Wicked Edge (6 page)

But Edge had his own thing going on. Those amber eyes shone with hungry anticipation. “It was an accident, but if you want to settle it this way, let’s do it.”

Passion didn’t get to see what happened next, because the small landing became a sound-and-light show that seemed to shake the whole building.

She could hear faint screams coming from the great hall, but they were drowned out by the shrieks of the totally freaked virgin. Passion knew what she had to do. She couldn’t stop what the two men were doing to each other, but she could save the woman.

“Come with me.” Passion reached for the woman’s hand.

She yanked her hand away. “I’m not going with anyone from this crazy place.” Frantic, she whirled in a circle, looking for the stairs. Any stairs.

But the flashes of light and booming explosions disoriented her. She stumbled into a wall and sat down hard.

Oh, for heaven’s sake. Passion didn’t have time for this kind of crap. Reaching down, she hefted the woman over her shoulder and raced down the stairs toward the great hall and hopefully safety.

The virgin beat a panicked tattoo on her back. “Put me down. Put me the hell down.”

Passion was gasping for breath and her legs felt wobbly by the time she reached the last step. She dumped the woman none too gently on the stone floor. “I think we’re safe.”

The virgin had no opinion on that. She simply sat there with a dazed expression on her face.

Suddenly, a new player moved into the shocked silence that had fallen around the great hall. The quiet made the flashes of light and wall-shaking booms even more obvious. Passion had a fleeting impression of dark hair and blue eyes before the stranger turned to rally the forces.

“I’m Dacian. I’m one of the good vampires in her majesty’s kingdom.” He smiled at everyone, exposing fangs that looked way too real. “As you can hear, Sir Bain and the evil vampire master are battling to the death above us.”
Boom. Crash.
“Meanwhile, the evil vampire’s mate is trying to kidnap our virgin so that she can drain the innocent’s blood.”

There were a few weak boos from the audience. The “innocent” still looked a little wonky from her experience.

“And while we await the outcome…” He cast a meaningful glance at Holgarth-the-snarky-wizard, who was already making his way toward the stairway. “I’ll capture the vampire’s mate and drag her off to the dungeon.”

Oh, no. He wouldn’t. Dacian moved almost too fast for her eyes to follow. He would.

Before she could even yelp her outrage, he scooped her up and whisked her into the dressing room. As he set her on her feet, she was dimly aware of the raucous laughter coming from the crowd in the great hall.

“What’re they so happy about?” Passion didn’t find anything funny about the whole situation.

Dacian shrugged. “Don’t have a clue. There’s some woman out there keeping them all happy and laughing. I’m damn glad she’s here tonight. What the hell happened up there, and who’re you?”

Passion tried to pull her tattered dignity together as she absently noticed the violet swirling around him. Pride. Compared to the two fighting upstairs, Dacian was practically ready for sainthood.

“I don’t know what happened up there. Sir Bain was doing his thing and then something tossed him across the room.” She refused to tell him about her glowing fingers. “Then Edge came along, and Sir Bain went ballistic on him.”

He raised one dark brow to indicate she wasn’t finished with her answers.

“I’m Passion, and all I wanted to do was to try one of your fantasies. Holgarth gave me the part of the vampire’s mate. I think I’m all fantasied out for the next twenty years or so. They’re too intense for me.”

She looked up at him from under her lashes to see if he was buying her story. “I think I want to go up to my room now.”

He’d evidently decided she wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things because he nodded absently. “Sure. Go ahead. But don’t give up on the fantasies, most of them are tamer than this one was.”

Ha. With all the evil nonhumans cluttering up the castle, she’d bet death and destruction had permanent reservations here. She didn’t answer him as she stumbled from the room. Passion knew
she should find Hope first, but all she wanted to do was collapse into bed and forget tonight.

But somewhere between the dressing room and her longed-for bed, she picked up a shadow. The gray cat paced beside her as she trudged down the long hallway to her door.

“Damn, a good fight just makes me feel tingly all over. Too bad Bain didn’t rip Edge’s head off.”

Startled, she looked down. The cat’s voice in her head still felt creepy. “You saw it? I didn’t see you.”

