by Nina Bangs
Daria put her thoughts of imminent doom on hold long enough to take on Sparkle. “Wait up a minute.” She grabbed Sparkle’s arm.
Sparkle stopped as the others continued into the parlor. “Let me guess, you’re still upset with your room’s new decor.” She didn’t look even a little repentant.
“Forget the room. I want my clothes back.”
“Clothes?” Sparkle did some deep thinking about that. “Oh, now I remember. I burned them. Can we go in now?”
“No.” Daria beat down her need to throw something. Preferably Sparkle. “A warning. Don’t mess with me again.”
“Or else?” Sparkle looked really interested.
“Or else when I win our bet tonight, I might make you do something a little more extreme than breaking a nail.” Daria allowed her smile to hint how evil her imagination could get.
Sparkle didn’t smile back. “Then I’ll just have to make sure I don’t lose tonight.” She started to walk away, but then stopped. “And don’t push me, sister, I’m not in the mood.” Not even a sexy smirk as she left.
What the…? Something was wrong with Sparkle. She didn’t have her usual wicked enthusiasm for making Daria’s life miserable. Daria thought about that as she went into the parlor. Good thing Sparkle didn’t know she’d done lots of lustful touching last night. After she’d claimed victory.
Declan had saved a spot for her on one of the couches. She sat next to him and tried to ignore the thigh-to-thigh pressure. Things got a lot tighter, though, as Walt squeezed down on the other side of her.
The debunker grinned at them. “See that bunch of guys over there? Someone said they’re vampires. Can you believe that?” He chuckled. “I’m going to follow them tonight. Bet they’ll just head into the woods with a case of beer and some crunchies. They’ll spend the night talking about who’ll make it to the World Series.”
She glanced at the men in question. Her faves, the Night Feeders. If he wasn’t careful, Walt the clueless could end up as the crunchy snack. And no, she wasn’t worried about him. That would mean she cared. Caring wouldn’t get her a seat next to Mom.
Besides, she had too many other things to think about. Like how were they going to keep Fenrir from gaining full power so he couldn’t help Big Daddy destroy the universe? Now, that was a real worry.
Then there was Declan. In between him saving the universe and her passing her test, would they get a chance to… Daria shut off that thought valve before lust could come pouring out.
While she pretended to listen to Sparkle, Daria scoped out the others in the room. Who was her perfect victim, the being who was powerful and evil enough to get Hades’s attention? She was just about ready to admit that Declan would never be her prey of choice. Kal could suggest someone else. What did that say about her commitment to the harpy test?
“Once again I might remind everyone the old church is off-limits. Other than that, party like there’s no tomorrow.” Sparkle smiled at her audience, but her eyes were a little too bright, her smile a little too strained. “One never knows. It could happen. You wouldn’t want to have any regrets.”
Ganymede padded to her side. He sat down on her foot and then stared up at her. She jerked her foot from under him. Silent communication took place. Warning received.
“Well, did anyone experience anything paranormal last night?” Sparkle didn’t look like her heart was in it.
A human raised a timid hand. When Sparkle pointed at her, she offered an apologetic smile, “This was probably nothing, but I heard a big explosion and saw a flash of light through the trees. I think it was coming from the area near the church.” The woman glanced around, hoping for support. “Did anyone else hear something?”
One of the Night Feeders spoke up. “Me and the guys were doing a little hunting when we heard it.”
Sparkle frowned at him. “Hunting? Guests are off-limits, you know.” Distracted, she looked at Daria. “Make sure all the guests came back last night.”
Then Sparkle tackled the big question. “You probably heard the Jersey Devil. He shows up once in a while, and the old church is his favorite stomping ground.” She bit her lip as she tapped into her creative self. “That’s one of the reasons to stay away from the church. The Devil doesn’t do takeout too often, but when he does, he likes his food fresh. Sometimes he does Mexican.”
She looked at a human guest named Carlos. He swallowed hard.
“Other times it’s Italian.” She stared at one of the Night Feeders who called himself Geno until he smiled weakly.
