cold.
A shape moved into my field of vision, shining in the returned moonlight. I had known what it was before seeing it. An ice elemental. A creature vaguely anthropomorphic and composed of sharp, glittering ice crystals.
Technically, however, it was just one of the gentry. Some of them could not pass physically into our world, just as some shamans could not cross physically into theirs. Gentry not wanting to come in spirit but lacking the strength to come over with bodies intact would sometimes cross in an altered, flawed form. An elemental form.
Of course, the thing was, any gentry not strong enough to come physically was not even close to being as strong as me. I could kick any elemental’s ass easily. Well, if I had the right tools, of course.
At the moment, all I had—aside from my own physical strength—was my jewelry, which was more defensive than offensive. All of my weapons had been left at home, save my wand, which was in my purse. Unfortunately, my purse still sat over by the door where it had been dropped immediately upon entering the room, lest it hinder Kiyo and me ripping each other’s clothes off.
A dilemma, truly. But the ice elemental could see we were awake now, and a cold smile—seriously—crossed its face.
Screw this. I was going to have to make a move for the door and hope I was faster than it. I started to tell Kiyo just to stay still, but suddenly he leapt from his lounging position and nailed the elemental squarely with a kick straight to the solar plexus.
The elemental flew backward, hitting the wall, and for a moment, I could only stare. I’d barely seen Kiyo move. One minute he was with me, the next he was on the elemental. And was he on it! I mean, I was stronger than a lot of people, but I could not have landed that blow. I knew of few who could. It was my will or weapons that fought a creature like this in the end, not my body. How had Kiyo done that? I stared at him incredulously, then realized I was missing my window here.
I sprang from the bed, slipping out of Kiyo’s reach. “No, Eugenie! Stay away!”
I made it to the door, but the elemental was getting up. Its eyes focused on me, and my stomach lurched, knowing I had attracted this creature here and possibly put Kiyo at risk. The elemental gave a tinny laugh as it watched me empty out the purse onto the floor.
“Yes, Eugenie Markham, stay away. Stay away, little swan.” It took a step toward me.
Frantically, I searched for the wand. Where had all this shit in my purse come from?
“How do you know my name?” I asked, hoping to distract it. Gentry, no matter their form, loved to hear themselves talk.
“Everyone knows your name. And everyone wants you.” I’d never thought a walking chunk of ice could look lascivious, but this one pulled it off. I shuddered and not from the cold. “But I see someone has already tasted you tonight. No matter. I don’t mind following in another’s wake, nor will I be the last to spread those soft legs—”
The creature was so fixated on me and what it wanted to do to me that it’d forgotten about Kiyo. Kiyo had surveyed the room during the exchange, and I’d seen his eyes rest on a tall, wrought-iron lamp. His eyes glittered with a dark heat, almost frightening in its ferocity. With the elemental distracted, Kiyo dashed for the lamp, again moving with incredible speed, and then in one motion, swung it at the elemental, hitting it with the force of a tank.
A large chunk of ice broke from the elemental’s body, and it roared in agony. Iron or steel will always hurt the gentry, regardless of which world they walk. I wondered if Kiyo had known that. The elemental lunged at him, and the two of them wrestled on the floor, rolling over and over as they struggled to land a hit. Kiyo fought savagely, and each time he dug his fingers into the monster, it would hiss in pain.
I had my wand now and advanced toward the two of them. I thrust it out, making it an extension of my arm. With alcohol still metabolizing in my body, as well as me being physically exhausted, I knew I couldn’t destroy the elemental, but I could sure as hell send it back to the Otherworld.
The air tingled around me, and again I smelled ozone. The elemental realized what I was doing and released Kiyo, trying to stop me. Kiyo did not let his prey go so easily, however, and moved forward, his foot again connecting with the creature—this time on the back. The weakened elemental stumbled to its knees.
I could usually do expulsions on my own, but tonight I needed a little divine help. “By Hecate’s grace, I cast you from this world. In Hecate’s name, I return you to your own realm.” The elemental screamed its fury, but it was already dissolving. “Leave here, and return no more, you fucking bastard. Go.”
The elemental shattered in an explosion of ice. Some of the crystals grazed my skin, cutting it. An onlooker might have thought it had been destroyed, but I had only damaged its elemental manifestation. It had gone to the Otherworld in its own body.
I could hear the blood pounding in my ears, adrenaline surging through me. Another creature had known my name. And like the keres, it had seemed terribly interested in me in a…Biblical way. Bleh.
But I had more pressing problems. Slowly I turned to stare at Kiyo who was watching me with equal caution, taking in my posture and the charged wand in my hand.
Kiyo.
Dark, sexy Kiyo, who had wooed me in the bar and just given me the best sex of my life.
The same Kiyo who had just fought an elemental with more strength and speed than I ever could have mustered—more than any human could have mustered. He had also not turned into a blabbering, shocked idiot like most humans would have—should have—around an elemental. He had seen one before. He knew what it was, just as he knew what my wand and incantations were.
What had earlier seemed like a passionate encounter for me suddenly had a vile edge. Fear traced my spine as we stared at each other, neither of us certain what to do. The words were on my lips, but he asked them first.
“What are you?”
Chapter Five
The fact that we were having a standoff while completely naked might have been hilarious under ordinary circumstances. But these were not ordinary circumstances, and even my twisted sense of humor had its limitations.
“Me?” I demanded. “What about you? You’re not a veterinarian. Veterinarians give dogs rabies vaccines. They don’t throw elementals around.”
Kiyo regarded me levelly. “And Web designers don’t banish elementals to the Otherworld.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes I moonlight.”
The faintest ghost of a smile flickered across his face. He relaxed a little, found his pants, and pulled them on. Not me. I stayed rigid and ready to strike. I was also trying very hard to think of him only as a potential threat, not as the man I’d just slept with. Because if I thought about that, I might falter. Worse, I might have to face the fact that I had just let a creature of the Otherworld—
His pants now on, he approached me. “We need to talk about this—”
“No. Don’t get any closer.” If I could have cocked the wand like a gun, I would have.
“What are you going to do? You can’t cast me out. It won’t work.”
I hesitated,
