Wicked Pleasure (25 page)

Kim heard the gunshot behind her. No! She half turned to go back to the parlor but then forced herself to keep running. If the demon had taken Brynn out, she'd be after Kim next. The only way Kim could help Brynn was by destroying the demon, and for that she needed Fo.

This was all her fault. Kim knew she was supposed to keep Fo within reach all the time. She'd gotten careless, and Brynn might've paid the ultimate price.

The piano was still going strong, so no one probably heard the gunshot. That meant she was on her own. Kim wasn't sure at what point tears started sliding down her cheeks, but she couldn't let images of Brynn lying in a pool of blood stop her. If he was dead, she had to make his sacrifice worth something. That meant she had to nail the demon bitch. Her family would've been proud of her savagery.

Kim barreled into the dark kitchen with the click-clack of the woman's heels echoing in the hall behind her.
The demon
. Despair touched her. If Brynn was okay, the demon wouldn't be chasing her.

And then she forced everything out of her mind except surviving the next few minutes. She scooped Fo off the table and spun to face the kitchen door.

“You forgot your clothes, Kimmie.” Fo blinked. “He must've been really good to make you forget—”

“Demon, Fo. Get ready.” That's all the warning she had time to give Fo.

The demon paused in the doorway, its eyes glowing red in the darkness. Gone was the human voice, and in its place was the deep growl of a hell-spawned monster. “You can't hide from me. Your puny attempt gave me a giggle, though. So thanks. See you in hell.” It raised the gun.

“Don't hold your breath.” Kim hit Fo's Destroy button, and the beam caught the demon between those glowing eyes. It shrieked and flung its hands over its face. Too late, much too late.

Then it was over. A small pile of ash marked the demon's passing, and the screaming host stood with her hands over her eyes. “I can't see. I'm blind. What happened? Where am I?”

The woman was careening toward hysteria, but Kim didn't have time for this. She had to get back to Brynn.

She pushed the woman into a chair as she glanced at her name tag. “I'm Kim, and everything's going to be fine, Clarice. Stay here. I'll get help. Don't worry, your sight will come back in about thirty minutes.” She had to hope the woman understood her and followed directions. Kim grabbed her purse and then raced back to Brynn.

Kim had Fo clutched tightly to her as she reached the parlor. Even Fo seemed shaken by the violence, because she remained silent.
Please let him be okay, please let him be okay.
She played and replayed her mantra as she got her first look at him.

He lay sprawled across one of the scarlet throw rugs while blood spilled down the side of his head. So much blood. Positive thought. At least he still had a head, so he'd survive. Red coated his hair where it had fallen across his face. As she dropped to her knees beside him, Kim put Fo on the floor and then pulled her cell phone from her purse. She started to punch in 911.

“Don't.” His command was a hoarse whisper.

That one word was the most wonderful sound she'd ever heard. “You need help.”

He looked up at her through the fall of hair. “It's a head wound. Bleeds a lot. Hurts like hell, but don't think it's serious. No ambulance. No police.” He reached up to touch his head and winced. “No way to explain that a demon shot me, but it's okay because I'm immortal.”

Put that way, it made sense. “Fo destroyed the demon, but you have a hysterical employee in the kitchen who'll be blind for about another twenty-five minutes. She'll want some answers.”

Brynn slowly pushed himself to a sitting position. Kim supported him.

“Call the castle. Tell Holgarth we need help. And then we get dressed before the guys get here. If they walk in and we're still naked, they won't ever get off our cases.” He watched her from eyes that gave away nothing as she pulled on her clothes.

Then she helped him into his clothes before calling Holgarth.

“I'll call Lynsay and tell her we can't make dinner.” Now that the scary part was over, she couldn't keep her hands from shaking.

“Just tell her we'll be about a half hour late. I can make it.” He smiled at her. “The demon was a lousy shot. She just grazed me. If you help me up to my room, I can take a shower, change, and the wound will be almost healed by the time I'm dressed again.”

