Kissed by Eternity (4 page)

"How long will it hold?" Inigo asked.

"No idea," I admitted. "Trevor's agents will have to stay here and keep an eye on it."

"As will I," Tommy said.

"You don't need to." I reached out to grasp his arm. "You've done enough already."

He patted my hand. "Until my people are safe, my duty is not done. Go. Find Alister Jones. Save the world."

I snorted. "Melodramatic much?" He gave me a smile that reminded me of Cordelia's and turned to watch the dome.

# # #

Inigo had insisted on driving to the airport and I let him. My head still hurt, and while I'd taken the lowest dose of painkillers possible, it was still making me a little lightheaded. Probably the whole water channeling thing hadn't helped.

Haakon was already waiting for us on the sidewalk outside "Arrivals" as Inigo pulled my Mustang into PDX, Portland International Airport. I'd forgotten how big Haakon was. His massive frame loomed above the rest of the crowd, his blond hair shining in the late afternoon sun. He wore a black biker jacket, well-worn jeans that hugged his massive thighs, and he carried what looked like a black ops duffel. It was as if a Viking had woken up one day in the modern era, which wasn't far off the mark, believe it or not. Haakon, like Jack, was a Sunwalker. Only he was a couple hundred years older than Jack.

We pulled up to the curb, I climbed out and flipped the seat forward. He gave me a look that said "Seriously?" before he practically launched himself into the backseat. I caught several females appreciating his backside.

"Problem?" I asked sweetly.

He glared at me. "I'd rather face a passel of Hel cats," he muttered, turning to share his ire with the still ogling women while I strapped myself back in.

I couldn't help a small giggle. "Haakon, this is my—" What was Inigo? Was he still my boyfriend? He was finally beginning to act like it again. "—boyfriend, Inigo."

"Nice to meet you," Inigo said, glancing in the rearview mirror as he pulled out.

Haakon stared at the back of Inigo's head. "Dragon."

Startled, I whipped around. "What?"

He tilted his head as if listening for something. "Surely you know your boyfriend is a dragon."

"Of course I do. But how did you know?"

He smiled slyly. "I have my ways." He threw a glance at Inigo. "Nice to meet you. Been a while since I worked with dragonkin."

"Your neck of the woods is a little colder than we like."

Haakon grunted in agreement. "Too cold for my liking sometimes."

"Kabita told you what's going on?" I asked.

"She did."

"How did she convince you?"

He gave me a look. "I was bored."

Fantastic. A bored Viking Sunwalker. Just what I needed. "Maybe you should help Jack and the SRA," I suggested. "They could use some muscle."

Haakon snorted. "Not a chance. I'm a Hunter." He eyed me. "Like you. I've never been a solider."

"I don't know. Viking warrior sounds pretty badass."

He lifted a blond brow. "What makes you think I went
aviking
?"

"Didn't you?"

He didn't answer. Great. Another Tall, Blond, and Silent. Just what I needed. "Fine. Let's talk Alister. It's not going to be easy finding him."

"Dude's a slippery eel," Haakon agreed.

Inigo seemed to find that amusing. I shook my head. "Right. So, we need a plan."

Haakon studied me. "I assume you have one in mind."

"Of course. We start with where he escaped."

"Doesn't your brother already know how he escaped?"

"Sure. But I like to look at things with my own eyes."

He grunted. "Waste of time. You've got a trained agent at your disposal. You don't need to go sticking your nose in where a job's already been done."

I bristled at that, but Inigo laid a warm hand on my thigh. "He's right. Talk to Trevor. Get the details. We'll go from there."

"In the meantime, I'm starving. I could use a burger." Haakon leaned back in his seat appearing calm and collected, but his eyes danced like a little boy's at the circus.

"You want burgers. You got burgers." Inigo grinned widely, and suddenly I was hit by the likeness to his old self.

"Yeah," I whispered, my heart aching. "I could go for a burger."

Chapter 5

While Haakon and Inigo went into Burgerville to get our food, I stayed in the car and FaceTimed my brother. Trevor answered. Even though it was almost full dark, I could tell he was looking haggard, dark smudges beneath his eyes and his face sweaty and streaked with soot.

