Kissed by Ice (11 page)

"Okay," I said, sinking down next to Haakon. "The vamps headed here. But they couldn't have left the shelter of the trees. Not without dusting."

"Unless someone was waiting for them."

Shit. That wouldn't be good. An entire nest of vamps taking up residence in a town this size spelled nothing but trouble. I took another peek down the hill.

"All right, let's assume someone did meet them. Brought blankets or something. They still couldn't have gone far. For one thing they wouldn't have lasted long in full sun, even wrapped in blankets. For another, they would have been seen. A town this size, the gossip would be all over the place in minutes. I don't think whoever is hiding the nest would want that."

"Agreed," Haakon said. "That's why I'm thinking that house." He pointed to a pastel pink structure close to where we were hiding. It was only a short walk downhill. Someone moving fast could cover it in seconds.

"Makes sense," Kabita agreed. "It's the only one with a door on this side."

She was right. The wooden door had been painted pink to match the rest of the house, but anyone could clearly see there was a door. "A neighbor could still have seen something. There are plenty of windows facing this way."

"Yeah, but most people will be at work this time of day," Kabita pointed out. "And tourists will be down at the beach. If they moved fast, nobody would notice."

It made sense. But there was one way to know for sure. "You two stay here. I'll go check."

"Morgan…" Haakon started to say, but I ignored him.

I slipped from our hiding place and strode toward the pink house. I walked tall and easy, striding along as if I had every right to be there. I'd learned that, generally speaking, if you acted like you had a right to be in a place, everyone else assumed you did. Of course, that didn't work with vampires, but I was more concerned with neighbors than denizens of the night.

I walked straight up to the pink door and pretended to knock. Anyone watching would assume I was an ordinary visitor. I took a deep breath and waited for my spidey senses to kick in. Sure enough, there was that gripping tingle at the back of my skull. There were vamps inside.

Chapter Eleven

"We should wait until full dark." Kabita shot a scowl at the pink door. "Less likely to be spotted by neighbors."

"And more likely to have escaped vamps on our hands." I shot her down. "Nope. We need to get in there now."

"And how do you suggest doing that? It's a thick door. Pretty sure people will notice a giant Viking kicking it down." Kabita refused to give up.

"I've got other ways," I said.

"Oh, right. Miss Fire Happy. Let's burn the door down. It's not like anyone will see and call the fire department."

I sighed. "They might. But it'll give us time to get in there and hopefully dust the nest before anyone arrives to check out the fire." If my Fire was even working again.

"Because that's worked so well for us in the past."

We stood there glaring at each other, arms crossed like a couple of kids. This was getting us nowhere.

"Fine," I said. "We need a diversion. Something that will get the neighbors out of their houses and paying attention to something else."

"That makes sense," Kabita agreed. "Got any ideas?"

"Not exactly," I admitted.

"I've got an idea," Haakon said.

We both stared at him. "What?"

"Better I show you." He stood up and whipped off his shirt, revealing acres and acres of taut, rippling muscles covered in golden brown skin. Kabita and I sucked in our breath. Good gods, he was a fine specimen of manhood. His hands went to his jeans zipper. Down it came and off went the jeans, leaving Haakon standing there in nothing but a pair of indecently snug heather-gray boxer briefs and scuffed black combat boots. I closed my eyes, reminding myself I had a boyfriend I loved like crazy.

"This plan involves you getting naked?" Kabita finally choked out. I opened my eyes. She was staring at him like she wanted to eat him alive. Couldn't say I blamed her.

"Indeed." He shot us a wide, white smile. "Be ready." And with that he strolled out from behind the bush and down the hill like he owned the place.

"Sweet baby Jesus," Kabita breathed.

"You're not kidding."

Haakon sauntered casually between the pink house and its blue neighbor. As he moved out onto the street, he began to stagger and weave like a drunk. Then in a thick Norwegian accent he began belting out, "My baby takes the morning train."

"Oh good lord," I gasped. "The man can't hold a tune in a bucket."

