Holy Smokes Read online

When I toddled down the stairs to the front hallway the next morning, no one was around except Jim, lying on the floor in a pool of sunlight reading a newspaper featuring bare-breasted women.

  “There you are. I wondered if you were going to get up anytime before noon,” Jim said, flipping a page.

  “I’ve been up for a couple of hours, Mr. Smarty Demon, trying to find a hotel with a decent-sized room we can use for a reception. Man, I have a headache. Where is everyone? Is Uncle Damian here yet? And Rene? Have you seen Drake? Did Paula go out shopping, or is she going to come with us to find a new dress?”

  “For a prince of Abaddon, you sure don’t seem to know much,” Jim answered, not bothering to look up from the newspaper. “Hoo baby! Look at those hooters! You gotta love the English newspapers!”

  “Answer my question, oh ye of the smart-aleck mouth.”

  Jim heaved a profound sigh. “Depends on who you mean. Yes. No. Yes, but he left. No, she and the absentminded professor went for their morning walk, and finally, yes. Anything more you’d like to know? The square root of fifteen million? Why the sky is blue? How many demons can dance on the head of a pin?”

  “Left?” I asked, focusing on the most important tidbit of information. “Drake left? Where did he go? We only have a couple of hours before the wedding.”

  “Dunno. He just said Uncle Damian and Rene were going to be your guards this morning, and took off with Pál and István.”

  Uncle Damian loomed up in the doorway, fixing me with a gimlet eye. “There you are.”

  “Good morning. Do you happen to know where Drake has gone off to?”

  “He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. Come in here. I want to talk to you.” He did an about-face back into the living room.

  “Uh-oh. Someone’s in trouble,” Jim said, standing up and stretching.

  “Hardly that,” I said, although I had to admit my uncle’s forebidding frown was not something I took lightly.

  “I’m going to see if Suzanne needs any help with breakfast,” Jim said, strolling toward the back regions of the house where the kitchen was.

  “Just remember that she works for Drake and me, not you. If you try to bribe her into hiding the fact that you filched an additional breakfast, she’ll tell me!”

  “Who is Suzanne?” Uncle Damian asked as I closed the door behind me.

  “A green dragon who is our cook and general dogsbody, no reference to Jim intended. She’s István’s girlfriend. You probably saw her last night.”

  “Ah. Short girl. Dark hair.” He nodded.

  “That’s her. She’s a doll; I don’t know what we’d do without her. Is this going to take long? I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of time,” I said, glancing with fondness at a small table in the corner of the room. Drake and I had enjoyed many steamy moments by means of that particular piece of furniture. Just thinking about some of the times had my pulse pounding. “I’ve had a horrible time trying to find a room for the reception, and there’s still the shopping to be done. Are you sure Drake didn’t say where he was going?”

  “Yes.”

  “Dammit. I suppose I could call him—” I had started reaching for the phone when Uncle Damian stopped me with a few words.

  “He says you’re pregnant.”

  I sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch, clicking off the phone. “Possibly pregnant. We’re not sure, although I do have an ultrasound scheduled for this afternoon. I’m sorry if you’re shocked that it’s possible I’m pregnant before we got married, but—”

  Scorn curled his lip. “Do you seriously believe I care about that?”

  “Well…I know Paula will be full of lectures for weeks when she finds out.”

  “I am not your stepmother. But I am evidently now your bodyguard. What’s this business of you going over to another group of dragons?”

  “Drake told you about that, huh? It would take hours to explain it, so I’ll just give you the quick and dirty version—two other wyverns pulled a nasty on us last month, with the end result that I am temporarily considered the blue wyvern’s mate. And since we’re already at war with one sept, I’d like to avoid any similar confrontation with the blue dragons, hence the need for me to have a bodyguard when I attend their meeting tomorrow. If you’re not up to the job—”

  Uncle Damian made an impatient noise. “As if a little job like protecting you from some dragons is going to challenge me. I just want to know the lay of the land so I can make some plans.”

  I gave him the name of the hotel and added that I would bring in a couple of other people to help. “I’ll have Jim and Rene, and possibly my demon steward, and in a pinch, Dad.”

