Forged: The World of Nightwalkers (30 page)

“Wow. Curses. Spells. Amulets. Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!” SingSing said. She poked the dragon head until it disappeared back into her hair.

“I have a headache,” Ahnvil grumbled. “She gives me a headache.”

“Humph, I know when I’m not wanted,” SingSing said with a pout. She reached up and with a snap of her fingers she disappeared. Then an echoing, “Ta-da!” was heard.

“Great, you scared her off,” Leo said dryly. “We learned more from her in the past minute than we have in the past hour.”

“Sorry,” Ahnvil sighed.

“Djynn. I’m not weird, I’m just a Djynn,” Kat was marveling.

“Partly. I wonder if that means you can use magic,” Kamen mused.

“Magic!” Kat gasped.

“Djynns derive their powers from objects that harbor magic. Like the Amulet,” Kamen said. “It’s imbued
with magic. You could probably use it to perform a trick … like maybe SingSing’s disappearing act.”

“Oh. No. No disappearing,” she said hastily. “I might not be able to reappear again.”

“I can teach you some magic that would—” Kamen began.

“No!” Ahnvil cut him off sharply, putting himself between Kamen and Kat. “You’ll no’ teach her anythin’!”

“Better she be taught than to do something accidentally that she has no control over,” Kamen said darkly. “Rather like putting on an Amulet without recognizing its power. She put it on for a reason. It called to her. Attracted her. But instead of using it as a power resource she put it on and now is stuck wearing it.”

“I doona care. If she has to learn then it will be from SingSing or Grey or
anybody
else but you.”

“Whoa. Hostile much?” Bella asked when Max finished interpreting him. “I don’t mean to get in the middle of this, but clearly she couldn’t see us, either. What do we do now? I mean, maybe it’s because I’m half human and half Druid just like she’s half human and half Djynn that we can sorta talk to each other. But that doesn’t change the fact that none of our world knows about yours and there’s something standing in the way of it. And the only people who can communicate with us are human mortals … who none of the races I know have told about themselves so on our end it’s out of the question. So maybe one of you guys”—she indicated Leo and Max—“can help us out? We need to contact the Demon King the Vampire Prince, the Lycanthrope Queen. There’s a lot of people out there who need to learn about this.”

“On our end as well,” Jackson said. “We’ll need to get in touch with Grey, the Night Angels. The Phoenixes, too … although it is beyond me how to do that. Same goes for the Mysticals. Do they even have a leadership?”

“They do.”

The room turned as one to see a new male had entered the room, although how he had entered was a mystery to Kat.

“Grey,” Ahnvil said, answering the question. Another Djynn! Someone she could potentially learn a lot from, Kat thought with no small amount of eagerness. Someone Ahnvil already said he would not mind her learning from. Someone she suspected had to be incredibly powerful to be the leader of the Djynn in all of North America.

After Grey was brought up to speed he was utterly intrigued. “Something beyond my scope of power. Fascinating,” he said, only supporting Kat’s perception that she would have a lot to learn from him about being a Djynn. “SingSing told me to come to you, but didn’t mention why. I am so glad she did. She’s a good girl. Always able to tell when she is over her head.” He eyed Kat thoughtfully. “I’ve heard of Adoma’s Amulet,” he said, moving closer to her and lifting the object into his hand. “Yes, it’s really quite powerful. Why ever would you want to take it off?”

“Because I
can’t
,” she said dryly.

“Humans. Always wanting what they can’t have only to realize they don’t want what they’ve gotten after all.”

“Well, luckily I can always put it back
on
again once I figure out how to get it
off
,” Kat said.

“Are you so certain of that?” he asked archly.

Kat wasn’t certain about anything anymore. She was in this surreal new world where she didn’t know a damn thing about herself … where she was even more normal then she thought she was all of this time.

“Look at me,” Grey instructed, touching her under her chin and lifting it. He examined her on one side and then the other with his eyes. “Sun sensitive?” he asked.

“Very,” Kat said.

“For a full-breed Djynn, we turn to smoke at the touch of the sun. You blister and burn because you need
to learn how to voluntarily become smoke. You have enough power for it, I believe, but we will only know in time. It will have to be the first thing you learn. In order to protect yourself.”