"You got that right." Kabita was barely holding back a laugh as doors and windows opened and people began appearing on the street, pointing and laughing at the nearly naked "drunk" tourist. "Guess that's our cue. My bet is we're going to have to stage a jail break after this. You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

It was my turn to stride down the hill toward the pink house, Kabita close on my heels. I laid my palm flat on the sun-warmed wood and reached down inside me for the Fire. I guess it had recovered, because it came in a rush, spreading down my arm and onto my hand. I concentrated on pouring the fire into the wood. Within seconds the door began smoking and charring, and then the Fire caught. Kabita and I stepped back and watched as the door began to burn in earnest. We still heard Haakon belting out songs down the street, a show tune this time.

"That boy had better not quit his day job," Kabita muttered. "Unless he plans to take up stripping."

I snorted. "Okay, ready?" The fire was beginning to sputter, and the door was thoroughly charred, even burned through in some places.

"As I'll ever be," Kabita echoed my words.

One swift kick, and the door crumbled into so much ash and rubble. Kabita and I stepped inside.

# # #

Light spilled through the open doorway, lighting up a narrow vestibule with a white tiled floor and a narrow staircase leading to the floor above. On the left side of the hall directly across from us were closed doors. Somebody had taken the time to weather-strip the crap out of them. Definitely a good place for a bunch of vamps to hang out.

"This is definitely it."

Kabita nodded and stepped to the left. Twisting the doorknob, she shoved the door open and shone her flashlight into the kitchen beyond.

"Where's yours?" she asked.

"Didn't bring one."

She shot me a look. "You didn't?"

I shrugged. I didn't bother pointing out I could see better in the dark without one. I didn't like reminding her I was a freak and getting freakier by the second. Not in a good way, either, if that whole flooding thing was anything to go by. Yeah, I was pretty sure that had been me, but I really didn't want to think about it right now.

Since Kabita was going left, I went straight to the second closed door. Pushing it open, I found more hallway and closed doors. Fantastic.

Straight ahead was the front door. All the glass inserts had been covered over with tin foil and duct tape, and weather-stripping had been tacked around the cracks to prevent even the tiniest amount of light from seeping through. There was a door on either side of the hall. Same deal with the weather-stripping, I guessed just in case somebody accidentally opened the front door in broad daylight. Which was doubtful, seeing as how it was barricaded with a steel bar. Nobody was opening that door from the outside.

The door to the left revealed a dining room, its giant picture window covered in more tin foil and topped by a heavy velvet curtain. Totally out of place in the tropics. I could make out a long table large enough to seat twelve. Matching chairs had been pushed back against the walls like it was a ballroom, and black garbage bags covered the floor beneath the table. Weird. Another door led to what I assumed was the kitchen. I left the room to Kabita and crossed to the other side of the hall.

The main room ran the full side of the house and, like the dining room, its large windows were completely blocked off. Still, I could easily make out the low huddled forms of sofas, easy chairs, and side tables. The room was as empty as the rest of the house, but still I could feel that gripping on the back of my skull that told me vamps were nearby.

"I'm headed upstairs." Kabita's whisper broke the silence. I turned to see her standing in the doorway, her flashlight pointed at the floor so it wouldn't blind me. Who was I kidding? Kabita knew all my best freakish qualities.

"Sure thing. I'm going to poke around down here some more." I couldn't say why, but I had the strongest feeling our answers lay here, not on the floor above. Kabita nodded and disappeared. I could just make out the sound of her footsteps ascending the back stairs.

I returned to prowling the room. Heavy velvet drapes graced every window despite the aluminum foil. Double security, I guessed. Someone had hung matching drapes on the opposite wall to balance the room. It was weird, but it kind of worked. All dramatic and stuff. I frowned, wondering why. The room wasn't
that
large that it needed balancing. Why not just paint the wall or hang pictures or something? Why hang curtains?

I swished back the first curtain, revealing bare white wall. The next was the same. By the time I reached the last curtain, I was starting to think I was an idiot, but instead of bare wall, there was a cheap wooden door.

"Oh, bravo," I murmured, pushing it open. A set of stairs led down into what was clearly a basement. All righty then.

