My Wicked Vampire (20 page)

But this afternoon the busy worker ants looked as though someone had stepped on their hill. Kitchen staff were running in every direction and bumping into each other more often than not. And above all of the din, a voice shouted.

“I need cream. Where’s the cream? I asked for the potatoes an hour ago. Someone turn that burner off.”

Sparkle? Cinn made her way to the center of the frenzy. Sparkle stood at her command post in front of
one of the commercial stoves. She wore mile-high strappy platforms, skintight black pants, a sparkly gold top, and a cropped black leather jacket. To top everything off, she wore a diamond stickpin in her chef’s hat. Chef Phil had never looked this good.

“I hear you have a problem.” Cinn would start with the obvious and take it from there.

Sparkle tossed her red hair away from where it hung over one eye, and glared at her. “You think? You’re lucky I don’t pull your meatball-stealing bandit out by her roots.”

Cinn winced. “Umm, I’m sorry about that.”

Sparkle took a moment to yell at some worker ants who weren’t scurrying fast enough. One of them rushed past Cinn, muttering, “The hell with Prada. The devil wears Hermés.”

“Damn right I do.” Then Sparkle focused on Cinn again. “You slept late. Must’ve had some great dreams.”

Cinn squashed the urge to smile. Oh, yeah. Her dreams had been a replay of the game, and not the one on the field. “Want me to help?”

Sparkle stepped away from the stove and pulled Cinn with her. “I think I have everything under control. Luckily, there aren’t many people eating in the restaurant.” A crease formed between her amber eyes. “You know, there’re a few things puzzling me. First, the hotel part of the castle is full. Not something you’d expect during a slow month like January. Second, where is everyone eating? There should be more people in the restaurant. I mean, where else can they go in this storm?”

An unexpected shiver worked its way down Cinn’s spine. “What’s the weather service’s explanation for the storm?”

Sparkle shrugged. “Who knows? Cable and phone
service are both down. We can’t even get local TV stations. Nothing but static on the radio. I guess we’re lucky to still have electricity.” Just then the lights flickered. “Oh, crap.”

Cinn held her breath, but finally the flickering stopped.

“Holgarth has already shut down the park, but we still have to take care of the hotel’s paying guests. If the electricity goes, we have generators, but it won’t be fun for any of us. Don’t worry, though, we’ll get heat to your plants.”

Cinn wanted to speed up the time until Dacian could be with her. It wasn’t exactly that he made her feel safe. He made her feel complete.

Before Cinn could ask any more questions, Ganymede leaped into the room. His amber cat eyes had a frantic gleam to them.

“Stop. No. Tell me you’re not cooking for the guests, honey-pumpkin.”
His tail whipped from side to side in a distressed frenzy.

“And who else was supposed to do it after you scared off our chef?” She went all slitty-eyed on him.

“Hey, it wasn’t me. The plant scared off Phil.”
Ganymede avoided her gaze.

“Go ahead, blame it on an innocent plant.” Sparkle tapped one Hermés-clad foot.

“You’re kidding, right? Have you seen that plant? She’s a man-eater.”

Cinn couldn’t let that pass. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Carla just took some meatballs. If you hadn’t stolen the pork chop first, the chef never would’ve gone into the greenhouse.”

Ganymede chose to ignore that truth as he returned to his whining.
“You can’t do the cooking, babe. You know what happened the last time you cooked a meal.”

Sparkle looked sulky. “So? We paid everyone’s hospital bills.”

“Why don’t you let the rest of the kitchen staffdo it? They have the routine down. You need to do other important stuff like…”

Cinn could see the desperate look in Ganymede’s eyes as he tried to think up some “important stuff” for Sparkle to do. Cinn wasn’t in a mood to help the cat, but if he was right, then she didn’t want to be eating Sparkle’s culinary efforts either.

She hooked her arm through Sparkle’s. “Let’s go up to your suite and discuss how your character-building campaign is coming along.”

Sparkle’s expression cleared. “Great idea. And while we’re there, we’ll talk about your pitiful outfits. Other than the ones I loaned you, of course.”

Cinn glared at her.

“Oops. I forgot that part of character building is learning to be charitable toward others. So we’ll chat about your unfortunate clothing choices. Is that better?” Sparkle started to drag her from the kitchen.

