Fire Me Up (32 page)

"That woman with the silent husband."

"Silent. . . you mean Hank the oracle?"

She nodded.

Marvabelle. I should have known. For some reason, she'd had
it in for me since the day Moa's body was discovered.

Rene demanded on the ride out to the vet clinic to be told
what it was we had been discussing so seriously, and after receiving a detailed
summary of Tiffany's virgin duties the previous evening, I told him the latest
of what had happened with Monish, Nora, and the dragons.

"
There is much to think over, no?" he asked as he pulled into
the clinic parking lot. "But one thing is obvious—you must do all you can to
make the incubus attacks stop."

"I wish I could," I said a little forlornly. "I wish I knew
what it was that I am supposedly doing that's bringing them up. I just don't see
how I can possibly be responsible."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence, and Maybe it is what you
call fate?"

"Fate," I snorted disgustedly, having had my fill of that
idea. "What has fate to do with anything?"

"You are here," he said, getting out of the taxi as Tiffany
and I slid out of the backseat. His eyes were serious, his face grim,

"You're saying I'm causing these attacks just because I'm
here?" I asked, getting more indignant by the moment. First people accuse me of
attacking the Guardians, and now Rene was implying I was the Otherworld
equivalent of Typhoid Mary? "You're saying it's something like that thing with
Paolo—because he says it, it becomes true, thus because I'm here, the incubi are
attacking?"

"No," he answered slowly, his voice gentle. "I am thinking
that perhaps you are here because you are the only one who can stop what is
happening."

My indignation melted away at what he was saying. "Oh. I
hadn't thought of that."

"I thought you hadn't." he said, turning and giving me a
gentle push toward the vet clinic. "Now let us retrieve Jim, and then we will
discuss the situation more, yes?"

"Yes. And thank you, Rene, for being so patient with me. I
didn't mean to snap at you, but it's been a hell of a last few days."

"You are tired," he said smoothly, walking with us to the
clinic's reception area. "And also, you are not French. Allowances must be
made."

Jim received a clean bill of health from the vet, a man who
lectured me, via Tiffany, about the follies of leaving my dog alone to eat
poisonous plants. He held up a bit of greenstuff extracted from the deer food
that Rene had scooped up at the feeding station, explaining that it was Chinese
yew, a tree that deer loved but that was deadly poisonous to dogs.

I bore his lecture with all due humility, knowing there was
no way I could explain the true situation. By the time I had thanked the man
profusely for saving Jim's life and paid the hefty bill, I was more than a
little anxious to get Jim out of there. The demon had never been one to hold its
tongue for long, and I had not had the wits about me when we brought it in the
day before to whisper a command of silence in its furry little ear. Since no one
looked freaked, I assumed that thus far Jim hadn't said a word, but I knew it
was pushing my luck to expect that it could hold out much longer.

And I really didn't want to have to explain why my dog not
only randomly ate deer food but also swore like a sailor and was prone to
risque" jokes. There was only so much a girl could deal with at any one time.

I was right. The second the door to the vet clinic closed,
Jim burst into garrulous, if a bit uncontrolled, speech. "Fires of Abaddon,
Aisling, could you have left me there any longer? What an awful place! It was a
nightmare! It was horrible! They stuck tubes in my front Legs and kept shoving
thermometers where the sun don't shine, and worst of all, they wouldn't feed me
anything but some sort of horrible watery gruel! Isn't that animal cruelty?
Isn't that against some sort of international prisoner law? Is the Geneva
convention no longer honored? Just look at the spot they stuck the IV in—does it
look infected to you?"

I got on my knees right there in the middle of the parking
lot and hugged Jim, burying my face in its thick black fur, so happy to see the
demon hale and hearty that my eyes went watery. "Dammit, Jim, I'm a Guardian,
not a doctor. It's good to see you up and about. We'd thought we'd lost you
there for a little bit."

"You know I can't die." Jim's voice was a bit gruff, but I
knew it was happy to see us, too, because it gave my neck a surreptitious slurp.

"Yes, but I also know how much you like this furry form." I
gave its ears a rub, smiling when it groaned with pleasure and leaned into my
hand. "We have a new rule, demon—no eating food that I don't give you, OK?"

Jim shook, a cloud of black hair falling to the ground.
"You'll get no argument from me there. Now, how about a proper breakfast?
Something with lots of meat."

I gave the demon one last pat, then escorted it to the car,
where Tiffany and Rene were waiting for us. "The vet said only light food for
the next day, just to make sure your tummy doesn't get upset. So no meat, but
maybe we can find you some plain toast or something light like that. Rene—the
wildlife farm."

Rene nodded as he slid in behind the steering wheel. The
conversation in the car on the way to the park consisted of Jim trying to
persuade me to let it have a full breakfast and Tiffany telling Jim about her
adventures in virginity. I bounced between gratitude that Jim was back where it
belonged and worry about what on earth could be going on with the incubus
attacks and how I was supposed to figure it all out, not to mention stop it.

By the time we arrived at the wildlife park, Jim had picked
up enough from Tiffany to give me a hard time. "So! I go away on an overnighter,
and you try to kill a couple of innocent Guardians."

"One innocent Guardian, and I didn't try to kill her."
Succinctly, I outlined the facts as we walked to the entrance of the park. "You
of all people should know that I didn't summon any of the incubi."

"Hmm," Jim said, but it gave me an odd look.

Tiffany practiced her smile on the few people milling around
the entrance waiting for the gates to open. "I hope Gyorgy will be in a better
mood this morning. I hope he will not frown at me and say unpleasant things
again. It is not good for the purity of your soul to say unpleasant things. Not
even the blood of an exquisite virgin such as myself can cleanse that."

