I grit my teeth and nixed that idea right in the ass. I didn’t like this thing’s idea of beauty. I wasn’t going to indulge the psychotic pyromaniac demon now or ever. I’d find a way to permanently end myself first. And that meant, for the time being, as little magic as possible.
“Right. We’ll have to talk to the wolves then. I’m sure they know the terrain better than we do. Maybe together we can all find a way out of this place.”
I bit my lip to keep from speaking the obvious truth. If there was any way off of this island, there wouldn’t be wolves still living here. Unfortunately, I forgot my newfound fangs.
My lip shredded like paper beneath the sharp canines and I cursed aloud, slapping a hand to my face to catch the blood. Dominic started forward but tripped over a raised portion of the carpet. It looked like a wolf had ripped it up at some point or the other.
The layer of carpet came up with a loud ripping sound and only my quick reflexes prevented his head from meeting the edge of the table. I extended a leg and, as gently as I could, broke his fall with my calf. He let out a groan when he impacted. Apparently, even my gentlest effort was still painful. He wheezed once and slumped over my leg. I lowered him gently to the ground.
“You’ve got to be careful, Dom. What if…”
But whatever I’d been about to say died on my lips. The television flicked on of its own accord and a man’s face filled the screen. The shot was wobbly like it was being recorded on a camcorder or low-resolution phone camera. The man’s hair was grisled and stuck out in tufts around his face. I had the impression of a graying lumberjack. His dark eyes glared into the room and his voice boomed into the room from the television’s speakers.
“Listen up, newbies,” the man growled. “My name is Justus Pleasant, and if you want to get off this island alive, you’re going to pay attention to every damn word I say.”
chapter
4
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” I hissed at Dom, staring at the face on the television. I licked the blood from my lip absently.
Dominic knelt to examine the portion of carpet that he’d stumbled over. He peeled it back to reveal a pressure sensor that he’d tripped with his clumsy attempt to help me.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But if they went to all the trouble of putting it here, it’s got to be important.”
Dominic and I watched the television as Justus continued on. The timestamp overlaid on the video informed us that this tape was three years old, probably recorded when the virus was newly released. The person who’d recorded this was most likely dead by now.
“Good for you, making it this far, newbie. If you’re watching this video, you’re in one of the five locations near the beach and have made it past the end-stage wolves. It means you’re not totally helpless. But you’ve still got a long way to go before you’ll be safe. I’m going to give you a guide on how to make contact with us.”
The view cut away from the man’s face and onto a shaky, low-resolution image of a fairground. I’d always considered carnivals creepy at the best of times. In the wavering light of a flashlight, it was a hundred times worse. Shapes loomed out of the darkness like monsters in a horror film. The front half of a horse had been completely torn away from the carousel. The colors of the candy-striped tent beyond that were muted, as the fabric gathered dust and debris. I reared back from the sight of a clown statue grinning maniacally into the camera.
Some fears stuck with you, even when you’d faced down vampires and demons. Clowns were simply evil and I’d fight anyone who claimed otherwise.
Justus’ voice spoke over the footage this time. “You need to make it to the fairground. On the top seat of the Ferris wheel, there will be a handful of signal flares. Pop one and a team will be sent to help guide you to headquarters. I won’t lie to you, newbies. It won’t be easy. You’re going to have to face worse threats than the end-stage wolves. There are…”
The transmission crackled and the screen froze a few times on the screen before the television presented the blue screen of death and filled the room with white noise.
“There are what?” Dom snapped. “What else is waiting for us on the island? Come on, that can’t be the end of it!”
He kicked at the spot on the floor in frustration. I rolled my eyes.
“Oh yes, Dom. Grinding it to dust under your boot is going to make it play again. Step back and let me look at it.”
I knelt at his feet and peeled back the carpet so I could look at what lay beneath. The setup that they were using was fairly old and a cursory glance at the innards of the machine showed corrosion. I was shocked it had even played at all. I lifted the player to inspect it and in doing so, discovered a stack of maps beneath. They’d been exposed to the elements at some time because the pages were warped, but the top copy was still legible. I grinned and held it up so Dom could see.
“It looks like we’re still in business.”
Dom glared at the corroded disc player. “It still doesn’t tell us what threat is out there.”
I peered at the scrawled writing. A few refuel stations were marked on the map, as well as several places circled in red. Going by the almost universal assumption that red meant bad news, I cataloged the areas we ought to avoid.
“There must still be people alive who can help us,” I replied. “We have to try and reach them.”
Dom shook his head. “Wolves, Nat. Not people. That message looks ancient. We don’t know what’s out there. We should stay here and think up a better plan.”
I threw my arms out and indicated the woebegone hotel lobby. A sad plastic Christmas tree filled one corner, shrouded in cobwebs. “So you want us to crouch in here like rats in a cage? The wolves will eventually break that barricade. And we are going to run out of food by tomorrow evening.”
“Nat—”
“And furthermore,” I said, speaking over his objection. “We stand a better chance of reclaiming a ship if we have backup.”
“If we go out there without the proper equipment, we’d essentially be committing suicide.”