Kim nodded. Reaction was setting in. She'd destroyed demons before, but not when the life of someone she cared for was on the line. Someone she cared for. How much did she care? It'd seemed like a lot when she was racing back to the parlor and didn't know if he was alive or dead. She lifted his hair away from his face and tried to ignore the blood staining her fingers. He was alive, so all the might-haves in the world didn't matter now.

“What about the woman in the kitchen?” What would Clarice remember when she calmed down? How would they explain the temporary blindness?

“Eric will take care of her.”

Kim didn't have time to ask how, because at that moment the front door blew open, and Eric, Conall, and Holgarth rushed into the room.

They gathered around Brynn while he told them the short version of what had happened. Minus the part where he'd gotten naked on the velvet couch with her.

Fo finally found her voice. “I kicked some serious demon butt.” She narrowed her eyes. “I could've saved Brynn if he hadn't put me in the kitchen so I wouldn't see what he and Kimmie were doing.”

Kim seemed really interested in the crystal chandelier. “Can we say duct tape, Fo?”

Eric raised a sardonic brow. Holgarth donned his all-wise and all-disapproving expression.

Only Conall seemed oblivious. He frowned. “So demons are in the park.” He turned to Kim. “Better make that call to your family tonight. We don't have much time.” He returned his attention to Brynn. “Holgarth and Eric don't need conventional weapons. I'm going to make sure my sword is with me wherever I go. What about you, Brynn?” Conall slid his gaze to Kim. He smiled. “Never mind. You already have your own personal demon destroyer. Lucky bastard.”

Brynn ignored Conall in favor of Eric. “Better go back and take care of the woman.” He looked at Kim. “She might appreciate having you nearby.”

Kim nodded and then trailed behind Eric as he walked to the kitchen. Exciting stuff. Her first vampire action.

He paused in the kitchen doorway to stare at the small mound of ash. “And this is?”

“What's left of the demon after I cast it out of Clarice. Demons always set up housekeeping in the brain, so I had to aim at Clarice's head. Ergo her blindness. The ash is my proof the demon was really destroyed and didn't just move into another home.” She shrugged. “Don't ask me how Fo works and where the ash comes from because I don't know. I'm just the executioner.”

Eric nodded. He pulled a chair up next to the sobbing woman and sat down. “Hi Clarice. I'm Eric McNair, and everything's going to be fine.”

Clarice the hysterical stopped crying. Wow, how'd he do that?

His voice.
It was deep, warm, comforting. Kim felt herself go all soft and squishy inside. Anything Eric told her was the truth. She could trust him to take care of her. He'd wrapped her in a fluffy blanket of security.

Wait. Kim did a mental headshake. What was this about? She didn't know Eric, so why the warm fuzzies? But then she glanced at him, looked into his eyes, and knew.

This was heavy vampire stuff. He was changing forms right in front of her. His eyes grew larger and elongated. His pupils swallowed his irises until his eyes looked black, the kind of black you figured you could stare into and see a person's soul. Under different circumstances she would've taken some time to consider the viability of vampire souls, but this wasn't a night for deep vampire thoughts.

Everything sensual about him seemed to intensify. His lips looked fuller, sexier. Probably because of the fangs beneath them. His hair lay in a black tangled glory around his face. Even his body seemed bigger, more muscular.

And yes, she did recognize how really weird her response was. Even as he changed, she should've been rummaging through the kitchen for a clove of garlic, making a cross from two pieces of celery, or whittling a stake from a chair leg. At the very least, she should've screamed loud enough to wake the dead, no, the undead. But after a day filled with demons, a vampire seemed sort of anticlimactic.

He must've felt her stare, because he turned to study her. Something that looked a lot like laughter moved in those black eyes.

She swallowed hard.

He hissed at her.

She squeaked her alarm.

He lifted his lips away from deadly-looking fangs.

She backed into a chair and sat down hard.

He laughed.

“Okay, you've had your chuckles. So what're you going to do about Clarice?” Kim's heart was still trying to hide in her throat.

Eric put a finger to his lips and then stared at Clarice for several minutes. Then he turned to Kim. “How long before Clarice will be able to see again?”

Kim glanced at her watch. “About ten minutes.”

He nodded and stared at Clarice for another minute. “I'm finished. We can talk. She won't hear us.”

