Wicked Fantasy (32 page)

Conall's patience was wearing thin. “Who?”

Ganymede bit into the cookie. “Finis, aka Edge. When your job is dealing in death, you better know how to open a few portals.” Crunch, crunch. “Neither of us is a team player, though. We create as we go along.” Crunch, crunch.

Gerry wore a pained expression as she glanced at Conall. “Isn't that crunching driving you nuts?”

Conall shrugged. “Not so much.” He wondered what their chances were of getting any help from Edge after he discovered they'd told Banan and Destiny about the bet.

“That's because you don't have enhanced hearing. Each crunch is like a clap of thunder.” She frowned. “Fine, so maybe not quite like thunder.” Focusing on Ganymede, she gave him her don't-mess-with-a-vampire stare. “So what do you want in return for helping us?”

“Don't know if I
can
help you. I'm a busy guy.” Ganymede yawned. “Depends on what night you need me. See, on Sunday night I watch football, drink beer, and eat pretzels. On Monday night I watch the SCI FI Channel and eat ice cream. On—”

“On Saturday night—tonight, cuddlebunny—you help Conall and Gerry catch a demon or you'll be eating bread crumbs and drinking tap water.” Sparkle turned her foot one way and then the other as she admired her new shoes. “This demon is distracting them from their lovemaking. I can't win the bet if they don't have sex. And losing isn't an option.”

Ganymede looked like he was gauging how serious Sparkle was about the bread crumbs. “Okay, count me in.” He turned his bad temper on Gerry. “But you'd better buy ice cream for me. Lots. Ben & Jerry's. All flavors.” Muttering a few curses under his breath, he returned to his gingersnaps.

Conall caught Gerry's glance, and she gave him a thumbs-up.

Sparkle looked up from her shoes. “That means you'll have Edge to open the portal and Ganymede to send Dell through it. What else will you need?”

Edge wasn't a sure bet, but Conall didn't mention that to Sparkle. He wondered what her reaction would be when she found out what Gerry and he had down. Because she
would
find out. Nothing got by Sparkle.

“We can't just put Gerry out there as bait without some protection, but on the other hand, Dell might not make a try for her if he sees any of us hovering.” Conall looked at Gerry for her ideas.

She shrugged and lobbed the ball back at him. “Haven't a clue.”

“Eric specializes in sexual fantasies.” Sparkle didn't meet anyone's gaze. She was once again fixated on her newest treasure.

Gerry frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Eric. I should've thought of him.” Conall tended to let Sparkle's joy in all things shallow make him forget how really smart she was. He reached for his cell phone. “I'll call and ask him to drop by as soon as his last fantasy is done.”

“Not until you explain what Eric has to do with protecting me.” Gerry crossed her arms over her chest, the international symbol for unyielding determination.

Conall sat on his impatience. “Eric can create false realities. He can make people see what he wants them to see. That means he could make Dell think you're vulnerable to attack when you really aren't.”

Gerry nodded. “Gotcha. Sort of.” She looked thoughtful as he called Eric.

Sparkle glanced at her cart still loaded down with clothes. “I'll bring these back later.” She scooped Ganymede and his bag of cookies off the coffee table and plunked them on top of the pile. She pushed the cart toward the door. “You won't have time to go through them now. But tonight we'll pick out something sizzling and sexy for you to wear. If you're going to be center stage, you may as well look like the star.”

Gerry put up her hand to stop Sparkle. “Oh, I almost forgot. Morrigan wants Conall to find the person who impersonated her. Any ideas?”

“Not that I'd share with Crow Woman.”

“Too bad. As a reward, the goddess said we could make love for one night. I bet if Conall had a name to give her, he could talk her into a few more nights.” Gerry widened her eyes as if a thought had just occurred to her. “Wow, if we had permission to make love for three or four nights, you'd probably win your bet.”

Sparkle's eyes gleamed with sudden interest. “Yeah? Hmm. Well, you know I hate to rat out anyone, but I seem to remember seeing Asima changing into a crow. Don't tell Asima I said that. She gets all homicidal about every little thing.”