"How's it going?" I asked.

He gave me a look. "Seriously?"

"That bad, huh?"

"Not good. But we're holding."

"The dome?"

"Your ice fortress? Still up."

"Good." If they could hold long enough, maybe this thing would burn itself out. Then again, that was probably wishful thinking. The Queen of the Sidhe had been planning this for a long time. I just wasn't sure yet what her endgame was. "Listen, I need details on Alister's escape. What do you know?"

He ducked as an explosion rocked the ground nearby. I heard somebody shouting in the background. It sounded like Jack. "Not much," he admitted. "The guys at Area 51 contacted me early this morning. The guard went to deliver his breakfast as usual, and the cage was empty. Alister was gone. No sign of how he did it. The door hadn't been opened, no one appeared on camera, no burn marks like with Darroch. Just gone."

"When was the last time anyone saw him?"

"In person? When the guard delivered dinner last night about six o'clock."

"And nobody noticed he was gone until this morning?"

Another explosion sent bits of dirt flying through the air. Trevor grimaced and brushed dirt out of his hair.

"I thought you said the dome was still up," I snapped.

"It is, but the magic fireball whatsits are still getting through from time to time."

"Damn."

"Yeah. Anyway. The guards don't enter the area where Alister was kept except during meal times. The rest of the time, the prisoners are on camera constantly. There are guards watching nonstop on screens in another location. Alister was on-screen the entire time."

"How exactly?"

"What do you mean?"

"What did he do while he was on-screen?"

He stared at me for a moment. "What are you thinking?"

"Just tell me."

He huffed, glancing toward what I guess was the action. "Okay, quickly. Alister ate his dinner and put his tray in the slot about forty-five minutes later. Then he cleaned up. By seven he was in bed reading. Nine o'clock was lights out; that's when the cameras switch to infra-red. Alister was in bed the entire time."

"It was the switch."

"Excuse me?"

"There's a hitch between when the cameras switch from regular to infra, right?"

He nodded slowly. "Shit. You think that's when they switched the feed?"

"Has to be."

"But the video wasn't tampered with."

"The video, no. I bet it was the feed itself. Your cameras thought they were seeing Alister in bed, but he was in fact escaping."

"I don't see how."

I did. "There's only one way. The Fairy Queen opened a portal into his cage and let him through to the Otherworld."

"But why would she do that? She and Alister aren't exactly friends."

It was true. Darroch had been her ally, not Alister. "Things change."

"What are you going to do?"

I smiled grimly. "Find a way into Faerie."

# # #

Haakon and Inigo seemed to be taking an inordinate amount of time getting burgers. I decided to join them. Maybe that would hurry things up, or at least keep me from twiddling my thumbs in boredom.

Pushing open the door, I stepped out of the Mustang. I didn't even have time to shut the door before something grabbed me.

Without thinking I lashed out, sinking an elbow into my attacker. Whoever it was let out an
oomph
, but didn't let go of me. A tight grip on the back of my skull told me what he was: vampire.

How had I not noticed before? My head gave a throb to remind me. Oh, yeah. Headache. Plus I'd been worried about the whole djinn/Sidhe war thing.

My sword and machete were in the trunk. The only weapons I was carrying were a gun with lead bullets meant for the Sidhe, which would be less than useless, and a small Sidhe-crafted blade. Not exactly vampire fighting material.

I kicked back, connecting with a knee. This time there was a howl, and the grip loosened enough so I could twist out of the vamp's grasp. Dropping to one knee, I slipped the blade from my boot.

The vampire attacked again, and I sank the blade hilt-deep in its chest. It snarled as thick, dark blood pooled around its chest. Dammit. Too far to the right. I'd missed its heart.

It grabbed me, yanking me close. Its eyes glowed faintly red in the dark: one of Alister's soul vampires. Except this one didn't really seem very aware. More like feral. Either it was an experiment gone wrong, or whatever Alister had done to it was wearing off.

It opened its mouth wide, clearly expecting to sink its fangs into my throat. Instead I slapped my palm against its chest and summoned the Fire. With a shriek of delight, it burst out of me, engulfing the vampire in roaring flames.

