Kissed by Eternity (3 page)

"Christ on a bike, Trevor. What is going on over there? First Brent Darroch and now Alister. Does Kabita know?" She wouldn't be thrilled that her father was running amok.

"Yes." Trevor's tone was grim. "And there's another thing."

"Oh, lord, what now?"

"I got a call from Eddie. Alister broke in and stole the grimoire."

"Freaking fantastic." After all the trouble we'd gone to getting that thing away from him, now he had it and was on the loose. "You seriously need to think about hiring some new guards or something." My head gave a vicious throb, and I touched my forehead. Inigo came striding across the room to stand between me and my brother.

"She needs her rest," Inigo said. "You should get back to your men. Morgan might have delayed the inevitable, but the agents are the only thing holding the war back from the rest of us."

Trevor looked like he might argue. I nodded. "It's fine, Trev. I'll be fine. Go."

With a final nod, Trevor left the room. I heard him barking orders into his phone as he disappeared into the hall.

I pulled the IV out of my arm, sat up, and swung my bare legs over the edge of the bed. "Where are my clothes?"

Inigo laid a hand on my shoulder. "What are you doing? You need to be in bed. You have a serious concussion."

"I'm fine."

"You're not. You should be dead."

"What are you talking about? I got a little bump on the head."

He gave me a look that chilled me. "Morgan, Jack told me that when he got to you, your skull was cracked open like a freaking egg."

I blinked. "No." It came out as little more than a whisper.

"Yes. The doctors said there was no way you were going to survive. As it is"—he shrugged— "thank gods you're a fast healer, but you still shouldn't be getting up." He tried to press me back down, but I resisted.

"I've got to get back to the battle and restore the barrier before it gets any worse. Then I have to go after Alister. We need to get the grimoire back. I'm fine."

He stared me straight in the eyes. "You have a headache."

How did he always know these things? I shrugged. "A little."

"Bullshit. You don't know whether to puke or pass out."

He had a point. My stomach was roiling and all I wanted to do was lay back down.

"You should do as Inigo says, Morgan," Cordy said gently. "You really aren't quite up to the task at the moment."

"We can't let Alister get away."

"We won't."

The three of us and Bastet turned toward the doorway. Kabita smiled back grimly. She looked a little worse for wear, and I was pretty sure that was demon blood streaked across her left cheek. "I've called in some backup. You, young lady, are to lie down and rest. You're not going anywhere until you can sit up without looking like you're going to pass out."

"But —"

"No buts." Inigo pressed me gently down onto the bed and pulled the blankets up. "You heard her. It's taken care of."

"Who'd you get?" I asked reluctantly.

Kabita smiled that mysterious smile of hers. "Only the best."

"I'm the best."

She snorted. "Not right now, you're not."

"Fine. Who?"

"Haakon Magnussen. Our friendly neighborhood Viking."

"You're kidding. How'd you get him involved?" I hadn't seen Haakon since that little jaunt in the tropics. I couldn't imagine what Jack must be thinking with another Sunwalker on his turf. Still, Jack had been MIA for several weeks, and we needed help, so dude could suck it.

She shrugged. "His job was finished, and he was available. Told him we needed help and offered him a chunk of change. On the SRA's dime, of course."

"Of course." I pondered it for a moment. "No way." I sat up. "He's not going alone. I'm going with him. He doesn't know Alister like I do." I carefully avoided Kabita's gaze. We had never really talked about her father going to the dark side, so to speak, and I wasn't bringing it up until she did. It left things a little awkward sometimes.

"Morgan…" Inigo's voice held a warning.

I glanced at him. His face was expressionless, but there was that look in his eyes.

"Kabita, Cordy, can you give us a minute?"

They nodded and left the room, leaving me alone with my boyfriend for the first time in ages. And Bastet, if you could count her. But I didn't think the cat was interested in our domestic problems. "Listen to me," I said calmly, quietly. "You have no right. None. You have been absent both physically and mentally for months. I've done my best to help, and you've shut me out of your life. You have zero, and I mean zero, say in the matter."