“Thanks.” Gerry didn't look convinced.

“Morrigan sent me an e-mail—guess she didn't have the guts to show up in person—asking for the name of my hairdresser. She didn't explain why, but no way was I going to ruin my relationship with Stella by sending Creepy Crow to her.” Sparkle's smile was so wicked it made Gerry shiver. “I pointed her toward Happening Hair. They specialize in the unusual, and you don't get more unusual than Morrigan.” Sparkle offered a finger wave as she left.

Conall waited until Sparkle and Ganymede were gone before looking at Gerry. “Think there's any truth in what she said about Asima?”

Gerry shrugged. “Who knows. Sparkle can't stand Asima or Morrigan, so she'd love to see them trying to kill each other. And I can't see Asima wanting to bring us together. She's all about protecting you.”

Another possibility made him frown. “We still don't know if Dell is working on his own or for someone else. If Asima brought you here and then you died, I'd be released from Morrigan's curse. For whatever reason, Bast cares about what happens to me, so if Asima engineered my freedom, it'd raise her stock with Bast.”

“I don't know. That seems kind of convoluted. Asima strikes me as pretty straightforward. If she knew who I was ahead of time, why even bring me here? She could've killed me and made it look like I died on the job.” Gerry sighed. “I guess we'll just have to wait until we get our hands on Dell.”

“I know you described Dell before, but is there anything else you remember that you didn't tell me?”

She got that cute crease between her eyes that signaled deep thought. “Nothing that I . . . Wait. When I first saw Dell on the pirate ship, I thought he sort of reminded me of my uncle Ray. It was just a passing thought, and I guess the only reason it occurred to me was because they both had red hair.”

Conall's inner radar went off with flashing lights and screaming sirens. Incoming revelation. But it was still not close enough to eyeball. He'd roll it around in his mind until he made a connection.

Someone knocked on the door, and Gerry glanced at her watch. “Must be Eric. The fantasies end at four o'clock. It's amazing that some people wander around the park until dawn.”

Conall opened the door and Eric strode past him. The vampire settled into a chair while Conall returned to the couch. “What's up?”

“We need a favor.” Gerry looked a little uneasy.

She was probably wondering what price Eric would demand for his help. Conall knew Eric didn't attach strings to his friendship.

“
Two
favors.” Conall caught Gerry's surprised glance from the corner of his eyes.

“Ask away.” Eric yawned, reminding Conall that they needed to wrap up plans for tonight before dawn.

Unable to sit still any longer, Gerry got up and walked over to Houston. The plant would need a two-week orgy to restore it to bold and bushy. She'd love to accommodate the poor guy, but she didn't see it happening anytime soon. But one night would do for now.

She turned to look at Eric. “Sparkle mentioned that you can alter the appearance of reality.”

Eric nodded. “Go ahead.”

“We're going to try to trap Dell tonight. We hope Edge will agree to open a portal to hell, and Ganymede has agreed to cast the demon through the portal.” She stroked one of Houston's poor scraggly leaves. So deprived. Gerry knew exactly how he felt.

Conall picked up where she'd left off. “I don't think Dell will make a try for her if he sees a bunch of would-be rescuers hanging around. But she can't be left open to a sneak attack. And that's what it'll be because he knows Gerry can put a hurting on him if he comes out into the open.”

“I guess you want me to create a reality where she's an open target.” Eric didn't even blink.

Gerry wondered what it would take to upset Eric. Maybe she didn't want to know. “I'd like to be in the room, but not where Dell sees me. When he attacks, it'll look like I'm dead. Morrigan has agreed to show up and pretend to release Conall from the curse. Dell will think it's all legit.”

“And then?”

Conall's expression turned coldly dangerous. “Then he'll attack me. After all, I'll be a weak human, easy for a demon to kill. And I won't be immortal anymore. The odds will all be in his favor.”

At which point, Edge and Ganymede could do their things and Dell would be gone forever. She hoped. Their plan was still a little too sketchy for her, built on the assumption that everything would run smoothly. Nothing had run smoothly since she stepped into the Castle of Dark Dreams.