“I think his favorite is Chinese.” Sparkle glanced pointedly at an Asian family. “He’s always hungry an hour later, though.”
“What a bunch of crap.” Walt’s voice carried to every corner of the room. “The Jersey Devil is just a legend. There’s no such animal. So what caused the explosion?”
Sparkle’s gaze speared him, pinning him to his seat. “The sonic boom when the Devil slowed to under the speed of sound.”
“Oh, jeez.” Walt rolled his eyes.
Sparkle glanced at her watch. “Well, I guess it’s time for everyone to get started on their evening. Remember that I’m leading a sensitivity session for nonhumans who want to coexist with other entities. Nonhuman wannabes are welcome. I try to be inclusive. Tonight’s subject is betrayal and its consequences. We’ll meet in the library.”
Ganymede padded over to Daria and Declan. A few seconds later, Sparkle joined them. She pointedly refused to look down.
Daria didn’t need anyone to beat her over the head. “What’s going on between you guys?”
Sparkle took a deep breath. She looked around to make sure no humans were paying attention. “Last night an ice cream man showed up here.”
Declan and Daria nodded.
“He’s some kind of goodness-and-light freak. He told Mede he’d been a bad boy.”
“Oh, jeez.” Ganymede looked embarrassed.
“This guy said Mede had to give up cursing, threatening to kill things, and me.” Sparkle seemed more sad than mad. “Every time he curses, he loses one of his sweet treats. What fun.” A little vindictiveness shone through.
“Low blow, babe.” Ganymede.
“We’re both mature adults, so we’ll continue to work together. But there is no more us.” She slowly shredded a tissue she’d been holding. “Now I’ve got a session to run.” Sparkle didn’t give anyone a chance to stop her. She left the room so fast, Daria expected her to generate her own sonic boom.
Ganymede watched her leave. He looked a little lost. “I hope she doesn’t do anything crazy. Sparkle isn’t too big on self-control. I’m the steadying force in our relationship.”
Ganymede was the steadying force? Daria thought that was scary.
“This guy must’ve threatened you with something big to make you break up with Sparkle.” Declan looked sympathetic.
“It was give up my honey-bun or no more cosmic troublemaker.”
Daria frowned. “Could he do that?”
“He can do whatever he damn well pleases. Oh, shit. I just lost two more candy bars.” He got up and wandered away.
“Wow. Looks like this ice cream guy is the snake in Sparkle’s personal paradise. Too bad.” Declan glanced at Daria. “I guess you have manager stuff to do.”
She nodded. “What do you have planned?” Daria needed to talk to Kal about a definite choice of prey, but she hoped Declan would stick around.
“I’m going out for a few minutes and try to clear my thoughts. I need to come up with a plan to stop Fenrir. Beyond that, I’m open to suggestions.”
Okay, she shouldn’t do this, but what the heck, she wouldn’t be at this job long enough to build up a rep for dedication. None of the guests needed her right now, so it wouldn’t hurt to slip out with him for a short time.
“Mind some company? We can knock around ideas.” Did she sound too eager?
He smiled and instantly tapped into her inner slut. She wanted to fling herself on him and practice unspeakably er
otic acts on his naked body.
“Sure. I need all the help I can get. Let’s go.”
Chapter Eight
Declan wasn’t thinking about Fenrir. He was thinking about the woman standing next to him. The dangerous woman standing next to him.
On so many levels, she tugged at him. He felt the pull of her life force where it surged just below her soft, smooth skin. Arousal moved restlessly in him at the thought. Okay, that was a vampire being a vampire. Nothing to worry about.
But then there was his need to be near her. She was a scary mixture of strength and vulnerability. In a straight-up fight, no magic, she just might kick his ass. Beneath her attitude, though, he sensed someone trying to find her way. Maybe she was realizing there was more to existence than making Hades happy. He could hope.
See, that was not good. Hope was his enemy. Better to keep it simple. Harpies were bad news. Always. No exceptions. Enjoy her body and then run like hell. He needed to remember that. Because the times in his life when he’d deviated from his one-bite-stand rule had ended badly for him. He was good at wiping other people’s memories clean. His own memories? Not so much.
