Wicked Edge (25 page)

He couldn’t, though. Holgarth was waiting to start the next fantasy, and Edge was his evil vampire of choice. And since this would be the last fantasy of the night, Edge would have to meet with the Big Freaking Boss, aka Bourne, afterward.

Edge got through the fantasy and headed for the lobby. The others were already there. Bourne had found them a table tucked into a shadowed corner. They all had drinks. God, that’s exactly what he needed. He thought about Passion. Okay, maybe not exactly.

He slipped into the one empty chair. His drink was already on the table. “Whoever got the drink, thanks.”

Ganymede was in human form and looked pissed about it. He glared at Edge. “That would be Sparkle.”

Sparkle sighed. “Big, blond, and sulky here didn’t like being dragged off his fat cat butt and away from the TV and ice cream.”

Ganymede narrowed his eyes to slits. “I’d DVR’d
Top Chef
, and I was just getting into it. This better be worth it, Boss.”

Bourne looked bemused as he stared at Ganymede. Edge didn’t blame him. Death and destruction could rain down on Ganymede, and he’d simply sit in the middle of the storm with his ice cream and TV remote. He wasn’t normal.

Ganymede turned his bad temper on Sparkle. “And she’s acting as though I’m the only one who wanted a little downtime after the night we had. Ask her what she said when she had to leave in the middle of doing her nails to come down here?”

“I. Don’t. Care.” Bourne had evidently had enough. “All I need are a few troublemakers who can work up a decent bloodlust, who want to go out and tear someone apart for the sheer joy of it, who love coming home covered in the blood of their enemies. Is that too much to ask for?” He exhaled deeply. “But I guess I’m old school.”

Edge felt his rage building. How long had he wanted to put his fist into the face of the Big Boss? But up until now, their leader had been this faceless power who’d manipulated their lives without regard to what
they
wanted. Bourne had a lot to answer for.

Don’t say it. Keep your mouth shut.
Edge knew what Bourne was capable of, knew he could destroy without moving a muscle. But something in Edge wouldn’t be denied.

Yeah, this was about Passion. Up until now, he hadn’t much given a damn about anything, couldn’t work up a decent mad about his existence. But he’d finally found someone…
Don’t wimp out on me now. Say it.
He’d found someone who felt right for him, who felt like his
mate
.

And he couldn’t have her. He was tied to forever as Death. Edge could imagine a typical day at their house. “Thanks for making breakfast for me, sweetheart. I’ll be home late. Tough day at work. Three drug lords, two serial killers, and a partridge in a pear tree. Don’t wait up for me. Love you.” Yeah, Passion would be happy with that kind of life.

Knowing his next words might be his last, Edge let his feelings rip. “If you want a bunch of man-eating tigers, you don’t declaw them and pull their teeth.”

Bourne stilled, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Edge. “I sense some hostility.”

His voice was so soft that Edge had to strain to hear it. “You think?”

Sparkle tried to defuse the moment. “Don’t listen to him, Bourne. He doesn’t mean anything.”

Bourne never took his attention from Edge. “Oh, I think he does. Why don’t you lay it out for me, Finis.”

God, he hated that name. “No one ever asked me what
I
wanted to be. I was born, I killed. And for tens of thousands of years I was okay with that. I was like a child. I didn’t reason out anything. Then I got older, hungrier. Killing had become a compulsion. I destroyed whole villages, hundreds of people at a time. Finally, I hit the big time. I took out Pompeii. Oh, you covered it up. Ganymede made the volcano blow, and you planted new memories in the minds of those who escaped. But it was then you realized I was off the leash.”

Any moment now, Edge expected Bourne to wink him out of existence, but the fucker just sat there staring at him.

“Go on. This is fascinating.”

Edge wondered what it would take to shatter Bourne’s deadly calm. Well, there was still time to find out, because he wasn’t done yet.

“After Pompeii, you started to rein me in. Only one kill at a
time. Finally, I did some maturing. I accepted the limitations you imposed.” He looked away from Bourne. “But things haven’t been great with me and my profession for a long time. I coped by not feeling. Guess what? I’m feeling again. And I can’t stop it.”

“Anything else?” Bourne’s voice gave nothing away.

“Yeah. Why did you send me here to work?” He glanced at Sparkle. “And make Sparkle my boss? You had to know that would piss me off.”