Kat gaped at him a long moment. “Cool.” That was all she could think of to say in response.

“As for the Mysticals, I have the Empress of the Mysticals in my care. In fact, Leo and his Night Angel helped to rescue her from her captives.”

“You mean the winged
horse
?” Leo said, gaping at him. “She was an Empress?”

“Yes. Is. It is taking her some time to recover from the poison they were giving her … the eggs. Mysticals cannot eat eggs. It freezes them into either their mystical form or their human form, depending on what state they are in at the time. The Tsar of the Phoenixes will also want to know about this. I recommend we all inform these Nightwalkers of the curse and then, perhaps, we can figure out a way among us to lift it. And if their prophecy is correct, a great evil is upon us and we will need to be in tandem in order to fight it off.”

“Even the Wraiths?” Jackson asked dubiously. Wraiths were pure evil in his book.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Grey said.

“Do you think it’s Apep? The great evil?” Docia asked.

“Perhaps. The thing about prophecy is it is often unclear how to interpret it until after it is too late … or has run its course.”

“Agreed,” Kamen said. “It would seem I would best serve this action by researching the magics and prophecies.”

“There we are again,” Ahnvil said harshly. “With you trying tae get at our knowledge stores. You’re pushing pretty damn hard for it, are you no’?”

“It’s what I’m best at. If you don’t want me to do my spellwork, then what good am I to you?”

“None at all,” Ahnvil said with dark punctuation.

Kamen turned to lift a questioning brow at Jackson.

“Very well,” Jackson relented. “You could hardly do any more harm than Apep can.”

“I’ve told you,” Kamen said quietly. “I brought this evil onto this earth and I will not rest until I have eradicated it. I know my duty here. I also know you have little reason to trust me.” He looked pointedly at Ahnvil. “But it has been a long time since you were in my care. Things have changed.”

“Your care? Your bloody
care
?”

Kat leapt up and put herself in between Ahnvil and Kamenwati, probably the only reason why Ahnvil’s hands were not presently around Kamen’s throat.

“You. Come with me,” she commanded, grabbing up his hand. “All of you,” she pointed to the room. “Talk among yourselves and figure this out.”

She then pulled Ahnvil out of the room and headed for the stairs. When she had him in his rooms at last, she shut the door hard behind them. Then, hands on her hips, she frowned at him.

“Look, I get that he pisses you off. I get that you hate him. You have every reason to. But you have to see the bigger picture here.”

“No, I doona! I—”

“Hush! I’m talking! You will listen to me or … or … or there will not be a spectacular blowjob in your future. Got it?”

Oh, he obviously got it all right. His jaw dropped nearly to the ground for several beats, and then his eyes darkened with what could only be described as pure, blistering desire.

“Spectacular?” he repeated, moving slowly in her direction.

“Out-freakin’-standing,” she promised with a lift of her chin. “But only if you stop being such a thickheaded pain in the butt. I just found out I’m a Nightwalker, like, ten minutes ago. And then I found out I can learn how to turn to smoke! Do you have any idea what that feels like? It’s really fricken scary, that’s what it feels like! So instead of being all mad and grumpy and stuff, can you please please
please
help me out here?”

Ahnvil had been standing there, fists clenched, body ramrod straight, but at the sound of the pleading and desperation in her voice he sighed and relaxed, his hands falling open.

“Of course I can. But I have tae tell you, I doona trust Grey all that much either. I always feel like he knows more than he’s letting on. I dinna like the way he was looking at you.”

“Well, be that as it may, I need him. I need him or SingSing or somebody to teach me how to be … to be a Djynn. God, I hear myself say it and I can’t even believe it. To be honest I’m starting to think I’m back at home in my little bed having, like, the coolest dream
ever
.”

“I’d much rather have you here,” he said, his voice rich and low. “In
my
bed.”

The remark made her eyes widen a little, but then she felt herself smiling slowly. Naughtily. “Oh, really?” she asked.

“Yes, really.”

She moved forward, her body falling against the intense warmth of his as her eyes drew up slowly to meet his amber ones. “I wonder … How would you like to make love to a Djynn?”

He chuckled at that. “That’s a bit like asking me if I want that spectacular blowjob. ’Tis what I would call a no-brainer.”

