In a Fix (20 page)

I finally finished buttoning my jeans. “Oh. Well, C, sorry. You know I can’t be trusted where sleep is concerned.” I paused to glare at him. “B, I don’t like surprises. And A, give me some shoes so we can get the hell out of here already.”

He had already checked out as whoever he’d checked in as, which was anybody’s guess, so as soon as my shoes were tied I grabbed the smaller of two backpacks that Billy had dropped on the bed. We left through an inconspicuous back exit, and mingled with the hordes of festival revelers cluttering the cobbled road. Jostled by the foot traffic, we passed stall after stall of crafts, clothing, and food.

The smell of roasting meat wafting through the air made my mouth water. After the spread I’d plowed through back at the hotel I thought I’d never want to eat again, but apparently my stomach disagreed. It cried out for a turkey leg and a tankard of ale, but Billy refused to be sidetracked by my need for sustenance. At the first corner he took the lead and steered us upstream against an onrush of medievally clad incomers to the city.

“I’m feeling a little underdressed,” I remarked, loudly enough for Billy to hear over the clamor.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be here long. There’s the way out. Step lively, cuz.” We approached one of the gates in the wall.

As luck would have it—my luck, anyway—coming through the gate, dressed authentically as Viking warriors, were Nils, Per, and the Indian. Shit. Granted, Nonto didn’t look as much like a real Viking as the other two, but he was no more out of place than the Japanese shutterbugs crowned with horned helmets who had come in ahead of him. Per had one hell of a bump on his forehead, and two black eyes blossoming beneath it. Mina probably wasn’t his favorite person in the world at the moment. I dug in my heels and pulled Billy back to me.

“What?” he said, clearly annoyed to be stopped.

“There,” I whispered urgently, jerking my head toward the trio. “That’s them.”

Billy turned boldly toward them and stared. “That’s who?”

Nils and Per were scanning the street, looking for something or (gulp) someone. Per’s eyes passed over me without wavering, but something about me gave Nils pause.

I stepped behind Billy, instinctively trying to hide. “
Them
,” I said. “The ones who kidnapped me. No, don’t look.”

He dragged me out to his side, slung an arm over my shoulders, and bent down to kiss my cheek. While he was eye level, he whispered, “Relax. You’re not Mina anymore. They can’t possibly recognize you.”

“Oh, yeah.” I shrugged. “Reflex. Guess I’m a little jumpy.”

He straightened and went back to openly watching my kidnappers. Each of them carried an animal skin bundle. They were too careful with them, not allowing them to bump anyone, which seemed a little odd. I wondered what was so special about—

Crap.

I remembered the snatches of conversation I’d overheard on the plane. “They’re going to bomb the town.”

“What are you talking about? Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know, but I heard them talking about it on the plane, and they definitely said something about a bomb. I’m sure of it.”

“And you’re just
now
telling me this? Jesus, Ciel!”

“Well, I didn’t think of it before, what with escaping and running for my life and all. Sue me.”

“You could’ve said something back at the hotel. I would’ve hauled your ass away from this island as soon as I found you.”

“That’s your fault—you got me distracted with all that food, and then I was too sleepy to think straight, and—”

“All right, all right. Calm down. And come on.”

I pulled him to a stop. “Wait! They’re headed into the town center—we have to follow them, see what they’re up to—”

“I’ll get back after them once you’re safely out of here.”

“That might be too late. I told you, they might have a frickin’
bomb
. We have to stop them.”

“And how do you propose we do that? There are three of them and only two”—he looked down at me—“one and a half of us.”

“I don’t know! But we have to at least see where they’re going. Come on.” I took off, pulling Billy behind me.

The Vikings turned a corner a block ahead of us, disappearing down a narrow roadway lined with houses covered in climbing roses. When I rounded the bend, I stopped short, and Billy plowed into the back of me. The Vikings had come to a halt and were having a little conference.

I whirled to face Billy. “Quick, go back!”

“Too late. They’ve seen us.”

“Okay, then…”
Think
. “Uh…” I grabbed him by both arms and leaned back against one of the houses standing directly next to the street, pulling him against me. All at once I was flanked by fragrant red blossoms, with only my pack to protect my tender back from the thorns.