“What did you do?” This was fascinating. A small voice reminded her she wouldn't meet people like Eric if she married Mr. Ordinary. For the first time in her life, she entertained the thought that Mr. Ordinary could be a wee bit boring.

“I have the power to create fantasies for people.” He reached out and tapped the side of Kim's head. “Here. Right now, Clarice is leaving her job at the Dead Eye Saloon. She doesn't feel well and wants to go home early. Her boss isn't around, so when she saw me come in here, she figured I could tell him what happened and arrange for a sub to fill in for her tonight. At the end of ten minutes, she'll open her eyes to see me bending over her. I'll tell her she fainted, have someone take her over to the park's doctor so he can look her over, and then arrange for someone to drive her home. Clarice is pregnant, so she'll believe she needs to rest more.”

“And this fantasy will seem . . .”

“Completely real.” He returned to human form. “Ask Donna someday about the time we played naked on a cloud. She was just getting the feel for cloud sex when Air Force One flew by. The president waved at her. Pretty embarrassing.”

“You have to be in vampire form to create the fantasy?” This was so cool. What fantasy would Brynn like? Probably one that took place on a planet where women were extinct. Kim allowed herself a small, secret smile. Maybe not all women. He'd looked really interested on that couch.

“Right.” Humor touched his gorgeous blue eyes. “When you want to share a special fantasy with Brynn, come see me.”

Okay, getting all defensive here. “What makes you think I'd want that?”

His smile was slow and wicked. “Because I was in your head just now.” He held up his hand to stop her rant. “I won't do it again. But Brynn's birthday is coming up on Sunday. He didn't have a birthday until we gave him one. Everyone deserves a good time on their birthday, and Brynn deserves it more than most. Just think about it.”

Kim nodded. She stood and took a last look at Clarice. “I have to help Brynn back to his room.” She needed to think about what Eric had said.

And as she walked toward the parlor, Kim could feel the sucking sound of desire dragging her down to disaster.

Brynn was standing when Kim walked into the parlor. Barely. He was healing, as he always did, but he still felt shaky. Holgarth had done what he did best—manipulate reality—so Brynn could walk back to the castle without people noticing he was a bloody mess. No one had warned Kim, though.

She stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. “You look like nothing happened to you. No wound, no blood.”

Brynn shrugged. “I'm still bloody, but Holgarth did his wizard act and hid the gore so I wouldn't scare customers when I left here.”

“Are you strong enough to walk?” Kim shook her head. “Of course you are. You're immortal. Superfast healing and all that stuff.” She stared at Holgarth. “So what other wizardy things can you do?”

“Wizardy things?” Holgarth raised one brow. “What a delightful turn of phrase. I can do oh so many ‘wizardy' things, Ms. Vaughn. For example, I could wait until you leave Galveston and then correct with a twitch of my nose any unfortunate design faux pas you might have inflicted on the castle.”

Kim looked like she wanted to snarl at him. “Are you always such a snot?”

Holgarth widened his eyes. “But of course. I live to annoy.”

Even in the face of a demon invasion, Holgarth made Brynn smile. “Don't believe him, Kim. Underneath that hard crust is a marshmallow.”

“Marshmallow?” Holgarth looked horrified.

Brynn figured now would be a good time to get out of there. “I'm still feeling a little weak. Would you walk back to my room with me?” He offered Kim his wounded-hero expression while ignoring Conall's eye rolling.

“Sure. Do you need to lean on me?” Her eyes were warm with sympathy.

“No. I should be okay. But I'd appreciate the company.” Amazing the depths he'd sink to just to keep her with him.

Conall smothered a grin. “Eric will take care of the woman, and we'll see you guys at the meeting.”

Brynn nodded and then followed Kim from the bordello. For a few minutes they walked in silence, and Brynn allowed himself to enjoy small pleasures—the soothing darkness, the clean, crisp gulf breeze, a woman who walked quietly beside him demanding nothing. No orders to touch her body or put his cock inside her on cue. Startled, he realized his greatest pleasure was just being alive. He'd survived and was glad of it. When was the last time he'd felt that? Probably never.