Kissed by Smoke (13 page)

We staggered over the increasingly unstable
ground and scrambled up onto the rocks. “What is it?” I yelled.

“Mongolian Death Worm.”

I must have looked as dumbfounded as I felt
because Inigo laughed. Laughed! We were about to be attacked by a
Mongolian Death Worm, whatever that was, and he was howling like a
lunatic.

“Seriously. You are going to stand there and
laugh?” I braced myself against one of the larger boulders as the
ground gave a particularly vicious shake.

“Sorry, love.” He made an effort to hold
back the laughter, but his eyes still twinkled at me.

“Now what the frakk is a Mongolian Death
Worm, and why is it here instead of Mongolia?”

He grinned. “It’s a really big-ass worm that
supposedly spits acid and can zap you like an electric eel. No idea
why it’s here instead of Mongolia.”

I stared at him. “Are you nuts? There’s a
giant bug zapper out there and you are
laughing
?”

“I’m a dragon, Morgan. This is
fun
.”

“You are insane. That’s what you are. You
may be resistant to acid, but I am not.” Another ground quake sent
me tumbling on my ass. “You sure there’s only one of those things?
How big are they anyway?”

The ground in front of us erupted in a
shower of earth and a scream nearly shattered my eardrums. The
giant, bulbous head was covered in sticky reddish pink skin.
Needle-like teeth jutted from a gaping maw. It was one of the most
disgusting creatures I’d ever laid eyes on.

“Um, it’s big,” Inigo said.

“No shit, Sherlock.” The Worm was bigger
around than I was. No telling how long it was, but there was a good
five feet of it sticking out of the ground shrieking at us like
something out of a really bad sci-fi movie. I figured it had to be
at least ten feet in length overall.

The giant head zeroed in on us and let out
another scream. A second shriek answered it from the other side of
the rock pile. Then a third.

“Holy shit, Inigo. There are three of
them.”

“Yeah, I heard.” His eyes had definitely
lost their twinkle. Apparently three Mongolian Death Worms weren’t
nearly as much fun as one.

“So what do we do?” I kept my voice low. I
had no idea if the giant worms could hear me or not, but I wasn’t
going to test the theory. “If they really do spit acid, we’re in
big trouble. Or, well, I am anyway.” Inigo could transform. His
dragon scales were impervious to acid.

“I’d say killing them would be a good
start.”

I rolled my eyes. “And how are we going to
get close enough without getting either spat on or
electrocuted?”

“Well,” he thought for a minute, “I don’t
actually know that they spit acid or electrocute people for a fact.
It’s just what I’ve heard.”

I glared at him. “I am so not about to run
out there in the hopes they don’t.”

“Well, I was thinking more along the lines
of I fly over them and you chop their heads off.”

I perked up at that idea. “They could still
spit at us. You know, if they spit acid.”

“And I can wheel and protect you. Since when
has Morgan Bailey, bad-ass vampire Hunter, ever been afraid of a
little old earthworm?”

I flushed over that. “Don’t be stupid.”

He just laughed and pulled me up tight
against him. “I will protect you, Morgan.” His voice was deadly
serious. “I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I nodded against his chest. “I know.”

“Good. Then I fly. You chop. Deal?”

I grinned. This was going to be hella fun.
“Deal.”

***

Cold wind slapped my face causing my eyes to
tear and my cheeks to sting. I was freezing my ass off, but I
wanted to laugh with pure joy. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and my
right hand firmly clasped around the handle of my machete. Thank
the gods I’d thought to bring it with me.

Ready?
Inigo’s voice filled my mind.

I gave him an answering squeeze with my
thighs. Was I ever.

With a smooth push of wings, Inigo wheeled
in the sky, scales flashing blue and silver and gold in the
afternoon sun. As beautiful as he was in human form, he was
breathtaking as a dragon.

I lay low over his neck as we headed toward
the first Worm. The thing swivelled its head toward us as though
sensing our approach. This was it. Either the creature was going to
spew acid or … not. I was really hoping for not.

Inigo made a sudden jerk to the left, nearly
tossing me off his back in the process. I was about to give him
holy hell when I saw the spray glistening and sizzling against his
scales just inches from my right foot.

