by Nina Bangs
She frowned. “The pickings sound pretty slim.”
“That’s why you need to concentrate on the vampire. I think he’s alone. Alone is good. And he’ll impress the hell out of everyone if you can get him.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Personally, she thought snatching Mel the wererabbit or Walt the debunker would give her more personal satisfaction.
As if conjured by her own conflicted feelings, Declan came in from outside. Where had he gone? Had he visited the church again? Daria’s need to know bothered her. But she was beyond denial, and besides, Kal had given his seal of approval to her interest. So it was all her brother’s fault. There, blame assigned.
She wandered over to where Declan had paused to stare into a mirror. Daria stood beside him. He saw nothing, she saw too much. Even taking into account the image Kal had created for her, she couldn’t compete with Eris. Her face was thin. Eris boasted at least three double chins. She had big eyes. Eris gloried in her small, beady ones. She had an ordinary nose. Eris never stopped bragging about her huge, hooked beak.
And she couldn’t ask Kal to up his magic without taking the chance of uglifying herself out of a job.
“Do you miss being able to see yourself in a mirror?” Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. If she couldn’t see herself, then she wouldn’t know how far short she fell of her goal.
Declan shrugged. “Sometimes. But I wasn’t thinking about the mirror.” He grinned at her. “Smiley faces?”
“Don’t ask.” She glanced away from him and caught her reflection in the mirror. Holy horror! She was glowing. Okay, not actually glowing, but his smile canceled all of Kal’s hard work. No amount of magic could hide her joy in Declan’s smile.
Daria coughed and cast a guilty peek in Kal’s direction.
He offered her a thunderous expression as he mouthed, “Stop looking so damn happy.” She shrugged. There were some things in life or death she couldn’t control— Hades’s bad temper, the daily afternoon temperature in Tartarus, and her glow when Declan smiled.
She sure hoped the judge wasn’t lurking anywhere nearby, though. She looked around. A few shifters, one vampire, and Mel. The wererabbit ignored her as he studied the shifters. Probably choosing a new victim to bully.
To escape the storm clouds building around the registration desk, she linked her arm through Declan’s and led him toward the parlor. “I have a few things to do. Keep me company?”
“Sure.” Declan did the dueling glares thing with Kal before going with Daria. “Who’s your friend?” Nope, he wasn’t jealous. But he did want a night with Daria Abaar’s sexy body wrapped around him. And if the male harpy got in his way? Bye-bye, harpy guy. A violent thought? You bet. That’s because Dad was a violent-gene machine.
“My brother Kal.”
Well, that sort of took the air out of his budding rivalry.
She talked about her night as they walked. He liked listening to her. She was the one person who could take his mind from the nightmare scenarios he’d been creating in his mind.
That thing under the church couldn’t be Fenrir. For that to happen, coincidence would have to be piled on coincidence until they formed a complete impossibility.
“Did you enjoy your walk?” Her smile said, “Fishing, fishing.”
“I had to feed.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t do any drinking on Woo Woo Inn property. A few people in town will wake up tomorrow with a hell of a hangover.”
“Sure.” Her expression didn’t give away how she felt about that. She stopped in front of a group of vampires. “Can I get you guys anything?”
Night Feeders. The lowlifes of the vampire world. Alone they weren’t too powerful, so they traveled in gangs. The one closest to Daria grinned up at her. “You can get me a bag.” His fangs were on full display.
She frowned. “A bag?”
“Yeah. You’ve got a killer body, babe, but I’ll need to put a bag over your head so I can fuck—”
Before Declan could transfer thought to action, Daria took care of the problem.
She grabbed the guy’s fangs, one in each hand, and yanked. Eyes wide, he came up out of his seat. “Here’s the deal, dirtbag. I can pull real hard and tear your fangs right out of that useless head. Hmm, wonder if your brains would leak out of the holes? Oh, wait. No brains.” She exerted a little more pressure and the vampire made panicky sounds. “You know, I bet no one has experimented to find out if fangs grow back when they’re pulled out by the roots. Want to be part of that experiment?”
