Flight from Hell (11 page)

Fly By Night Magical Investigations Agency

As we stumbled our way back into the office, I was embarrassed and I had no clue what to say. I'd botched things up so badly that I didn't know if they could be mended. Threatening to stake my boss? Even if I had been under a charm, I had no doubt I'd be on my way back to the Dragon Reaches tomorrow, where I'd probably end up dead.

As Ralph yawned, I glanced at the clock. It was nearly five. Alex would have to be getting home soon before dawn broke.

Bette glanced over at us. “You chickens have a rough night?” The cigarette hung heavy off her lip. I hated those things, and one of these days, I was going to steal her stash and give her a hookah or something. At least it would be more sightly.

Alex snorted. “Rough night? More like a brief vacation to hell.”

“Ah, business as usual, then? Okay, children, I'm closing up shop and heading home. I've got a date waiting for me and he's called twice to find out when I'll be there. Don't forget to set the security code when you leave.” She hoisted herself out of the chair, the pleather of her pants making a squeaking sound as she stood. A moment later and she had stuffed herself into a skintight leather jacket and teetered toward the door on her four-inch platforms. Bette was quite the broad, all right. She knew she had it going on and wasn't afraid of what people said about her.

Ralph waved, then headed for his office. “I need to run some updates before I crash. I might sleep on the cot if it takes long enough.” He had a daybed in his chamber of electronic horrors, where he slept when he was too tired from coding.

Alex locked the door after Bette left, then motioned to me. “Shimmer, please come into my office. We need to talk.”

This was it. I followed him into the
Menagerie
, as I called the mini-museum of heads and trophies. As soon as he closed the door, I dropped into one of the chairs. Exhausted, I felt like I'd just come up for air after a really nasty case of smoke-choke. Dragons didn't get colds, but sometimes, we got hold of bad rocks, and that made our fiery breath turn into a raging cough and fuzzy head. Of course, I wouldn't have to worry about that again for . . . well . . . four years, nine months, and five days. The thought made me unaccountably sad.

“Smile, love. You're free now. I doubt Julian will try to kidnap you again, but I wanted to apologize. The only reason he targeted you was because of me.” Alex sat on the edge of his desk and he reached over to stroke my cheek. His hand was cool, very cool, and felt so alien yet so familiar. With one finger, he tapped my nose and then returned to the other side of the desk, where he sat down.

I caught my breath, staring into those pale eyes of his, wondering what he really thought of me. The Wing Liege had unceremoniously dumped me on Alex's doorstep and now he was responsible for me. At the same time, Alex Radcliffe was one of the most exasperating men I'd ever met. Dragon or vamp—men were pretty much the same everywhere.

“Yeah, I'm free. But for how long?”

“I don't know—until you get yourself in the next mess? Which, no doubt, won't be too long, knowing you.” He laughed and wrinkled his nose. “You want a chocolate?” He pointed to the candy dish he kept out for his clients.

“Chocolate?
Really
?” I stared at him. “You're offering me chocolate right now? You're better than this, Alex. Don't drag it out. Just get it over with.”

“What the hell are you going on about?” He looked as confused as I felt. “Go home. Sleep. Get your ass in here at five
P.M
., ready to work.” He sounded like he meant it.

More confused than ever, I burst into tears. “You mean you really
aren't
going to summon the Wing Liege?”

Now it was his turn to look perplexed. “Why should I?”

“I tried to stake you. I tried to kill you.” There, I said it—blunt and to the point, so to speak.

Alex cocked his head, the tips of his hair dancing along his shoulders. “Love, you didn't have a choice. You were under a charm. I'm not going to report you for
that.
”

Relief flooded through me. He wasn't going to give up on me and I wouldn't end up in a cell at home! The rush of emotion must have shown, because he put down his pen.

“You really think I would have done that?”

I slouched back in my chair, my hand over my chest. “Alex, in the Dragon Reaches, this would have been considered my fault. I would have been punished for being so lax as to let it happen. And the punishment would have been severe, given that I'm considered outcast.”

Alex let out a snort. “Really? Well, you're Earthside now. And yes, I'm your boss, but I'm fair and willing to give you every chance. I've been in a lot of trouble over the years, trust me. If there's one thing I'm not, it's a hypocrite.”