“I was hanging in the shadows. You were a little busy, so I’m not surprised you didn’t notice me.”

“What was really going on between those two? And why do you hate Edge so much?” Surprisingly, she found she didn’t want Edge to be a hate-worthy person.

“Bain was pissed because Edge was the one who heaved him across the landing. Don’t blame Bain a bit. And I hate Edge because he deserves it.
”

He stopped and waited while she fumbled in her pocket for the big old-fashioned key they’d given her. The hotel was into authentic.

“But since I’ve sort of answered your question, maybe you can answer mine.”

Anything
to get rid of him so she could think. “Sure.”

“You’re not an angel, so what are you?”

Passion dropped the key and didn’t even notice as it rolled into a shadowed part of the hall. She stared. Finally, she relaxed. He was crazy, of course.

She’d use it to her own advantage, though. “Then I guess I’m just an ordinary human. You’re the one that assumed I was an angel, so I played along. Aren’t you supposed to humor the insane?” She widened her eyes and tried to look innocent. Passion had lots of practice at home.

Ganymede yawned, showing sharp little teeth.
“Give me a break.
You’re not human.”
He wore a waiting–by–a–mouse-hole-for-dinner–to–arrive look in his feline eyes.
“I think you believe you are, though. Strange. A real angel would’ve known about me. They all do. Think about that, sweetheart.”
Then he turned and disappeared down the winding stairs. The last thing she saw was that arrogantly waving gray tail.

Sighing, she bent down to retrieve her key.

It was gone.

Edge picked up the key and slipped it into his pocket. Then he leaned against the wall and waited for Ganymede to leave. The cat thought he was at the top of the Big Boss’s food chain. But he couldn’t sense that Edge stood invisible close enough to reach out and touch Passion. Even
he
couldn’t see Death coming.

Edge forgot about his contempt for Ganymede, though, in the wake of what the cat had said about Passion. Angel? Not angel? What the hell was going on? Determined to find out, he waited until Passion was crouched, searching the floor for her key, before he walked back to the top of the stairs and became visible.

“Having a problem?” He tried to sound mild and nonthreatening as he walked toward her.

She gasped and rose to face him. “Where’d you come from?”

“Sorry that I startled you.” He wasn’t. “After Bain and I settled things, I decided you deserved an apology.” He didn’t miss the flash of fear in her eyes. Not surprising. His fight with Bain had been pretty spectacular.

“Is Bain okay?” She sounded concerned.

Something primitive and violent opened its eyes and tried to uncurl inside him. He shoved the feeling aside. He had no desire for strong emotions. They could be dangerous when you wielded Death’s sword. “He’s fine. And yes, I’m fine too. Thanks for asking.”

Passion ignored his sarcasm. “You have some explaining to do.” She glanced at the floor again. “I lost my room key.”

At least she didn’t
sound
scared. “I have a master.” Silently, he drew out his key and unlocked the door.

“So you can get in anytime you want? Wow, way to make me feel secure.” She didn’t try to hide her eagerness to escape him.

He kept his hand on the doorknob. “I’d like to come in for a few minutes.”

She glanced up at him and then away. He sensed her need to step inside and slam the door in his face, but beneath that need was something else, something he couldn’t read.

“If I let you in, I want explanations.” She didn’t look happy about the bargain she was proposing.

He nodded, and then he dropped his hand from the door. It had to be her decision. He wasn’t sure why. It’s not as though he couldn’t force her to tell him what he wanted to know and then be on his way. Edge pushed aside the sly voice in his head that suggested he wanted more than information from her.

She sighed, opening the door so he could slip inside. She didn’t close the door. “We’ll make this quick because my roommate will be back any minute.”

When had a roommate arrived? Male or female? She slid her fingers through her long pale hair, and he followed the motion with eyes he feared were a little too hungry.

“Okay, forget subtlety. If you try to strangle me and stuff my body under the bed, I’ll scream loud enough to raise the dead.” She frowned. “Forget the raise-the-dead part. No one can do that.”

“If I ever tried to kill you, I’d be a lot more creative than that.” He smiled. “Mind if I sit down?”

She didn’t return his smile. “You don’t need to sit down because you won’t be here that long. Oh, and I need a new key.” She paced over to the arrow slit that passed for a window and peered out into the darkness.