“What are you—”

“Play along,” I whispered urgently, hiding my face behind his shoulder, trying to pretend we were just another madly in lust young couple roaming the streets.

“Ooooh,” he said, barely audible, delight spreading across his face. “Well, aren’t you the quick thinker.” He gathered me close and leaned down, only too willing.

My eyes narrowed and I glared at him.
Pay attention
, I telegraphed with a jerk of my head toward the trio. He gave a barely perceptible shrug and said, softly, “Your idea.”

His lips hovered near mine. Even annoyed, I couldn’t help noticing how sweet his breath was. And I
had
dragged him into it. Oh, hell, I thought philosophically. Duty calls. My eyelids drifted shut. Surely there was nothing wrong with kissing your cousin if it was for a good cause.

“No, don’t close your eyes.” He pulled his head back a fraction. “Look over my shoulder.”

“Your head’s in the way.”

He shifted obligingly, bringing his mouth down to the side of my neck. I stood on tiptoe and tried to focus on the Vikings, but it was a little hard to concentrate, what with the tickle of warm breath sending goose bumps down my arms.

“Can you see them?” Billy asked.

“Huh? Wha—um, yeah. They’re still talking. I can’t make out what they’re saying—oh, cripes!—they’re looking this way. What should we do?”

“Relax,” Billy said under his breath, intently focused on what he couldn’t see behind him. “Tell me which way they go when they move out. In the meantime just pretend you can stand me, okay?” His lips connected with my neck, and I melted into him with a small moan and an involuntary wiggle.

“That’s the spirit,” he whispered.

I forced my eyes back open and saw the smirk on Per’s face. Nils had already turned away, obviously more polite than the jerk. Nonto’s face was as impassive as ever. No surprise there. Nils started pointing toward the other end of the street, and Nonto tapped Per’s arm to get his attention back where it should be.

“I think they’re getting ready to move,” I said, moving my lips as little as possible.

Billy twisted me a quarter-turn, to better his view. “Hold on. Two of them are headed back this way.”

He brought his mouth to mine, this time connecting quite thoroughly. I heard footsteps approaching behind me, and the closer they got, the more thorough Billy got. When his tongue touched mine I felt it in places his mouth was nowhere near.
Ack!
How could that happen? This was my bratty cousin, the bane of my existence, and I was tingling at his kiss?

Oh, my God—I’m a perv, too!

The footsteps passed by and faded, and Billy disconnected. I just stood there, eyes shut and mouth open, wondering what the hell had hit me.

“Ciel? Are you all right?”

I opened my eyes to find Billy staring at me quizzically.
Honorary cousin,
I told myself.
And step
.
Don’t forget step. Not pervy.
“Uh, yeah. Fine, fine. Let’s go.”

“Wait a second. If we follow too closely they’ll catch on. Besides, I have to figure out who to go after.”

I disentangled myself from his arms and looked both ways. Nils continued down the street we were on, and the other two had gone back to the one we’d been on before we turned.

“Why don’t we split up?” I suggested.

“Nope,” Billy said, grabbing my arm and holding tight.

“But how else can we keep track of them all? You follow those two—the blond is Per, and he’s a mean son of a bitch, so watch out for him. I’m not sure about the Indian. I’ll follow Nils.”

“Uh-uh. Not gonna happen.”

“Look,” I said in a reasonable tone, “Don’t worry about me. Nils isn’t all bad, for a kidnapper. He was nice to Mina.” Kind of. Right up until he tried to stop the Mini with his bare hands. “I don’t think he’d hurt a woman—” No matter how crazy-mad he looked the last time I saw him. “—even if he caught on to me following him—”

Billy gripped me harder.

I continued, speeding through the words ahead of his objections. “—which he won’t, because I’m going to be very, very careful. Besides, what can he do to me in this crowd, anyway?”

He looked torn, but the seconds were ticking away, and he couldn’t come up with a better plan.

“Okay,” he said finally. “There’s a cell phone in your pack. Any number in the contacts will connect you with me, no matter who it says it is. Speed dial is your friend. Call when you find out where he’s going and do not, under any circumstances, approach him. Understand?”

