Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 1, After the Fall (18 page)

Torrie stood back straight, wiping a drop of blood from his lip, nothing but a blank expression on his face.  "As you wish, elemental," he said in a controlled voice.

"Let's get one thing straight, demon.  We are not friends, got it?  You might help me today, but that means nothing to me.  Nothing at all.  I'm just as happy sending you back like I did with Leck and Ben."

"Then why should I help you at all?"

"I don't know.  Maybe to get back at your old girlfriend.  I hear she dissed you pretty hard."

Torrie took a deep breath, flaring his nostrils, but saying nothing.

"You've got five seconds before I de-compell your sorry ass out of my head."

"You can incapacitate Maléna, or any silver elf for that matter, by pulling her Wind away from her."

My anger abated just a little at his offer of help.  "How can I do that?   I don't command Wind."

"All of the elements are connected.  You might not command it, but you can influence it.  It takes practice, but I'm confident you could do it.  With the right training."

"Who could train me with that?"

Torrie raised an eyebrow.  "Are you sure you don't already know the answer to that question?"

I sighed.  "It's Ben, isn't it?"

He nodded once.

"Fine.  Thank you.  You can go now."

I lifted up my hands to shove him away from me, but he stepped back out of my reach.

I frowned.  "Get back here.  It's time for you to go."

"But I haven't had my chance to ask you for what I want.  We had a deal."

"I already told you to keep your demon parts away from me," I said, stepping towards him again.

"Just promise me ... that if you ever have the chance in the future, that you will speak the words to send me back to my home."

"What?  That makes no sense at all."

"It doesn't now but perhaps someday in the future it will.  Promise me."

I thought about what he was asking.  His home was in the Underworld, and I had no problem sending him back there at all.  It seemed like a no-risk proposition to me.  "Fine.  If I ever have the chance, I'll be happy to send you back home where you belong."

He smiled, a little too happily for my comfort, but what was done was done; there was no going back now.

"Speaking of going back home," I said, smiling maliciously, "see you later ...
ass!" 
I shoved him hard in the chest, sending him back into the darkness.  His form disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I listened for a moment, hearing no voices or breathing other than my own, turning around in a circle to make sure I was truly alone.  My feet made scraping sounds on the ground that echoed out into the empty space.

"What now?" I said loudly.  "Do I call myself an ass?"  I laughed, deciding that even if it wasn't necessary, it might still be fun to do it that way.  I spread my arms out wide, dropped my head back, and yelled, "Send me back to my bed,
ass!"

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I WOKE UP WITH A headache and butterflies in my stomach. 
Will Ben remember he was my worst nightmare?
  I wasn't ready to know the answer to that question.  I just wanted to figure out the more basic things in life first.  Like where I was going to get some breakfast.

I slowly got out of bed, and within seconds of my feet hitting the floor I had to duck, barely surviving a midair collision with a baby pixie who appeared out of nowhere and almost splatted into my face.

"Holy shit, Baby Bee!  Watch out!" I yelled, following his progress across the room and then looking anxiously towards the door for his parents.

Abby came flying in after him.  "Sorry, Jayne.  He's on a tear right now.  I caught him in the honey."  She had a frantic look on her face as she flew by me, heading to the spot on the wall where he'd disappeared into some branches coming out of the stone.  

I smiled, silently cheering him on.  Little fucker was hiding from his mother.  I wondered if honey was like pixie crack or something.  It probably was.  And with all that sweetness in his tiny body, there was no telling the mischief Willy could get into.

I hurriedly opened my dresser, pulling out clothes and a towel so I could hightail it to the shower before he made another appearance.  I couldn't handle another game of spider nakies right now.  I looked up, searching the walls of the room, realizing I had no idea where my shower even was. 
Do I not have a bathroom in this place? 
That made me really have to pee, knowing I couldn't right now.  My eyes were nearly crossing with the instant, overpowering need.

"Tim!" I yelled out towards the adjoining room.

