Shaded Vision: An Otherworld Novel Read Online Free Page A

and the shop. “Sounds like sorcery to me. I don’t like it.”
    I was about to say something when the phone rang. Yugi’s voice echoed through the line.
    “Delilah?” Yugi was Chase’s second in command at the FH-CSI—the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation unit. And he sounded so frantic I could barely understand him. “Please, we need you over here
now
. Sharah and Chase especially. It’s an emergency.”
    “What’s up?” A tingling in my gut told me that whatever it was, we were in no shape to deal with it.
    “There’s been a bombing at the Supe Community Council. Four confirmed deaths so far, and two people are in intensive care. We don’t know how many others were in the building. Rescue teams are heading in as soon as the bomb squad confirms no more danger. Get over here.
Now.
”
    As I hung up, staring helplessly at the phone and wondering if any of my friends were among the dead, I realized that despite the celebrations going on in our private lives, we were always on call. There would never be another momentwhen we could fully relax—not until we’d pushed back the demons and stopped Shadow Wing and his cronies. And even then…there were other horrors in the world waiting for us to stop them.
    “Sober up any way you can,” I said, setting the receiver back in the cradle. “We’ve got work to do. And it can’t wait till tomorrow.”

Chapter 2

     
    The room fell silent. I took a deep breath and barked out orders. “Smoky, Shade—you guys are sober, but I’ll be damned if Smoky’s touching a car.”
    “I can drive,” he protested, but I shook my head.
    “Right, and I can blow smoke and fire out of my mouth. Nice try.” I tossed my keys to Shade. “You drive my Jeep and take Vanzir, Roz, and me. Menolly, you’re sober. You can drive Camille’s car and take her and her men.”
    Iris piped up. “Bruce’s driver can take Chase and Sharah. But somebody has to stay here. Someone not drunk out of their minds.”
    “Right…okay. Smoky, you stay with Iris and the others. You can handle trouble if there is any.”
    “Check.” He blinked, the smile wiping off of his face. Ever since his father had captured Camille, the dragon had taken security around the place to a whole new level. We practically lived in a compound now.
    “Crap, is there
any
way we can get some of this booze out of our systems?” I didn’t want to go in drunk. And I had thefeeling that—from now on—we wouldn’t be partying with booze. At least not all of us at the same time.
    Iris blinked. “I can help—I’ve got an herb that works wonders, but the effects won’t be pleasant in the morning.”
    “We have no choice. Can we all use it?” I didn’t care if we all had the dry heaves in the morning. Tonight, we needed to be on our game.
    “Not everybody. But you, Camille, Shamas, Trillian, Sharah…it might also help Rozurial since he was Fae before he was turned into an incubus. I’d be hesitant to try it on Morio or Vanzir, though. I’m not sure about Nerissa.”
    “Then bring it on. Shade’s fine. Nerissa’s staying here, so go ahead and try to sober her up after we’re gone. That just leaves Vanzir and Chase.”
    “I don’t need it.” Trillian held out his hand. It was steady. “I had two brandies a few hours ago. I’m sober.”
    Iris nodded. “Fine. While I might consider giving it to Chase…hell…just a minute!” She turned and raced for the bathroom.
    Meanwhile, Smoky picked up Camille, tossed her over his shoulder, and headed up the stairs. “I’ll get her dressed for action,” he called over his shoulder. Trillian and Morio followed.
    I pulled off my boots and asked Shade to bring me down a pair of mud stompers and a heavy denim jacket. The rest of my outfit would be fine. He nodded and dashed up the stairs.
    Meanwhile, Iris reappeared and motioned for Menolly to help her. I followed them into the kitchen, where Iris pulled out a packet of a foul-smelling herbs, but instead of