He could control his need for blood and emotional closeness. He’d had practice doing that. To make up for depriving himself, though, he’d allow himself to have fun making love to her and foiling her attempts to cart him off to Tartarus. Funny, she’d had her chance to grab him last night when they were alone in the woods. He smiled. Maybe sexual attraction trumped even a harpy’s work ethic.
But he was supposed to be thinking about Fenrir. If Dad managed to join up with Loki, Granddaddy would destroy the universe. Talk about family issues.
Declan figured he’d better move away from Daria if he expected to do any clear thinking. It was too warm for a coat, so he dropped his duster before stepping off the porch. He didn’t need it anyway since he’d left his sword in his room. A bad habit to start. Lots of dead Mackenzies had gotten that way because of careless habits.
A few seconds later he wondered if he was about to join the list of careless and dead Mackenzies.
Distracted by warring thoughts of Daria and Fenrir, Declan missed the first signs he was under attack. He heard the whoosh of air and the flapping of giant wings just before talons dug deep into his shoulders.
Pain ripped through him. He looked up. A harpy. Not Daria. Damn it to hell, why hadn’t he put his coat on? If she’d hooked her freaking claws into the leather, he could’ve slipped out of the duster.
He fought past the pain as he pulled his power to him.
The harpy cackled madly. “See, Daria, I can take your precious prize right out from under your nose. He’s mine now. I win, I win.”
Declan didn’t think so.
Daria jumped off the porch. “I knew you were stupid, but I can’t believe you think you can get away with this. Let him go, Eris.”
Major wow. Daria was into scary mode. His pride in her felt way too personal.
“I’m on my way to Tartarus. Wish me a safe trip. Wouldn’t want me to drop him before I got there. Even a vampire doesn’t bounce from ten thousand feet up.”
He wasn’t going anywhere with the queen of gross. How could Daria ever want to look like that? Time to free himself, though, before the harpy got too far off the ground. Fenrir’s blood allowed him to fly, but he never liked to reveal his powers if he didn’t have to. Surprise could be the deciding factor in a battle. Declan had a much more subtle way to foil this snatching. He focused.
“Damn, this guy is heavy.” The harpy huffed and puffed, her wings beating madly, as she tried to rise.
“Bitch.”
Daria’s voice was harsh with fury. And something else. Fear? No time to analyze now. A quick glance caught Daria’s change from human to harpy form. Even the pain couldn’t keep him from noting how hot she was from the waist up. Below her waist? He’d seen better. A vulture was just a vulture. Yeah, so her vulture form was bigger and her talons scarier, but he’d never been into bird watching.
“Ummph, oomph, arrgh!” The harpy had only managed to get him about a foot off the ground.
He looked up at her. “Guess someone needs to work out more.” Declan forced the words through teeth clenched in agony. Then he renewed his focus, pushing his energy into the earth, where it took root, anchoring him in place.
She dropped him just as Daria slammed into her with what looked like a category-five force of angry harpy. Above him was a blur of talons, wings, and enraged shrieks.
One look at the porch, and he knew they were in trouble. Everyone inside had poured onto the porch to see what was happening. Walt was down on one knee taking pictures. Kal leaped off the porch and ran toward them.
Declan caught snatches of speech.
“Do something, Mede!” Sparkle had forgotten her mad for the moment.
“I am. Hey, you Night Feeders, I’m taking Daria. What odds will you give me?” Ganymede.
“I don’t freaking believe this. But if it’s for real, I’ll make a fortune on these pics.” Walt.
“This is way better than rats.” The last words from one of the werewolves as all three changed and happily flung themselves into the air, trying to latch on to one of the harpies.
Then there were the assorted screams and curses from panicked humans. Declan’s pain-fogged mind wasn’t processing it too well. But he did have enough sense to grab Kal’s arm as the harpy started to change.
“No. Don’t add to what’s going on.” Declan pointed at the battle above his head, where a furious Daria was pummeling the other harpy. “I don’t think she needs to be rescued. She’d want to do this herself.”