“Sounds like a reasonable plan. Let's hope the demon falls for it. You wanted a second favor?”

“Yeah.” Conall cast a quick glance her way and grinned. “Morrigan has given Gerry and me one night to make love.”

Gerry cringed. Did he have to tell everyone?

“Tonight we go to war. We want the lovemaking that comes before it to be memorable.”

Memorable. Such a bland word for what Conall and she would share. Gerry knew what Conall had left unsaid. If they didn't win the battle with Dell, if Morrigan never gave them another night, this might be all they had. No, she refused to believe there wouldn't be centuries of nights together.

Conall met Eric's gaze. “You did a fantasy for Brynn and Kim. They've never stopped talking about it. I'd owe you big time if you'd do one for Gerry and me.” He took a deep breath. “I don't have any special fantasy in mind, but Gerry does.” Conall looked expectantly at her.

Oh, no. Gerry couldn't tell Eric about her fantasy. The words just wouldn't come out of her mouth.

Eric didn't say anything, he just stared at her. Then a smile touched his mouth, and Gerry was once again reminded what a beautiful man he was.

“You don't have to tell me. I already know. Hope you don't mind me slipping into your thoughts.” Eric leaned his head back against the chair and stared at the ceiling. “Tree trunks. Interesting fantasy. Sometimes, though, we don't really want what we think we want.” He shifted his gaze to Gerry. “I'll come to the dungeon right after I rise. We'll do it then.” Standing, he walked to the door. “I feel the dawn, and Donna's probably wondering where I am. See you guys tonight.”

Gerry waited until he'd closed the door behind him. Then she turned to Conall. “How is this all going to work out? There're so many intangibles. And what about the hotel guests? Won't we be putting them in danger?”

He pushed to his feet and pulled off his shirt. “We need everything to look normal or else Dell will know it's a trap. But he's not interested in anyone except you and me. So unless they get in his way, bystanders should be safe.”

Gerry tried to ignore the play of muscles across his bare back as she worried the problem like a favorite chew toy. “How can we be sure?”

He turned to face her. “We won't know until we talk to Edge. If he won't work with us, we don't have a plan. If he's okay with everything, we'll see what we can do to make sure there's no collateral damage.”

She nodded. Sleep tugged at her, turning her thoughts fuzzy. No use trying to think anymore. Anything she came up with this close to dawn would probably be useless. “You need sleep. Do we have to drag Fo down here to play lookout for us?”

“I should've asked Eric to put a mind shield over our door. The bad part about the shield is it stops all traffic until he removes it. I wouldn't be able to get out until sunset.” He reached for the button on his jeans and then paused. “I'll get Asima in here. Let her earn her money from Bast.”

Gerry wasn't sure she liked that idea. “But what if she's—”

“She's not. I think you're right. If she wanted you dead, she would've taken care of it before this. Besides, even if she wanted to hurt you, she wouldn't do it now.”

Gerry admired the pure maleness of his stride as he headed for the door. “What's going to stop her?”

Glancing over his shoulder, he grinned at her. “Me. I'll be sleeping in bed with you. And to make sure you're completely safe, I'll just wrap myself around you.”

How absolutely delicious. The crappy part? She wouldn't be able to enjoy one single minute of it. Sleeping like the dead sucked lemons.

Noise. Lots of noise. She tried to calculate the amount of energy it would take to put her pillow over her head. Nah, too hard. She'd have to lift her arm.

“I think this silky purple top, black leather pants, and silver metallic stilettos say kick-ass-but-sexy heroine. Why is she still asleep? The sun set fifteen minutes ago.” Sparkle.

“Wake her up, O'Rourke. We had a deal, and she broke it. So I have a special delivery for her.” Edge.

“Where does she keep her jewelry? Does she have any good pieces?” Jinx.

“You know, I have this great fantasy worked out for you and Gerry, but you have to lose the audience first.” Eric.

Gerry might've opted to keep her eyes closed all night if she hadn't remembered that lovemaking with Conall was on the schedule. Surrendering to the inevitable, she opened them . . . and gazed up at a circle of faces.