Kissed by Eternity (10 page)

"Spill it, Majesty. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to end this war with the djinn."

I stared at her in confusion. "What do you think I've been trying to do? You're the one who started this damn war in the first place."

"No, Morgan. You aren't listening." She rose elegantly from her chair and strode toward me, her steps so light it looked as if she were gliding on air. "I want you to destroy the djinn."

"Oh, hell no. I am not your little puppet. I do not owe you anything."

A pool of ink-black water appeared suddenly between us. Oh, gods, not that damn pool. Morgana waved her hand above the water, and an image shivered into place. I saw Haakon and Inigo running around my house, searching for me. There was calm determination on Haakon's face and near panic on Inigo's. The focus zoomed in on his face. I swallowed bile.

"You finish this war, Hunter," Morgana hissed. "Or this time I finish the job."

My heart stopped beating for a split second and then burst into high gear. She'd ripped his heart out once. I would not let her do it again. My face flushed with rage as I rose to my feet, the towel dropping from my body. I ignored the fact I was naked in front of the perfect Queen of the Sidhe and her entire guard. Kalen and his men stared, some in awe, some in repulsion. For once I didn't care.

"Listen to me," I bit out, every word a laceration. "You will not touch him, or I will rip your kingdom apart." I'd never heard myself sound so cold. So deadly. The Darkness inside me rose, and Morgana must have seen in it my eyes. She trembled. The fairy queen, afraid of little old me. The Darkness wanted to laugh in triumph, but I controlled it. Barely.

"You dare threaten me?" Morgana spat.

"It's not a threat, Majesty." I made the title sound like a swear word. "It's a promise."

I reached down into myself and pulled out the Earth. It shimmered across my skin and spilled across the disgusting stone floor in delicate tendrils. It burrowed between the tiles of marble and curled up along the legs of the Queen's Guard. The Sidhe looked startled, terrified even, as the green mist that was my power surrounded them in coils.

For a moment, nothing else happened. And then I let loose. For the first time, I allowed the power of Earth free reign. It pulsed through me in roaring waves. Beneath my feet the ground began to quake. The castle shook to its very core, the decayed stone crumbling around us. The Queen's Guard, eyes glassy, drew their swords and advanced on the queen.

For once in her life, Morgana looked terrified. Actually scared. Could the Queen's Guard really kill her? The royals, according to what I'd heard, were the closest thing to truly immortal there was. The only thing in the known universe that could kill them was to use special handcuffs created of Sidhe steel and ancient magic to bind their powers, making them temporarily mortal. Then have an angry djinn in its demon form rip out their heart. I was fresh out of handcuffs and there weren't any djinn in the Otherworld. But could the Queen's Guard, armed with Sidhe blades, cause her enough harm to end her life or at least damage her? I was betting so, or she wouldn't have looked so frightened.

"Remember this, Morgana, the next time you decide to fuck with my people."

"Stop this now," a voice bellowed. I whirled to find Kalen glaring at me. He appeared to be frozen on the spot, but other than that, he was unaffected by my magic. I was stopping him, but I wasn't controlling him. Interesting.

The queen flushed angry red. "You," she spat. Not at me, but at her captain. "Traitor."

"How can I be a traitor, my queen? Have I not served you well these many centuries?" His voice was calm, but there was something hard in his eyes. Curiouser and curiouser.

"This cannot be!" she shrieked. "I am the last. The only one."

I stared first at her, then at Kalen, then back again. The last what?

"Yes," Kalen said calmly. "You've killed all the others."

"And I will kill you, too." She was practically spitting now.

"Hey, if this is going to turn into some kind of bloodbath. I'd like to go home first and wash off this gunk. It stinks like a dead squirrel."

Morgana whirled on me as if suddenly remembering she had an audience. She gave an angry shriek and waved her hand. The next moment I was sprawled buck naked, covered in goo, across my bathroom floor.

"Well, shit. Now I'm going to have to mop."

"Morgan!" Inigo shouted as he came running from the bedroom. "Where have you been?"

"Long story," I said, staggering to my feet. "Right now I need another long hot shower and to get that crap cleaned off my floor."

"I'll get the mop, but please. What happened?"