I stumbled back, watching the vamp burn. It howled in pain and then burst into dust. The flame disappeared, and the Fire sank back inside me without me even trying.

I suddenly noticed a woman sitting in a car a few spots down staring at me with wide eyes. She had plastic curlers on her head and was clearly in her pajamas. Late evening snack, I guessed.

I waved at her. "Don't worry," I called. "He's okay. Just a trial run for the TV show. You know, gotta practice the stunts."

She didn't look convinced. "You're from that series? The one with the were-animals?"

"Yep." I gave her an innocent grin. The TV show, filmed in Portland, was super popular. It was the best cover story I could come up with under the circumstances.

"Okay." She still looked freaked out. She revved her engine and practically peeled out of the parking lot.

"Morgan!"

I glanced up to see Inigo and Haakon jogging toward me. They weren't carrying any food.

"Are you all right? What happened?" Inigo stared down at the pile of dust.

I stooped to pick up my blade. "Vamp attack. No big thing."

Haakon raised a blond brow. "Here? In the middle of a public parking lot?"

"Yeah. One of Alister's minions. It looked like he was a little crazed. More than usual for a vamp, anyway. It's fine. He's dead. I'm not."

"I wish you'd take these things more seriously," Inigo muttered.

"What I take seriously is a lack of food. I'm hungry."

With a sigh, Inigo jogged back to collect the forgotten food. Haakon remained, his hand hovering near his belt where I knew he kept at least one blade, maybe more.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Fine."

"This could be Alister coming after you."

I shook my head, wincing a little at the residual headache. "I don't think so. Pretty sure this guy was at the end of whatever control Alister had over him. Random thing, probably."

"More likely he was following the orders Alister gave him when he first imbued his soul."

I shrugged. "I guess."

Inigo returned with the burgers, and we all climbed into the car and dug in with gusto. While we ate, I told them about my chat with Trevor and my suspicions about Alister's location, as well as my determination to follow him to the Otherworld.

"But the Queen is the only one who can open a portal," Inigo said. Haakon sat in the backseat and munched on his fries, ignoring the byplay between us. Smart man.

"That's true," I admitted. "At least it used to be. Maybe there's another way."

"What are you talking about?"

I sighed. "You've been gone awhile."

His expression hardened. "That wasn't my fault."

"True, but it was partially your choice. A lot of things happened while you were away."

I saw the dread in his eyes. Was he afraid I'd cheated on him or something? Shit.

"My powers, okay? They've grown."

I think he was relieved, but it was hard to tell. "Tell me."

"Apparently, in addition to Darkness, Fire and Air, I can now channel Earth and Water."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"I get to do groovy things like shoot icicles out of my palms."

"You're kidding."

"She's not," Haakon spoke from the backseat. Inigo turned to stare at him, but Haakon munched contentedly on his burger, not offering any more information. Inigo looked like he was about to start smoking from the ears. Not a good thing for a dragon. Next he'd be breathing fire, and my beloved Mustang would be a hulk of smoking metal.

"Back when you were still in, uh, recovery in that egg thing, Jack and I were running around Paris after Alister."

"You went to Paris with Jack?"

I eyed him. "Are you jealous?"

He thought it over, then gave me a long, slow, sexy smile. "Not even a little. But I promise you, you and me are going to Paris one day."

I grinned. "Anyway, we ended up chasing Darroch into the Otherworld. I'd just started channeling Earth, so things were a little fritzy, but the next thing I knew, I was controlling a damn fairy."

Inigo's eyes widened. "How?"

"No idea. When I used my powers around the Marid, he was able to control them and me. I figured Morgana and her minions would be the same, but apparently not. When I use Earth power, I can control the fae. At least a little bit."

"And how is that going to help us?"

"Well," I said, tapping my thumb on the dashboard. "I'm hoping it will help me open a portal. But I'm going to need a witch."

"Call Kabita."

"I need somebody stronger. Somebody with a very particular set of abilities."

Haakon glanced up then, his face expressionless. Our eyes met in the rearview mirror. Some sort of vibe passed between us, I just wasn't sure what.

"I take it you know the right person," Inigo said dryly.

"I do."

"Well, then." He strapped on his seatbelt and turned the key. "What are we waiting for?"