I nodded, and he loped off after Per and Nonto. I turned to catch up with my quarry, walking as nonchalantly as my quivering knees would allow while still keeping him in sight. I might’ve overstated my case to Billy a tad. But even if I couldn’t be certain about Nils, I knew one thing for sure. He was better than Per.

Chapter 19

I didn’t know where Nils was headed, but he was in a hurry to get there. He wasn’t running, but with legs as long as his, he was hard to keep up with—if the crowd hadn’t hampered his movement, I would’ve lost him.

He had passed his fur bundle to Per before they separated, so whatever was going on with that would be Billy’s problem. The explosive possibilities worried me to an almost paralyzing extent, but I’d known Billy my whole life. There had never been a scrape he couldn’t get himself out of, and there’d been some doozies. I’d just have to pray his luck continued.

Nils’s flaxen hair glinted in the sunlight as I followed his bobbing and weaving head through the crowd, until he stopped abruptly and looked down. There were too many people between us for me to see what drew his attention, and I couldn’t get closer without shoving aside a couple of buxom peasant girls who were obviously enjoying a ringside view of his masculine charms. When he squatted, I forgot my inbred courtesy and squeezed myself as far as I could between the Valkyries.

It was a small boy, three or four years old, hanging on to a wooden sword half again as long as he was. A circle had formed around him, creating a mini-arena for the Hägar the Horrible wannabe. Nils showed him where and how to grip the handle, then whispered something into his ear. The boy nodded and giggled, his whole face lighting up. Nils stood, patted the boy’s head, and took off at a good clip.

Keeping low and employing my elbows, I made it past the Viking gals. The boy, however, was another matter. He stepped in front of me, raised his sword and growled menacingly. Well, as menacingly as a preschooler could. Normally, I would’ve found him adorable, but I didn’t have time for adorable.

I moved to the right, intending to step around him. He moved to his left, blocking me. More growling. I searched for some sign of parental supervision. A couple dressed in simple linen garb looked on indulgently. No help there.

I feinted to the left, and jumped back to the right when kid tried to block me again. I was feeling pretty good about outwitting him when I felt a hard
thwack
across the seat of my pants.

“Ow!” I hollered and whirled back to face him, glaring, which seemed to delight the little heathen, so I shifted my visual daggers to the responsible couple. They laughed and shrugged.
What’s a parent to do?

I had a pretty good idea what a parent could do, and it involved the kid’s backside instead of mine. Not having time to get into a philosophical discussion on child rearing, however, I turned my attention back to Nils.

Who was no longer in sight.
Shit
.

A quick three-sixty revealed plenty of blond heads, not one of them Nils. I took off in the direction he’d been going, receiving a final sword-poke on the behind as a parting gift. I chalked it up to birth control inspiration, and ran through a break in the throng, trying to catch sight of Nils again before he turned down one of the side streets. I really, really didn’t want to have to call Billy and tell him I lost somebody as big as Nils. He’d never let me live it down. Especially if he found out I was outfoxed by a three-year-old.

I was passing a narrow side street when a brawny arm reached out and grabbed me, pulling me out of the busy river of humanity and down the quiet cobbled lane, moving fast. Nils was taller from my own perspective than from Mina’s, but otherwise unmistakable. I scrambled to keep up with his long stride, taking at least two steps for each of his, and would’ve fallen several times had he not been half-lifting me as we went.

I might have screamed, if I’d had the breath, and if I had a reasonable way to explain my situation to the cops. As it was, it would be easier to go with the flow and see what Nils wanted. As long as we stayed out in public, I figured not much harm could come to me. Besides, it was the only way I could find out what he was up to—it’s not like I could follow him anymore, now that he was on to having a tail. Even if I could discreetly change auras, he’d still be wary.

He pushed me into the narrow space between two buildings and blocked the view from the street with his body. Guarded speculation swept over his face when he took a closer look at me.

“Why are you following me?” he asked, his voice calm, not at all threatening.

“Uh…” I said, displaying my typical quickness.

He waited patiently, saying nothing, still holding my arm.

“Well,” I began again, shrugging. “I, um, like your costume.”