I missed a bit of a milestone recently... My last blog post was the big
100! And what did I post about? Panties. :-\ Whoops. But I have a fantastic post number 101 for you today with chapter nine of the Round Robin Blogvel!
AND... stay tuned later this week for a special contest!
Back to the Round Robin Blogvel - what on earth is it, you ask? It's a traveling blog novel started by the funny and talented
Michelle Simkins. She started us off with a killer first chapter, and it has been progressing each week with a new chapter from a different blogger! If you're following along, make sure you're caught up! Chapter eight was posted last week by Jennifer Merritt at
The Demeter Diaries, and the next post will be next Monday at
Laura's Universe. Click the Round Robin Blogvel tab at the top of the page for a full list (with links!) of previous chapters.
Without further ado, I present to you Chapter Nine of The Skeleton Key!
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Fear seizes my heart
for a beat. I look around, searching for whoever could be setting off
the magical metal detector. How am I supposed to know? I don't see
any obvious ghouls or goblins. Then again, if I've learned anything
today, it's that monsters don't always look monstrous.
The person in front of
me in line moves to the side after paying, and the cashier looks at
me. I look at the still-thrumming hummer, then at the food. I was
dumped into the middle of this inter-species war against my will, and
I've seen things I’m still not sure are real. Whether to eat or
follow the hummer's signal really shouldn't be a question worth
debating. And yet it is.
Dammit! The
food smells so good. I'd kill for just one noodle. Damn the
vampires and prophetesses and Nerbils and the rest of the creatures.
I smile at the clerk, ducking my
head sheepishly as I step out of line. And damn Ax for
dragging me here and leaving me alone! I could use that broad,
muscular chest to lean on right now... I
mean – damn!
The
hummer buzzes more loudly now, drawing my thoughts back to my
predicament. What do I do? Do I take it out? It looks a little weird,
and I don't want to draw attention to myself. But as I walk away from
the food cart with one hand buried in my purse, fingers wrapped
around the hummer to feel any changes in the vibration, I feel a
little ridiculous. How creepy must I look, walking around with my
hand shoved into my mysteriously buzzing bag? Like I’m hiding some
freaky sex toy. It is called
a hummer, after all.
I
try to walk at a normal pace, which is hard to do when you have no
clue where you're going. After stopping, turning, and starting again
three times, the hummer's signal intensifies and stays steady. I keep
walking, searching the people and buildings for a sign. But what
sign? Ax and I obviously need some time together for hummer
instruction.
The
thought stops me in my tracks and I laugh out loud, unable to help
myself. A few people turn to look at me, the crazy laughing girl with
one hand permanently stuck inside her vibrating purse. Before my
traitorous body can fully react to the thought of me, Ax, and a
hummer, the signal stops. Gone. Sayonara.
The
smooth metal is hot in my hand, but I don't dare take it out to look
at it. It feels like it's permanently attached to my palm, I've been
gripping it so hard.
Bzzt.
The
signal flickers through again, for only a second. I turn around,
looking back the way I came. Where in the hell am I? I was so focused
on following the signal that I didn't pay attention to street signs
or landmarks – not that I could've recognized any of them anyway,
but still.
Bzzzzt.
Another brief signal. Or maybe I’m imagining it? When I was in
college, I kept my cell phone in my pocket on vibrate so Ashley and I
could text back and forth. Sometimes I got phantom vibrations against
my hip when I didn't have my phone there.
Bzzt.
Bzzzzzzzz.
Nope. Not a phantom sensation. But no way do I want to follow it any
more. I need to find my way back to Ax's condo. Somehow. Hummer be
damned. I walk slowly, unsure of which direction I’m heading, and
try desperately to ignore the staccato buzzing in my palm.
Let
it go, genius!
But I can't. An irrational fear has my fingers clamped around the
ancient device, like its random vibrations are pointing me home. A
few hours ago I would've been glad to be rid of Ax forever, but now
he's the only person – dragon
– I want to see. At least if he was here I'd know I'm safe. And he
could tell me how the hell to use this damn thing. I don't suppose
they bothered to write instruction manuals back in the 1800s.
Heartbeat.
Footsteps. Buzz.
Buzz.
Heart beats faster. Feet move faster. Buzz.
BUZZ! I’m
a walking symphony of terror. If I drop to my knees in the street and
yell Ax's name, will he magically find me? I'll never see the people
around me again (I hope), so what do I care if they think I’m a
raving lunatic? I feel like a raving lunatic.
Turning into a deserted alleyway – because my feet are following
the hummer's signals despite my brain's admonitions about every
horror movie we've ever seen – I smack into a brick wall and let
out a sissy-girl shriek. The brick wall puts its arms around me and
the scream dies in my throat.
“Ax!”
“Rebecca,
what are you doing?”
“I—me?
What?” There are no coherent thoughts in my brain at the moment.
Just a mix of joy and subsiding fear.
“I
got back and your sister was hysterical, crying that you'd left here
there hours ago and she didn't know where you were.” He smooths my
hair back from my face, but doesn't loosen his grip on me. His voice
is stern, verging on angry, but I can hear the smooth edge of genuine
concern in there. “Where have you been? Are you okay?”
