Page 4 of Beauty At Stake
“It's numbers, not tenacity. Tenacity would be if the ones I struck down got up and started running after us á laTerminator.” I flung more Firethorns at the rider behind us. “How many of them are there?”
“Enough to be annoying.” Star flicked a finger and yet another motorcycle crashed. “Looks as if they weren't taking chances.”
“We good?” Killian flicked his snake stare at the side and then the rearview mirrors.
“I think so. But don't lower your guard.” I scanned the street and crowded sidewalks, ignoring the chaos we left behind.
“I wasn't gonna.” Kill winked at me.
“At least we don't have to circle back for cleanup,” Star said.
“True.” I glanced back at him. “Between the whole Angels getting outed thing and the way Thailand shrugs off the supernatural, I doubt those crashed bikes will raise any eyebrows.”
“You pulled back your thorns, right?” Kill asked.
I gave him the look that deserved.
“Sorry, babe. I know. You've been an ambassador longer than I have.”
“And an extinguisher before that.” I went back to scanning. “But you're right. It never hurts to check.”
“Leaving the city now,” Murdock said.
Instead of being a relief, this was cause for greater vigilance. The road went dark, the forest closing in to form a tunnel. It was the perfect place for an ambush. But then thefog we'd been following trickled back and tucked us in its misty embrace.
“Nicely done, stormtrooper,” Killian said.
“Thank you,” the Storm Witch said through the comm. “And stop calling me that, Ambassador. Or I will start emphasizing the ass in your title.”
All three of us in our car burst out laughing, Killian the hardest.
“Amb-ass-ador!” Killian hooted. “Why have I never thought of that?”
Chapter Three
It was rare for Killian and I to get assigned to a Coven case—pretty much because Coven cases were rare, so we weren't sure how to proceed after we arrived at the local Coven house. They didn't have a council as such and so there weren't any council members waiting to greet us. This was more like a Fey Wild Hunt house—a place for the local team to live.
Not wanting to step on any vex toes, Killian, Star, and I stood to the side and let them handle the prisoners. The Extinguishers did the same. Our alliance was several years old now, but that's nothing in the grand scheme of things. The truce between the Human and Fey councils was hundreds of years old. On top of that, Coven Witches could get touchy.
“Nice place.” Killian jerked his chin up at the peaked roof, crowned with statues of fanciful creatures, and then nodded down at the moat that circled the traditional Thai wooden house.
“It's better than being in Alaska.” I breathed in the scent of tropical flowers. “Is that plumeria?”
“I think they call it frangipani here.” Star, leaning against a carved pillar, scoped the garden, then nodded toward a tree bearing white and yellow flowers. No matter where we were, Star found something to lean on.
“Ah. Right. Same smell.”
Kill chuckled. “Literally.”
“Yes, that's what she said.” Star scowled at Kill.
“It's also a saying, dude. When you're comparing things, you say, 'same smell.'”
Star cocked his head and mimicked Killian. “Butdo you?”
“Ha!” Killian pointed at him. “Precisely. That's another saying.”
“I believe that is merely somethingyousay.”