I shook my head. “I don't understand. Everything is so strange over here. Hell, I don't even know what happened. You told me, yes, but . . . I'm still trying to fit all the parts together and nothing makes sense to me.”

“Give it time, Shimmer. Don't be in such a hurry. Take your time in getting to know people. But I will tell you this, you can trust the D'Artigo sisters. They're good folk.” With a soft smile, he picked up his pen againand waved me off. “Go home. Rest. You've got a lot of paperwork to fill out on this case.”

As I headed for the door, I glanced back to find him staring at me. He immediately dove back into his work, but there had been something . . . something in his eyes that made me want to run over, to give him a big snuggly hug. But I didn't. Because at that moment, I realized I felt a spark for Alex. And that was the last thing I wanted.

So I turned back to the door and all I said was, “Right. Night, boss. See you tomorrow.” But for the first time in a long while, I realized, I was actually looking forward to the new day. And all the new days coming down the line.

The Playlist

I write to music a good share of the time, and so I always put my playlists in the back of each book so you can see which artists/songs I listened to during the writing. Here's the playlist for
Flight from Hell
:

ACDC:

“Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution”

Aerosmith:

“Sweet Emotion”

Alice Cooper:

“Go to Hell”; “Didn't We Meet”; “Poison”

AWOLNATION:

“Sail”

Beck:

“Cellphone Is Dead”; “Elevator Music”; “Broken Train”; “Mixed Bizness”

Black Angels:

“I Hear Colors”; “Don't Play with Guns”; “You on the Run”

Black Sabbath:

“Paranoid”

Bravery:

“Believe”

Broken Bells:

“Your Head Is on Fire”; “The Ghost Inside”; “The Mall and the Misery”

Crazy Town:

“Butterfly”

Cul de Sac:

“Cul de Sade”; “Into the Cone of Cold”

The Cure:

“A Short Term Effect”; “Cold”; “The Hanging Gardens”

David Bowie:

“I'm Afraid of Americans”; “Jean Genie”; “Fame”

Donovan:

“Season of the Witch”; “Sunshine Superman”

Doors:

“The Crystal Ship”; “We Could Be So Good Together”; “Whiskey, Mystics and Men”

Eric Clapton:

“Cocaine”

Garbage:

“Queer”; “I Think I'm Paranoid”; “Supervixen”; “Fix Me Now”

Haysi Fantayzee:

“Shiny Shiny”

Hugo:

“99 Problems”

Julian Cope:

“Charlotte Anne”

Kinks:

“Destroyer”; “Superman”

Kirsty MacColl:

“In These Shoes?”

Kyuss:

“Space Cadet”; “Writhe”; “Thong Song”

Lou Reed:

“Walk on the Wild Side”

Madonna:

“Beautiful Stranger”

Marilyn Manson:

“Arma-Goddamn-Motherfucking-Geddon”; “Personal Jesus”; “Rock Is Dead”

Mark Lanegan:

“Riot in My House”; “Like Little Willie John”; “Riding the Nightingale”; “Quiver Syndrome”; “Phantasmagoria Blues”; “Pentecostal”

Maroon 5:

“If I Never See Your Face”

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds:

“Right Red Hand”

Ohio Players:

“Fire”

Orgy:

“Blue Monday”

Peaches:

“Boys Wanna Be Her”

Dear Reader:

I hope you enjoyed your journey through Otherworld. Fans of my longtime series recognized the D'Artigo sisters right away—the half-human, half-Fae sisters have had many adventures and are on a dangerous quest right now.

What people may not be aware of is that this novella introduced my upcoming series, the Fly By Night Series, which takes place in Seattle within the Otherworld Altaverse, while focusing on different characters. Shimmer, a blue dragon shifter (sent Earthside as a punishment); Alex, her vampire boss; and Ralph, werewolf geek boy extraordinaire, run the Fly By Night Magical Investigations Agency, a magical and paranormal private eye/bounty hunter firm.

But don't worry—I have no plans to end the Otherworld Series. I'm just adding more dimension to the world.

So this is the crossover novella that ties the two worlds together. I hope you enjoyed meeting Alex, Shimmer, Ralph, and Bette, even as you caught up with Camille, Menolly, and Delilah!