"When did he have time to say anything unpleasant to you?" I
asked, confused. "You were only with him for a few seconds before we ran off to
rescue Jim."

"Wasn't soon enough," Jim muttered darkly.

"No, not then. Later." Tiffany pulled a small mirror from her
purse and examined herself critically before smiling at her reflection. "Last
night, when he came to the hotel to throw himself at my feet and beg me to let
him make much love to me. Do you think I look more like a princess with my hair
up or down?"

I only just stopped myself from goggling at her. "What? Last
night? When did Gytirgy meet you last night? Where did he meet you?"

She looked as surprised as I felt. "It was at the hotel,
after I returned from the Mage ceremony. He was in my room, waiting for me. He
said many things about how incredible my smile was, and how it lit up his heart
inside, and how he would devote himself to me and see to it that I had
everything I desired if only I would give myself to him."

Well, this was all news to me! Rene and Jim, ahead of us as
the gates were unlocked and opened, entered the park. I grabbed Tiffany's arm to
hold her back a moment. "Tiffany, why didn't you tell me this morning that
Gyorgy came to your room last night?"

"You didn't ask me who visited my room last night," she
answered, giving my cheek a little pat. "You are making the Sad Eyes again. Do
not be sad, Aisling. If you were to stand outside the hotel again, I am sure a
man would throw himself on your belly and offer to make much loves to you
again.I'

"Thanks for the pep talk. I wish I had known Gyorgy was at
the hotel last night."

"Why?" Tiffany asked, escaping my hold and hurrying to catch
up to Jim and Rene, blasting her happy smile to everyone within range.

"Because it's just another strange happening that doesn't
seem to be connected to anything, and yet somehow I feel is," I said slowly,
following her.

"Maybe it isn't connected," she answered, looking pleased
with life. And why shouldn't she be? She was successful at her job, had men
fawning at her feet, and had the whitest, brightest smile in human existence.
"Maybe it just is."

Jim and Rene set off for the path that led to the area where
I had found Gyorgy. Tiffany and I followed behind at a slightly slower pace, me
so I could think and Tiffany so she could pause occasionally and do the
smile-share thing. "A coincidence, you mean?" I shook my head. "No, the things
that have happened are just too unlikely to be a coincidence."

"That is not what I meant. Perhaps the things that have
happened are meant to make you think they are connected with each other, but in
reality they aren't. Oh, look, baby ducks! I would so love to have a baby duck!
Look, the one at the end is smiling at me!"

Tiffany hurried off to coo over a clutch of ducklings in the
children's petting area while I stood thunderstruck as I considered what she had
said.

"Aisling? Is something the matter?" Rene and Jim hoved into
view as I thought fast and furious.

"Wrong? No. I don't think so. Maybe."

Jim rolled its eyes. "Well, I see you're in as fine a form as
ever. Yes, no, maybe. Boy, this place gives me the hinkey. Any place that allows
dogs in and keeps poisonous stuff at mouth level is too creepy for me. How far
is it to this hermit dude?"

"You were supposed to be on leash." I glanced back. Jim had
stopped at the head of the path, looking around nervously. My heart went out to
the poor demon. I supposed if I'd almost died at a place, I'd feel a little
weird about coming back to it, too. "Would you be happier if you and Rene waited
here while I go find Gydrgy? There're benches over there, by the petting zoo."

Relief was clearly visible in the demon's eyes. "The car is
better. The car is comfortable. The bench looks hard"

"Well, if you're sure—"

It was off before I could say anything else, racing back
through the entrance toward Rene's cousin's taxi.

"Do you mind?" I asked Rene. "I don't think Jim needs
supervising, but it would probably feel better to have you there."

"It is not a problem. We will wait for you at the car."

I gave him a little hug. "Thanks, Rene. You're a peach."

"Non, peaches give me the red splotches. I am an apple."

"A big shiny one. I'll be back as soon as I find my hermit.
If I'm not back in twenty minutes or so, send Tiffany for me."

I needn't have bothered with the warning. I wasn't three
hundred yards down the trail before a familiar man burst out of a stand of beech
trees, heading straight for me.

"Guardian! Where is Tiffany? Where did you leave her? You
didn't leave her at the entrance, where all the rangers are? They are
iniquitous! She is too innocent, too pure for them!"

"Whoa, wait a sec!" I caught the edge of Gyorgy's shirt as he
barreled around me. The path had curved enough that he couldn't see into the
clearing at the main entrance, but he clearly was intent on not even stopping to
pick up his amulet before he went hunting for Tiffany. That thought had me
wrinkling my brow as his momentum caused me to spin around. "How did you know
that Tiffany came with us?"

He froze for a second, then he grinned, his hand closing over
mine, still clutching his shirt. "She is a friend of ours, is she not? She told
me last night what had happened to your dog. I am sorry it was sick, but it is
better now, yes?"

"Yes, my dog is better," I said, biting the inside of my
cheek. Something was raising the hairs on the back of my neck, but I couldn't
figure out what it was. Gyorgy looked just the same as he had the day
before—pleasant, clean, and innocuous, if a little anxious. It was obvious he'd
just come from his morning ablutions and breakfast—his hair was partially wet,
there was a smidge of drying soap or shaving cream behind his left ear, and the
scent of bacon and campfire clung to his shirt. "And yes, Tiffany is my friend,
and she's here, petting the ducklings."

He relaxed, actually sighing in relief. "There are only women
at the small animal petting area."

"Yeah. Um. You do know that Tiffany is celibate, right? She
mentioned that?"

He made a dismissive head bobble. "She said many things last
night. You are thinking that I am too old for her, that she is too pure a flower
for me to pluck. But you are wrong! She is like no other. She is the rarest of
all hothouse flowers, and only I will enjoy the beauty of her petals as she
unfurls for me."