Leaving the door open, I made my way around the room, shoving back curtains and ripping foil off the windows. Light flooded the space and filtered down the stairs. Perfect. Anyone running up here would either be human, or they'd dust. Well, they could be demon, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Blinking my eyes against the bright light, I made my way quietly down the stairs. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, sharpening edges and picking out details. I cursed silently as I realized the Darkness had risen again without my bidding. We were going to have a chat one of these days, the Darkness and me.

At the bottom of the stairs was yet another door. What was with these people and doors? I pushed it open to reveal another hallway with still more doors. The door on the left was a small storage room filled with random bits and pieces: old cans of paint, the remains of a broken chandelier, a box of faded, dusty magazines. Nothing to get excited about. The door on the right…. I pushed it open and immediately froze. I could hardly comprehend what I was seeing.

It was a small room, maybe eight feet by eight, with a low ceiling and fake wood paneling. The red shag carpet under my feet had seen better days, and the brass sconces on the wall held fake electric candles. It was like something out of a really bad '70s porno, complete with the large, faux mahogany desk in the middle of the room. And behind that desk? Alister Jones.

"Morgan," he said, placing the tips of his fingers together in a classic Evil Villain move. He actually looked pleased to see me.

"Alister," I spat, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, a little of this. A little of that." He tapped his forefinger on something lying on his desk. I craned my neck to see. It was a book. I recognized the symbol on the cover. It was the book Jack and I had been all over half of France looking for.

I scowled at him. "That book does not belong to you." I had to get it away from him. We still had no idea what we needed it for, only that leaving it in Alister's hands was a really bad idea.

He ignored me. "I've been waiting for you."

"Excuse me?"

His smile was beyond smarmy and into the creepy zone. Then he frowned. "Your amulet."

"What about it?" Great. Now Alister was obsessed with the thing.

"You're not wearing it." His eyes narrowed, anger flashing in their depths.

"No. I'm not." And that was all he was getting from me. I could almost see the frustration boiling beneath his skin. I had no idea what Alister had planned for me and my amulet, but leaving it behind on the ship had been an unexpected stroke of brilliance. Curses. Foiled again, eh, Alister?

"Ah well, no matter," he said, picking up a silver letter opener and twirling it between his fingers before placing it back on the desk. "I have a lovely little surprise for you. Oh, and by the way? You'll never get your hands on this book."

Before I could open my mouth, the room was plunged into darkness. I heard rushing sounds and the grip on the back of my skull screwed down so tight, I thought my head might explode. I was surrounded by vampires.

Chapter Twelve

I didn't have time to let my eyes adjust. It was so deeply black, I couldn't see a thing though I knew they could see me just fine. I heard them, though. Sensed them. The dagger was in my right hand, wrist blade in my left.

I knew it was cheesy, but I couldn't help myself. "Let's dance, boys."

I slashed with my left hand first, knowing they wouldn't expect it. Steel connected with flesh. and cool, thick blood spilled over my hand and arm. I slashed right next, slicing someone up good if the cry of pain was anything to go by. I kicked straight ahead and connected with something solid. I heard a crack and a howl. Thrust an elbow back, slash, kick, repeat.

It was too much. There were too many of them. The Darkness rose, lending strength and speed to my movements, turning the pitch black into dim gray. Still, it wasn't enough. Where was Kabita?

My dagger slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor, blood turning my skin so slick, I couldn't keep a grip on it. One of the vamps grinned wickedly, flashing fang. He rushed me on the right side, knowing I was now vulnerable.

The two of us crashed into the desk, my hip hitting the edge so hard I knew it was going to leave an amazing bruise. With the vamp's hand in a vice around my left wrist, and my blade lying useless on the floor, I was out of weapons. Then I remembered the glint of silver between Alister's fingers. The letter opener!

I reached out with my right hand, patting around on the desktop until I felt the letter opener beneath my palm. I wrapped my fingers around the handle, gripping the tiny blade tightly. With all my strength, I thrust upward, burying the knife in the side of the vamp's neck. His eyes widened as I yanked the blade back out, dark blood oozing in thick rivulets from the wound. With a roar, the vamp backhanded me so hard I saw stars.