For a sneak peek of the next Otherworld book,
Priestess Dreaming
, keep reading and you'll find the first chapter.

Bright Blessings,

The Painted Panther,

Yasmine Galenorn

Read on for a special preview of the next Otherworld Novel

PRIESTESS DREAMING

Available soon from Jove

I contemplated going back into the house, purse over my shoulder. Should I, or shouldn't I? Utter mayhem lay within. Absolute chaos in a kitchen, complete with spilled food, a huffy dragon, one very pissed-off house sprite, and my sister, the wide-eyed,
catch-da-giant-bird
, turkey-chaser. Add to that the rest of the milling—and by now, thoroughly confused—throng that was our extended family, and I made my decision.
Not a chance. Nope. Not gonna happen.

I was perfectly fine out here in the pouring rain, getting soaked. Let Smoky take his lumps from Iris. This was all
his
fault, not mine. The only part they could blame me for was that I had assigned him the chore of bringing home a twenty-five-pound turkey for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. Was it my responsibility to remind him to make certain it was already dead?

Not. My. Fault.
And neither was the Three Stooges aftermath that followed. Now, with Iris and Hanna both on the warpath, I had no desire to go back in there and subject myself to their outrage.

As my gaze wandered over to the turkey pecking around our backyard, it occurred to me that the bird was eyeing me with an evil glare—like some demented ostrich. The fat old Tom was closer to the woods than our back door, and I wondered if he realized just how lucky he was.

I stamped my foot in his direction. “Go on, you dumb bird. Make a break for it while you can, before Smoky comes looking for you.” As if he understood me, the turkey turned toward the treeline back of the yard and slowly began to waddle off into the sunset. Or rather, the pitch darkness. It was only around five thirty, but by this time of year, the Seattle area was swathed in night. Sunset had come and gone about an hour ago.

I snorted. “Have a happy Thanksgiving, bird. You lucked out so give your thanks to the Great Turkey or whoever it is you pray to.”

As I watched him vanish into the woods, I wondered where the hell Smoky had found him. No doubt he'd stolen him from some turkey farm or something. Wild turkeys generally didn't go running around the streets of Seattle. But I wasn't going to ask. After this fiasco, I had a feeling that my dragon-shifting husband wouldn't be in any mood to discuss turkey-hunting.

Thanks to sheer dumb luck, the bird had managed to escape from the kitchen. He'd left behind a trail of walking wounded, though—including me. That beak was nasty sharp and I had the scratch to prove it, but at least I didn't have a hole in my hand like Roz did. Yeah, in the great dinner war, the bird deserved his freedom. He'd earned it. As the last of his tail feathers vanished from sight on the path leading to Birchwater Pond, I saluted him.

“You've got what it takes to make it, soldier. Carry on.”

With one last look at the house, I straightened my shoulders and headed toward my car. We still needed a turkey. I might as well head out to buy one. On the up side, by the time I got back, things should have smoothed over.

Families.
One thing was for certain: Mine was loopy, batty, and all around a freakshow crew. But I wouldn't trade them for all the glitter and glitz in Otherworld
or
Earthside.

I slid into the driver's seat, but as I inserted the key into the ignition, a shiver ran down my back. A shadow passed through me, cold and dark and incredibly ancient.

Quickly, I locked the door, suddenly nervous. Maybe it was the wind that rattled the trees that had spooked me. Or maybe it was the driving rain. Or perhaps the darkness and perpetual gloom had finally managed to suck the smile off my face. Whatever the case, I glanced back at the house, anxious.

PTSD, maybe?
We had recently come through a horrible stretch, what with the war raging in Otherworld and losing our father. We were all still a little shell-shocked. I had been coping with a lot of nightmares and flashbacks the past few weeks, but this didn't feel like it originated from the same place.

Trying to quiet my mind, I listened, breathing slowly.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Listen . . .

At first, I could sense only the wind and rain that lashed the yard, but then . . . below that . . .
there it was
. Something was on the move. Something
big
. I searched my feelings, examining the sensation. Was it fear? Yes, but more. Anticipation? Anxiety? A tingling at the base of my neck told me that deep magic was afoot, and would soon be knocking on my door.

