Kissed by Fire by Shéa MacLeod Page A

talk to Jack.”
    She raised a brow. “Then why don’t you? I
thought the two of you had some kind of thing going on. This
incredible chemistry or whatever.”
    “We did.” I couldn’t quite help the sadness
that crept in. “We had amazing chemistry. I really thought we were
going somewhere and then this stupid Atlantean Royal Bloodline
thing and he freaks out and heads for the hills.”
    “You want me to show him my ninja junk punch
skills?”
    I laughed at that. “Thanks, but no. I’m
trying to make him see sense, not scare the daylights out of him.
Though he was a Templar Knight, so I doubt he’d be all that
scared.”
    “He should be.” Her face was calm, her voice
expressionless. She kind of scared me when she did that.
    “Well, I’ll keep it in mind should my powers
of persuasion not work.” Which so far they hadn’t. I might need her
NJP skills after all.
    “Good.” She set down her cup. “What’s on the
agenda for today?”
    “Sandra Fuentes invited me to her shop in
Soho, so I thought I’d head over there. I’ve a feeling that woman
knows a lot more than she’s saying. It would be good to have a
longer chat with her.” I tossed the remainder of my croissant onto
my plate. My appetite just wasn’t there.
    Kabita nodded. “Good idea. She’s definitely
got more up her sleeve than she’s showing and she appeared to like
you. Goddess knows why.”
    I chucked a croissant at her. “How about
you?”
    “I was thinking of heading over to Alison’s
place. See if there’s anything useful MI8 missed. I’ve got a
meeting with an old client first, though, so I’ll head over after
lunch.”
    “Why don’t I go with you? We can meet up
after you do your meeting thing and my visit with Sandra.” I really
didn’t want her going there alone. She was putting on a brave face,
but I knew her well enough to know this was really hard for her. It
would be hard for anyone.
    She looked relieved. “Yeah, that sounds good.
I’ll text you her address and we’ll meet there at two.”
    I nodded and headed for the lobby. I still
felt shaky and disoriented from the dream. “Pull yourself together,
Morgan,” I muttered under my breath. “This is no time to fall
apart.”
    Not sure the pep talk worked, but as I
stepped out into the sun I felt a little better. I might not know
yet what to do about my fabulous new superpowers, but at least I
was doing something for Alison. Maybe in finding her answers, I’d
find some of my own.

Chapter Ten
     
     
    Sometimes when you haven’t lived in a place
for a long time, you forgot the little things that annoyed you.
Hordes of tourists were one of those things.
    As I dodged yet another couple stopped dead
in the middle of the pavement to gawp at something or other, I
tried to rein in my temper. Honestly some people didn’t have the
brains the gods gave a turnip.
    It was a gorgeous sunny day and Carnaby
Street was packed. It shouldn’t have surprised me. Carnaby was such
a cute little street, crammed with beautiful little shops filled
with all kinds of treasures. Then I saw something that stopped me
in my tracks.
    Just ahead of me, headed my way, were two
men. They were tall and well built, but not overly muscular. They
were holding hands, but that was nothing unusual. Soho was known as
the gay Mecca of London, so two men holding hands was pretty much
par for the course. The thing that stopped me was their faces.
    Their almost too handsome faces kept
shifting. One minute they wore one face and the next time you
looked they had a different one, their faces moulding and changing
from one incarnation to the next.
    No one else seemed to notice, but I did. I’d
seen that phenomenon before. They were sidhe.
    The two men drew closer and, as they passed
me, they nodded at me in unison. My heart froze then started
pounding double time. They’d noticed me. For the second time in a
matter of months the sidhe had not only noticed me, they’d
acknowledged my presence with