Dancing on the Wind (13 page)

them even if they are a bit snappish. Felines?” It shook its head. “Well, that’s a different

kettle of pike. I hate felines although…” He chuckled. “They are easy to peel and taste

fair to middling if you stew them long enough.”

A shudder of revulsion went through Fallon and he tore his gaze from the creature,

gritting his teeth.

“It was a joke, hound. A
joke
!” the Guardian said. “I am a vegetarian.”

This strange conversation puzzled Fallon and he had almost screwed up the

courage to ask
An Fear Liath Mor
what this was all about when the creature spoke again.

“They fermented in my belly and produced an intoxication I knew would happen,

and just as with the inferior races such as your human part, I became drunk off those

gods-be-damned little June berries.” It wobbled that huge foot again. “And like any

drunken man who places a lampshade atop his head, I made a fool of myself by

intruding upon you and your mate and,” it winced, “behaving as I did.” It dipped its

head. “And for that, I express to you my sincere apologies and ask that you not speak of

my indiscretion. If it is any consolation to you, I have a mother of a hangover.”

“I’m sorry,
Vainshtyr
,” Fallon replied.

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Dancing on the Wind

“Coim,” the Guardian said. “You have earned the right to call me Coim.” It

grinned. “I have seen your woman naked.” It wagged its brows and wiggled its snout

to let Fallon know it was another joke. “So call me Coim.”

“I am honored,” Fallon said. “Thank you, Coim.” He couldn’t wait to tell his

mother of this encounter.

“Now bring me up to speed about these nasties for which you are searching in my

bailiwick,” came the demand.

“My apologies, Coim, but isn’t Scotland where…?”

“This entire world is my jurisdiction, pup. I can go wherever I like. The Doorways

open here, there, wherever I need them to. Once every three years I go home for the

span of a few months’ time.” Sadness flitted through the creature’s alien eyes. “My

masters grant me that boon and this is the year I may go.” It seemed to mentally shake

itself then asked the hell hound to continue.

“Okay,” Fallon said. He lifted his right leg and crossed it at the ankle on his left

knee. “The entities we’re looking for are called
drochtáirs
. They are blood fiends from

beyond our galaxy that prey on humans. Their bite will change a human into an undead

creature who will in turn seek out other humans.”

“Distasteful,” the Guardian pronounced with a lift of his rubbery lip. “And not on

my watch will this happen!”

“They live in lairs, burrows under the ground where it is fairly cold but not frozen.

Heat is anathema to them and fire is the only true way to destroy them.”

Ad Fear Liath Mor
rose gracefully to its feet and began pacing with its long arms

clasped behind its shaggy back. “What should I look for in order to find these

abominations?”

“The burrows would have no vegetation growing around them. Wherever the

creatures pass, they kill the grasses and plants, melt the snow. We will look for them

from the air, mark their burrows then go down and destroy them.”

“You believe them in this province then?”

“They may be in several provinces and the chances are good that they are.”

An Fear Liath Mor
frowned deeply. “How large are these nasties?”

“In their natural form it is believed they are like serpents. They can take over other

creatures like badgers, wolverines and the like in order to attack humans.”

The Guardian stopped pacing, lifted a giant foot then slammed it to the ground.

The ground shook. “I could make paste of them, eh?”

“I suppose you could, if you were of a mind to help us hunt.”

Massive shoulders hitched upward. “What else do I have on my plate?” it inquired

with a twinkle of its unusual eyes.

“But they must be reduced to ash so they won’t resurrect. Stomping on them might

be fun, but then you will need to incinerate the puddle.”

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Charlotte Boyett-Compo

“I can call fire from the Doorway if needs be. That should suffice.”

“If you could take the three western provinces, Keenan and I could search these

three.”

“Consider it done.”

“I…” Fallon began, but the creature simply vanished, leaving behind a rank smell

and a low whistle.

For a moment longer, Fallon sat on the rock and thought about the strange

conversation. It was good to know there was no threat coming at them from
An Fear

Liath Mor
. It was even better to know the Guardian would be helping them eradicate the

menace to humankind. Rising, he grimaced as his feet squished in the wet boots. He

sighed heavily and started back to the cabin.

He should have been concentrating on eradicating the latest menace to his world,

but instead, he found himself thinking of Keenan’s lush breasts and willing body.

“You’ve thrown me way off kilter,
myneeast caillagh
,” he said to himself. “What are

you doing to me?”

As he cut through the dampness of the new morning, he hunkered into the comfort

of his faded denim jacket and thought of how quickly his life had so drastically

changed. He had gone from adamant fury about not having an Extension foisted off on

him to eagerness to be with her again. Gone was the anger that had made him snap at

her that first day to be replaced with a growing affection he could neither adequately

explain nor understand.

“It’s the bonding,” he said aloud, and knew that was part of it. The other part was

simply Keenan.

He jammed his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans and let his mind touch

lightly upon hers. In his mind’s eye he saw her. She was up and about, sitting on the

sofa with a mug of steaming coffee held in both hands. As soon as his consciousness

touched hers, she smiled and looked up.

“
Good morning
,” she whispered.

“
Good morning
,”
he sent back to her, though the contact made his head throb
.
“
Pour

me a cup
?”

He saw her put her mug aside, go into the kitchen and take another mug from the

cupboard. By the time he entered the cottage, she was seated again and his mug was on

the end table beside one of the chairs.

“I thought we’d be leaving at first light.”

“I had something to do,” he said.

“I sensed you were with our night visitor. Where did you find him?”

“It found me,” he answered. He told her what had transpired and she shook her

head.

“Poor thing. He must have been very embarrassed by his behavior.”