I stepped into the shower, yanking the curtain closed behind me, and turned the spray on full blast. "Morgana is up to her usual stupid fairy tricks. She called in her so-called marker. She wants me to help her kill the djinn, or she's going to kill you for real this time."

A moment of silence from the other side of the shower curtain. "Um. So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, not planning on letting her kill you, if that's what you're worried about." I stuck my head out of the shower and grinned at him. "I showed her one of my magic tricks, and it sort of distracted her. For now anyway." I popped back under the hot spray. "But I discovered something really interesting."

"What's that?"

"Kalen, the captain of the Queen's Guard. I think he might be one of Morgana's relatives."

Chapter 13

Finally clean, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in my pink, fluffy, totally non-sexy robe. One of those robes that made you look about two sizes bigger than you really are. It was warm and cozy, though. Exactly what I needed.

Inigo had finished cleaning, and the bathroom floor sparkled like new. The air smelled of sweet orange oil. Not a bit of dead-squirrel scent lingered. I wrapped my hair in a towel and padded to the kitchen, where I found Kalen perched on a chair staring at a mug of coffee like it might bite him. I wasn't sure if it was because he was using my Wonder Woman mug, or if he'd never had coffee before.

"What the ever loving crap is he doing here?"

Haakon shifted uncomfortably like he was afraid I might go off the deep end, but Inigo smiled and swooped in with a cup of coffee and a kiss. "He popped in while you were in the shower. He says he has some intel he wants to share with us. Now drink your coffee."

I took an obedient sip. It was perfect, with just the right proportions of half and half and raw sugar. That was one of the things I loved about Inigo. He paid attention. "If it's the thing about you being related to the queen, don't bother. I already know. Just not how, specifically."

Kalen shoved his coffee mug away and grinned. "Her nephew."

"Albrecht was your father?" Oh, great. Not another loony tune.

He shook his head, shoving his fingers through his tangled hair. It was like Morgana's, only a little more blond. How had I not noticed that before? His face didn't morph like normal Sidhe, either. I'd assumed it was because he was the captain of the Queen's Guard. I guessed the truth ran deeper than that.

"My mother was the queen's younger sister. She took a lover from among the Queen's Guard and for that my aunt had her executed." He stared grimly into his coffee for a moment. "She didn't know my mother had already given birth to me and hidden me with one of the mid-level Sidhe families that lurk around the throne. If the queen had known who I was, I'd have never made it to my first birthday."

"Oh, fantastic. So she really is crazy as a wombat."

"If you mean the current war with the djinn, then yes. It's lucky you can control the royal guard."

Haakon lifted an eyebrow. "You can control the Queen's Guard now?"

"Apparently." I took a sip of my coffee. Yep. Definitely perfect. I gave Inigo a grin, which he returned. My world might be crazy, but this, at least, was a bright shining spot in the midst of it.

"If you can control the guard, why not march them into battle and stop the other Sidhe from attacking the djinn? Put an end to this war once and for all?" Haakon asked.

"We've been through this already. I can control the Sidhe, but I can't control the djinn. I wouldn't be able to stop them annihilating the fae."

"I don't see the problem." He leaned against the counter, his face impassive. Gods, I hoped he wasn't really as cold as he sounded. Then again, Vikings were known for pragmatism and brutality. I didn't suppose a person gave that up because they lived a thousand years longer than they should.

"Not all Sidhe are bad because their queen is crazy. They don't deserve to die. The war has to be stopped another way."

"How do you know she's crazy? Maybe she's just evil." He eyed me over the rim of his mug. Was this some kind of test?

"She's a little of both," Kalen said as he got up to dump his now-cold beverage into the sink. What a waste of perfectly good coffee.

"What do you mean?" Inigo asked, taking a seat next to me at the table. He looked calm, peaceful. Happier than I'd seen him in a long time. It warmed me to my cockles. Whatever those were.

"The royal palace was once very different from what you saw," Kalen explained, pacing the small kitchen. "It was once alabaster shot with pink and gold. It was breathtaking, and its radiance could be seen for miles. The sunlight of the Otherworld was pure and bright."

"I don't see the point," Haakon groused.