And just like that, I realized how angry with him I was. How hurt. Betrayed. How much I wanted him to know it. Feel it. All the pain he'd caused me. I got it. I did. PTSD did stupid shit to your brain. But that didn't make it hurt any less. Or make me feel any less abandoned by the person I loved most in this world.

Because I loved him. I did. And I would do just about anything to have the man I loved back in my life. But I would not, could not, let him control me.

"Morgan, please." This time his voice was soft. His eyes were pleading. He sat beside me on the edge of the bed and took my hand in his bigger one. I felt heat rolling off him in waves. His dragon self was close to the surface, which meant his emotions were running high even if he wasn't showing it. So not like my Inigo, who'd worn his heart on his sleeve. He stroked his thumb across the back of my hand, raising shivers as he always did. "I am sorry. I can't tell you how much. I know this has been…hard. I wish it could have been different. That I could have handled it differently, but that experience—dying, being reborn—changed me."

"I know." I felt small. Sad. I wanted to curl up in a ball. But I had a job to do.

"I just want to keep you safe. We've lost so much time."

"
We
didn't lose time," I snapped. "I was here waiting for you. You were in suspended animation or whatever. You didn't suffer. I did. Then you chose to stay away, to leave me alone. The changes—those aren't the problem. That we could have dealt with. But you shut me out."

He nodded. "I needed my space. I won't apologize for that. But I will apologize for hurting you in the process, because that is something I never want to do."

"Too late."

He nodded, and this time I saw the bone-deep sadness in him. "I know. And I will spend as long as it takes making it up to you."

"By bossing me around?" I quirked an eyebrow, or tried. They both went up. Damn eyebrows.

The slightest smile played about his lips. "You know me. Can't help myself. Sometimes you drive me nuts."

And then I was laughing, which made my head hurt like hell. But I didn't care because for the first time in a very long time, Inigo was laughing too.

Chapter 4

Inigo talked me into staying in the hospital at least until Haakon touched down. I agreed, if only to shut him up. And also because my head still hurt. Plus the nurse kind of scared me, although she didn't complain when Bastet climbed onto the foot of my bed and curled up. You'd think that was a sweet gesture, but you'd be wrong. The cat used every opportunity to shoot me a nasty glare.

Cordelia had hauled Inigo to the other side of the room in order to read his cards. He'd been reluctant, but I was relieved. Right now I just wanted a little peace and quiet.

I tried to use the time to think things through about Inigo and me, but eventually I gave up. The headache was too much, and frankly, I didn't want to think anymore. I'd rather just feel, and what I was feeling was hope. Hope that things between us would finally be okay again.

With three hours before Haakon was due to arrive, my cell phone rang. I frowned when I saw Trevor's name on my screen.

"Morgan, we need you. Now."

"What happened?"

"The dome is down."

"The whole thing?"

"Yes." His tone was terse. "Get here." He hung up.

I swung my legs out of bed. "Where are my clothes?" Bastet jumped off the bed with a sniff and joined Cordelia near the window.

"No, wait. You promised." Inigo tried to press me back down on the bed, but I swatted his hand away. "You need rest."

"The dome is down. I have to fix it or resting will be the least of my worries. Now, clothes." I snapped my fingers.

Inigo rolled his eyes but brought me my clothes. Cordy looked amused.

"Why do you have to go fix it?" Inigo asked. "Isn't that what put you in the hospital in the first place?"

I shimmied into my jeans. "Overdoing it put me in the hospital. I channeled too much at once. I won't do it again."

"And how are you going to avoid it?"

"I'll think of something," I said testily.

"Ice."

Both of us turned to stare at Cordelia. I yanked my T-shirt over my head. "Ice?"

She gave me an angelic smile. Oh, lord, she was away with the fairies again. "Yes. It came to me."

The voices. Goody. "Could you be more specific?" I sat down on the bed to pull on my socks and boots.

"That's all they gave me." She sighed as she stroked Bastet's back. The cat let out a contented purr. See, that was what cats did when they liked you.

"Okay, then." I snagged my jacket off the chair and shrugged into it. "I guess I'll see what I can do. Weapons?"

"In your car," Inigo said. "Down in the parking lot. Jack put them in the trunk. He didn't think the hospital would appreciate them in your room."

