Wicked Edge (13 page)

Hope had also returned, and Sparkle was busy trying to break down her resistance. Sparkle didn’t look over at Passion.

Passion didn’t bother to ask who was there, because honestly, she didn’t care. She pulled open the door.

Edge was turned toward Holgarth who stood behind him. “Forget killing Ganymede. I’m coming after
you
next time.”

Holgarth sniffed. “I was not aware that I couldn’t have an opinion on your suite. It’s dreadful. Dull, dreary, and unfit for human or nonhuman habitation. I only made a few suggestions to drag it from the pit of deadly boring into which it has sunk.”

Edge made a rude noise. “I’m finding someone else to follow me around.” He turned to face the open door. He froze.

And then he smiled, a smile that flattened all her preconceived ideas of evil’s power. No, not evil’s power, but her ability to resist it.

Wickedness didn’t come with fire and brimstone. It attacked with a sensuality so powerful she could actually feel something hot and needy inside spreading, melting away her almighty conscience until all she wanted was to wrap herself around his naked body and do what she’d never thought she’d do. And she wanted to do it many, many times.

Archangel Ted would be horrified.

“You can go back to single-handedly running the castle, Holgarth. I’ve found someone else to stay with today.”

Edge had been around long enough to know that a beautiful exterior didn’t say a thing about what lived inside that body. But there were some exteriors that just had to be acknowledged. He’d thought she was incredible before Sparkle did her thing, but now…Sparkle had underlined and highlighted Passion’s beauty in case he’d missed any details.

The red dress wasn’t as short as Sparkle’s, but it still showed off her long legs. It showed off other things too. Edge thought it was kind of strange that the Supreme Being had showered her with so many gifts meant to seduce a man when she wasn’t supposed to be about temptation. An oversight on His part, no doubt.

Maybe Edge should say something instead of just staring. “If I have to spend a whole day with the wizard here, I’ll need a straitjacket. Maybe you can take his place.” He tried to make his next words sound casual with no hot panting involved. “You look great. Sparkle knows her stuff.”

Passion just stared.

Okay, not cool. He needed to add an addendum to that comment. “Not that you didn’t look great before, but Sparkle just made everything…better.” Edge winced. Lame. His usual flow of sensually charged compliments guaranteed to put a smile on a woman’s face and her body in his bed had dried up. Maybe because this time he was trying to be sincere. Edge and sincerity were distant cousins at best.

“Of course I know my stuff.” Sparkle abandoned Hope—who wore a mulish expression—to join Passion at the door. “Holgarth, you really need to work on your social skills.”

Holgarth looked offended. “My social skills need no improving, madam. Can I help it if no one seems able to accept helpful criticism?” He turned away. “Since my services are not needed here, I’ll return to supervising the running of the castle.”

Edge controlled his urge to hurl an insult at the wizard’s pointed head as he walked away. Instead, he turned his attention back to Passion. “So will you hang with me today?” He tried not to look as though her answer was particularly important to him.

“I guess I could.” She didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

Sparkle jumped in. “I have a wonderful idea.”

Edge felt an uh–oh moment coming.

“Passion is here to help the wicked find their way back to goodness, although personally I find the wicked much more fun to be around than the righteous. That’s just me, of course.” She smiled at Passion, probably to lessen the sting. “And you, Edge, need to find the person responsible for your loss of control.”

Sparkle waited for one of them to state the obvious. No one did. Her expression said, “Do I have to make all the decisions around here?”

“You both have to canvass the castle, so you may as well work together. You, Passion, can make your pitch for goodness and light.” She frowned. “Don’t make it too obvious, though. We don’t want
any guests complaining that holy nuts are harassing them in their rooms.”

“Holy
nuts
?” Passion looked as though she wanted to comment on that, but Sparkle didn’t give her a chance.

“Edge, you can just stand behind Passion and see if you get any kind of vibes from the guests. If you do, don’t make a move. We’re dealing with a powerful entity, and we’ll have to attack it together.”

“Umm, excuse me, but I’m part of this team too.” Hope had joined them. “You said I was the one who calmed Edge, so wouldn’t it make sense for me to go along in case he gets hit with another compulsion?”

Sparkle didn’t look happy. Edge knew how she worked and what she was up to now. Sparkle wanted to give Passion and him time alone. They were her newest project. Read victims. He could go along with her plans if this was just about sex, because he couldn’t deny that he wanted sex with Passion. Anything deeper wasn’t happening.

