Inferno (16 page)

He grinned at her even though he’d looked so tired she wanted to tell him to go back to sleep and let her handle everything. Of course, she was only a guest in this house. He was the owner, and he would have to answer the firemen’s questions and assure them everything was all right.

How he would do it without entering the kitchen, she had no idea. The sun didn’t stream in as strongly through the kitchen window as it did in the front, but there were patches of sunlight in the room and no way to cover the window. Both the café curtains and shade had been burned to cinders.

Dante gave her a little push toward the hallway while he retreated into the labyrinth he inhabited beneath the stately home. He closed and locked the door to the “wine cellar” behind him while Megan went to answer the front door.

The firemen were prompt.

Six burly men towered over her as she led them down the hall toward the scorched kitchen.

They were huge and imposing and each one sniffed her as he passed.

Dammit! They were
were
. Wolves in fact. The local pack and, if she wasn’t much mistaken, their Alpha was bringing up the rear. He paused to stand next to her as the rest of his team inspected the kitchen to be certain all traces of fire had been extinguished.

“You’re new,” he commented, looking her up and down.

“Just visiting,” she said noncommittally.

“Fire’s good and out, boss,” one of the men reported after a thorough inspection. Some of the others were taking down the burnt curtains and shade and placing them in the empty trashcan.

“We’ll take the burnt stuff outside, just to be sure. Looks like the thing that started it is in the sink. You’ll want to get a look, Alpha. It’s not good.”

“You don’t say?” The big wolf’s eyes lit with interest and suspicion as he looked from his subordinate to the scorched sink and back to her. “So this isn’t just your ordinary kitchen fire, is it?”

“I’d say definitely not,” Duncan answered, finally making an appearance.

He was fully dressed, his hair sexily askew. It was dryer than it had been the last time she had seen him. She realized then that she had to be an absolute mess. Her hair was wet and wild from the sprinkler and the rainstorm Duncan had conjured indoors.

The kitchen floor was wet and slippery and the expensive sprinklers were still deployed from their hidey-holes in the ceiling. Thankfully, they were no longer spitting water in every direction.

She looked around at the destruction of what had been a designer-quality kitchen in despair.

While she was taking it all in, Duncan and the fire chief walked to the kitchen sink to get a look at the magical Molotov cocktail that had started this whole fiasco.

“Don’t touch it,” Duncan said sharply when the fire chief reached out to pick up the bottle. “It’s more than it seems.”

The big fireman turned to look at Duncan as his men positioned themselves around the room in a clearly protective, somewhat combative posture. Duncan didn’t back down but seemed, instead, to become bigger as his magic asserted itself. The wolf cocked his head as he took Duncan’s measure and finally signaled to his men to stand down.

In fact, he sent them out to the truck, telling them to return to the station while he settled matters here. Megan was surprised, but one look at the Alpha told her he knew what he was about. If he couldn’t handle this situation, he didn’t deserve to be Alpha of such a big, fierce group of
were
wolves and they all knew it. With nods of respect, his men left.

The Alpha looked from her to Duncan and back again. “We need to talk.” His tone brooked no argument.

“Why don’t we go into the living room?” Megan tried to act the gracious hostess. The sad truth was, she was shaking in her boots. She’d never had any contact with an Alpha male of her kind and this one scared the bejeezus out of her.

Thankfully, Dante was already there when she opened the sliding door that led to the interior, windowless living room. She went in, followed by Duncan. The
were
wolf, however, stopped on the threshold in surprise.

Dante turned to him, holding a glass of burgundy as they took each other’s measure.

“Be welcome in my home, Alpha,” Dante finally said, breaking the standoff and moving to sit beside Megan. He put his arm over the back of the couch behind her head in a proprietary way that wasn’t lost on the fireman. “I am Dante d’Angleterre, owner of this house.”

“Kevin McElroy, Alpha of the East Side wolf pack. You must be a really old one to be up and around at this hour of the day.” The fireman came into the room and stood a moment more before claiming one of the armchairs for himself.

Dante shrugged offhandedly. “I do what needs to be done when guests are attacked in my domain.”

“Then the lone one is your guest?” Kevin nodded his chin in Megan’s direction.