He held my wand aloft. “This is no better than a misfiring gun, Nat. I can’t use it reliably. We have no other weapons. We barely have any food. What if we meet another group of rabid wolves?”
“Then I’ll take a risk and try to use Valerius’ magic.”
“Not a chance, if it means you might end up blowing up the whole island. I can’t watch you die again, Nat.”
The pleading note in his voice made it hard to be angry with him. My tone was softer than it might otherwise have been when I spoke.
“If we don’t get off of this godforsaken island, I’m going to blow up anyway. The spell the vampires used to anchor my soul has a three-day time limit. If I die enough times, the point becomes moot.”
Dom began to pace again, treading a line into the worn carpet. It was dizzying to watch him. I could practically see the calculation in his eyes. He was sliding back into that cold headspace that you had to adopt if you were in our line of work. Detachment was an assassin’s best friend. You couldn’t do what we’d done and not dissociate somewhat.
We had to get off the island, stop Lamonia, get the cure from Elle, and save Cat—but do so with as little magic or violence as possible. The island was a deathtrap; the harder we sought an escape, the quicker we’d succumb. But staying holed up in a boutique hotel wouldn’t stave off the inevitable for long.
I could almost see the gears working as Dom calculated the odds of our survival. Then he stood straighter, his face hardened into a tight mask of determination. I almost smiled. There was the commander of the Five. There was the man I’d fallen in love with.
“Fine,” he said, nodding absently. “We’ll go. But you have to do exactly as I say. If I tell you to run, you get your ass as far away as you can. And if, as I suspect, there’s no one waiting to rescue us at the fairground, we return to the beach and try to take back a ship.”
I almost sn
apped at him that I didn’t follow his orders anymore. I’d been ousted from the Big Five, the elite team of warriors that carried out the Trust’s most dangerous missions, for vigilante activity. But I held my mouth shut on the words, chewing them until I was sure that I wouldn’t spit them in his face. He was taking charge and trying to save our skins the best way that he knew how. Antagonizing him was born of leftover spite.
I gave him a mock salute. “Whatever you say, Captain.”
***
We scoured the place twice before packing up to leave. We had a particularly lucky find when we dared to venture out into the backlot. A maintenance shed was perched out back, hidden from sight by a huge, overgrown topiary. Dominic felt more sanguine about our plan with a fireman’s ax strapped to his back. I’d selected one of the dirt-caked shovels.
The groundskeeper for the day spa had apparently had a sweet tooth because we hit the motherlode. There was a crate hidden behind the rakes and shovels that was full to the brim with snack cakes. Twinkies, Sno Balls, and more. It was stacked on top of a can of undoubtedly flat soda and a container of barely touched bottled water.
We emptied the gym bag full of smelly workout clothes which seemed to have been the groundskeeper’s only concession to healthy living. It was now full of our provisions. One would think that six boxes of sugar-laden treats and the remaining can of fruit would be enough to keep us going, but we never knew. The journey inland might take days, and I didn’t have that long.
Dom’s nerves were still too frazzled to talk about what really needed to be discussed. If I started making a contingency plan for where my body could be stored until I was revived, I was sure he’d lose it. So I talked about a less pressing, but still important, issue that was plaguing us both.
“When we get off of this island, we need to locate Elle. I’ll feel better once she’s under our protection again.”
Dom made a sound in the back of his throat that was something between a growl and a snort. I half turned to him, only barely paying attention to our surroundings as we strode purposely toward the first landmark that the map indicated. There was a bar and grill about five miles ahead of us. Unfortunately, we were going to have to take the long way around to reach it. The straightest path from the hotel to the bar was through a red zone. Even armed, we didn’t want to traipse into trouble if we could help it.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he growled.
I planted my feet and turned toward him, glaring up into his too-handsome face. “Don’t lie to me, Finch. I have a keen nose for bullshit. What crawled up your ass and died?”
“Just remembering how close you came to killing the young scientist yourself. If she’s still alive, it’s no thanks to you. Why the hell did you entrust Elle to that mercenary? He could have ransomed her to the vampires by now, for all we know.”
I rocked back on my heels. Shock and hurt washed over me in a hot rush. My fingers twitched and sparks actually leaped from my nails. I curled my fingers into fists to keep myself from doing something stupid. Like punching my ex in the face with a flaming fist. I’d regret it later when the anger cooled.
“I thought we were over this, Dom. Landon and Declan stuck their necks out for us. If the vampires catch them, they’ll skin Declan alive. And it’s better if you don’t know what they’d do to Landon.”
I could barely believe my ex-boss had turned out to be a mature dragon shifter. Nearly all of his brethren had been wiped out by the vampires centuries ago. And now he was putting his life at risk for my friends.
Dom’s stubborn expression didn’t waver. “He’s an assassin, Nat. You can’t trust a mercenary. They don’t believe in anything. They can always be bought.”
“Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I was an assassin, too. Are you saying that you can’t trust me?”
His silence was telling. It felt impossibly loud even as thunder clapped overhead. A fat raindrop landed on the side of my face. It wasn’t enough to douse the wrath bubbling inside of my chest. I was about two seconds away from doing something inexcusable.
