I was not
drooling.”

One black brow hit her hairline. “You were
so drooling.”

I rolled my eyes and changed the subject.
“Inigo?”

“No idea.” She sank down into one of the
chairs in the outer office. “He didn’t poof with you.”

“Damn, I hope he’s okay.” I tried to get up
again, but my ribs practically shrieked in protest.

“He’s a dragon. Why wouldn’t he be okay? And
sit down before you fall down.” Ever the bossy one, Kabita.

“We were at my mother’s.”

“Your mother likes Inigo. I doubt she’s
going to bash him over the head with a skillet.”

I shot her another glare. “When we left her
place, we were attacked by a sidhe.”

That got her attention. “Excuse me?”

I told her all about Alberich and popping
over to the Fairy Realm, and how I was supposed to stop a bloody
war between the sidhe and the djinn. “I have no idea what the hell
I’m supposed to do next. I mean, obviously the Marid is fine.
Alberich is hardly going to be able to start a war with the Marid
alive and the Fairy Queen fully aware of his actions.”

“But what he can do,” Kabita said, “is
revenge himself on you.”

“Give me a break.”

“Why do you think he was waiting for you
outside your mother’s house, Morgan? To take you to prom?”

“I never went to prom.”

Kabita looked like she wanted to strangle
me.

“Okay, fine,” I sighed. “Probably he’s not
really happy that I spoiled his Super Evil Genius plan. It just
means he might be a little harder to catch, that’s all.”

“You want to catch Alberich? The second most
powerful sidhe in existence.” Her voice was overflowing with
incredulity. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, or be offended by her
lack of faith in me.

“You got a better idea?”

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her
nose between her thumb and forefinger. “Why me?”

I snorted back a laugh. “Yeah, it’s all
about you.” This time I managed to get myself off the couch despite
the pain. “I just got beat up by a sidhe, so I’m going home for a
nap.” And to call Inigo to make sure he was okay.

“Your car is back at your mother’s house,”
Kabita reminded me.

Oh, yeah.

She shook her head. “I’ll give you a
ride.”

“You are too kind.”

“Yeah, and if you get yourself killed
hunting this guy, I am not going to be happy. You don’t want to
make a Witch unhappy.”

I grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll just haunt
your ass for the rest of eternity. And I’ll keep all the boy ghosts
out of your shower.”

That made her laugh.

***

“
I thought we were friends, Priest,” the Marid
snarled, drawing himself up to his full seven feet. Fury pulsed
from him like a living thing.

“
I am sorry.” I attempted to sooth him, but there
was no calming the enraged djinni. “I truly am sorry, my friend,
but this is necessary. It is the only way.”

We stood on a balcony overlooking the sea. The wind
whipped up, snatching at our robes.

“
And how many others have been ensnared in such a
fashion?”

Sadness gripped my heart. I hated what I was doing
to him. To the others. “Four. There are four of you. I wish I could
explain, but I can’t. In time, you will understand.”

The Marid turned his back on me. “I will never
understand the betrayal of a friend and a brother.”

“
No,” infinite sorrow, “you would not. But I
swear to you, I had no other choice. This is the only way to save
the Key of Atlantis.”

“
There are always choices. Always.” The Marid
whirled on me, fists clenched. But he did not strike.

“
This time, there was but one choice. And when
the Key returns and the Binding ends, you will know I made the
right one.”

Muscles flexed under red skin. “So you say.”

“
If I’m wrong, there is no hope. For any of
us.”

***

I woke with my heart in my throat. I was
really starting to hate these dreams. I could feel the rage of the
Marid, the true regret of the Priest, almost as if it were my own
rage and regret.

The Marid had told the truth about the
Binding. And about the betrayal. Ten thousand years of betrayal.
Talk about sucking big time.

I threw back the duvet and managed to haul
myself out of bed without too much pain. The tenderness in my ribs
had already decreased, which meant my Hunter healing ability was
doing its thing.

I padded barefoot to the kitchen where Inigo
was tapping away at the keys of his laptop. His glasses had slid
down his nose. He looked totally geeky and totally adorable. “Hey
sexy.”

He glanced up, a slow smile spreading across
his face. “Apparently I’m not the only sexy one around here.”

I hadn’t bothered with a robe. I figured
he’d seen me naked, so what was the big deal about a t-shirt and
panties.

“Perv,” I laughed, walking over to wrap my
arms around him. “Did I mention I’m glad you’re okay?”

“Once or twice.” He wrapped his arms around
me and we just held each other for awhile. I think my absolute
favorite thing about Inigo was how much he loved to cuddle. I never
thought of myself as the cuddly type, but apparently I was. Who
knew?

My house line rang. Nobody but my mother
ever called my house line.

I leaned over to grab the phone, my ribs
protesting a little. “Hello?”

“Morgan, it’s Trevor. What the hell is going
on?”

“Uh, what do you mean?”

“There’s a djinni in my hotel room. She
keeps babbling about you being in trouble, and the Marid going
missing. And why on earth does she look like Marilyn Monroe?”

Shit. “That’s Zip. She’s a … friend.”

“Why is she in my room?”

“I have no idea. Maybe she doesn’t have a
cell. Wait,” I frowned, “did you just say the Marid is
missing?”

“Hang on.” I could hear him having a muffled
conversation with what was obviously Zip. I’d know her breathy
Marilyn voice anywhere. Finally he came back on. “Yeah. Apparently
right after your visit, he vanished off djinn lands.”

“That’s impossible. The Binding won’t allow
him to leave,” I insisted.

“True. Not willingly.”

“You’re saying someone kidnapped the
Marid.”

“It’s looking that way,” he admitted.

“How is that even possible? No one can get
onto djinn lands … oh, shit.” It hit me then.

No one could get onto djinn lands without
the permission of one of the djinni. Zip had given me permission
because she knew who and what I was. There was no way a djinni
would give anyone else permission. Unless they were coerced.

And, other than the Fairy Queen, there was
only one person alive who could coerce a djinni: Alberich.

***