Passion touched Hope’s arm. “Sure you are. Change to one of the outfits Sparkle brought, and come with us.”

Hope turned to look at Sparkle’s choices. “I think I’ll just wear the stuff I brought. It’s more appropriate for an angel.” Her tone dared Sparkle to deny that truth.

“Do you mean boring?” Sparkle shrugged. “I guess we are what we want to be. Your loss.”

Edge could feel Sparkle’s anger. Not a good thing for Hope. Sparkle was ticked off that Hope was messing with her plans. And it didn’t help that Hope had turned up her nose at Sparkle’s clothes. Sparkle watched with narrow-eyed intensity as Hope carefully folded her nightgown and robe, then laid them on her bed.

Passion followed Hope back into the room. “Let me get a few things, and I’ll be ready.”

Edge lowered his voice. “Stop scheming, Sparkle.”

“It’s what I do, beautiful. You and Passion are all wrong for each other, but I can almost taste your hunger for her. And I’d bet her thoughts are nowhere close to angelic right now. A few more nights naked in her bed should do it.”

And as much as Edge wanted to tell Sparkle to butt out, he didn’t. Because he wanted the same thing she did.

“I wish Hope wasn’t going, but I guess it’s better that you have her near in case the urge to kill Mede hits you. Again.” She thought about that. “Funny, but I’ve had the same urge since last night. Do you think the compulsion is catching?”

Edge laughed. “What did he do? I need to fill in the big blank space where my memories should be.”

Sparkle avoided his gaze. “I begged him to walk away from a fight with you. He could’ve dematerialized and that would’ve been the end of it. He ignored me. He. Ignored.
Me
. Selfish bastard. Nothing comes before his almighty ego.” There was real hurt in her voice.

Edge wasn’t sure what to say. “He’ll apologize eventually. He always does.”

She sighed. “Maybe you need to point out to him where he went wrong. Right now, he’s clueless. And that’s just pathetic.”

He didn’t tell her, but no way was he involving himself in this. He might survive one of them, but both? Let’s say he’d have a long recovery period. Luckily, Passion and Hope joined him, and Sparkle left.

A few minutes later, Edge was talking to Bill at the registration desk while Passion and Hope waited for him to finish. When they left, they had a list of the guests who’d been at the castle for several weeks. There weren’t too many.

The first two were routine—two guys in town for fishing, and a couple on their honeymoon. All human and not much evil in the bunch. Passion looked relieved, but Hope seemed a little disappointed.
Edge hadn’t expected a hit on the first two. He figured their guy would be by himself.

Things got interesting after that. The third door swung open and…Oh, shit. It was the old woman who’d tried to help him in the hall last night.

She smiled at Hope, before looking past her to him. The old woman’s eyes grew wide and she screamed. Then she slammed the door in their faces. Hope and Passion turned to stare at him.

“Human. She’s not the one.” When Hope still looked puzzled, he elaborated. “She saw the compulsion take me last night. When she tried to help, I scared her.” An understatement. She’d seen the monster inside him.

Hope nodded and they walked to the next door. After the last response, she seemed a little more cautious when she knocked.

The man who answered was big, probably as tall as Ganymede. Edge only had time to notice his long black robe—not the expected outfit for late morning—before his gaze reached the man’s eyes. Pale blue, cold, hard. He knew those eyes.

Edge tensed as he gathered his power to him. The air grew heavy with that still, charged feeling it got right before lightning struck. “What’re you doing here?”

“I enjoyed my first visit so much I decided to swing by here again.” His smile mocked Edge.

“You registered as Kurt Marsh. Not the name you gave last time, sorcerer.” Edge was tempted to reach for Ganymede’s mind, but he knew how the cat would react. He didn’t want violence until he was sure this was his guy.

“Names are tools. I don’t attach myself to a particular one. But if Zane makes you feel more comfortable, feel free to use it.” His gaze shifted to Passion and Hope.

“Well, well, what have we here? Not humans. I love beautiful and mysterious women.” His smile warmed.

Edge’s surge of anger had nothing to do with last night’s compulsion. He wanted to wipe that smile off the bastard’s face, preferably with his fists. “You won’t be here long enough to make friends. Do you have any idea what Ganymede and Dacian will do to you?”

