Motor City Mage (9 page)

“Should we take turns sleeping, do you think?” Lana sat cross-legged on the blanket.

“Probably.” Des sat beside her and pulled off his shoes. “But since we’re not sure how long we have before Vin shows up, it might be better if we both catch as much of a nap as we can. I sleep lightly, and I suspect you do, too.” He lay between her and the door, but rolled to face her instead of watching for trouble.

“But first…” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, his lips coming down on hers.

“Mmm.” She sighed against his lips when they came up for air. “I needed that almost as much as the water.”

“Me, too,” he whispered as he combed his fingers through her tangled mass of hair. “You were good today. You held your own through some nasty-assed fights.”

From Des, this was high praise indeed, and Lana felt a swell of pride. “Even though I fell apart afterward?”

“Yeah, even so. If I’d had to rip a chunk out of a Gravaki with my teeth, I think I’d have puked my guts out. Crying once it’s all over isn’t such a bad reaction.” He kissed her again, his hands finding her breasts through the deep sleeve openings of the tunic, and she decided she had better things to do than argue. She returned his kiss, her tongue tangling with his, even while she reached between them to unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans. He pulled away just long enough to push them off, along with his boxers. Lana yanked the tunic over her head and lay back on the mat.

This wasn’t making love. This was
oh-my-god-we’re-not-fucking-dead
sex. She didn’t want gentleness and he didn’t offer it, though they were both careful to make as little noise as possible. He leaned over her and found her cleft with his hand, stroking her until he was sure she was ready, which she was. From the moment they’d climbed into the loft, she’d been thinking of sinking her teeth into him. She widened her legs as Des rolled on top of her and slid home without any further preliminaries.

Lana wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders, gripping him tightly. He leaned up on his elbows and took her hard and fast, kissing her with the same ferocity. His tongue thrust into her mouth as his lips and even teeth ground against hers. She gave back as good as she got, bucking up into his hips and kissing him back just as fiercely. Her belly tightened almost to the point of pain as she closed in on her peak faster and harder than ever before.

“Damn, woman,” he gasped when he pulled his mouth away. Lana gulped in a breath before moving her mouth to his shoulder. Her fangs had elongated and without thinking, she sank them into the ropey muscle of his deltoid.

The moment she did, she came, an explosive release that would have had her screaming the place down if her teeth hadn’t been locked into Des’s shoulder. Her eyes closed as the waves of her climax crashed over her, stealing her breath and her mind. Nothing existed, no demons, no danger, no worried families, just Des and this unbelievable passion they generated when they touched.

“Yesss,” Des hissed as he thrust one final time and emptied himself into her pussy, his cock held deep as it pulsed and jetted streams of liquid heat into her core.

They lay entwined for so long that Lana, exhausted as she was, began to doze. Des had collapsed down onto her chest. He was heavy, but his weight wasn’t unpleasant. And if she was a little over-warm with a large human blanket, she was too replete to make him move. Yes, they were still in a precarious situation, but now, just for a little while she wanted to enjoy the illusion of safety here in his arms.

All too soon, Des groaned and rolled to his side next to her, bringing her back to full wakefulness. “You are amazing, woman. Sorry if that was a little rough.”

“It was fine.” More than fine, it had been exactly what she wanted, needed. “Sorry about the bite.”

“Compared to all the other holes in my hide in the last few days, a couple tooth marks are nothing.” He reached a hand over and pushed a strand of hair off her face, which like the rest of her was damp with sweat. “Get some sleep.”

The holes
weren’t
nothing. In the lupine community, wearing another wolf’s mark on your skin was a serious sign of a potential mating. The instinct to mark her partner had never surfaced for Lana before. It meant she had some deep feelings for Des, feelings she didn’t even want to admit to herself, let alone explain to him. She’d have to make sure he healed those before they got back home. Her cousins would never let them hear the end of it.

She meant to speak, to let him know, but she was too drained to find the words.
Tomorrow
, she thought as her eyelids fell shut.
We can deal with that tomorrow.
Before she could finish the thought, the darkness closed in around her.

