Kissed by Ice by Shéa MacLeod Read Free Book Online Page A

it would be a miracle.
    I had to give the organizers props. The ballroom was amazing. Swaths of fabric draped the ceiling and walls, hiding the modern fixtures from view. From the ceiling hung giant, softly glowing orbs. I had no idea how they'd done it, but it looked amazing. Magical, even. The pillars had been turned into giant steam-work pipes swathed in fairy lights. A table lit with candelabra groaned under the weight of platters of food and a bizarre brass urn that seemed to be dispensing something alcoholic. It was like something out of the Mad Hatter's tea party. A mini zeppelin whizzed about the crowd, bumping into the occasional reveler. The bumpee would laugh and grab something from the basket dangling beneath the zeppelin before it whizzed off again.
    "Eddie!" A woman emerged from the crowd, arms outstretched and face wreathed in smiles.
    "Now that's an outfit I could work with," I muttered to Kabita as Eddie hugged the newcomer.
    The woman was not much older than me. Her long hair was almost as red as mine, but while mine came from a bottle, hers was clearly natural. Where my eyes were green, hers were gray, but we both had the pale skin that spoke of Celtic ancestry. And the curves, all of which were easy to see, thanks to her outfit.
    She was dressed like something out of a Jane Austen novel, with one of those sheer cotton gowns with the high waists and tiny puff sleeves. The stays, which should have been underneath the dress, were on the outside, boosting up her ample assets like they were being offered to the world on a platter. The stays, instead of being a simple white, were made of rich blue velvet trimmed in silver. She wore simple ballet flats, and her hair was done in an elaborate Grecian style, decorated with a tiara, only instead of the expected diamonds or pearls, it was made of tiny brass gears surrounding an actual clock. Frankly, it was awesome. And a whole lot more practical for a vampire hunter. I had to remind myself I wasn't on the Hunt. I was supposed to be having fun.
    "Emory," Eddie cried with delight. "You are looking lovely, as usual. Please, allow me to introduce my friends, Morgan Bailey and Kabita Jones. Ladies, this is my dear friend, Emory Chastain. She also lives in Portland."
    "Lovely to meet you," Emory said with a wide, genuine smile as she shook our hands. "Any friend of Eddie's is good people."
    As her hand touched mine, I felt an odd zing, almost like static electricity. The powers inside me stirred. How strange. I plastered on a fake smile, hiding my suddenly whirling mind. I was pretty sure the woman had magic, and a lot of it.
    The live band struck up a tune and Emory clapped her hands. "Oh, this is my song. Gotta dance. See you guys later." And she disappeared into the crowd, gossamer skirts swirling like fairy wings. If fairies had wings, which, believe me, they didn't. I'd met the Queen of the Sidhe more times than I cared to remember. She definitely did not have wings.
    We helped ourselves to glasses of spiked punch and stood back to watch the action on the ballroom floor. I had to admit, it looked like a lot of fun. The music was great. The band, dressed in kilts and top hats, rocked out on stage while the dancers made a colorful splash of movement below. I couldn't help tapping my foot to the rhythm. I finally started to relax a little.
    And then the screaming started.

Chapter Six
    For a split second, everything went dead quiet. The band stopped playing. People stopped dancing. I'm not even sure anyone was breathing. Then more screams rang out, and people started running. Next thing I knew, there was a stampede toward the doors.
    "What the bloody hell?" Kabita shouted over the noise. She rarely swore, but the circumstances definitely called for it.
    I started toward the spot where I'd first heard the screaming, only to be nearly bowled over by a man carrying an enormous gun. Probably not a real one since the thing was bigger than he was and I could make out orange