The captive vampire tried frantically to shake his head, but Daria had too tight a grip on his fangs.
The other Night Feeders started to rise. Declan lowered his shields and let them touch his mind. Shocked recognition drove them back into their seats. So his cover was blown. The Night Feeders were the least of his problems.
With a disgusted sound, Daria released the vampire and allowed him to sink weakly back into his seat. “Jerk.” She turned to the rest of his group. “You want anything?”
They all shook their heads while they slid nervous glances between Daria and him.
Daria turned to the rest of the room. “Anyone want anything?” She was met with shocked silence.
“Well, I guess that takes care of that.” She didn’t look particularly upset.
“I have to talk to the cook. Let’s buzz by the kitchen.”
Bemused, he followed her, but whatever needed saying in the kitchen didn’t get said. A small woman met them at the door and thrust a tray of food into Daria’s hands. “It’s time for dinner. Put these on the dining room table. Oh, and if something tries to grab one of my buttermilk biscuits, you snatch it right back. Those biscuits are only for paying guests.”
He leaned against the wall and smiled as she made multiple trips from kitchen to table. She was one harried harpy. He’d bet this wasn’t what she’d had in mind when she swooped down on the Woo Woo Inn.
The smile ended abruptly as he realized what he was doing. No way could he let her make him too happy. Yeah, he wanted sex, but that didn’t translate into happy.
He curled his lip at the scent of rare beef and the sounds of hungry predators. Any shifters whose alternate forms were herbivores should probably control their need to change while they were here.
When everyone was finally served, Daria filled a plate and dropped into a chair at a corner table. He joined her. “Remind me not to go near the kitchen again. At least the vampires take care of their own meals.” She glared at him. “You could’ve helped.”
“Not and keep my street cred with the other predators.”
“Sexist.” She kept her accusation to one word as she gave in to her hunger.
Jeez, he even got a sensual rush from watching her eat broccoli. That was sick. Aside from her ability to arouse all his senses, what did he really know about her? “You said you weren’t here to snatch anyone. Maybe you’re not. Maybe you’re moonlighting at a second job. Done any contract work lately?”
She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. Carefully, she returned it to her plate. “Contract work?” He could see her processing that. “Are you asking if I’m working for that thing under the church?”
“It’s a possibility. If it can’t take a physical form, it might need help with the killings and finger removals. You and your brother deal in death, so you’d be logical choices for the job.” He didn’t want to react, but the momentary flash of hurt he saw in her eyes bothered him. “But it could be almost anyone here. Those Night Feeders, for example.” He waited for her temper to kick in. It didn’t.
“I get where you’re coming from. In fact, I’m proud you think I’m capable of that. Harpies have violent natures. It’s who we are. Just like your nature is to be a cold, bloodsucking fiend.”
Ouch. He didn’t get a chance to comment because suddenly her biscuit began to float off her plate. At the same time, he saw a dim outline hovering above their table. A kid? Maybe. He wouldn’t
even have seen the outline if it weren’t so dark in this corner. Declan waited for her to grab the biscuit away from the spirit. She stared at it for a moment, and then looked away. The biscuit disappeared.
“The cook wouldn’t be happy about that.” He made his voice soft, no accusations in it.
She shrugged. “I didn’t want it anyway.” But she looked troubled.
Did she have a little conflict with her harpy nature going on? He let the subject drop. Probably because he had a few of his own conflicts.
She pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m finished. Let’s go.”
As they left the dining room, Declan noticed her brother sitting across the room. Kal didn’t look happy. “So what’s next?”
“Next is headed our way.” She nodded toward the front door.
Sparkle cast them a speculative glance as she strolled over. Every male within sight watched that walk with lust in his heart, or elsewhere.
Declan looked at Daria, and for a moment thought he saw a touch of wistfulness in her eyes. His sympathy surprised him. Sympathy. An emotion. The Woo Woo Inn was cracking his hard shell, and that was dangerous. A hard shell kept bad things out and worse things in.