"Yes, my liege?!" he yelled in his best movie announcer voice, flying into the room.  "Back to the land of the living, I see.  Nice of you to join us.  Breakfast is already over, you know."  He paused and looked at me suspiciously.  "What's wrong with you?" He was back to using his  normal voice.  "You look like you're about to pass out."  He lifted up his arms and sniffed his pits.  "Do I smell?"

"No, stupid, I have to pee!  Where's the damn bathroom?"

He grinned, pointing to the corner of my room.  "Oh, it's right over there.  Phew, for a second there I thought I'd lost some of my charm.  You know ... the stuff that oozes out of my every pore?"

I turned and tiptoed in the general direction he'd pointed to, my bladder spasming, wondering how long I had before I lost it all on the floor.  "Where's the door?  I can't see anything but tree bark!"

"Follow me.  We can chat in the potty like old times."  He flew past me and stopped by a break in the trees that I only noticed once I was close.  "Just put your hand in there and grab the door handle."

I did as he instructed, finding a metal thing behind some leaves.  I pulled and a whole section of the treed wall separated itself from the rest of the greenery and swung open.  I stepped into a cozy bathroom, complete with a toilet, a claw-foot tub, a white pedestal sink, and a large, tiled shower.

I didn't waste any time, dropping my clothes and towel on the floor to run over to the toilet that was separated from the main part of the room by a short half-wall.  Tim flew over to the tub and sat on the faucets, facing me.  I could just barely see him as I peered over the edge of the divider, relieved I'd made it before wetting my pants.

"Wow.  Talk about Niagara Falls," said Tim, snorting.

"Shut up.  I've been holding it for like twenty-four hours or something."  I wiped the sweat off my upper lip.  "Phew, that was a close one."

"Well, you missed all the fun.  I was tempted to invite Spike into your room to give you one of those sleeping beauty kisses, but Willy kept assuring me you were breathing, so I didn't bother."

"You let Willy hang out near my nose?"

"What can I say?  The kid is obsessed with your nostrils."  Tim shrugged.  "It keeps him out of trouble, anyway."

I shook my head, getting ready to stand up and strip for the shower.  "How him hanging out in my nostrils is considered staying out of trouble, I'll never know."  I wiggled my nose around a little, trying to figure out if anything was amiss.  I wouldn't put it past him to stick things up in there, but everything felt normal.  "Are you staying in here?  I have to take a shower.  I reek almost as bad as you do."  I stood and stripped my clothes off, walking carefully on the shiny, slippery floor over to the glass shower door so I could turn the water on.

Tim was back to sniffing himself again.  "Seriously?  I can't smell anything.  Stupid pollen has my nose all messed up."

I laughed, stepping under the deliciously refreshing warm water.  "You're allergic to pollen?  And you're a pixie?  Now, that's funny."

"No, I'm not allergic,
Lellamental
.  I just get too much in there sometimes, and then all I can smell is pollen.  Everything else just kind of fades out when that happens."

"Sounds like an allergy to me," I said, putting shampoo in my hair and scrubbing it around.

"It's not an ..."  Tim shook his head.  "Why am I arguing with you?  You have no idea what you're talking about, amateur elemental that you are.  Besides, we have gossip to get to, so let's drop the pollen talk and get down to the juicy stuff."

"What kind of gossip?"

"Oh, I don't know ... like the gossip about Maléna getting ready to fry your butt.  And the gossip about Tony.  Or maybe the gossip about Chase possibly coming around..."

"What?!"  I flicked my head so fast in Tim's direction I threw soap in my eyes.  "Dammit!  Ouch, that hurts."  I rinsed my face while I continued, making me sound like a talking fish.  "Chase is coming?"

Tim laughed.  "Out of all that, the most important piece of information was about Chase?  Man, you need to get your priorities straight."

"But it's
Chase!"
- my guardian angel who'd masqueraded as my daemon long enough for me to totally fall for him.  "What could possibly be more important than him coming back?"

"I guess you didn't hear the part about Maléna getting ready to end your life."

"I heard that.  I'm not so worried about her."

Tim flew over to the glass, making sure to stay out of the range of my splashing as I rinsed my hair.  "Did Baby Bee stick something up your nose?  A stupid spell or something?  Because if you aren't deathly afraid of her, you're either fooling yourself or under the influence of some bad juju."