He sat down. She wouldn’t get rid of him that easily. Leaning back in one of the easy chairs grouped in the small sitting area, he spread his legs out in front of him. It felt good to sit down after his battle with Bain. The demon couldn’t take him, but Edge knew he’d be hurting for at least a few hours until his body healed. Damn hell spawn.

Passion looked ticked off that he’d planted his butt on her chair, but she didn’t make a big deal about it. She returned from the window and sat down across from him. He was glad that he’d taken the time to change from his bloody costume before coming up here. No need to freak her out completely.

“Did you see what happened to the woman playing the virgin?”

What did that have to do with anything? “Nope. Afraid I was busy trying to stay alive at the time. Why?”

She shrugged. “Just wondering. Bain dragged her with him when he hit the wall. She was pretty woozy. And what the heck threw him across the landing anyway? He seemed to think you did it.”

“I did. And she was fine when I left the great hall. She’s already forgotten about it. Holgarth took care of her.”

“From what I saw of the wizard, that’s not too reassuring.”

She paused for a moment, and he had the feeling she was working herself up to something.

“So you were able to heave a grown man across the landing in absentia. What are you? And what
was
that between you and Bain?”

“That was an accident, but Bain didn’t give me a chance to explain. He’s impulsive that way.” Now for the tough part. “Ganymede said he talked to you outside.”

“You talk to cats too.” She didn’t seem surprised.

Okay, had to be careful here. “Did he explain anything?”

Passion avoided his gaze. “He might’ve mentioned something. Vaguely. He wasn’t too clear on the concept.” Sighing, she looked back at him. “He was very clear with his threats, though. So, I’ll let you introduce the subject.”

Edge smiled. “Probably the term ‘cosmic troublemaker’ came up.”

“Probably.”

“Do you really want to know?” He watched her grip her full bottom lip between small white teeth. When she released her lip, the wet sheen of it almost made him groan. She was as sensual as her name, but he didn’t think she had a clue about it. His body tightened. Great. Just freaking great.

“I
need
to know.”

An odd wording. He shrugged. If Ganymede had already flapped his kitty lips, then who was Edge to keep the secret? Besides, the worst that could happen was she’d run screaming from the hotel. A part of him thought that might be a good thing. He didn’t need sexual distractions now. But the part of his body with all the overexcited nerve endings wanted her to hang around for a while.

“Ganymede, Sparkle, and I are all cosmic troublemakers.”

She nodded. “I figured that out. Same weird eye color.”

He narrowed his gaze. She was taking this a little too calmly. “We were created sometime after the primordial ooze made its appearance. We’ve been around a long time.” He didn’t actually know the when or the by–whom of it. His first memory was of being exactly as he was now. No carefree childhood for him. He popped into existence and went right to work. It still bothered him sometimes when he allowed it to.

“Why didn’t I
know
?” Her frustrated mutter didn’t seem aimed at him.

He didn’t think she’d meant to let that slip, because if she were human, she wouldn’t be expected to know about their existence.

He decided not to point that out to her. “Each of us has a…talent, but we all have the same goal—to spread chaos in all its interesting forms throughout the universe.” If that didn’t send her sexy feet heading for the door, nothing would.

“What’s your talent?” She stared unblinkingly at him.

Don’t tell her.
And just because he really
didn’t
want her to know,
didn’t
want to see the horror in her eyes,
didn’t
want her to shrink from him, he told her. “I’m in charge of death.” No good could ever come from her thinking kind thoughts about him, so now it would never happen.

She was good. If he wasn’t watching for it, he never would have noticed her flinch, her small gasp, and the clenching of her hands in her lap. Tough lady. Or maybe just stupid. Because no one who knew what he was stuck around long.

“What about Bain? He doesn’t have amber eyes, but he was looking pretty freaky there at the end.” Her hand trembled as she pushed a strand of hair from her face.

“Demon.”

“Oh, crap.” Her soft murmur was the first obvious emotion she’d shown. “Okay, losing it here. Too much weird info at one time—cats talking in my head, cosmic troublemakers, and now a demon.” She widened her eyes, injecting lots of panic into her expression.