He realized that Daria’s values had been turned upside down from the moment of birth. Ugly was beautiful. Violence was good. And all positive emotions were submerged for the greater bad.
Now, for the first time, she was seeing what the rest of creation considered desirable. Okay, so Sparkle was over-the-top and outside-the-norm, but she was damn good to look at.
Daria’s moment of wistfulness—if it ever existed— disappeared. “The night’s over, Sparkle.” She glanced at her watch. “It’ll be dawn in a couple of hours. I’ve had all I can take for my first night. I’m heading to my room.”
Sparkle’s slow, sexy smile heated everyone and everything around her, giving new meaning to global warming. When she turned that smile on him, Declan was able to appreciate it, but felt nothing more. Not like what he felt for Daria. Uneasy, he wondered exactly what he did feel for her. And why?
After centuries of one-bite nights that included sex, a few sensual sips, and the inevitable don’t-look-back goodbye, he had his routine down. No emotion, just a feeding of his senses. Perfect. That’s the way it would be with Daria. He’d make it that way.
“Have you progressed beyond meaningless chatter and sizzling glances?” Sparkle aimed the question at Daria.
“Nope. I practice a hands-off policy. Now give me my clothes back.”
Sparkle nodded toward Declan. “How can you resist touching him? Mmm, all that warm male flesh just waiting for you. Think of his bare, muscular chest. First you could trace each nipple with the tip of your finger, then slide your palm over—”
“My clothes. Now.” Daria’s face had lost the pale look. She flushed, refusing to meet his gaze.
Declan frowned. What was this about? His senses were alive to Sparkle’s suggestions, but what was left of his reason wanted to know why Sparkle was pushing so hard.
Sparkle ignored Daria’s demand. Instead she turned her attention to him. “Forget her face. Look at that body. Think of stripping her down to hot, wanting woman.”
He was thinking, he was thinking.
“Are you going to give my clothes back?” Daria’s voice trembled, either from embarrassment or anger. He wasn’t sure which.
“Um—” Sparkle rolled her eyes to the ceiling for inspiration. “No. And even though I applaud your attempt to accessorize with all those smiley faces, you really need some help from someone who has more fashion sense.”
“Fine. So let’s settle up tonight’s bet. I won.” Daria ignored the snarky comment about her fashion sense.
From the tone of Daria’s voice, that didn’t bode well for Sparkle.
Sparkle’s sigh was filled with dramatic resignation. “Let me guess. You want me to give back the black cotton jammies with ‘Hades Is My Hero’ on the front.”
“No.” There was something in Daria’s voice he hadn’t heard before, a hardness that hinted at exactly how ruthless she could be. “We agreed if I won I’d get to make you do something.”
“I suppose.” Sparkle’s expression grew wary.
“I want you to break a nail. That nail.” She pointed to Sparkle’s right index finger. “And you can’t fix it for three nights.”
“I don’t think so.” Sparkle’s voice was cold. No calculation, no sensuality, no inflection. Just cold.
Daria shrugged. “Hey, it was your bet.” The guests nearby stopped to stare. “If you want to back out, we can cancel the whole thing.”
Sparkle never took her gaze from Daria. “Declan, would you get the nail clippers from the top drawer in the desk?”
What bet? He retrieved the clippers and handed them to Sparkle.
She took a deep breath and then clipped off the nail on her index finger.
Katie the cook gasped before hurrying back into her kitchen.
Then Sparkle lifted her gaze to Daria. Declan had thought she was frightening last year, but her scary index had just shot through the roof.
“You’ve made me very angry, sister.”
Declan believed her.
“I was amusing myself up till now.” Sparkle dropped her gaze to her ruined nail. “I just got serious.” Turning, she walked away.
Daria looked at Declan. “I lost my temper.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“That was a mistake.”
“No doubt.”
“I guess you want to know about the bet.”
“That would be a yes.”