“Wait. I have to let Bain know I’m with you.” Cinn pulled out her cell and flipped it open. “Strange. It’s not working, and I just charged it.”

Sparkle shrugged. She glanced back to where Ganymede was eyeing a steak someone had put on the grill. “Let Bain know Cinn’s safe with me.”

“Yeah, yeah.”
Ganymede sounded as though he didn’t care if Sparkle dumped Cinn in the first trash bin she came to, as long as his honey wasn’t cooking dinner.

They’d almost reached Sparkle’s suite when the lights went out. There was a moment of complete darkness before the emergency lights came on in the hallway.

And in their glow stood a man…or something. He was big, close to seven feet, with shoulders that seemed
to fill the whole hallway. But that wasn’t what made Cinn stare at him with unblinking horror. He had the stitched-together look of a Frankenstein, without any of the charm.

“Holy hell,” Cinn breathed out on what felt like her last breath.

The man moved with a speed that pegged him as definitely not human. Cinn didn’t even have time to suck in enough air to scream before he’d reached them.

Sparkle seemed frozen in place, and it wasn’t until he grabbed her that she breathed a word. “Rabid.”

Then both of them disappeared.

Cinn turned and ran. She didn’t scream. Screaming would take breath and only attract humans who’d be useless. She didn’t bother with the elevator. It would take too long. Instead, she lunged for the stairs. Cinn was halfway down when she realized where she was instinctively heading. Dacian’s room.

But she needn’t have bothered, because he met her before she reached the bottom of the steps. He wore no shirt and his feet were bare. His hair made a dark tangled frame for his face.

He was vampire. His eyes were solid black and his lips were drawn back to expose deadly fangs.

As soon as he saw her, Dacian stopped. She was okay. He fought to calm the explosive violence pushing at him. “What happened? Your fear woke me. I thought…” He didn’t know what he’d thought. In fact, there hadn’t been any thinking going on at all. Only his driving need to protect the woman he loved. Well, hell, now was a great time to throw the L word at him.

Her face was pale in the glow of the emergency light. “Someone grabbed Sparkle and disappeared.”

She didn’t get any further because Ganymede materialized on the step beside her. This wasn’t the lazy, laid-back, big-appetite cat of a short time ago. His amber eyes glowed and something so powerful crouched in them that Dacian expected the staircase walls to explode outward.

Ganymede only said one word.
“Sparkle.”

“We were walking down the hall. A big man appeared. Not human. He grabbed her and disappeared.” Cinn put her hand on the wall for support as reaction set in.

Dacian reached up and dragged her down to the step he was on. He pulled her hard against his side. Ganymede remained on the step above them.

“What did he look like? Did he say anything?”
Ganymede pinned his ears flat against his head.

“He looked all messed up, like someone had torn him apart and then put him back together without bothering to make all the edges match.” She threw up her hands. “I know, rotten description.” She raked her fingers through her hair. “Sparkle looked as though she was in shock. She didn’t say anything until the man grabbed her. Then she just said one word—‘rabid.’ Mean anything to you?” She stared at Ganymede.

All the emergency lights in the stairwell shattered. But they weren’t in complete darkness. Ganymede’s amber eyes glowed, the promise of death in their depths. This was the badass Dacian had always suspected hid behind the easygoing fat-cat persona.

“Oh, I know him. And yeah, I did a piss-poor job of putting him back together again. I won’t even try this time.”
In one leap, he cleared their heads and landed on the step below them.
“We’re meeting in the greenhouse. I’ve sent out a call already. Only the people I trust. Go get some shoes on,
vampire. I don’t want one of those assholes taking you out by stepping on your toes.”

Dacian opened his mouth to say, no, he wasn’t leaving Cinn. But Ganymede beat him to it.

“Take her with you. Taurin, Eric, and their wives have risen. They’re waiting at your door.”
And then Ganymede was gone.

“The night feeders are in the castle, aren’t they? The…person who took Sparkle is controlled by Stephan, isn’t he?”

Cinn sounded calm, but her hand shook in his as they hurried to his room. He squeezed her hand to give her confidence, a confidence he wasn’t sure he felt himself. He’d planned to use the nonhumans in the castle to help him. Now Sparkle was gone. Had he made the right decision? Maybe he should’ve tried to lure Stephan somewhere else for their showdown.
What showdown? You can’t kill your own maker, and Taurin isn’t strong enough.