Bourne turned from Edge without answering him. “How about you, Ganymede? Want to pile on?”

“You know how I feel. You’ve been putting the brakes on me for a long time.” Ganymede looked at Sparkle. “How about you, honeyfluff?”

“Honeyfluff?” Bourne sounded disbelieving. “A chaos bringer doesn’t call
anyone
‘honeyfluff.’ It’s just…wrong.”

Sparkle shrugged. “I’m happy. I’m doing what I was meant to do. And you haven’t put any limits on me. Yet.”

“That’s because you haven’t stepped over any lines. Yet. Tonight might’ve done it, though.” Bourne stood. “Look, I need some air. Let’s walk on the beach for a while.”

It was too soon to relax, but so far Bourne didn’t seem really ticked. Although Edge didn’t trust him. He could be waiting till they got outside to cull his herd.

Bourne led them onto the beach. There was no moon tonight, and a chill wind had whipped up. The sound of the surf soothed Edge. For a moment, he allowed himself to think of Passion. What was she doing? And when would Bourne let them go so he could find her?

“Hey, Boss, we have a tail. They were hanging in the lobby when we were there. Two big dudes. Want me to find out what they’re after?” Ganymede showed some enthusiasm for the first time.

“They’re working for me.”

Edge turned to stare at the men trailing them. “Vampires?”

“Specialists. Those are Listeners. Very rare, and very expensive to hire.”

“What do they do?” Sparkle glanced back. “Holy stereotypes. Please tell me they’re not both wearing black dusters. After this is over, I absolutely must conduct a clothing intervention with them.”

Bourne looked pained as he rubbed the crease between his eyes. Edge didn’t blame him. Sparkle had that effect on people.

“The Listeners can monitor multiple minds at once. So back in the lobby, they were tuning in to everyone in the room. If anyone had been paying attention to our meeting, they would’ve alerted me.” Bourne stopped walking. “Okay, I’ve conquered the desire to disintegrate all of you and scatter your molecules throughout the universe. So we can continue talking.”

Edge wanted to make a sarcastic comment, but he didn’t. As much as he resented Bourne, he had to remember that they had a common enemy. Now wasn’t the time for personal grudges.

“Here’s what I got from your little moments of truth. You all hate me except for Sparkle, but she’s really disappointed with my security detail’s clothing choices. Did I miss anything?” Bourne’s expression gave nothing away. No anger, no hurt feelings. He could have been discussing getting together to watch a game. Cold son of a bitch.

“For the sake of fairness, I’ll share a few of my feelings. First, I’m not apologizing for anything. I’ve always done what I thought was best. Second, I’m paranoid, and I see enemies everywhere. Sometimes I’ve been wrong, but a few times being distrustful has saved my ass and yours. So understand where I’m coming from when I say I don’t trust anyone.” He speared each of them with a hard stare. When he reached Sparkle, his lips lifted in a faint smile. “All right, I don’t suspect you, Sparkle.”

Bourne’s gaze rested on Ganymede. “You’re probably the closest
to me in power. I’ve felt your resentment when I limited your…activities. Yes, I’ll admit I’m glad you’re here with Sparkle. I figured she’d distract you from thoughts of the throne.”

Ganymede made a rude noise. “Who’d want the job? I’m into creating chaos, not ruling.”

Bourne shifted his attention to Edge. “I sent you to work under Sparkle to teach you some humility. Too much arrogance can be dangerous. To me.” His grin was rueful. “Didn’t work. It just pissed you off.”

Edge needed to hear it put into words. “So you thought Ganymede or I might be behind what’s happening?”

“It crossed my mind.” He held up his hand before Edge could say anything. “Take it as a compliment. If you weren’t so powerful, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.”

“I hate walking on the beach.” Sparkle slipped off her stilettos and emptied the sand from them. “And I hate talking around a problem. Here’s what I see. Someone’s been trying to draw you to the castle by attacking each of us until you couldn’t ignore the situation any longer. So what do we do about it now that you’re here?”

Bourne laughed, and there was no underlying message in it. “You amaze me, Sparkle. Ganymede can topple mountains, and Edge can visit death on the deserving, but you…You could lead.”

Edge grinned, and everyone seemed to unwind a little. “She’s right. What’s the plan?”