  “I doubt he would be of much use,” Uncle Damian replied, not quite rolling his eyes, but I could tell he wanted to.

  “There’s more to him than you see,” I answered, reaching for the phone again.

  “Hrmph.”

  Uncle Damian was busily making security plans by the time Drake answered his cell phone.

  “When do you want to leave?” Uncle Damian asked as he was about to exit the room.

  “Oh, hi, sweetie, hang on a sec. As soon as Paula gets back and Rene shows up, OK?” He nodded and left. I returned my attention to the phone. “Sorry about that. My escort was inquiring what time I wanted to leave to buy a new dress. And speaking of the dress I will wear to marry an incredibly sexy green-eyed dragon who didn’t wake me up in a manner guaranteed to keep a smile on my face all day, where are you?”

  Drake’s voice had an oddly strained note to it. “A situation has come up, and we’re investigating it. I will be at the church on time, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “A situation? More Chuan Ren?”

  “No. This has nothing to do with the war. I do not have time to explain to you now, kincsem.”

  “You know, a lesser woman would demand to know what it is you’re up to, but I am one with serenity and trust you entirely, despite the fact that yesterday you stood me up in front of everyone I ever knew.”

  Drake snorted.

  “Love you. Kisses and hugs. Smoochies galore. Licks, nibbles, and assorted gropages.”

  I could almost hear Drake’s eyes rolling. He disliked overt shows of affection in public, which just made me say the most outrageous things to him in private. “Good-bye, Aisling.”

  “Wait a second, buster. Come on, you have to say it.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Yes, you do. The rules say you have to say it once a day, and you haven’t said it at all today.”

  “Pál and István are here,” he answered, clearly trying to muster a hint of outrage even though he knew I wasn’t going to buy it. “That negates the rules.”

  “They’re big boys, I’m willing to bet they won’t keel over if they hear their leader tell his fiancée that he loves her. Say it!”

  “Our train just arrived at the station. I can’t say it now. I must go, kincsem.”

  “Train? You’re on a train somewhere?” Now, that got my attention. Drake puttering around town taking care of business was one thing, but what could be so important that it forced him to leave town a few hours before our wedding? “Sweetie, what’s going on?”

  “I’ll explain the situation to you at a later time. Heed your uncle’s warnings and do as he says.”

  He clicked off before I could ask where he had gone to.

  “How did they get Abaddon into a small Kensington shop?” Jim asked, scrunching itself down so as not to get whapped in the face by flying beaded satin.

  “Don’t be silly. This is London, not Hell.”

  Three giggling young women hurried past us with hot-pink bridesmaid dresses that lay limp in their arms like some sort of gigantic, horribly mutated jellyfish, trailing tendrils of ruffled lace and ribbons.

  Jim cocked an eyebrow.

  “Well, all right, there are similarities, but it is not Abaddon. And hush. Someone is going to hear you if you keep talking.”

  Jim shot me a look that I
ignored as Paula bustled over with her arms full of tulle, glitter-bespecked white satin, and marabou feathers. “Now, this one is absolutely lovely, dear, and would look fabulous on you. It glitters! I know you said you didn’t want white, but just look at it! Oh, if only they had dresses like this when I was young!”

  I tried to avoid looking at the dress full on, lest it burn out my retinas with its glittering hideousness. “It’s very nice, Paula, but you know, I’m just not a white wedding dress sort of girl. I mean, I did that once, and we all know how that ended. I wanted something with a bit of color, something different, something—oh, hi. Um. That’s a bit too different.”

  The salesclerk, who had gone into the bridal shop’s sister store—specializing in corsets and Goth wear—presented me with an electric blue tulle miniskirt with lime green corset. “It’s very popular,” the clerk reassured me.

  “I’m sure it is, but I’m thinking of something with just a smidgen more tradition, while not being a full-fledged wedding gown. Maybe something in the mother-of-the-bride area?”