His brother and Eric, along with Donna and Kristin, were already in his room. The two women sat on his couch, Eric paced, and Taurin leaned against the wall. At another time Dacian would’ve made a sarcastic comment about their coming in without an invite, but not now.

“You know everything?” Dacian glanced around.

“Yeah. Ganymede filled us in.” Taurin pushed away from the wall.

Cinn dropped onto one of his overstuffed chairs. “Ganymede seemed to know who took Sparkle. What does that mean?”

“It means that not only has the enemy breached the castle, but Stephan has pulled in a few helpers who aren’t night feeders.” Dacian knew his expression was as grim as his thoughts.

“No chance that Sparkle’s kidnapping isn’t related to Stephan, that it was just an unfortunate coincidence?” Donna watched Eric pace, her eyes troubled.

“Not likely.” Eric didn’t stop pacing.

Dacian yanked a sweater over his head and pulled on his boots. “We’d better get our butts moving. Ganymede will be waiting.”

No one spoke as they hurried to the greenhouse. Once inside, Dacian made sure Cinn was still at his side before glancing around.

“No one challenged us at the door. Anyone could’ve come in.” Two centuries of hiding from Stephan had taught Dacian the value of caution.

“I’ve put a ward around the greenhouse. Only those Ganymede named are permitted through.” Holgarth cast a dismissive look at Cinn. “I would advise Ms. Airmid to stay in here with her plants during the battle. I doubt she or her ‘weed warriors’ will be of much use against the night feeders and whatever ilk they’ve brought with them.”

A glance from Cinn stopped Dacian from pointing out that if Holgarth’s gargoyles had done their job, there wouldn’t be any “ilk” in the castle.

Ganymede hadn’t arrived yet, but otherwise it was the same group as before, except for three new men…no, not men. Demons. They stood next to Bain, scanning the room with predatory glances. The gazes of all three stopped at Cinn. One of them licked his lips.

Dacian growled low in his throat. The demon looked at him and then glanced away. But not before Dacian saw him smile. “Bain. I hope you have a tight leash.”

Bain shrugged. “These three are lesser demons. Vicious fighters, but not too selective. They’ll stay with
me, and I’ll point them in the right direction. They were the only ones I could get on short notice.”

“Demons? They don’t look as…human as Bain.” Cinn sounded uneasy.

“Bain is more powerful, so he can put on a better show. But never doubt that underneath he’s as merciless as them.”

Bain smiled at him. “A compliment, Dacian? I get so few of them. See, now you’ve made me feel all warm and friendly.”

“How did your demons get past the gargoyles?” Holgarth seemed to have pulled himself from his funk. His gaze was clear and sharp.

“They walked past. Your gargoyles are confused, wizard. They’re not stopping anyone from coming through.” Bain’s smile hardened. “I wonder who was responsible for that trick?”

“The sorcerer.” There was no doubt in Holgarth’s voice.

“You mean the wizard who tried out for your job and woke the gargoyles?” Edge spoke for the first time.

“I prefer sorcerer to wizard. I’m sure there’s black magic involved in his power.”

Dacian figured that was what Holgarth wanted to believe. He could use that explanation to excuse the butt-kicking the stranger had handed out.

Holgarth straightened his hat, and Dacian wondered why he didn’t get one that fit his head. Wait, maybe they didn’t make them that big.

“I assume he wove a spell into his awakening of the gargoyles that countermanded my orders.” The air seemed to go out of Holgarth, leaving him once again deflated and morose. “I should have sensed what he was doing.”

And even though Dacian had no liking for Holgarth, he found himself trying to divert attention from the wizard’s obvious pain. “Where’s Ganymede?”

The greenhouse door crashed open with so much force that the whole greenhouse shook. And everyone’s gaze was riveted on the figure standing in the doorway.

Silence. A shivering sliver of deadly quiet. Outside, the wind howled and blew the snow into drifts that formed strange shapes against the greenhouse walls.

But inside, everyone waited. And those who had breath held it. Cinn thought she might never breathe again. Because breathing required a heartbeat, and she was sure hers had stopped the moment the door opened.