* * *

Des had thought about staying awake and keeping watch, but he didn’t have it in him. He’d used the last dregs of his magic to clean the two of them up, at least enough so she wouldn’t wake up with anyone else’s blood on her, and so his scratches wouldn’t get infected. Then he’d rubbed the bite marks on his shoulder and smiled. They shouldn’t have turned him on, but they did. He let himself drift, knowing he’d wake if anyone, friend or foe, entered the barn. When the barn door cracked open, he proved himself right, coming fully awake in a heartbeat. As the hinges creaked, he eased to the edge of the loft to get a look.

“We’ve got trouble,” Vin said, standing in a shaft of weak, pre-dawn light. “Malen’s gangstas are here. They’re questioning the household now, and they’ve got torches.”

“Lana,” Des growled as he pulled on his pants and shoes.

“I heard.” She was already moving, tugging the sleeveless tunic over her head. “Do we have somewhere to go? Your magician friend who can open a gate?”

“Can you flash us there?” Des asked.

“Yeah. I can flash you one at a time.”

Screams filled the night, and through the cracked door, Des saw that the guardsmen had just torched the farmhouse. “Too late. They’re headed toward us. Six guards.” The farm family huddled in the driveway, clinging to one another pitifully. One of the soldiers threw a torch into the roof of the barn and the thatch immediately began to crackle.

“Shit. Can either of you put out the fire?” Lana began unlatching the stalls of the big beasts as she spoke. “We can’t desert them, not when it’s us the bad guys are after.”

“I can’t. Slow it down a little, maybe.” In the daylight, Des saw there was a second door to the barn, behind the cart, big enough for the vehicle to move in and out. Understanding that she wanted to free the animals, he darted over to fling open the oversized exit.

“Likewise.” Vin eased the nose of his rifle out the doorway and sent a spray of automatic fire at the guards. “Two down.” He shot another burst and a hail of bullets came in through the thin door. One grazed Des’s shoulder, stinging without knocking him back. Vin grunted, but didn’t fall.

Lana had all the animals free, even the little things from the hutch, which she threw into the cart. With her lupine strength, she pushed the cart out the back, several yards from the barn. The draft animals clustered near her and she patted them, keeping them as calm as possible while the barn began to burn. Des watched all of this out of the corner of his eye as he leaned out the door and cast a flash spell at the three remaining Gravaki guards. With them blinded, Vin easily shot them down.

“Vin, flash the barrel of water up to the roof,” Lana called.

Des looked up. The fire hadn’t spread to the walls yet. A barrel of water might put it out. Vin nodded and lifted the barrel, flashing to the top of the wall. Water splashed and steam hissed, but the fire was diminished enough that Des could use a wind spell, sucking the oxygen away from the remaining embers and flames, which soon darkened. Though the roof was half gone, the barn still stood.

Vin flashed down and spoke to the family. The biggest one, probably the male, followed Vin back into the barn. “They want to thank you,” he said. “They can live in the barn while they rebuild the house—they won’t need to be up on stilts until the rainy season. With the animals saved, they’ll be able to eat and work the farm.”

“Can we blow up the portal so that no more of Malen’s friends come through?” Des was tired of being chased. Even more, he was tired of Lana being chased.

Vin nodded. “I will as soon as we sort this out here.”

Lana led the beasts back into the barn. The farmer was a dark blue creature in a short toga-like garment. He was bigger than Fish, maybe eight feet tall and four hundred pounds, with the six arms of the wagon driver the night before. He clicked and burbled something at her, bowing his head.

“He owes you for saving the stock and the wagon. Even if the barn had burnt, he could have driven his family to safety,” Vin translated. “He’s offering you one of the beasts as a thank you. They’re worth quite a bit here—it would pay for some clothes and the spell to send you home.”

Lana shook her head. “They’ve lost so much because of us. I can’t.” The animal she’d befriended the night before—today Des could tell it was a soft gray color, the lightest of the five—wrapped its trunk around her shoulders and she stroked it fondly. “But thank them for us. And tell them how sorry we are.”

The farmer called something and his family joined them in the barn, stepping away from the dripping hole in the roof. The mother sent her two oldest children out to hitch one of the animals to the cart, while the youngest helped her return the others to their stalls. The final one left Lana only reluctantly and she rubbed its nose before pushing it on its way.