"Good point." I turned to Cordy. "You coming?"

"What would I do that for? I don't have the necessary magic." She placed Bastet gently on the floor and stood, shaking out her robe. "Now that you're all right, Bastet and I will head home. Until you need us." She strode out, Bastet trotting along behind her.

I shook my head. "Let's go."

# # #

The sun was setting when we left the car at Tommy's cabin and hiked across the high desert toward the battle. I heard the clash of weaponry and the explosions of magic long before the war zone came into sight. I winced when I saw the scorched earth. It looked even worse than it had earlier, and Trevor was right: the barrier was down completely.

Tommy waved us over toward a cluster of sagebrush a safe distance from the battle. Safe being a relative term. I could see Trevor's SRA agents ranged around the battlefield, weapons in their hands. They were different from the ones I'd seen earlier. Definitely not your standard automatic rifles.

"Tesselah stopped by earlier," Tommy said with a nod toward the agents. "She worked up something new for the boys to try out. Seems to be working so far."

Tesselah was a genius with weaponry effective against supernatural elements. I'd had the pleasure of using many of her experimental gadgets over the years.

"What are they?"

He pursed his lips. "Temporal guns."

"Temporal guns. Really."

"Well, there were a few other words involved. It was a very long title."

"What do they do?"

"Act as a temporary barrier. The fighters get too near the line, the agent shoots them and up goes a momentary barrier preventing them from getting any closer. It's a stop gap, nothing more."

"Can we reactivate the barrier?" Inigo asked.

"Permanently, no. We need a witch for that, and since Kabita set it, she's got to fix it."

"Did you call her?" I asked.

"She's a little busy at the moment. Apparently the demon infestation turned out to be a little bigger than she thought."

I gave him a look. "Bigger?"

"The pastor was the one who summoned them."

"Holy shit." Inigo's eyes were wide.

"You aren't kidding. We must do this ourselves."

"How?" I didn't think I could reactivate the dome. I didn't have that kind of ability.

"I believe I can raise the barrier again, at least temporarily. If we can figure out a way to keep it in place…"

"Ice!"

Both men turned to stare at me.

"Cordy said I should use ice, remember?" I turned to Inigo.

He nodded. "Yeah, but you didn't know what that meant."

"I do now. Tommy, if you raise the barrier, I can coat it with Ice."

"It's a little warm for that," Tommy pointed out.

"Sure. If it were normal ice. But it isn't. I'll put it on good and thick. It ought to hold for a while. Long enough for me to go after Alister, anyway."

"Why didn't you do this before?" Tommy asked.

"Hadn't thought of it." And I probably still wouldn't have if Cordelia hadn't pointed it out.

He nodded. "All right then. Let's try it."

We followed him to the nearest ward. He knelt down and placed his hands around it and began to chant in a low voice, rocking back and forth with the rhythm. While he did that I called Trevor.

"Pull your men back. We're going to raise the barrier."

"Got it."

I watched as the agents began to fall back, away from the fighting. They kept their guns raised, pointed at the combatants.

Tommy's chanting grew more intense. Then the dome began to shimmer. Well, more like sputter. It flashed and sparked as if it were trying to restore itself but didn't have quite enough juice.

"That's the best I can do," Tommy muttered, voice strained. "Get to it."

I nodded. Reaching inside me, I grabbed hold of the sparkling blue I knew was Water. I pulled it toward me, demanding its cooperation. It was reluctant at first, but then it flowed toward me in undulating waves until it burst out through the center of my chest.

Focusing, I sent it toward the dome. It splashed against the nearly invisible walls, coating the entire dome in Water. Then with a thought, I froze the water solid. It formed a thin crust of ice around the dome.

"That's not enough," Inigo murmured. "They'll break through that in seconds."

If it were real ice. But it wasn't. Still, he was right. I needed more.

I sent another wave washing across the dome, and then another. I froze each layer until I had a thick rime of ice built up. I took a deep breath and pushed the Water back inside. It went with surprising ease. Apparently it was as tired as I was.

Inside, somebody rammed the wall of the dome. We all held our breath, waiting for cracks. When none showed, we breathed a sigh of relief.