She walked to the screen door and stared into the night. “It was a stupid bet. I don’t know why I made it.”
“Sparkle is good at manipulating people into doing things they don’t want to do.”
“She bet me that I couldn’t get through each night without one lustful act.” She looked over her shoulder and grinned weakly. “She doesn’t know me.”
He could take that as a compliment—I had to fight hard not to touch you—or he could interpret it as a slam—I have so-so willpower, but it wasn’t hard to resist you.
“Just a suggestion, but if you win tomorrow night, leave her nails alone. You don’t want to send her over the edge.”
She kept staring into the night. “I guess what happened to your council last year would qualify as sending her over the edge.” Daria turned her head to smile at him. “Did she do it for real?”
“I don’t know. But the other guys were doing a lot of running and screaming. Sounded like they thought it was real.”
“And she thought you were too fine to mess with.”
“Uh-huh. I think she said something about not depriving me because who knew when I might need all that wonderful male equipment?”
She threw back her head and laughed. Really laughed. The sound made him feel good, and that made no sense at all.
“I assume she gave everything back.”
He nodded. “Once their favorite organs were back in place, they were gone.”
She was still chuckling. “Sounds like a scary lady.”
“Never underestimate her. Ganymede seems like a straight-ahead guy. Get him mad and he’ll kill you. The end. Sparkle strikes me as someone who’ll nibble you to death—a bite here, a bite there. Always when you don’t expect it. You’ll be just as dead as with Ganymede, only it’ll take longer.”
“Thanks for the warning.” She yawned. “It’s been a long night. Think I’ll go up to my room.”
Declan glanced at his watch. “Yeah, it’ll be dawn in another hour or two. I have to see what I can figure out about our friend under the church.”
She hesitated as though she wanted to say something and then changed her mind. “See you tomorrow night.”
Declan watched her climb the stairs, and then went out onto the porch. He’d wait until he was sure she was settled in her room before he headed out to the church. Ganymede was probably still there, but that was good. He nee
ded someone to get word to the council in case he didn’t make it back to the inn.
Chapter Five
Daria watched from her window as Declan strode across the front lawn and into the woods. They’d both been lying.
She’d had no intention of going to bed before she talked to Eris. But that would have to wait until she found out what her favorite Mackenzie was up to.
A harpy’s insatiable curiosity was a terrible thing. Daria thought about that as she followed him along the narrow wooded path. But a harpy’s ability to rationalize made everything okay. So by following Declan, she might catch him alone and be able to snatch him. Or if that didn’t work, she could save him from the thing under the church, because she didn’t doubt for a minute that’s where he was headed.
Daria frowned. She wasn’t supposed to save anyone from anything. Mel the wererabbit had been an aberration, an unthinking moment when she’d let her hunting instincts take over. Besides, she would’ve lost her job if she’d let Mel have the dog.
Then she brightened. By saving Declan’s butt, she was simply giving herself another shot at him tomorrow night. There. Harpy rules upheld.
When she drew close to the clearing where the church stood, she found a hiding place that gave her an unobstructed view of everything.
Ganymede and Declan stood behind the yellow tape arguing. Daria blocked out all extraneous sounds so she could hear.
“Look, bloodsucker, I don’t give a dam what you want. I’m staying right here close to the action. Cosmic troublemakers don’t hide behind trees so they’ll be safe.”
Harpies did. Oh, not so they’d be safe. It was so they could be sneaky. Sneakiness was taught from the cradle in the harpy world. Wait. Something was wrong with Ganymede’s comment. Darn? Ganymede was a damn kind of guy.
Ganymede plunked his bottom on the ground to emphasize his intention. “You need backup. I don’t want to have to collect your finger in the morning.” He stared at said finger. “Nice ring, though. Can I keep it if, you know, things don’t work out?”
“I won’t need backup. I have a feeling killing me isn’t in the entity’s game plan. But I won’t do anything stupid. I’ll stay out of the church. I just have to find out if it can materialize and what its agenda is.”