  Paula looked shocked. “Good heavens, Aisling, what are you thinking! Mother-of-the-bride gown, indeed. No, I’ll go find you something. There are plenty of other choices if you don’t want white. There’s peach, and pale pink, and a lovely mauve I saw in the corner…” She dumped the white monstrosity and wandered off to look for another dress.

  “Maybe you’d better come and look yourself,” the salesgirl said, clearly exasperated.

  “Maybe I’d better,” I agreed, putting back a sage-colored backless gown and following her into the sister shop. It took a half hour of poking around, but by the time I found a beautiful emerald green crushed-velvet corset, and a champagne-colored heavy satin draped skirt to go with it, I was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

  “I’m sorry, I think I’m going to have to sit—” The world spun around me as I handed the salesgirl my credit card, an inky blackness threatening to envelop me. Jim’s bark sounded a long way away as I fell toward the blackness, but before it could consume me wholly, a soft voice spoke next to my ear, pulling me back out of the darkness.

  “Aisling, do not do that. Come back to us.”

  I opened my eyes to find a familiar face smiling down at me. Bright gray eyes, skin the color of my favorite latte, cornrowed hair, and dimples that seemed to go on forever. “Gabriel?”

  “Good morning.”

  I glanced around quickly and realized I was on the floor, cradled against his chest as he propped me up. “What the…let go, I’m fine,” I said as I got to my feet, my legs more than a little wobbly.

  “Dear, do you think it’s wise to get up so soon after you’ve swooned? This nice man caught you before you hit the counter and hurt yourself, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be standing. You could faint again, or—”

  “I’m all right,” I interrupted, grasping the counter. The salesclerk who had been ringing up my purchases emerged from the back room with a paper cup of water. I took it, watching Gabriel over the rim as I sipped.

  He smiled at me, looking just as friendly as could be, but I knew better.

  “Paula, would you be an angel and go to the Starbucks down the road and tell Rene and Uncle Damian that I’m done shopping? By the time you guys get back, I’ll feel much better, I’m sure.”

  She didn’t look like she believed me, but muttering something about modern girls and how things were in her day, the ills of fainting, and the poor choice she felt I made on the matter of a wedding gown, she trotted out of the bridal shop and headed down the street a few doors.

  I accepted the box containing my new wedding outfit from the salesgirl, reassured her I was fine, and with Jim at my side, allowed Gabriel to carry the box to the door of the shop.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as soon as we were by ourselves. “And don’t tell me you were just passing by and happened to look in and see me faint, because that’s too much of a coincidence, even for you.”

  He grinned. “I was looking for you, naturally. I heard that your wedding was canceled.”

  “And you thought what? You’d just zoom in and scoop me up?” I shook my head. “I know you silver wyverns have some sort of curse hanging over your heads that prevents mates being born to you, but I am not the answer to the problem. I love Drake. I’m his mate, no matter what Fiat says. And I’m not going to leave him for anyone, so you can just knock that idea right out the window—”

  “I gave up the idea of challenging Drake for you as soon as he said you were pregnant,” Gabriel interrupted. “I realized then that you had committed yourself wholly to him, and that we had no future. Do not fear on that accord, Aisling. I simply wanted to see you, to explain what happened last month, and to wish you and Drake well. I have always considered you my friend, despite the situation we found ourselves in.”

  “Uh-huh.” I glanced down at my furry demon. “Jim, you can speak so long as no one mortal is around to hear.”

  “About time, too. Hey, Gabe. Double-cross anyone lately?”

  A flicker of annoyance crossed Gabriel’s eyes. Normally I’d have squelched such wisecracks from Jim, but after the recent events with Fiat and Gabriel, I figured the latter deserved a little grief. Heaven knew he’d certainly given me a ton.

  “I did not double-cross anyone. I admit to a certain lack of control where Fiat was concerned—I honestly thought he was going to threaten you with the poison, not use it on you—but what I did, I did for honorable reasons.”

  “You betrayed me. You betrayed Drake. You sold yourself to Fiat for what…a chance at a mate? I’d hardly call that honorable,” I answered, my anger firing up all over again.

  He deserves to be punished. Right the wrongs he has done to you.