A man stood in the doorway while a cold blast of air and driven snow blew into the room around him. Then he slammed the door shut.

That seemed to jump-start everyone in the greenhouse.

“Who the hell are you? If you’re not on Ganymede’s list, you’re dead.”

Cinn had never seen Edge look this dangerous. Not exactly a hearty “Welcome, stranger.”

“Cut the drama. It’s me.”

More silence.

“Ganymede.”

“No way.” Bain said it for all of them.

Ganymede was a chubby cat with a huge appetite. This man was…

Cinn wasn’t sure she had words for what he was. Tall, about six five. Muscular with broad shoulders that tapered down to narrow hips. Strong-looking legs. He wore jeans tucked into calf-high boots that looked well
broken in, a white T-shirt, and a tan suede jacket. His hair was a little too long and it curled, framing his face, making him look like a fallen angel who was enjoying the dark side a whole lot. The color wasn’t just
blond
blond. It had a richness, shine, and depth to it that would make any woman want to rake her fingers through it over and over and over.

“What do you think, wizard?” Eric looked as though he wasn’t sure whether to attack or accept.

“The voice belongs to Ganymede.” Holgarth scowled. “Only Sparkle would know for sure. But this could be the nefarious work of the sorcerer.”

“We don’t have time for this crap. My babe is in danger. You want proof, wizard? How about if I drive your pointy hat through your thick skull? That proof enough for you?” The air vibrated with the power of his anger.

“Why did you take human form?” Cinn didn’t know if this was Ganymede or not. But the woman in her couldn’t look away from his face. The amber eyes were a given, but the rest of his features were a total surprise. The Ganymede who spoke in her head should have rough-hewn features, maybe a beard, probably bushy eyebrows and a jutting jaw. A scary tough guy.

“I need opposable thumbs so I can choke the life from Rabid when I find him.”

Okay, so the scary part was still a go. But what an incredible face. Its spectacular lines and angles, combined with a sensual mouth and amber eyes framed by long lashes, should have looked almost too beautiful. But instead his face was strongly masculine.

Even though Cinn thought Dacian was the most gorgeous guy she knew, she was still part of the collective “woman.” And that part of her couldn’t help admiring Ganymede. She hadn’t understood Sparkle’s love for
him before. Now she did. And yes, Sparkle would applaud her shallowness.

“Who is this Rabid?” Taurin seemed to have accepted Ganymede.

“A rogue cosmic troublemaker.” Ganymede threw Dacian a pointed stare. “He creates insane rages in his victims.”

Dacian made the connection. “He works with Stephan.
He’s
the one who’s causing my problem.”

“I don’t mean to change the subject, but Airmid is near. I sense her. She’s waiting for the battle to begin so she can slip in here and destroy the plants while everyone is occupied elsewhere.”
Asima was lying next to Teddy. The cactus seemed calm tonight.
“I’ll remain here to protect the plants.”

Ganymede nodded. “If we need you we’ll call. Luckily, we don’t have as many rooms as a regular hotel, so Stephan probably only got in a couple dozen of his vampires.” He scanned the rest of his small army. “I asked Holgarth to check on something before he came here.” He nodded at his wizard. “Tell them what you found.”

“Almost all of those who’ve checked in during the past few weeks have been in groups of three. No nonhumans were around when they checked in so we can’t verify if they are indeed human. I suspect not. Only one member of each group has eaten in the restaurant regularly. Perhaps the other two have eaten at another restaurant. I doubt it. During the time they’ve been here, they’ve asked that they be allowed to clean their own rooms. Fresh linens have been left outside their doors.” Holgarth glanced at Ganymede.

“Translation: The night feeders checked in and brought their own takeout with them. They stayed in
their rooms and their sorcerer wove some kind of crappy spell so we wouldn’t sense their presence.” Ganymede looked grim. “The night feeders alone wouldn’t worry me too much, but they brought along two big guns. We can’t even guess at how powerful their sorcerer is.”

“And Rabid? What’s his range of power?” Edge’s expression hinted that he’d heard of the rogue.