Acid. Shit. So, the rumors were true. I
hoped the acid wasn’t hurting him. Dragon scales were impervious to
just about anything, but the worm spit looked nasty.

Don’t worry. Can’t feel it.

I gave him an acknowledging squeeze. I hoped
he wasn’t being all macho and lying to me.

Another pass. Ready?

I pressed myself against him as flat as I
could. It was hard without a harness, but we’d practiced this
enough times that I was fairly sure I wouldn’t fall off and break
my neck.

We wheeled again and came in for another
pass, this time from behind the Worm. It swivelled, but not fast
enough. With muscles honed from years dusting vampires and boosted
by Hunter strength, a single hack was enough to separate the Worm’s
head from its soft body.

The head splatted against the ground,
spraying Worm gunk everywhere. The body kept writhing as though
still half-alive.

You ever hear about how you can chop an earthworm in
half, and it’ll grow two heads?

Damn, damn, double damn. We couldn’t let
that happen. The last thing we needed was a whole herd of Mongolian
Death Worms running around. Or crawling and burrowing around,
anyway.

An idea struck me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t
mind-speak to Inigo like he could to me. I tried to yell my idea at
him, but with the wind and the other two Worms still screeching
their heads off, it was obvious he couldn’t hear me.

So, I did the only thing I could think of. I
closed my eyes against the wind and let my mind travel down to that
place where the Darkness lived. It blinked at me sleepily, like a
napping cat, but I ignored it. I needed something else.

The Fire came to me in a rush, but I gripped
it tight. Tamed it. I was in control.

It curled out of me slowly and gently,
blooming from the center of my palm and wrapping itself up along my
arm. We were too far away from the Worm’s body for me to set the
thing on fire, but that wasn’t my purpose. Instead I sent a tendril
of Fire dancing along Inigo’s scales to tickle him under his
chin.

Are you nuts, Morgan? This is no time to play.

I did it again, dancing the flame up and
down the side of his neck. I knew the flame wouldn’t hurt him while
he was in dragon form, but he’d feel the warmth. And the
tickle.

For god’s sake, Morgan …
His voice trailed off.
Oh, fuck me, I’m an
idiot.

This time when he wheeled he opened his
great dragon mouth and strafed the Worm’s still twitching body with
fire. The creature was immolated in seconds.

My Fire stroked him approvingly before
making its way back to my hand and slipping back inside me. It gave
me a strange sensation, the Fire. Normally it burned with hunger,
longing to feed, to destroy. This time it felt … different. Almost,
sensual. Something I’d definitely have to explore. You know,
sometime when we weren’t trying to chop the heads off acid-spitting
Death Worms.

One down. Two to go.

Inigo dove for Worm number two. This time
with a bit of fancy flying he managed to avoid the acid. One hack
and its head dashed against the rocks below, spraying slimy chunks
of Worm. Nasty.

Unfortunately, Inigo’s flame hadn’t built
back up, so we’d have to wait to burn the thing. I really hoped
they weren’t quick regenerators. That would suck.

One more pass to get the last Worm. It
should have been easy, but just as Inigo wheeled in the sky, a
ridiculously strong gust of wind hit me like the smack of a giant
hand. I went tumbling off Inigo’s back, barely managing to grab his
neck.

Morgan!

I tried to climb back up, but my fingers
were numb from too much time in the cold air. My arm muscles
trembled at the strain of holding on midair while flying. I knew I
had seconds at best.

Morgan, hang on. I’m landing.

I tried. I really did, but there was no
strength left in me. My fingers slipped and I plunged toward the
ground.

They say that right before you die your life
flashes before your eyes. It’s bullshit. Mostly I was just
thinking, “Oh, fuck, I’m going to die!”

Everything slowed, smoothed out. I could see
the ground rushing toward me, hear the shriek of the last Worm, and
sense Inigo’s panic. This was it. I wondered what waited for me on
the Other Side. The ground was mere inches away.

A pair of claws snatched me mid-fall,
swooping down on me like a giant bird of prey. Only the wings
weren’t those of an eagle, but the brilliant blue of a dragon. My
dragon.

My heart tried to pound its way out of my
chest. He’d saved me. I wasn’t going to die. Not yet anyway.

