Playing With Fire

Chapter Ten

The door opened into a small entryway the living room was to the right, the steps to the left and down the hallway past the steps and converted dining room was the kitchen. The Male's sharp eyes took in every detail and I fought not to fidget uncomfortably. Which of course pissed me off that he could make me feel uncomfortable in my own home.

"I'm sure its not up to Fae standards, but I hope you can stomach the decor." I said sarcastically. Maverick whirled around with a reply on the tip of his tongue, but visibly tried to control himself.

"It is... nice." He managed to say without choking on the words. Color me impressed. His attempt to act cordial was piss poor, but it was more of an attempt than I had made. Ugh.

"Thank you." The words burned my tongue as I said them through my teeth. I cleared my throat awkwardly when he failed to reply and started toward the kitchen. I could feel the Male behind me, a solid presence at my back.

The back door opened for me and I spotted Keira sunning on the back porch. She had the leg of some creature in front of her that she was nibbling on.

"Make sure you take that back out to the forest when you're done with it," I told her. She just looked up and flicked her tail at me in reply, completely ignoring Maverick behind me. I made my way down the steps and around the left side of the house. Unseen from the road and front yard there was a small outbuilding that had come with the house. The kitchen was so small in older homes like this one that I used the building to hang plants to dry and store potion and spell ingredients.

I pushed the weather rotted wooden door open and stepped onto the dry packed earth floor. Hanging from the rafters were all manner of dried plants and the old shelves were full of other ingredients. There was a small work table against the back wall with a mortar and pestle that I had found at the flea market. I sent a small burst of power to the candles hanging from the ceiling and they lit with a quiet hiss. Maverick followed me into the shed and the small room seemed to shrink even further.

I pulled a beat up leather trunk out from under the table and flipped open the lid. Finding the book I needed I laid it out on the table and shoved the trunk back into place with my foot. Spells, Incantations, Potions, and Powders to Protect. The long gold embossed title was faded in many places where fingers had stroked over it through the years. I flipped to the glossary and found the subheading I was looked for, Powders, and then under that, Vampire Glamour. The leather spine cracked as I opened it to the correct page and smoothed my hand down the thin paper.

"What are you making?" Maverick asked, breaking the silence between us.

"A powder that will help Castiel resist the vampire glamour tonight."

Maverick's eyes sharpened.

"And me, of course." Whew real smooth, Delany.

All supernaturals had an inborn ability to glamour themselves, a holdover from when our existence was still a secret to humans. Most sects were only able to glamour themselves, but a few like sirens and vampires were able to project their glamour. Vampires used their glamour to ensnare the minds of their victims to feed. Supernaturals had a natural immunity, but the older more powerful vampires could glamour and ensnare the minds of some supernaturals.

The Fae were completely immune to glamour, so Maverick didn't have anything to worry about. I didn't know what Castiel's natural resistance was, but I didn't want to take any chances so I was making him the powder. I would be fine without the powder, but Maverick didn't need to know that. The Male leaned his back against the edge of one of the shelving units and crossed his arms, content to watch. I ignored him and began gathering the ingredients I needed for the powder.