Keri Arthur - Fireborn

I guess there was only one way to find out.

I hit the text button and typed, Hey, babe. I left in such a hurry that I forgot to arrange another date. Ring me when you’re free.

Once it was sent, I walked around gingerly until the pain in my feet eased, then rang Rory at the fire station and updated him on events.

“Do you need help?” he said once I’d finished.

I hesitated. Rory and I had long ago made a pact not to pull each other into dangerous situations, simply because if both of us happened to be killed at the same time, it would be the end of us. While the spirit of a phoenix always rose from the ashes of its death, it was only with the assistance of a ritual performed by their life mate that we were able to regain adult flesh and become whole. Otherwise, our spirits moved on, uniting once more with the great mother, never to know life and love and feeling ever again.

We’d come close to that once. I had no intention of risking it in either this lifetime or any other future lifetime. And I had a suspicion that this case would get a whole lot deeper and darker before we got any real answers.

“No,” I said eventually. “I don’t think we can chance it.”

He swore softly. “Damn it, Em. Be careful. You know I’ll be there if the worst happens, but I’d really rather just get through more than one life span without one or the other of us dying before our time.”

I smiled. “Says the man who is currently a fireman.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who has chucked in the staid life to go chasing after bad guys.” He paused. “And that’s two lifetimes in a row for you.”

“Yeah, but last time I was official. This time I’m just pissed off.”

He snorted. “I still want you to be careful.”

“I will. I promise.”

He grunted. He’d heard that statement from me almost as many times as I’d heard it from him. “Keep me updated, Em.”

“I will,” I repeated, then hung up.

It took several hours for Jackson to get back to me. Sherman rose to consciousness several times while I waited, and each time I knocked him back out—although I didn’t hit him again, just used pressure points instead. If there was one good thing about living through so many centuries, it was an accumulation of knowledge. Rory had taught me the points after he’d learned the art during his time with an old Chinese kung fu master.

The phone rang about four o’clock, but the number that showed up on the screen wasn’t Jackson’s. I hesitated, then hit the answer button and cautiously said, “Hello?”

“Emberly? Is that you? Are you okay?”

Jackson’s voice. Relief slithered through me. “Yes to all three questions.” I hesitated. “I’m gathering you can talk freely?”

“Yeah. I’ve borrowed a friend’s phone. Thought it would be safer.”

I winced at the undercurrent of anger in his voice, even though I suspected it wasn’t aimed at me. “How bad was the interrogation?”

He snorted. “Let’s just say I’m surprised that detective friend of yours actually released me. I was sure the bastard was going to lock me up and throw away the key.”

“I’m sure he would have, too, except he no doubt wants to follow you.”

“Well, I wish him luck with that. He’s not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve.”

“He doesn’t need tricks. He has vampires and psychics, and he apparently has the right to use and abuse the law as he desires.”

“Which is why I won’t stay on the phone for long. If they did manage to follow me here, they’re no doubt scrambling to find and lock onto this number.”

Which was my cue to get on with it. “Are you able to track my location via the GPS on this phone?”

“I can’t personally, but I know someone who could.”

I smiled. “You must have some very interesting friends.”

“And if you play your cards right, I might just introduce you.”

I snorted softly. “Except when they’re a source you don’t want exposed.”

“Exactly,” he said cheerfully. “I’m gathering you don’t know where you are?”

“Well, yes and no. I’m in a sewer somewhere, and I have Sherman Jones lying unconscious at my feet. He’s arranged to hand me over to a vampire going by the name of Lee Rawlings this evening. I want to go to that meet and talk to him.”

“That might not be a great idea.” There was doubt in his voice. “Vamps can be tricky to deal with at night.”

“They can’t shadow when there’s light,” I commented. “Remember what I am, Jackson.”

“Can one phoenix raise enough light to stop a vampire shadowing? A Fae sure as hell can’t.”

“I can.”

“Ah, well, that’s a different story.” He paused. “It may take me a little while to get to you—will you be okay?”

“Well, I’ve been in better-smelling places, but I’ll be fine.” I hesitated and glanced down at my captive. “Bring something that’ll keep a wererat bound. I want to hand Jones over to Sam, but not before we get to that meeting.”

“Will do,” he said, and hung up.

I walked around a bit to ease the lingering remnants of the pins and needles, then sat down next to my captive and played solitaire on his phone to pass the time.

It was close to six p.m. by the time I heard footsteps. I shoved the phone into my pocket and silently rose, clenching my fingers against the flames that instinctively danced across my fingertips.

“Emberly?” Jackson said softly, as his form began to emerge from the darkness. “Don’t flame. It’s me.”

Tension slithered from me. “I’m glad you’re finally here. If I had to play solitaire too much longer, I would have gone stir-crazy.”

He grinned and shoved a coffee container at me. “Thought you might need this. It’s green tea, not coffee.”

I took a sniff. Not just green tea, but mint-green tea. “You,” I said, dropping a quick kiss on his lips, “are a darling.”

“And you,” he said, the amusement on his lips crinkling the corners of his bright eyes, “stink.”

I snorted. “Not exactly surprising given I’ve been sprawled all over a sewer tunnel.”

“But unattractive all the same. A shower is required before we go anywhere near that meeting this evening.” He pulled a coil of metallic rope from over his shoulder and squatted beside Sherman. “Did you ask him about Baltimore?”

“He said Marcus Radcliffe hired him to watch Mark and take note of who he talked to on a regular basis.”

“Did he say why?”

I drank some tea, then shook my head. “Which is not surprising. It didn’t take much to get him to talk, so he wouldn’t have been trusted with anything vital.”

“Wererats are never trustworthy,” Jackson muttered. “It’s the nature of their beast.”

I raised my eyebrows. “So what is the nature of the Fae? Besides being randy sensualists, that is?”

He glanced up and grinned. “You struck it lucky. Unlike most of my kind, I’m more beta than alpha. Which means I generally ask for opinions before I do whatever the hell I want.”

I laughed. “Yep. That about sums you up.”

He finished trussing Sherman up and then rose. “I’m pretty sure I got in here without a tail, but just in case, let’s exit via a different sewer cover.”

As he tucked a hand under my elbow to guide me forward, I said, “I’m going to need somewhere to shower and change.”

He nodded. “I’ve booked a room in a hotel not far from where we’ll exit, and I borrowed some clothes from my friend’s wife. She’s about your size. Oh, and I retrieved your purse from the waitress’s place.”

“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” I teased.

His grin was bright and cheeky. “Trust me, I do expect payment in kind.”