“Not wide enough.” Ganymede smiled, and everyone backed away from him. “We both go back almost to the dawn of time. I kicked his ass then, and I’ll do it again. If he hurts my woman, I’ll do it slowly and painfully. And if he kills her…”

The emergency lights flickered and went out at the same time the whole greenhouse shook and rattled. The power flowing from Ganymede seemed to fill the small space and expand outward. Cinn expected the greenhouse windows to explode in a shower of glass.

Ganymede’s voice deepened, seemed to pulse with deadly energy as he spoke into the darkness. “I’ll destroy him and drag his body into the bowels of the earth to rot like the piece of shit he is.”

“The Big Boss destroys any cosmic troublemaker who takes the life of another of his kind.” Edge sounded as though he were repeating a rule he’d memorized.

“To hell with the Big Boss.”

Cinn didn’t even know who this Big Boss was, but she instinctively cringed, waiting for the lightning bolt to take them all out. Nothing happened.

Suddenly, the emergency lights came back on. Ganymede looked calm, his eyes giving away none of the intense emotion that had manifested itself physically a moment ago. Cinn wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end when he finally released all that repressed rage.

Holgarth filled the silence. “Oh, one more bit of in
formation. The Mackenzie vampire, Kyla, checked in several nights before you brought Dacian to the castle. And a known night feeder left at the same time she checked in. I looked at the surveillance tape for that time period and found several frames showing them talking together in the parking lot.” Ganymede let the implications settle in.

“She betrayed our clan.” Eric sounded suddenly weary.

Taurin looked stricken. “All that talk about being worried about Dacian. Lies.”

Dacian remained silent, but Cinn felt his anguish. She’d expected to feel triumph if this moment happened. Instead she just felt sadness for the three men who’d trusted Kyla.

Donna wisely changed the subject. “So what’s the plan to kick their butts?”

“We’ll keep it simple.” Ganymede’s expression said that ice cream and chips weren’t anywhere on his radar now. “Rabid is mine. I’ll find him and get Sparkle back. Everyone else stay away from him. Once he locks onto you, he can trigger the rage.”

Ganymede met Dacian’s gaze. “Sorry. Can’t help you. He’ll probably take you out right before they attack so you can’t fight against them. And this time you won’t get the usual warning from Stephan.”

“I won’t let you guys fight a battle that should be mine while I’m locked in the dungeon.” Dacian spoke through clenched teeth.

Ganymede looked thoughtful. “I agree. That’s why I’m bringing the chains here.” Without warning, manacles and chains attached to an upright post appeared by his side. “At the first twinge, get yourself chained to that post. Yeah, I know the chains won’t hold you for long,
but let’s hope they’ll last until some of the killing frenzy fades.”

Cinn was so busy being amazed by Ganymede’s magic that she didn’t realize he’d switched his attention to her.

“Cinn, stay here with Asima and Dacian. If for some reason you can’t get the cuffs on him, Asima will try to control him until he comes around.”

Try
was the operative word. Cinn didn’t want to believe Dacian would hurt her, but she’d seen the emptiness in his eyes that first time. No one home. She nodded.

“The rest of us will split up into pairs. Eric and Donna, Taurin and Kristin, Bain and his three demons, Holgarth and Edge—”

“Whoa, wait, stop.” Edge raised both hands in the air. “I work alone. No wizards.” He glared at Holgarth. “He’d run his mouth at me, and I’d end up killing him.”

Once again the building shook as Ganymede visibly fought to control his temper. “Did I give you a choice? Don’t remember that happening. Probably the most powerful weapon Stephan has is that freaking sorcerer. You think that’s a real snowstorm out there? Bet our sorcerer friend whipped that up while he was brushing his teeth this morning. What do you think he could do if he really concentrated? Oh, maybe drop the castle on our dumbass heads.”

Cinn swore she could hear thunder rumbling as Ganymede worked himself up.

“You think you can take him all by yourself, Edge? Bet you do. But you know something? I think you need Holgarth to help you. Neither one of you by yourself can bring him down. Holgarth’s already tried.”

Dacian evidently saw what she saw. Edge was working on his own power source, and he might explode into violence at any second. None of them needed the two cosmic troublemakers going at each other.

Dacian interrupted their stare-down. “Are there any humans left in the castle? If so, we need to do something with them. They won’t survive the night feeders. Stephan’s forces are always looking for an energy bar to keep them going.”

