The Darkening (10 page)
Darius appeared and slipped a golden cord around the little man's neck. "That should hold you," he said.
Darius was holding the cord loosely in one hand, and before Lexi could growl a warning, their prisoner jumped up and threw himself at the wall again. This time, some of him actually went through, but his head, neck and shoulders stayed behind, anchored by the cord.
"Ye can't hold me," the little man said in a heavily slurred voice. "I'll disappear." His laugh sounded like a cat coughing up a fur ball, and Lexi, even in wolf form, wanted to roll her eyes.
The leprechaun struggled to loosen the golden cord from his neck, and when that didn't do any good, he began hopping around, pulling back on the rope, looking much like a
bass
on the end of a fishing linemouth open wide as he flopped around on the ground.
Darius held firmly to his end of the cord and watched the little man's attempts to escape with unveiled amusement. "He's not going anywhere," he said to Lexi. "You can change back."
He turned his attention to the sleek black wolf watching him so intently with those light gray eyes. Even in this form, she was stunning.
He knew he should look away, but he couldn't resist the temptation of watching her morph. With the air still shimmering around her, she was a vision to behold. Her long dark hair fell around her like a sheer veil, accentuating her figure. His hands itched to hold the full weight of her breasts; his thumbs ached to stroke the dusky rose nipples that had beaded against the slight chill in the air. Her slim waist made the gentle flare of her hips all the more inviting, and Darius let his gaze travel down the length of her, pausing briefly at the dark curls at the apex of her thighs, and then traveling further down to the long length of nicely toned legs. Darius couldn't move, lost between awed reverence and thoughts of what it would be like to crawl between those legs.
"Saints almighty, but she's a rare one."
Startled from his thoughts, Darius furrowed his brows and glared at the leprechaun, who was also staring at Lexi. Feeling Darius's gaze on him, he looked up and winked. "I wouldn't be minding taking her for a wee ride."
Darius yanked on the cord, jerking the leprechaun forward until the small face connected with his fist. "Don't look at her."
The leprechaun clutched his nose, yelling obscenities. "What the hell? You can't tell me what to do."
Darius raised an eyebrow as he handed Lexi her clothes. Then he turned his attention back to the leprechaun. "I can do anything I damn well please. Now turn your head and give the lady some privacy."
"No," the leprechaun said with the defiance of a fiveyear-old. He puffed out his chest and took a step toward Darius, but the effect was more comical than anything because he only stood as high as the Immortal's crotch. Darius saw the leprechaun's intent clearly, and when the small fist came out to smash him in the balls, Darius slapped a hand to his chest and unleashed Fury.
The tattooed dragon's head came to life with a mighty roar, growing larger by the second until it was the size of a pony. The leprechaun's eyes widened in fear at the sight of the snarling beast with rows of razorsharp teeth. At that moment, fire shot out of the dragon's nostrils, and the little man screamed, jumping as far back as the cord around his neck would let him-which wasn't far.
Lexi, who had changed back to human form and dressed, appeared at his side. Darius spared her a quick glance to see if she was frightened, but he should have known better. Instead she gave Fury a final look before turning to glare at Darius.
"I would appreciate it if I could deliver my prisoner in one piece," she told him. "Preferably still alive
"Why take him in at all?" Darius asked. "You're wasting your time."
Taking out her cuffs, Lexi tried to grab Paddy long enough to secure his wrists, but he wouldn't stop thrashing against the cord. "What do you suggest?" Lexi asked between clenched teeth, giving Darius a frustrated look when she couldn't grab the little man's hands.
Darius shrugged. "I could let Fury eat him. I doubt anyone would miss him." At the suggestion, Fury swooped down, pinning the leprechaun to the ground.
Darius noticed that while Lexi kept a careful eye on Fury, she took advantage of the situation to move slowly toward the leprechaun. When she was close enough, she snapped the cuffs around his wrists. "Call off that thing," she ordered him. "I'm taking him in. He's not worth much, but I do have bills to pay."
Darius made a small gesture with his hand, and Fury shrank down to the size of his fist. Then he floated to the place over his chest where he had been moments before and slowly fused with his skin.
When Darius looked up, Lexi was glaring at him. He smiled-he couldn't help it. He enjoyed pushing her to get a reaction. Like the other time ... he shook his head to clear away the fog and let the faint memory grow stronger.
"We've done this before, haven't we?"
Surprise lit Lexi's face. "Yes-I guess we did. Yesterday. You remember that? It was right after you appeared."
"Some of it." The memory of pain flashed through his head, and he remembered the Calling spell that had signaled the need for him to come to Earth. He remembered fighting with Sekhmet, then being pulled away to appear before Lexi. There were still some gaps, though.
"The rest will come," she assured him as if she'd known he was worrying about it. He gave her a grateful smile and walked with her to the end of the alley, pulling the leprechaun behind them. When a cab pulled up, he, Lexi and their prisoner squeezed into the backseat.
"I'll make it worth your while to let me go," Paddy Darby said after they'd been riding in the cab for several minutes.
"What?" Lexi looked at the leprechaun curiously.
"Ye said ye had bills to pay," he explained.
Lexi glanced at Darius, but he kept his expression bland, waiting to see if she could be bribed.
"I suppose you're offering me your pot of gold?" she asked. "No, thanks. It's probably Irish mob money."
"I don't have a pot of gold," the leprechaun mumbled so softly that Darius almost didn't hear him. He didn't try to make Lexi another offer, but fell sullen and silent, leaving Darius to wonder what kind of trouble he must be in.