But then the storm hit. Palm trees flailed in the wind. The sea breeze smelled like brine and electricity. The heavens opened and a veritable flood came cascading down on us. The cloudburst hit us fast and hard. A hailstone whacked me hard in the shin and I stumbled, nearly cracking my kneecap on the nearby curb.
The stone was about the size of a golf ball, which was pretty damned dangerous. If it hit the skull at just the wrong angle, it could cause serious damage.
I seized Dom’s arm in a vice-like grip and dragged him out of the road. It didn’t look like we were going to have much choice. The next building on our circuitous route was at least a mile away. He could be dead by then. It was only late afternoon, but we needed to find shelter fast. Which meant we were going to have to enter the red zone.
The path leading east was lined with colored umbrellas. The rain and hail were beating the hell out of them as we hurried past. A hailstone came dangerously close to hitting Dominic in the face and only a quick deflection of my arm saved him from having a broken nose.
At the very end of the aisle of tattered beach umbrellas was a kitschy little restaurant with a gift shop attached to the side like an afterthought. A dozen simpering mermaids were painted onto the siding. I barely had time to register that at least three of them had deep claw marks in the paint job before we ducked into the gift shop.
A shower of dried coral fell onto our heads when we banged our way into the room. Dominic let out a vicious swear word and batted them off of his shoulders.
Inside we quickly checked the space for threats. Besides overturned tables, broken bottles, and a rusted espresso machine, it was empty. We were safe, for the moment, but my question was burning in my ears and I needed an answer. I rounded on Dom with my finger pointed at his face, turning so quickly my coat snapped like a cape.
“Say it, Finch,” I snarled. “Tell me that you don’t trust me. After everything we’ve been through and all the shit I did to keep you and Elle safe, tell me that you still think I’m unworthy.”
Dominic seized my upper arms and I thought he was about to shake me silly. Instead, he pulled me into his chest and crushed his lips to mine.
All the anger I’d been building up spilled out of me and I pushed the coat off of his shoulders roughly. I had his shirt halfway over his head before I realized what I was doing.
It cost me to do it, but I tore my body out of his grip. I shuddered in the sudden cold from the epiphany that had hit me like lightning from above. I wanted him, and I hated him.
Dom and I had fallen into bed together twice in as many days. We’d mashed our bodies together in thoroughly pleasant ways without ever truly trusting one another. All of our fights had always ended this way at home. Anger was just as likely to result in sex as a romantic evening and that should have troubled me long before now.
I stumbled backwards, kicking over a pile of hollow coconuts with fancy colored straws that must have held cocktails at some point. They were so black and rotten I could barely make out the message carved into them above the shop’s logo. Don’t worry, be happy.
Maybe this little shop was a sign of our doomed relationship. Once serviceable, now a ruin. My mind spun. Had we ever really loved each other? Or had mutual respect and really good sex been the glue that held us together? After the respect was gone and sex was out of the picture, what had we been left with?
Depressingly little, when I examined it in hindsight.
“I have to go,” I muttered, turning toward the door. My body was on fire and it felt like my brain was melting. I needed to get away with him. I had to think.
Dominic’s hand wrapped around my wrist. “You can’t go out there. It’s dangerous.”
Not as dangerous as the inside of the gift shop was to my well-being. I used a fraction of my newfound strength to wrench my arm free of his grip.
“That map was years old, this area is
probably fine now. I’ll come back in an hour. I need to breathe. Please don’t follow me.”
I didn’t turn to see if he respected my wishes. I jumped over the pile of coral in the doorway and took off running into the night.
chapter
5
I DIDN’T RETURN TO THE gift shop until morning. Now that I’d had time to acclimate, I had a sense of time, even without the stars or sun to guide me. I suspected that had something to do with Valerius. Even without a watch to guide me, I was certain that I stumbled in an hour before dawn.
Peering through the screen door of the gift shop I could ascertain just how much of a mess we’d made the night before. Dom had moved even more objects, placing a heavy iron safe in front of the door to bar entry to any roving wolves.
A bare-chested Dom had fallen asleep slumped over the counter, a Hawaiian shirt balled beneath his head as a pillow, and his ax clutched loosely in one hand. The tightness in my chest eased somewhat when I saw that he was relatively safe.
The night had been long and full of unhappy contemplation. It had resulted in an even less pleasant conclusion. The truth was, Dom and I had destroyed a mutual friendship by jumping into bed together. I hadn’t had the emotional maturity to deal with him and we both had a dysfunctional coping mechanism when it came to managing our anger.
But just because we didn’t trust each other at the moment, it didn’t preclude the possibility of trust in the future. I had to earn back the goodwill I’d squandered and he needed to cut me some slack. And, under no circumstances should we engage in any more hanky panky. It was a distraction at best, and we couldn’t afford to be caught off-guard.
I pushed the door open as quietly as I could. The iron safe was an old model and probably weighed about two hundred pounds. It was no match for my strength.
My resolve to keep my hands off of Dom was tested the moment I stepped through the door and saw the rest of him was as bare as his torso. His clothes hung off of a shelf not far away.
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