Ganymede closed his eyes and cursed. “Damn, hell, shit, fuck, and son of a bitch. I forgot about them.”

Edge evidently couldn’t help getting some of his own back. “Thought the Big Boss banned your swearing. Bet you just pissed him off big time.”

Ganymede opened his eyes and just stared at Edge. The other cosmic troublemaker subsided.

“Holgarth, bring them here. Tell them since we had to cancel the regular fantasies, Cinn will entertain them with tales of her amazing plants. Maybe even manage a surprise fantasy.”

“She will?” Cinn knew she looked horrified. What tales?

Bain winked at her. “I could give you a few.”

Dacian flashed fang.

Cinn widened her eyes as another thought hit. “You can’t bring a bunch of humans in here. It’s too dangerous.”

“Tough shit. You think they’ll be safer in the castle with all those vampires running around? When the bloodlust hits them, they aren’t too selective about whose throat they rip out.” Ganymede’s expression said his decision stood.

Bain was still thinking about Cinn’s plants. “You could tell them about the plant that—”

“Forget it.” Dacian glared at Bain until the demon shrugged and glanced away.

“Do your three demons talk?” Cinn knew this might not be the time to ask, but she needed to steer the conversation to something safer.

Bain checked out his demon friends. “Nope. They just kill.”

“Oh.” Well, that was short and not so sweet.

“Okay, you all know what to do. Eric, create nightmare fantasies for them. Donna, take their heads.”

Cinn wished Ganymede would be less graphic. Donna had just gone three shades paler.

“Taurin and Kristin, work as a team. You know how night feeders think.”

Cinn could see worry for his brother in Dacian’s eyes. God, she hoped this didn’t end with one of them dead, not after they’d finally found each other.

“Holgarth and Edge, you might have the toughest job of all. Don’t know what to tell you about the sorcerer.” Ganymede turned toward the door. “If any of you need me, give me a mental shout-out.”

“Some of the Mackenzies are on their way, but something’s blocking my mental messages. And with cells and landlines dead, I don’t know how close they are.” Eric looked frustrated.

Ganymede shrugged. “We go with the people we have now. We can’t count on getting help.”

“Who’ll be helping
you
?
”
Cinn knew she was probably the only one who could ask that. Ganymede wouldn’t expect a human to have any sense.

Ganymede looked at her from eyes that shone with bloodlust. “I hunt alone, babe. I’ll find Rabid. And I’ll find Sparkle. Don’t doubt it.” And then he was gone.

Within seconds everyone else had left, too. Only Cinn, Dacian, Asima, and Cinn’s plants remained.

“Everyone’s worried about Stephan, but what about the plants? No one cares if Airmid comes in here and makes tossed salad of them.”

“I care, Asima.” Cinn took a deep breath to steady herself. But lord, she cared about Dacian more.

Dacian paced. “Not only useless, but dangerous to everyone around me.” Self-disgust filled his voice.

“We’ll deal with what comes.” Cinn didn’t want to think what would happen when Rabid struck. Would there be enough time to secure Dacian, and would those chains hold him? And how the hell would they keep a bunch of humans safe?

“Yeah, I know.” He reached for Cinn and dragged her into his arms. “Promise me that if I get loose and come for you, you’ll take one of those wooden stakes you use for your plants and drive it into my heart.”

“You’re kidding, right?” She knew he wasn’t, and that was what horrified her. “Your fangs will fall out before that happens.” He was getting ready to argue, Cinn could tell. “Besides, you’d rip that little stick out of my hand like it was a toothpick. No, if you get loose, all of us humans will hide behind Asima.”

Just then Holgarth pulled open the kitchen entrance to the greenhouse and almost shoved a small group of hotel guests inside. Without saying a word, he left. The people all carried folding chairs and stood looking at her expectantly.

Oh, shit. She pushed away from Dacian and smiled at the newcomers. “You can put your chairs along the walls of the greenhouse.”

Dacian muttered his opinion of Ganymede’s keep-the-humans-safe idea. Some of his curses were in lan
guages she didn’t recognize, but she understood the feeling behind them just fine.

Cinn waited for all of the guests to be seated. Her mind was a spin cycle of worry about the coming battle. She couldn’t begin to concentrate on making up stories about her plants. So she’d just tell them the truth. “Umm, thanks for coming.”