“She is, and she is under my protection as well as that of Sir Heathclif Dean.” The
were
wolf sat back in his chair and gave her a speculative glance. “So you’re the one who caused such a ruckus at the vampire ball the other night.” Megan was shocked by the knowledge in his eyes.

“And how did a wolf hear about the doings of bloodletters?” Duncan asked. He’d sunk into one of the overstuffed chairs. The
were
wolf’s attention turned to scrutinize him again.

“I know one who likes to walk on the wild side. She told me about the scene Dean made biting a strange
were
and asked me what I knew about the wolf. I don’t think she believed me when I said I knew nothing.”

“Walk on the wild side?” Megan repeated, confused.

“An immortal who likes to have sex with
weres
,” Dante clarified. “There aren’t many, and they do it in secret for the most part. There’s a stigma attached on both sides, though I remember when such relationships were more accepted.”

“So your immortal girlfriend wanted to know about Megan?” Duncan brought the conversation back on track.

“In the normal course of business any wolf who comes into my territory for any length of time would at least have the courtesy of letting me know she was here. You should have checked in with the pack running this territory when you decided to stay for more than a day. It’s only polite.” Kevin’s tone was chastising, and it irked Megan.

“I don’t owe you any courtesy. Your kind gave up all rights to dictate my actions when you banished my family.” She hadn’t meant to get worked up but felt an odd sense of relief once the words were said.

“So you’re not just a loner. You’re one of the forgotten?” Kevin frowned. “This complicates matters. No wonder you’ve taken up with a bloodletter and a…uh…what are you? Mage?” he asked Duncan, clearly stumped.

“Half-fey.” Duncan inclined his head regally. “I put out the fire when more mundane means did not suffice.”

“Which brings us back to the problem at hand. Someone has it in for one or all of you.” Dante sat forward, clearly interested. “How do you know?”

“One of my pack likes to pretend she’s a stray so she can keep an eye on some of the more vulnerable homeless who frequent the park across the way. She saw someone lob a Molotov cocktail into your window. She called me right before the alarm came in from your system.”

“Did she see the person?”

“Shiny blonde with a bob haircut, she said. Female. Drove away in a black Porsche.”

“Son of a…” Megan swore. “Her again.”

“Who is she?” the fireman asked.

“We don’t know,” Dante replied. “She lobbed a few fireballs at me outside a nightclub the night Megan and I met.” He dropped his hand from the back of the couch around her shoulders, squeezing once, bringing her closer to his side. “Megan took a hit meant for me, and I brought her here to recover.”

“We can only assume Dante’s the target since hellfire is impossible to stop by normal means and fire is one of the few things that can kill his kind,” Duncan added. “Plus the timing would have made it next to impossible for Dante to escape a house fire. It’s still several hours ’til sunset.”

“Hellfire, you say?” Kevin’s blue gaze turned thoughtful.

“No doubt about it. I’ve seen it before, a long time ago. It’s not good to see it in use again. It tells me a larger game is afoot.” Duncan’s tone sounded ominous.

“How so?” Kevin wanted to know.

“For some time now, we’ve had an idea that the
Venifucus
are back in operation. Or perhaps they never really left. Regardless, they’re now ramping up their efforts to return dark magic to this realm. Hellfire is one of the tools they used in ancient days, and it hasn’t been seen on this Earth for many generations. To see it now only confirms my worst fears. This, taken in conjunction with the attacks on the
were
lords and their new mate, which Dante and I witnessed firsthand, is very bad news indeed.”

“You’re
that
Dante?” Kevin asked, blinking in surprise. “We got a safe passage dispatch about you and your friend from the Lords not too long ago. Surprised the heck out of us when we saw a bloodletter had friends in the highest possible places, but I figured our paths would never cross.” Dante raised his glass in salute. “Never say never.”

“So what did you do to get on the Lords’ good side?” Kevin asked with only a hint of suspicion.

“Betrayed them, switched sides when I figured out what was going on, then helped save their lives and that of their mate.” Dante shrugged as he ticked off the list of events.

“Don’t forget how you helped catch the mage responsible,” Duncan added helpfully.