“I would call it that, too,” she said, her eyes lighting
with merry mischief. “So which will it be? Door number one”—she reached to run drifting fingertips up the length of his fly—“Or door number two?” She reached next for his hand and drew it up over her belly, over her ribs, and then settled the weight of her breast in his palm.

“Christ,” he muttered, the light in his eyes nothing short of virulent fire. “Do I have tae choose? Why canna I have both?”

“So greedy,” she said with an exaggerated pout. Then she smiled. “Okay, you talked me into it.” She reached for his belt buckle, her fingers nimble as she unhitched the two sides of it. The hand on her breast tightened briefly, as if he couldn’t help himself, but then he turned his knuckles to her and ran them up the length of her breastbone. He traveled up her throat as she pulled his belt free and was touching gentle fingers to her lips as she reached to unbutton his fly.

“I doona know if I can even bear the idea of it. I think of your mouth on me and—” He grabbed hold of her hand and turned her palm in toward his body. He rubbed the heel of her hand tightly down the length of a very hard erection. “Just the idea of it and I’m randy enough tae come in my pants like the greenest lad in the township. You’re too new tae me for me tae have an ounce of control. I’m afraid I’ll … I doona want tae hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me. You’ll let me do this, you’ll let me give you all the pleasure I know how to give, and then you’re going to return the favor. And we’re both going to love every. Single. Minute.” She leaned in and kissed his mouth in punctuation with the last three words.

“Oh, I doona doubt that, Kat lass. No’ for a second. I—” Ahnvil stopped before saying he loved every single thing about her. Love was a very strong word to use, and a man shouldn’t use it lightly. He didn’t want to lay false groundwork, giving her ideas about the future that
just might not be possible. The future was a dark, murky place. He didn’t know what he would have to offer her in it. He barely knew how to keep himself in the present from day to day. So much of his life came out of the past. Out of his mistakes and misfortunes. Out of his hate and his anger. He wasn’t even sure he would know how to give a lass things like love and contentment. Didn’t one have to be content before one could offer it to someone else?

Oh, but she was tempting him with far better things then contentment, he thought as she drew down the zipper to his jeans. She reached with strong little hands to push his pants down off his hips. He felt her nails scraping gently against his skin as she bared his backside and then his thighs. His erection had fallen free of the denim and, as she worked his jeans free, her body brushed against him again and again and again. She dropped to her knees and guided his feet free of his pants. He was forced to bear the gorgeous sight of her in that submissive serving position. Then she looked up. First into his eyes and then at the jutting length of his erection. She reached out and touched gentle fingertips about midway along the shaft, then drew them slowly down and then back up the length of him. It was nothing, a touch of so little consequence, and yet it made him tighten and harden even more. He had to touch himself, to squeeze himself as though in warning, to try and control the intensity of his reaction. If the lightest of touches could spin him so out of control, what would the feel of her kiss do to him?

“No. Let me,” she scolded him softly, taking his hand and drawing it away. Then she imitated the touch he’d used, squeezing him at the base of his cock.

“Jesus,” he groaned, his hand feeling lost in the open air until he finally rested it atop her head, his fingers
burrowing into the dark roots.
Be gentle
, he warned himself.
Doona hurt her
.

She was, he decided, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Not just because of what she was doing to him, but because she was genuinely
beautiful
, with her bourbon eyes and her mink-colored hair, her berry-red lips and lightly freckled pale skin. He was glad she couldn’t be touched by the sun. He wouldn’t trade her porcelain prettiness for all the world.

She wrapped her hand fully around him, drawing up to her fullest height on her knees. But their heights were so disparate that she could not reach him. All he would get was the feel of her breath washing over him. Slowly, allowing her to continue to keep him in her wee hand, he knelt down, his knees spreading wide on either side of hers. She smiled at him and he thought he might die from the way it made him feel. He felt suddenly invincible. Oh, he had learned what it meant to feel invulnerable as a powerful Gargoyle, but with the smallest of courtesies she made him feel that he was able to conquer worlds. She leaned forward drawing him up to her lips. At the last moment she stuck out her tongue and touched it to him instead of just kissing him with her lips. Light exploded into his vision and he was convinced the only thing possibly better was when he was deep inside of her.