Magic rode the currents, on the wings of a flock of birds. They were there, in the astral, black as coal and shrieking warnings of an ancient wood filled with extraordinary beasts. The rolling mists of time poured past as the ravens cried, their song echoing with magic. Dark magic, deep woodland magic.
Death coming in on waves of flame and smoke
.

As if in synch with my thoughts, a shriek cut through the darkness, startling me out of my trance. I recognized the cry.
Raven.
Oh, fuck—raven was calling. And where raven flew, Raven Mother couldn't be far behind.

And behind Raven Mother, chasing her, was a dragon. At first I flashed back to Hyto, but then caught hold of myself. Hyto was dead and gone. I forced myself to focus, to examine the energy that went rushing past. This dragon was ancient—not a dragon from the Dragon Reaches, but from the depths of the earth, come awake after eons of time asleep in its lair.

As he roared to life, chasing the flock of ravens, he vanished from sight.

I found myself sitting in the car, my hand on the keys. Wondering what that had been about, and almost afraid to examine it, I shuddered and started the ignition. As the car warmed up, I stared into the darkness of the night, my thoughts far from Thanksgiving.

Yes, something big was headed my way and there was no use trying to avoid it. I might as well just open my arms and brace for trouble. Trying to hide from potential trouble had ceased to be an effective defense mechanism a few years ago when the demons had first shown up.

With a grimace, I pulled out my phone and texted Menolly that I was heading for the store to replace the turkey. As I eased out of the driveway, I whispered, “Bring it on, Raven Mother. Bring it on. I'm waiting for you.”

A faint laughter echoed over the howling of the wind. She'd heard me, all right. And she was waiting.

***

“Give me that!” Delilah's voice rang out and I turned, scanning the mob for her face. Somebody was bound to get hurt in this mess. People were shoving in every direction, trying to push their way through the mass of churning bodies. To my left, a woman tripped and fell. I tried to maneuver through the crowd to reach her, but a man stopped to help her back to her feet and she dusted herself off, looking no worse for the wear, but then, a glint in her eye, she was gone into the seething throng.

Still not seeing Delilah, I glanced over my shoulder. Smoky and Trillian were standing at attention, waiting for my orders, both looking resigned and rather frightened. Their arms full of bags, they threaded their way through the chaos as they followed me. Delilah was still nowhere to be seen, and I made a unilateral decision. She'd just have to catch up to us later.

“Over to the pet section, pronto!”

Pointing toward the opposite end of the store, I began to traverse the aisles. Wordlessly, they filed along behind me. Gauging the easiest, quickest route, I wound through the rows of merchandise, narrowly skirting a table of precariously stacked crystal dishes. Motioning for the guys to be cautious, I held my breath until I was past the display.

Once we were out of housewares, the crowd began to thin out as we maneuvered our way over to the pet toy aisle. Along the way, I caught sight of an insulated lunch bag in fuchsia, with a cat appliqué splashed across the front. It really was cute. Another woman was eyeing it and I had a split second to make up my mind.

“Nerissa would love that.” I snatched it up seconds before my opponent could grab it, and once again, we were on the move, leaving her sputtering in the dust. A few moments later, we reached our destination: the pet care section. We had the department to ourselves. Most of the crowds were over in electronics and toys. Chase and Iris were fending their way through the latter and I silently wished them luck.

“Are we done yet?” Smoky grumbled. “Haven't you found enough loot? It's four thirty in the morning, woman.” He didn't sound that angry, though. In fact, the twinkle in his eye told me he was putting on a show because he thought it was required. Just like a man.

Trillian, also my husband, snorted. “You really think that's going to work? Dude, you should
know
your wife and her sisters by now. We've got at least another hour to go. Remember last year?”

Trillian's obsidian skin glistened under the fluorescent lights. He'd braided his hair to keep it out of the way. The silver strands rested smooth against his back, shimmering with the faintest of cerulean highlights. He had worn a sleek black turtleneck and black jeans, but left his jacket in the car, claiming it made him more aerodynamic in the crowds. A Svartan, one of the dark and charming Fae, he usually managed to get what he wanted by smooth-talking whoever was in his way. But on Black Friday, all bets were off.