“Indeed.” Dante grinned at his friend then turned to Kevin. “You know, the usual.” The big
were
wolf actually smiled. “I suspect it’s a long story for another time. Right now, I’d like to know how you ended up playing host to one of the forgotten.” His expression grew serious, almost apologetic, when he looked at Megan again. “And perhaps more importantly, what did your family do to merit such a terrible sanction. As a rule, our society rarely issues such harsh punishments.”

“Having never been part of
were
society, I’m sure I wouldn’t know.” Megan bristled under Kevin’s scrutiny. She didn’t have anything to prove to him.

Dante took her hand, squeezing it gently in comfort. “Megan’s grandfathers sanctioned the murder of an innocent human firemage named Erik. He was a good friend of mine.” Dante paused, and she squeezed his hand this time. “His death sparked the Great Chicago Fire.” He paused as Kevin whistled through his teeth. “For their transgressions, they were banished. They passed the burden of redemption to Megan’s mother, and thence to her. We’ve only just discovered the connection ourselves.”

“Quite a coincidence, her showing up on your doorstep,” Kevin commented.

“It wasn’t a coincidence,” Duncan stepped in. “She was sent to spy on Dante by someone I believe to be a
Venifucus
mole in the
Altor Custodis
operation.”

“I was briefed on the recent trouble with the mage who claimed to be
Venifucus
. The Lords impressed it upon all of the major pack leaders in our last teleconference that the threat was real.

Honestly I never expected to see anything in my neck of the woods. At least not so soon.”

“Probably my fault, for deciding to visit my place in New York,” Dante admitted. “But Duncan’s been gone a long time, and he wanted to see the Big Apple again. It was as good a destination as any after our adventure in Montana.”

“I tend to believe the Lady guides all our paths. Perhaps She meant for you to be here, in this place, at this time.” Kevin surprised Megan with the depth of his faith. She wouldn’t have expected such an imposing man to believe so strongly.

“There may be some merit to what you say,” Duncan put in. “I don’t really believe in coincidence.” He looked at Megan with one eyebrow raised. “Someone sent her here to spy on the very man her family had wronged so grievously all those years ago. I’m willing to bet her keeper is based somewhere nearby, though she’s been placed under a very strong compulsion not to divulge any information that could help us identify him.”

“What makes you think he’s nearby?” Kevin leaned forward.

“Timing,” Dante said absently, clearly thinking through his answer as he gave it. “We only just got here a few days ago. Even with modern modes of transportation, Megan had to have been pretty close to intercept us when she did.”

He looked at her, and she nodded in confirmation even though the compulsion not to answer caused a throbbing pain behind her eyes. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to control it to no avail. Then a gentle touch on her forehead eased the pain. She opened her eyes to find Duncan leaning over her, a sad smile on his face.

“You see how it hurts her. The bastard who did this to her—” Duncan resumed his seat as he spoke to the fire chief, “—also poisoned her blood. She nearly killed Heathclif Dean last night.”

“Son of a bitch!” Kevin seemed all too aware of the potential problems that could have caused.

If a
were
wolf had managed to take down the man who was essentially Master of the New York vampires in everything but name, all
weres
could have potentially paid the price.

“He forgave her, and we’re keeping this on a need to know basis for now. Considering your position, I believe you need to know.” Duncan nodded toward the astonished Alpha. “If the
Venifucus
mole posing as an
Altor Custodis
leader can do this to a
were
as resistant to magic as she is, none of you is safe.”

Kevin seemed to take that in for a moment before he asked another question. “What makes her more resistant than others? You’ll excuse me, but she doesn’t look all that powerful to me.”

“I’m only half
were
,” she said belligerently. Who was this man to look down his nose at her?

She’d never needed
were
society, and she certainly didn’t care to start now.

“And one quarter human,” Duncan interjected, surprising her. “And one quarter fey.”

“What?” she gasped. Even Dante looked surprised, but Duncan only smiled.

“I noticed it last night and have been mulling over who might have been your sire. You definitely have fey blood somewhere in your line. It had to have been your father, since your mother was a
were
wolf. Of course, her mother was a priestess, since twin Lords always mate priestesses of the Lady, so there is that to consider as well. It might be more accurate to say you’re partly fey and not put a numerical value on how much. A little is all it takes, after all.”