Suspended in mid-air with giant talons
wrapped around my middle, I couldn’t see what was going on. I heard
a Worm shriek and then the answering scream of a really pissed-off
dragon. Hot air brushed against me and the Worm stopped its
shrieking. Heh. Mongolian barbeque.

Still, we had the other Worm body to deal
with, and Inigo was out of fire again. Strange how the mind works.
Here I’d almost died, and I was worrying about frying a stupid
Worm.

Inigo set me gently down on the rocks away
from the splattered Worm. The beating of his wings stirred up dust
and debris as he hovered above me.

I reached out a hand and stroked his leg.
“Come on, calm down. I need you.”

Surprisingly enough, I meant it. Me, the
bad-ass Hunter who needed nobody.

He landed beside me, his bulk shifting the
rocks slightly. In a shimmer of gold and blue sparkles the dragon
disappeared. I didn’t even wait for him to regain his balance. I
just wrapped my arms around him and buried my face against his
neck.

“Thank you,” I whispered against his
throat.

Inigo’s arms wrapped around me, squeezing me
almost too tight. “I would never let any harm come to you.”

I pressed my lips against his throat. “I
know.”

I would have liked nothing more than to haul
his ass back to town and a comfy bed — or at least the back seat of
my car — but we still had another Worm to burn. And a djinni to
find. Again.

“Do you think it’s safe to go out there?
Could it still be doing its electric thing?” I glanced over Inigo’s
shoulder at the still twitching body of the giant Worm.

“No idea. Why don’t I transform and blast
the Worm the minute my fire builds up again?”

“Bad idea. Look.” I nodded at the Worm.
Already the slimy reddish-pink skin was bulging and stretching. The
thing was growing a new freaking head.

“Crap.”

“No kidding.” I closed my eyes and inhaled.
“I have to burn it.”

“No way. You are not touching that thing.”
Inigo was adamant. But it was the only way.

“Listen,” I cupped his face in my palms.
“I’ll be fine, okay?”

“Morgan, I almost lost you.” There was pain
in his eyes and it shattered my heart.

I kissed him, then, full and deep. My tongue
tangled with his as I poured every ounce of emotion I felt for him
into that kiss.

I pulled away, both of us a little
breathless. Okay, more than a little. I gave him a smile and then
hopped off the rocks.

“Morgan!”

“My soles are rubber, so stop worrying.” I
strode toward the twitching, growing Worm. Its new head wasn’t
completely formed, so I was pretty sure it couldn’t spit acid at
me. I was not sure if it could electrocute me. But what I couldn’t
do was let it get away and terrorize the countryside.

As I approached the Worm, I called up the
Fire again. This time there was nothing lazy about it. It sensed
what I wanted and it rushed up out of me, hungry. My body glowed
with flame, but I hesitated at touching the Worm’s slimy skin. What
if the skin were acidic? Or electrified?

The Fire snarled at me. It wanted to be let
loose. It wanted to feast.

That’s when it happened. The Air spiralled
out of me in a whirlwind, snatching at the Fire and turning it into
a vortex of flames. It danced from my hands, independent of me.
Within seconds it had reduced the Worm to cinders, along with the
vegetation around it.

My hair whipped in the wind, my cheeks ruddy
with heat. The Fire and the Air wanted to play. They wanted to
dance across the high desert and eat everything in sight. I’d seen
the results of a wild fire in this desert. It wasn’t pretty. And I
wasn’t about to let that happen.

With every ounce of strength I could muster,
I used my mind to grab hold of the Fire and the Air and pull them
back to me. They resisted. Of course they did, but I am nothing if
not stubborn. I pulled back harder.

Reluctantly the whirlwind of wind and flame
zigzagged across the ground back toward me. I think I heard Inigo
call to me, but I was too focused on what I had to do. With one
last pull, I yanked the Fire and the Air into my body and slammed
the metaphorical lid down.

For a moment I stood there, alone in the
cold desert wind, my body drained of energy. Then I slowly slid to
the ground, my eyes fluttered closed. Darkness swallowed me
whole.

***

I woke to Zip’s face looming inches from
mine.

“Holy hell.”

“My goodness she has a potty mouth, doesn’t
she.” Zip sat back, her pretty face twisted in a frown. She was
still wearing that ridiculous, white Marilyn dress. Completely
unsuitable for the cold weather.