“Whoever’s in charge of this couldn’t overthrow me because they didn’t know where I was. Now that I’m here, he or she will try to kill me and take over the top spot. This isn’t the first time this has happened. I’ve survived other attempts, and I intend to survive this.” He glanced back at the castle. “I’ve called in all the cosmic troublemakers I trust. The most powerful ones will stay in the castle. I’ve gotten rooms for the others in nearby hotels. They should
be arriving tomorrow. I don’t know what forces the enemy has, but I guarantee they’re out there. We’ll get some rest and then we hunt.”

Edge nodded. He glanced at his watch. Hell, it was too late to bother Passion.

“Edge?” Bourne’s voice was close.

“What?” He looked up in time to see Ganymede and Sparkle walking away. Bourne stood next to him.

“Passion and Hope aren’t angels. We don’t know what they are, or who they answer to. Be careful, no matter how you feel about Passion.”

Edge’s first instinct was to protect her. “She’s not the enemy.”

“Think. The three attacks came right after they arrived.”

“Yeah, but Hope stopped both Ganymede and me.”

“The point wasn’t for you to die; the point was to make the situation so bad that I’d have to show myself. It worked. Whoever’s in control of this wants to be the next Big Boss. It doesn’t make sense to destroy his soon–to–be most valuable assets.”

Edge could only nod. He refused to suspect Passion. And yes, he was being stubborn. So what?

Bourne turned to walk away, but Edge had one more thing to ask.

“Was it worth creating me?”

“I didn’t create you.”

“You pointed the gun. You pulled the trigger. Same thing.”

“I gave you a purpose in life. There’s a balance in everything, even death. Most murders are committed by malevolent forces against the innocent. You destroy those malevolent forces. You balance death.”

It made sense in a weird sort of way. Edge followed Bourne back to the castle.

•   •   •

Passion was so tired she could sleep standing up. Once back in her room, she looked long and hard at her bed, the one
without
Edge in it. She wasn’t
that
tired. Hope hadn’t come back yet, and the phone’s red message light was on. Passion would bet the two were connected.

The message was short and not so sweet. Hope was spending the rest of the night with Kemp. Sometimes Passion didn’t get her roommate. Hope stood firm on some of Ted’s rules, but then when temptation beckoned, she flung everything aside to chase it. Go figure.

Passion had almost decided to crash on Hope’s bed when she remembered. She had to tell someone about the conversation she’d heard between Bain and Murmur. And what was with Zane and Holgarth? Oh, and she couldn’t forget Zane’s mysterious visitor.

She looked down at the phone. Passion would dance naked with a demon—okay, so if the demon was Murmur it wouldn’t be too awful—before she’d wake Holgarth up. But someone had to know immediately about Bain and Murmur. She never considered calling anyone but Edge. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the receiver.

Edge took a while to answer. Asleep. He wouldn’t be thrilled to hear from her.

“What?” He sounded groggy.

“I have to talk to you.”

“Passion?” Suddenly, he sounded alert.

“I can’t talk on the phone.” Sure she could, but she didn’t want to. She wouldn’t even try to pretend she didn’t have an ulterior motive.

“No problem.”

He gave her his room number and hung up without asking why
she couldn’t talk on the phone. She didn’t take anything with her because she didn’t want this to look too obvious. But she had no intention of coming back here to sleep alone with nothing but her frustrating dreams for company.

Edge opened his door before she could even knock. He’d pulled on his jeans but nothing else. His hair was mussed, and he was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

“Come in. Sit down.” He closed the door behind her.

She dropped into a chair and waited for him to take the chair across from her.

“What’s up?”

His gaze was clear and steady, but Passion wanted to believe she saw something hot and hungry in those amber eyes. Wishful thinking? She hoped not.

“I’m sorry I dragged you out of bed.” She wasn’t. “But I heard a few things tonight you need to know about.” Passion hoped he didn’t ask why she hadn’t gotten Bourne out of bed instead of him.

He didn’t.

“Let’s hear it.”

He leaned forward, and her gaze dropped as she admired the way his muscles flowed beneath smooth skin as he moved.

“Passion?”

She could hear the amusement in his voice. Passion glanced away so he wouldn’t notice her flush. And she knew it was there because she could feel the heat creeping up her neck and into her face.
Think thoughts of icebergs and blizzards.
Damn Ted for turning her into a blushing virgin.
Hello, you
are
a virgin. Technically.