"Jeez, let him tell us, won't you, Mr. Grumpy Pants?" I snapped. Inigo held back a smirk while Haakon looked affronted.

"The palace reflects the heart of its leader," Kalen continued. "That is the way of the Otherworld. When my grandparents ruled, it was bright and light. Until gray began to seep around the edges, revealing their decay. After my aunt killed the king and queen and took the throne, everyone thought it would go back to the way it was. But it didn't."

"It got worse," I murmured.

He nodded, taking a seat again. "Exactly." He leaned toward me, his expression intense. For the first time, I realized his eyes were the color of amethysts. I was quite certain the first time I'd seen him, his eyes had been green, like the forests of the Otherworld. "Which brings me to the reason I'm here."

"And what is that?" I asked, eyeing him carefully.

"I want you to help me take the throne."

# # #

"This is nuts," I mumbled. "I can't believe Kalen wants me to help him usurp the throne of Sidhe. He's as crazy as his aunt."

Inigo gave me a sidelong glance. "Possibly not."

I took my eyes off the road long enough to shoot him a glare. He was looking particularly tasty in a pair of snug jeans, a soft blue T-shirt that set off his eyes, and a brown leather jacket. I noticed he was less flamboyant these days. I had no idea if it was because of what we'd been through, or because we were together. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Mor—the queen—has wrecked Fairy. We saw it. The place is turning into a hellhole, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Except Kalen. He's the natural heir to the throne. Maybe he can reverse the damage. Seems like he wants to, and I'm pretty sure he's still sane."

"Pretty sure isn't exactly a glowing recommendation."

He shrugged. "We know the queen is a lunatic. Getting her out of the way sounds like a good plan."

"What if Kalen is worse? Sometimes it's better to go with the devil you know." Although I wasn't sure I believed that. Not in this case.

"Sometimes you gotta take some risks."

He had a point. I sighed and pressed down on the accelerator. We were on our way to meet Trevor at the airport. I'd told Kalen I'd think about his request if he helped find Alister. Kalen had admitted Alister had been to the Otherworld, but he'd left. Kalen didn't know where he'd gone. He did know that Brent Darroch—the man who'd tried to kill me and steal the Atlantean amulet—had been in on the escape plan and was supposed to have broken out of prison along with Alister, but good ol' Alister had left him behind. Figured. We were hoping Darroch would be pissed off enough to spill the proverbial beans on the delightful Mr. Jones. It had worked with Jade, Alister's protégée. For her help, she'd been downgraded from high security to a more comfortable location away from Area 51.

Trevor was the only person who could get us into Area 51 to question Darroch. I'd asked him about doing a Skype call—I was getting tired of trips to the Nevada desert—but Trevor had said prisoners had no access to the internet. For good reason. So it was off to the middle of nowhere once again.

Trevor was standing next to a black SUV when we pulled into the private airstrip. His mirrored shades were firmly in place, and his dark suit was perfectly pressed. His pristine white shirt set off his latte skin to perfection. He looked like he'd just stepped out of GQ Magazine.

"You don't look like you've been fending off Sidhe warriors," I said as he opened my car door and gave me a bear hug.

"Looks can be deceiving, sister mine." He pulled off his shades, and there were dark circles under his brown eyes.

"You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks."

"Sure. Anytime. That it?" I asked, nodding toward the tiny, baby plane-let. The previous times we'd been to Area 51, we'd flown commercial and then driven across the desert, but time was of the essence.

"That's it. We've got permission to use the airstrip on the base. We'll be in and out in no time."

"Good. I've still got a damn war to deal with."

As we strode toward the plane, Trevor gave me a look. "You think you're the only person who can stop this war?"

I frowned at his snarky tone. "I don't. But Morgana seems to think so."

Trevor and Inigo looked around wildly, as if the queen herself would suddenly appear at the sound of her name. It was a reasonable fear. She did have a habit of doing that.

"What do you mean?" Trevor asked.

As we buckled ourselves into the insanely posh leather seats, I told him about Morgana pulling me into the Otherworld. About calling in the "favor" I supposedly owed her, and how she had ordered me to help her destroy the djinn.