Smoky, on the other hand, was attired in his usual getup: white jeans, V-neck pale blue sweater, and long white trench. At six-four, my dragon towered over the crowds. Though I kept him near, even his imposing nature didn't offer us much protection during the early hours of the most terrifying shopping day of the year. He, too, had braided his hair, though it was ankle length instead of mid-shoulder like Trillian's. Luckily, his hair moved all on its lonesome. If it hadn't, his braid would have gotten trampled several times tonight.

“Don't remind me.” Smoky rolled his eyes. “Last year was worse than this, I'll give you that.”

“The others aren't done yet, so just hold your horses. Remember? Hanna promised leftover turkey soup along with fresh baked homemade bread if you guys play nice.” I picked up a catnip mouse and shook it, frowning at the
squeaky-squeaky
sound. Delilah would love it.

Her toys were constantly ragged, she played with them so much. And then, the thought occurred to me that we should get her panther form a toy, too. One that could withstand a good mauling. Also—why not one for Nerissa? Her puma liked to play, and on occasion, Delilah and our sister-in-law went hunting together in the forest behind our house. They never really caught anything, but the big cats liked to prowl through the trees.

“After we're done here, we're heading over to the stuffed toys. So gird your loins, or whatever it is you boys do in order to stay sane.”

Oblivious to their groans, I began tossing toy mice in my cart, before we pushed onward.

***

Delilah had driven her Jeep, Menolly had brought her Mustang, and I had driven my Lexus. Morio had also played chauffer, driving his SUV so that Iris and Chase could come with us. That way, we had enough room for all the packages as well.

Hanna had stayed home to watch Maggie, our baby calico gargoyle. And Bruce, Iris's husband, had begged off because he'd promised to help Vanzir and Rozurial with some secret surprise they had planned. They had shooed us out of the house, instructing us
not
to return till early morning. I wasn't sure what they were up to, but could only pray it wasn't something stupid like turning the house into a giant video game or something.

It was nearing 6
A.M
. as we pulled into the driveway to our lovely old three-story Victorian with basement. Menolly still had some time before she had to be in her lair to sleep. Vampires and sunrise? Not such a good mix, so we always made sure she was home in time to get to bed. But we still had nearly ninety minutes before the sun crawled over the horizon. Or up behind the clouds, as was more often the norm here in Seattle.

As we piled out of our cars, the men gathering all our loot for us, I glanced at Trillian and Smoky and wearily smiled. “You do realize how much I love the pair of you, don't you? And Morio, too.” Morio was my third husband. I was one hell of a lucky woman.

His hands full, Smoky winked at me as a strand of his hair unbraided itself, slowly reaching over to caress my cheek. A smile creased his face. Dragon smiles were always a little sly, a little coy.

“You can show us just how much you love us after we haul all this stuff inside.” His voice was husky, and I caught my breath as the touch of his hair sparked off an ache that rose between my legs. I wanted him and I wanted him
now
. It had been two days since I'd had sex—we'd all been busy. But that was two days too long.

Trillian brushed past me, arching an eyebrow. “That's the best idea I've heard all night.”

“I wish.” Shaking my head, I forced my attention away from my nether regions, which were now up in arms, demanding attention. “Go on, the pair of you. You know what waits for us inside there. An early morning brunch, and then Iris and Hanna are going to put us all to work. Except Menolly, of course. Honestly, how Iris manages to have as much energy as she does after having the twins, I dunno. It's been less than a month and she's raring to go.”

As much as the thought of an early morning tryst with my men appealed to me, the morning was given over to homely duties. Today we'd all be decking out the house for Yuletide, from bottom to top. With Iris and Hanna in charge, it meant we'd fill every nook and cranny with some sort of decoration. But I didn't begrudge the time spent, especially this year.

With Father dead and so much upheaval in our lives, it was important to keep our traditions alive. We needed these touchstones to ground us and keep us on track. My premonitions of the other night had faded, and I had put them down to skittishness. So far, nothing had happened, and I hadn't bothered telling anybody about them.

Trillian laughed. “Fine. We'll avoid facing the wrath of the house-maidens. But that means we're on for this evening, though frankly, I'm going to need a nap before then. The few hours we got after Thanksgiving dinner were helpful, but not enough.”