More serious than simple public intoxication, he thought. A leprechaun's pot of gold was his life's fortune and so much more. It represented what it meant to be a leprechaun. A leprechaun who had lost his pot of gold was a failure and a disgrace.
Darius would have liked to question the little man about it, but just then the cab pulled in front of a large building and came to a stop.
"We're here," Lexi said, opening her door to get out. "Where's here?" Darius asked her.
"Jail. We're going to leave our friend here, so he can think about whether or not he wants to jump bail in the future," Lexi said, pulling the leprechaun out of the car.
"I won't be here long," the little man said. "I have friends-powerful friends-who will get me out."
"Maybe so," Lexi said, pulling him up the steps of the police station. "Let's hope they like you enough to be willing to post bail again."
At that, the leprechaun's face paled considerably. Darius had seen that look before on men's faces. It was the look of someone who, given the choice between the task before him and death, would have chosen death.
CHAPTER SIX
The sun was just starting to go down by the time Lexi finished the paperwork at the station and she and Darius were able to catch a cab to her place.
Lexi had no sooner walked in the door than her cell phone rang. She answered it and heard Mai's voice.
"Hey," Lexi said. "How are you?"
"Great."
Lexi heard the satisfied smile in her friend's voice. "Good time, was it?"
"Oh, my God. It was fabulous."
She sounded so excited that Lexi was actually surprised. "Really? You got a lot of good stuff for your article?"
"Well, no. That's why I have to go back tonight. Want to come with me?"
"Can't," she said, sneaking a look at Darius, who was walking around her living room, inspecting the knickknacks on display around the place.
"Why not?" Mai asked. "The full moon is less than a week away-I know you need to relieve some of your magical angst."
Mai was right. Lexi could feel the pressure building inside her. It was bad enough trying to function in a state of extreme arousal all the time, but now she'd compounded the problem by bringing Darius home with her. Although maybe that wasn't a bad thing. "Not tonight," she told Mai. "1-"
"You can go if you want," Darius interrupted from across the room. Lexi clamped a hand over the receiver, but it was too late. Mai had heard his voice.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"I, uh, have company," Lexi admitted.
"That's my girl," Mai exclaimed. "Who is he? Is he hot? Did you meet him last night? He must be good in bed. I bet he's hung like a-"
"Good night, Mai."
Lexi disconnected the call, looking at Darius, who was standing across the room, giving her a knowing smile. She felt her heart speed up and found herself thinking that Mai had a point. A man who had centuries of experience under his belt, so to speak, would have to be good in bed, wouldn't he?
She tried to rein in her thoughts, but it was useless. Darius had a definite bad-boy aura with the duster on, but she was afraid to invite him to take it off because then he'd be half naked and that was too much temptation for her to resist right now.
Not wanting to be rude, but needing to put a little space between them, she headed into the kitchen and started searching the pantries for food. "Are you hungry?" she called to him, opening the fridge door to look inside.
"Famished." His low voice rumbled from right be
hind her, causing her to jump. She turned and saw that his gaze had been focused on her rear, and he was a little slow in raising it to her face. That show of interest kept her off balance.
"I'm afraid I don't have anything," she said hurriedly, closing the fridge door. "We can either go out or order in."
He gave her a slow smile. "If `order in' means staying here, I choose that."
She thought about suggesting they go out anyway. She knew that as tempted as she was, and the way he was looking at her, if they stayed in tonight, they were going to end up between the sheets-assuming they even made it to the bedroom. As much as she wanted the sex, she really didn't want to make him even more egotistical.
As if he knew she was about to protest, he added, "I wanted to ask you more about some of the things I'm remembering. It's hard to know what's real and what isn't."
Damn it, she thought. How could she refuse a plea for help without coming across like a total jerk? "All right," she agreed. "We'll stay in. What do you feel like eating?" Between his knowing smile and her raging hormones, she heard the answer:
you.
Ordering herself to get a grip, she tried for a casual tone of voice. "How about pizza?"
Without waiting to see if he agreed, she picked up the phone. It was a reflection of just how pathetic her life was that she knew the number by heart.
It didn't take long to place the order, and when she hung up, Darius had disappeared. She went looking for him and found him standing naked to the waist, his back to her, in the middle of the living room. She saw that even his back was tattooed. A broadsword angled from his right shoulder blade to his left hip was the most prominent image, though there were others as well.
At her gasp, he turned, and the sight of him left her totally speechless. She'd seen most of the tattoos despite the duster, but without it on, they were so much more obvious to her: the golden serpent over his heart, the dragon, the golden rope, the Chinese throwing stars and the various daggers and axes along his arms. The tattoos were the first things she saw, but then she saw the contours of a well-muscled chest that tapered to washboard abs and slender hips. He reminded her of a football player or that wrestler-turned-actor The Rock. "The pizza will be here shortly," she said, trying to stop staring. "Do you want to sit in here and watch TV?" She paused. "You've heard of television, haven't you?"
He smiled. "I've heard of it, but I've never seen it."
"Then come on." She gestured to the couch. "You're in for a treat."
She turned on her television set and found something to watch. Darius sat next to her on the couch, and she was able, for a while, to pretend that this was an ordinary evening spent with a casual friend.
When the pizza came, Darius ate with enthusiasm, making her glad she'd thought to order two large instead of her usual one medium. "I guess they don't have pizza where you're from," she commented, feeling a little silly to be so delighted that his first experience with pizza should be with her.
Darius, whose attention had been focused on the TV show, glanced at her and swallowed the bite he was chewing. "No. In fact, they don't have a lot of things in Ravenscroft." His voice held a note of bitterness. "I've only been here two days, and already I can understand why my brothers left."