“I
was just—I didn't mean—it was this thing!” I pull my hand from
my purse and thrust it toward his face. My fingers are still clamped
firmly – and painfully – around the hummer. “Oh my god!”
The
skin is blistered and red, stuck to the metal in places, and steaming
every so slightly. My stomach turns, partially because I still
haven't eaten, and partially because it doesn't hurt nearly as much
as it probably should, and that freaks me out.
“What
happened?” Ax's eyes are wide.
“I
don't know. I swear.”
He pulls me farther into the alley without a word, away from the
prying eyes of anyone passing by on the main sidewalk, and draws me
into his chest again. I feel the heat and know what's coming.
I’m
beginning to get used to traveling by fire. The heat is nice, in a
way. Ax swooshes
us back to his condo and manages to separate me and the hummer
without much pain. A little magical salve, and my hand is almost back
to normal after fifteen minutes.
Now we're sitting on giant pillows on the living room floor, with
steaming mugs of tea, trying to figure out what happened. Ashley is
asleep in the guest room – Ax had sedated her before he left
because she was so hysterical.
“You
shouldn't have been able to do that,” he says, boring into me with
those red-gold eyes.
“Do
what?” I hadn't done anything. Not on purpose, anyway. I'd
explained everything that happened, but it still didn't make any
sense to me. And he's sure taking his sweet time explaining what he
thought happened.
“I
think, in your fear, you manipulated the hummer's magic to find my
signal.” A smile plays at the corner of his mouth. I can't decide
if it's adorable or irritating. I nearly burnt my hand to a crisp,
after all. Not really a laughing matter. He presses a finger to my
forehead. “There is magic in there, somewhere.”
Me?
Magical? Does that
mean I’m a monster?
Listen
to me! Yesterday I would've laughed in someone's face if they said I
possessed magic powers. Today the only thing I wonder is if it makes
me a big bad monster. Although not all monsters
are bad.
Ax still stares at me with those eyes that threaten to boil the blood
in my veins in the most delicious way.
Big, yes. Not bad.
“You
know, that hummer is almost two hundred years old. And you nearly
managed to ruin it,” he said.
Oh, right! Leave it to the stupid mortal girl to screw things up! I
react before I register the smirk on his face, but by then it's too
late. I can't put the scalding tea back in the cup.
“Oh
god, Ax! Did I hurt you?” I kneel beside him and use the bottom of
my shirt to mop his face. I guess it takes more than a cup of tea to
scald a dragon. But I doubt he still wants me for a mate now. “Oh
shit, I’m sorry.”
He
tosses his head back and laughs. And laughs. Oh god, does he laugh.
The sound echoes in the room, bright and yet deep, like a perfectly
tuned brass ensemble. If I wasn't right there, seeing it for myself,
I never would've thought he could be so joyous. Dragons are always so
doom and gloom in the movies. Nothing like this. And I've never seen
a dragon with a dimple like that.
Did I not notice it before, or has he just never smiled like this
before? A gorgeous little dimple puckers his left cheek. It's small,
but it softens the chiseled lines of his face. He looks so damn...
cute! There's no other word for it. Impulsively, I lean forward and
press my lips to his cheek, right to his dimple. His laughter
softens to the tinkling of wind chimes, but it reverberates inside my
chest, filling me with a gentle hum that spreads to the top of my
head and the tips of my toes.
Is
this what he meant when he said I hum?
Ax turns his face so our lips nearly touch, but he doesn't kiss me.
His breath is hot against my lips. What I wouldn't give to be
consumed by that fire. The vibrations in my chest begin to subside,
but I don't want them to stop.
“Ax?”
His eyelashes flutter and when he looks into my eyes, I see his are
mostly red now. The gold is but a thin ring around his pupils. I nip
gently at his lower lip.
“Ax.”
I straddle his lap and he wraps his arms around me. “Hum for me.”
He kisses me with the force of a Mack truck, and I return the
urgency. His lips are hot against mine, and everywhere his hands
touch – my face, my arms, sliding up under my shirt now – my skin
comes alive with the flame of desire. I bury my hands in his hair and
hold tight. It's definitely coming from him, the humming. But it's
not a sound so much as a sensation. Pressed together cheek to cheek,
chest to chest, I can feel every very male, very human part of him
against me. And yet his energy fills me until we hum together and I
can't tell where he ends and I begin.
An ear-splitting scream slices through our cocoon of heat and I
nearly fall backward.
“What
did you do to her?” Ashley stands before us, wide-eyed and
trembling, as if Ax had just devoured me before her eyes.
He
and I are both still fully clothed, but I feel exposed and
embarrassed nonetheless. Ax looks a little drunk, and blinks as
though to clear his vision. I feel
a little drunk, like my head is perched precariously on top of the
rest of my body and may fall off at any moment.
“Ash,
what are you--” I see it at the same time Ax does.
He grabs my arm and turns it this way and that. The silver-blue
iridescence is beautiful. Almost beautiful enough to distract me from
the fact that between my wrist and my elbow, I've sprouted scales.