Passion spoke up. “Don’t mean to intrude, but what the hell is going on?” She felt violence creeping closer and rushed to head it off if she could.

Hope began, “Hell is a—”

“I
know
what it is. Now keep quiet unless you have any ideas about how to stop these two from tearing up the castle.” Jeez, could Hope be more oblivious?

Passion immediately felt guilty. This wasn’t about the castle at all. This was about Edge. Everything that Archangel Ted had taught her—patience, kindness, charity—disappeared the moment she thought Edge was in danger.

Thankfully, surprise at Passion’s outburst silenced Hope for the moment.

“Zane here showed up about a year ago with Dacian’s maker and Rabid, the cosmic troublemaker in charge of anger. He’d hired himself out to help kill Dacian.”

Passion couldn’t hide her shock. She put out feelers. Human?

Zane raised one brow. “If you remember, I walked away without harming anyone.”

“Yeah, that was only because Dacian’s brother killed your boss, and you wouldn’t work without a paycheck.”

“Paychecks are important.”

Zane sounded so reasonable that it was tough for Passion to connect him to the horror Edge was describing. She checked out his colors. Dark red. Rage, deep and violent. Not someone to mess with.

Zane looked at her. “I felt your touch, mystery woman. I wonder
what you found. More to the point, I wonder what you are.” He sounded intrigued.

His answer sucked the air from her lungs. No one could
feel
what she did. “I didn’t
touch
you. And I’m human. What else would I be?”

“You could be many things.” He narrowed his eyes. “Not vampire or shifter. Not demon or one of the fey.” His smile looked almost hungry. “I
will
find out.”

“That’s ridiculous. There’s nothing to find out.” Because he’d shaken her, she probably sounded a little too dismissive.

His stare reached into her, searching. “Knowing is power. Never underestimate the unknown.”

“What’s to keep me from killing you right now?” Edge’s expression said there wasn’t much.

“No killing.” Passion glanced at Hope to see if she was ready to jump into action. Hope nodded.

“Let me list the reasons.” Zane didn’t sound intimidated. “First, I’m powerful enough to make you exert yourself. Your precious castle would be flattened by the time you destroyed me.” He slid his glance to Passion and Hope. “Others would be hurt or killed. Second, you have bigger fish to fry.”

“How do you know?” Suspicion oozed from Edge.

“It’s obvious. Why are you banging on doors? You must be looking for someone, someone big because otherwise you wouldn’t bother to do it yourself. And last night I felt a spike in power around here. Too big for anything Holgarth or Sparkle could create. So now I’m curious.” He smiled. “I think I’ll stay to see what shakes out.”

A growl started deep in Edge’s throat. Tension and power rolled off him. She wasn’t imagining the floor vibrating.

Frantically, Passion looked at Zane. “Go inside and shut the door.”

Zane studied her from narrowed eyes. He hesitated just long
enough for her to think he intended to continue taunting Edge. Then he nodded. Without saying another word, he closed the door.

Passion went limp with relief.

Hope put her hand on Edge’s arm. He didn’t shrug her off. And then she began talking.

Just like last night, Passion could hear the words, but something in her brain refused to translate. Her mind allowed only the feel of the words to reach her, a tone and rhythm that soothed her, made her feel that everything would be okay when she knew it wouldn’t.

Finally, Hope stopped talking and silence settled around them. The blaze of anger had disappeared from Edge’s eyes.

“Is he the one?” Passion sounded shaky, not the way she wanted to sound in front of Edge. Ted had pounded into their heads that when they visited the mortal plane, they represented the Supreme Being. Passion assumed that meant she wasn’t supposed to be afraid. Fine, so she was a lousy rep.

Edge raked his fingers through his hair with a hand that shook. Passion didn’t like to see the proof of how close he’d come to attacking Zane. She wanted to reach over and clasp his hand, pass on to him…What? She didn’t have anything useful to pass on other than feelings he probably wouldn’t welcome.

“I don’t know. He’s the most powerful sorcerer I’ve ever seen. Last year he showed up in answer to a call Holgarth put out for a replacement. Holgarth is powerful, but Zane made him look like a rank beginner. The bastard lifted the freaking castle off its foundation. Then once he set it down, he wiped the minds of all the guests.”