Vin spoke to the farmer again before turning to Des. “They’ll let you wait here while I go blast the portal. He says not having any more Gravaki coming through is almost worth losing their house. At least this way, none of their kids will end up as mine slaves. He’ll keep an eye on you ’til I get back.”

“Lana, will you be all right here if I go with Vin? I want to watch him destroy a portal.” The smallest child was touching Lana’s silky hair, and she’d dropped to her knees so the tyke didn’t have to stretch.

“I think I’ll be fine,” she said on a rueful laugh. “Hair seems to be something of a novelty here. And I think my new friend will protect me.” She glanced at the stall behind her.

“All right.” Des didn’t like leaving her alone, but he trusted Vin a little less than he trusted a family of farmers complete with chickens. Or whatever those were. He locked arms with Vin and let him flash them back to the woods.

“How much magic does the spell drain?” Des asked.

“A lot,” Vin admitted. “You want me to do it?”

Des considered. “I think I’d rather you be able to transport us. Let me do this one.”

“Go for it. You remember the spell?”

Des nodded. He had a close to eidetic memory for spells. Pulling power from the ground beneath his feet, he centered himself and inhaled deeply before spreading his hands to grip the two trees that marked the portal. Focusing his energy on the spell, he spoke the words he’d memorized—hell was it one day or two?—before.

There was a pop and a flash, blinding him for half a second, and then his vision cleared. The area between the two trees no longer shimmered—it was just an empty space that soon would be full of man eating vines, he was sure. “Let’s go,” he said to Vin.

Vin whistled. “Nice work. You’ve got some power there, wizard-boy. Remind me to stay on your good side.”

“Just get us back,” Des grumbled. “And keep your eyes off Lana’s…legs.” And breasts, where the tunic gaped at the armholes. It was distracting as all get out.

Vin barked a laugh and caught hold of Des’s wrist. “Between us, I think we can get her covered up. But don’t worry. I prefer my females a lot less furry.”

Des gave a snort. “Huh. A week ago I’d have said the same.”

They flashed back to find Lana and the farmers sitting on hay bales and eating the fruit from the barrel. One half of Lana’s hair hung in a neat braid, tied with a strip of string, and the littlest child perched beside her, plaiting the other half and chattering away in her own language.

“You make friends with everyone, don’t you?” Des asked as he helped himself to a piece of fruit and took a seat.

“Beats making enemies.” Lana shrugged. “I traveled with a band, remember? I’m used to finding myself in strange places. Vin, will they be able to get food and water? How about money? Did they lose everything?”

Vin asked the male, and then translated his reply. “They have a well, and the fields are irrigated from a cistern up in the hills. They also have money squirreled away, so they’ll be able to feed their kids and rebuild their place. His wife has family nearby who will help.”

The wife spoke and Vin grinned. “She says the
csbeet
has chosen Ms. Novak. It will be desolate if she leaves it behind.” He nodded at the animal still trying to reach Lana with its trunk.

Lana shook her head and reached back to pet the trunk. “Did you explain that I can’t have an extra-planar pet in Detroit? Especially one the size of a small hippo?”

Vin spoke at length to the farmer’s wife, who gesticulated with all four arms as she replied. Vin snorted a laugh. “Okay, they’ll keep it for you and use the milk, and work it, in exchange for boarding. Meanwhile, they’ll give us some cash. If you ever come back, the animal is yours.”

The middle child pulled a pouch from under its toga with the distinct metallic clink of coins and handed it to his mother.
Smart, sneaking the money out with the kid.
The wife selected three large silver coins and handed them to Lana, though she spoke to Vin, whose eyes had widened.

“That’s a chunk of change ’round here.” Vin said after he’d presumably thanked her. “It’ll more than cover our expenses, including the one-shot portal back to Earth.”

The wife said something else and Vin added, “Plus a proper robe for Lana.” He rolled his eyes on the word
proper
. “And shoes. They insist.”

“You’re sure they can spare it?” Des asked before he accepted the coin.

“No sweat,” Vin answered. “It’s all cool. Three of the
csbeets
are pregnant. At market, each calf will make them four times what they gave us. That’s a fraction of what we saved them.”