"I got some inside info on her ass.  I'm gonna blow her away.  Like, literally."  I smiled, just thinking about it.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Tim, now pushing his nose and hands up against the glass.

I took a soapy finger and pressed it up to his face, wishing I could actually reach his schnoz through the barrier.  "It's a secret."

"How many times do I have to tell you that the roommate code forbids secrets?"  He flew around so the glass didn't separate us anymore, risking getting hit with heavy drops of water in favor of being able to give me his sternest look possible.  "Tell me everything and leave nothing out."

I shut off the shower, finished with conditioning my hair and soaping myself down.  My hairy legs would have to wait until later.  I was too hungry to take the time to shave right now.  "I fell asleep last night, and some weird shit happened.  I ended up talking to Leck and Ben and Torrie."  I said the last name when my face was in the towel, muffling it on purpose.

"Say what?  Say
who?
  Did I just hear you say ...? 
No.
  No, I did not.  I'm
sure
I didn't.  Repeat that last one, would you?  The pollen has apparently reached my gray matter.  I think I cold possibly need brain surgery later."

I pulled the towel away from my face and walked into the bedroom, carrying my clothes with me and patting and squeezing my hair as I went.  "I said, that I talked to them and they told me some stuff."

"Them
who?!
  Stop playing games, Jayne, or I'll get Willy in here to do a nostrilectomy on you."

I laughed.  "Is that even a real procedure?  Is he qualified for that?"

Tim came flying over and hovered right in front of my face.  "Five seconds.  That's all you get.  Five ... four ... three ... two ..."

"Alright, already!  I'll tell you."  I pulled my underwear and jeans on.  "I talked to Torrie the demon, okay?  He told me how to take advantage of Maléna's weaknesses, so we're all good."

Tim started gasping like a fish out of water.  Then he zig-zagged around the room a few times, before freezing above my bed and letting himself plummet down to land on his back.  He laid there, his arms and legs spread out around him, gagging. 

I put my bra on and threw my tunic over my head as I waited for Tim to finish his histrionics.  He was giving it his all, that was for sure.  I watched him feign some seizures before deciding to explain some more.

"It wasn't my fault; it was a total accident.  I compelled him into my dream and he showed up.  And that's not the worst part, Tim."

Tim's seizures stopped and he turned his head towards me weakly.  "Please tell me you're joking."

"No, unfortunately, I'm not.  The worst part of all of it was that he came into my dream in Ben's body.  And so did Leck."

Tim threw his arm over his eyes.  "Woe is me!  I'm roommates with the dumbest elemental to ever walk the Here and Now. 
Oh,
the humiliation! 
Oh
, the pain!"

I threw my towel over him.

"And the last part of my story is that Ben came when I called him and saw those two assbags wearing his skin.  I'm pretty sure he wants a divorce now."

The towel moved around as Tim desperately tried to free himself from beneath it.  I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he sounded cranky.

"I can't hear you, dope.  But anyway, after I sent Leck and Ben out, Torrie and I made a deal; and he gave me the kill-shot on Maléna ... or the put her out of my way shot ... so all's well that ends well."  I sat on the bed fully dressed, ready to brush my hair out, pulling the towel off Tim so he could scold me properly.

He stood there, sunk down into the covers of my bed, his hair sticking out all over and his clothing askew.  His mouth was opening and closing, but no words were coming out.

"What's the matter?  Buggane got your tongue?"  I smiled for a second until I realized that I had just used the demon's own words.  My grin disappeared to be replaced with a grimace of misgiving. 
Holy shit, I hope none of his evil rubbed off on me in there.

"Okay, okay," said Tim, holding his hands out in a calming gesture, "let's just try to get a handle on what happened in here last night ... at the scene of the crime."  He clasped his hands together and put them up to his chin.  "So you were sleeping and somehow managed to pull other fae and a demon into your dream is that right?"

I nodded my head, drawing the brush through my hair and squeezing the extra water out onto the towel.  "Yep."

"And Ben realized that you consider him your worst nightmare?  Like, worse than Torrie?"  Tim started tapping his clasped hands on his mouth.