Daria’s brother looked up. She’d hooked her talons into the other harpy and was flinging her from side to side. Kal nodded and then glanced around. “Crap. How do we fix that?”
By that, Declan knew he meant the ring of interested spectators. “The nonhumans don’t need fixing. They’ll accept what they’re seeing. But someone has to take care of the humans.” It wouldn’t be him. He was all focused out for a few hours until his shoulder wounds closed.
Meanwhile, Daria tossed her defeated enemy to the ground with a bone-crushing thud. The harpy immediately returned to human form. The last Declan saw of her was her flabby, naked butt as she raced for the safety of the woods.
The werewolves howled gleefully as they leaped in pursuit.
“Here.” Suddenly, Sparkle was beside him. She pushed his coat into his hands. “Cover her up. Oh, and I’ll give Daria something to put on your shoulders. Make sure she does it personally.”
Declan sensed a wink, wink, nudge, nudge, but he was a little too out of it to be sure. He nodded, making sure he didn’t move his shoulders in the process. “Right. Thanks.”
Daria landed beside him. Kal and he stood together to shield her as she changed. Declan wrapped his coat around her as soon as she was back in human form.
She smiled shakily at him, but her smile died as she stared at his bloodied shoulders. “I should’ve screwed her into the ground headfirst. Are you okay?”
“Sure.” Other than the excruciating pain? Yeah, he was fine. He was more than fine. For whatever reason, she’d leaped to his rescue. Even if she just wanted to save him so she could take him to Tartarus herself, he still felt great about how things had gone down.
“Hey, bloodsucker, how’s it feel to have women fighting over you?” Ganymede had joined Sparkle. “I won fifty bucks from the Night Feeders betting on you, harpy. Way to go.”
His expression said he wasn’t as happy as he sounded. Declan suspected he was putting up a good front for Sparkle.
Daria frowned. “Betting on me?”
Declan didn’t want to give her time to process that. “We need to get rid of a lot of memories.”
“All taken care of.” Ganymede glanced toward the porch. Everyone had gone back into the inn. “All the humans remember is hearing a lot of noise, but when they looked outside they didn’t see anything.” He shifted his attention ba
ck to Daria. “Sure hope you weren’t planning on snatching one of the nonhumans. Now that they know harpies are in the house, they won’t be taking any solo walks.”
“Thanks for doing the memory-wipe thing.” Declan figured it was time to get back to his room so he could take his shirt off before the blood dried and the material stuck to his wounds. “I have to clean up, but I’ll need to talk to you later, Ganymede.”
“No problem.” Ganymede leaped onto the porch and waited for Sparkle to open the door for him. She went in and slammed the door in his face.
Kal peered at Daria. “You okay, sis?”
Daria nodded. “I can’t believe Eris tried to carry Declan off right in front of me.”
“Yeah, it was like a slap in the face.” Kal shook his head. “She’s always thought she was better than she is.”
“Who’s this Eris?” Declan climbed the porch steps and then opened the screen door. He winced when he moved his shoulders.
“She’s Aello’s daughter. Aello shares top-dog status with Mom and Aunt Ocypete.” Kal followed them into the inn.
“Interesting.” Declan looked at Daria. “Thanks for taking her out.”
Daria stared at his shoulders and then glanced away. “I wasn’t trying to save you because I’m kind.”
He resisted the urge to smile. “I never thought so.”
“I’m selfish and self-serving. She just can’t come in here and take what’s mine.”
Mine. The word hung between them. Declan decided that, considering how he chose to interpret it, the word could mean mine to take back to Tartarus or mine to make love with along with lots of other good stuff. He chose to go with interpretation two.
“Selfish and self-serving. What else could a harpy be?” He waved off her follow-up comment and headed for the stairs.
Kal and Daria watched him until he’d climbed the steps, and then Kal rounded on Daria. “What the hell was that all about?”
She wasn’t in the mood to listen to a lecture, even if it came from Kal. “That was about Eris trying to score higher than me on the test. You know she’s a vindictive witch. She never got over that I could beat her at every level of harpy competition. She’s a sore loser.” She thought about that. “I admire that about her. Sore losers make good harpies.”