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Dancing on the Wind

Then he told her the Guardian would be aiding them in finding the
drochtáirs
.

“That should cut down on our tracking time,” she said. “How soon do you want to

leave?”

“We can leave now,” he said.

“I could make you breakfast.”

He paused with the mug halfway to his lips. “You’re offering to cook for me?”

“If you’re hungry.”

“
Can
you cook?” he queried.

She thought of what Matty Groves had said to her and repeated it. “I’m a Georgia

woman and I’m Celtic. I was born to cook.”

Fallon had a glimpse of Matty’s face flitting through her mind and frowned. “Keep

him out of your thoughts,
myneeast caillagh
. I’m the jealous sort.”

“Are you really?” she countered over her shoulder as she walked into the bedroom.

“I didn’t think so, but apparently I am,” he admitted, following her as far as the

door. “So don’t let that idiot’s face drift through your head again.”

Keenan laughed and finished the remainder of her coffee. “I’ll strip the bed and…”

“No need,” he said. “The staff will send someone to see to the cleaning.” He

glanced at his watch and frowned. “It’s almost nine o’clock. I didn’t realize I’d been

with the Guardian that long.”

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” she said as she stuffed a shirt into her bag.

She paused. “I didn’t have any fear for your safety this morning. I had a feeling the big

guy would be looking out for you.”

“Else you would have come looking for me.”

She bobbed her head. “You betcha I would have. You want breakfast?”

Fallon didn’t know if that pleased him or scared him. Either way, he thought it best

to let the matter ride for the time being. “Nah.”

Before another half hour had passed they were airborne and flying low over the

tundra to the north of the cottage. Following the ecotone—the delineating boundary

between the forest and the stark landscape of the tundra—Fallon began to expand the

search area along the set grid lines he’d drawn on the maps. Within another four hours

they had marked three suspicious-looking areas along the grid and were headed back

that way to put down nearby to inspect the spots. The first two proved to be nothing of

value, and other than the sharp, buffeting thirty-five-mile-hour winds hitting them as

they inspected the indentions on the site, there was no problem.

The third site proved to be an entirely different can of worms. They landed just as

the sun was riding the ridge of mountains and the air was grower colder. Keenan

switched on the flashlight and swept the beam toward the burrow.

“Do you smell that?”

63

Charlotte Boyett-Compo

Fallon nodded. “Putrid,” he said as they neared a spot in the ground around which

the close-cropped sedges, mosses and lichens were dark brown.

“No trails leading away from the burrow,” she said.

“That’s a good sign. It means it hasn’t been out since it got here.”

They were being very careful on their approach. The sky was a deep magenta color

as the sun lowered behind the ridge, and the wind was biting cold despite it being

summer. There wasn’t a hint of moisture in the air but dark gray clouds were roiling

overhead.

Keenan stopped. “Movement.”

Fallon halted as well. He too had felt the shifting of the land beneath his boots. The

stench intensified. “It’s coming up,” he said quietly. He motioned her back and well

away from the rim of the burrow.

A greenish vapor oozed from the center of the burrow and filled the air with the

noxious stench of sulfur. Fallon fingered the handle of the experimental laser pistol that

the Supervisor had provided for him.

“
You most likely won’t need it with Keenan’s pyrokinetic powers, but I’d rather err on the

side of safety
.”

Slipping his finger into the trigger guard, he withdrew the heavy weapon and

thumbed off the safety. Even as he leveled the weapon at the burrow, he could feel the

air around him change, an electrical charge building. He didn’t need to look Keenan’s

way to know the change was coming from where she stood.

“Here it comes,” she said, and from the corner of his eye he watched her wave her

hands in a strange, complex pattern. Her fingers began to glow as though she had

dipped them in phosphorescent powder. Trickles of tiny embers fell from her fingertips

like floating fireflies.

Fallon flexed his knees, the pistol held firm in a two-handed grip, but when the

slithering mass of ugly-ass creatures came shooting out of the burrow, he was too

stunned to pull the trigger.

Not that he needed to for Keenan concentrated the thrust of her growing power at

the serpent-like beings and twin balls of sizzling flame shot from her hands and directly

into the path of the vipers. A wild shriek of ungodly pain split the early evening air and

a stink more powerful than before blasted through the air.

Fallon lowered his pistol—his attention riveted on Keenan as she concentrated the

flame on the disintegrating heap. Around her there was a dark orange aura that

shimmered like a heat mirage. As the flames diminished, the aura began to waver until

it was nothing more than a pale misty shape around her. When that too faded, Keenan

staggered then dropped to her knees.

“Keenan!” Fallon shouted, and raced to her. His head was throbbing like a bass

drum.

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Dancing on the Wind

“I’m all right,” she said, but he could sense the drain on her life force and scooped

her up in his arms, hurrying back to the chopper.

Over his shoulder, he glanced at the curl of blackened forms that lay clumped just

beyond the burrow.

“Did I get them all?”

“You fried them, baby,” he said. “They are fucking toast.”

“I counted three.”

“Well, that leaves four wriggling around somewhere.”

“I sautéed three as well, pup.”

The voice was faint but both Fallon and Keenan heard it clearly as he lifted her into

the chopper.

“Shit! That means they may travel in threes, Fallon,” Keenan said, her voice weak.

“That is my thought as well,”
An Fear Liath Mor
stated.
“You are well, Mate of the

hound?”

“I will be. Using fire really takes it out of me.”

“Then rest. Look after her, pup. I’m off to hunt.”
The voice faded away.

“If we’re dealing with three of those little shits per burrow, that means there may be

twenty-one of them,” Fallon said as he buckled her into her seat.

“If they’d gotten away from us, they could have contaminated six people,” Keenan