  “Ignore what I’m about to say, Gabriel. I’m not listening to you, OK? I’m never going to listen to you again. So you can just take your oily little voice and pester someone else, because I’m not going to use you ever again. Got it? Good. Now go away!”

  Both of Gabriel’s eyebrows rose. “Problems?”

  “It’s just the dark power trying to convince me to use it again. It never shuts up.”

  “Ah.” He glanced at my eyes. “Contacts?”

  “Yeah. It weirds people out if they see my eyes the other way. And that is about the extent of my polite chitchat, Gabriel. My ride will be here any minute, so while I appreciate you showing up just as I was fainting, I don’t feel I owe you any big reconciliation scene.”

  He took my hand. I pulled it away. He tried to take it again. Jim growled.

  “Aisling, we have so much to talk about,” he said, sighing.

  “Yeah, right, like how you’re going to try to screw her over again?” Jim asked.

  “That is unfair,” Gabriel protested. “You are judging me without hearing my side of the situation.”

  Beyond him, through the window of the shop I could see a familiar blue BMW pull up. “You allowed Fiat to mess with the green dragons. You had a hand in the death of one of their members. You sided with Fiat against us and allowed him to nearly destroy me, and by association, Drake. I don’t think there’s going to be a whole lot to your side of the story that I’m going to find particularly redeeming.”

  I pushed past him, through the door to the crowded London street, being careful to scan the area for potential red dragon assassins. Uncle Damian was already out on the sidewalk, his head turning slowly as he perused the people around us. Clearly, he took the matter of security just as seriously as did Drake.

  “Your continued refusal to grasp the truth will only bring harm to us all,” Gabriel said, following me out into the street.

  Suddenly angry, I whirled around to face him, inadvertently bumping into a woman who was trying to pass us.

  “Oh, sorry. Did I step on you?” I asked, handing her a shopping bag I’d knocked from her arms.

  She smiled. “No, I’m fine. You’re American, too? Isn’t it fabulous here?”

  “Yes, it i
s. If you’ll excuse me, there’s someone whose head I need to bite off.”

  The tourist’s eyes widened as I marched backed to Gabriel, standing close to him so I could whisper with much vehemence. “How dare you insinuate that I’m responsible for bringing harm to anyone! You are not the victim here, Gabriel—I am.”

  “Are you so sure?” he asked quietly, all signs of the smile that usually lit his eyes gone.

  I hesitated for a moment, wondering why he was pursuing this. Was he working with Fiat again, trying to set us up for some other heinous act? Or had there really been some circumstance that had befallen him that made it appear he had betrayed us?

  “Aisling?” Uncle Damian called from where he stood next to the car. Jim had already gotten into the backseat.

  “Be there in a second.” Drake had been oddly silent on the subject of Gabriel. I’d tried to talk to him about it once or twice since the events at the fencing club, but what with the wedding planning, and Drake’s ability to distract me simply by kissing me, we’d never fully discussed what happened.

  “Aisling, I am not your enemy. I never was,” Gabriel said, making a gesture as if he wanted to take my hand again.

  The car behind the double-parked Rene tooted its horn.

  I could see by Uncle Damian’s agitated reflection in the shopwindow that he was uncomfortable with me standing out on the street. This was clearly not the time or place to debate the subject of past actions. “I’m busy right now, Gabriel. Maybe in a few months when I have forgotten what it was like to almost die of poisoning, I’ll be in the mood to talk to you about what happened, but not right now.”

  “I saved you from dying,” he called as I started toward Uncle Damian and the car. “And I can save you now, Aisling.”

  “Save me how?” I asked, putting as much scorn into my voice as was possible.

  He took a step toward me, his gray-eyed gaze intense as it searched mine. “I know how you can end the proscription.”

  Hope lit within me. If I could be pardoned, or forgiven, or whatever the act was that ended the proscription, I would be able to work with Nora again. Not to mention the fact that the dark power would stop trying to seduce me. But the flicker of hope died when I realized that this was quite likely a trick, some sort of trap that Gabriel was using to do god-knew-what.