by Nina Bangs
Airmid’s laughter was a musical tinkle. “I lost my temper. I try not to do that very often. But I’m sure we can reach an agreement.”
Cinn’s common sense shouted, “Don’t make her mad.” She decided to give her common sense a listen-to this time. “What did you have in mind?”
“Good. You’re willing to listen.” The goddess rearranged her long flowing gown. “First, you have to abandon these ridiculous experiments. You’re embarrassing me in front of the other immortals.”
Temper, temper. “Perhaps we can compromise.”
“Compromise?” Airmid looked as if the concept was beyond her understanding.
“Yes. I’ll only experiment on healing plants in order to enhance their curative powers.” Of course, Cinn would get to decide what curative powers needed to be enhanced.
Airmid stared at the fireplace mantel for a long time. “Hmm, that seems like something I could agree to.”
Cinn kept her hands folded in her lap so the goddess wouldn’t see how they were shaking. She didn’t have any experience negotiating with goddesses. “Anything else?” She knew her smile was a total failure.
“You need to destroy the plants you’ve twisted into things they never should be.” Airmid reached out to stroke one of Vince’s leaves.
Oh, hell. “Umm, I don’t think I can do that.”
Airmid rose and paced to a window, where she pointed at the plants resting on the sill. “These are plants, Cinn. They use sunlight and water to grow, not sexual energy. They don’t feel emotions, they don’t think, they don’t talk, and they certainly don’t go into jealous rages with each other. They are simply here. And when I need a few leaves for my healing potions, I simply pluck them.”
Ouch. Cinn winced.
With each word, Airmid’s long hair lifted in that silent wind Cinn was beginning to associate with an incoming temper tempest.
Cinn tried to ease the tension building in the room. “How do you know your plants don’t have emotions? Have you ever tuned in to them?”
“Why should I? I am the goddess of all healing plants. I have no need to ‘tune in’ to them. Of course they don’t have feelings.”
Cinn didn’t like to do this, but she had to give the goddess a demonstration. “Threaten one of your plants in some way. Then try to feel the emotions of the plants around it.”
Something in Airmid’s expression caught at Cinn’s throat. She leaped from her chair just as the goddess reached the table and plucked Vince up. “What a marvelous idea. I think I’ll destroy this one and see if my plants care at all. I doubt they will.”
Cinn rushed at Airmid even as the goddess lifted Vince’s pot high above her head. Too late! She was going to be too late to save Vince.
Chapter Twelve
Without warning, a flash of light blinded Cinn for a moment. Then everything happened in starburst blasts. Dacian appeared and grabbed her. Edge materialized beside Airmid and jerked Vince from her grasp. Then another flash of light and they were all back in her room at the Castle of Dark Dreams.
“What the hell happened?” Her legs were so weak she dropped onto a chair the moment Dacian released her. “And how can you be up when it’s”—she glanced out the window—“already dark.” Time was definitely misbehaving. What had seemed only a short time in Airmid’s world had been hours here.
“Yo, your furry caped crusader saved your butt.” Ganymede sat in regal splendor atop her bureau. “Airmid the airhead is probably still trying to figure out what happened.” He chuckled. “She’ll be one pissed-off immortal.”
Dacian tried to translate for Cinn. “As soon as Edge saw you were gone, he sent a mental shout-out to Ganymede. The cat woke me up. We all met here, and eventually Ganymede was able to trace the path to Airmid’s home.” He held up his hand to ward off her question. “Don’t ask. I don’t have a clue how he did it. Then he sent us to where you were. We grabbed you, and Ganymede pulled us back here.”
Cinn glanced at Ganymede with new respect. “Wow, I’m totally impressed. Thank you.” Now, if only someone could stop Airmid from ambushing her every time she grew careless. And no, she refused to have a bathroom bodyguard.
“No problem, babe. Had to do it, though. My sweetie would never forgive me if I lost you. Besides, I need you to keep me in snacks until Sparkle lets me move back in.”
Edge looked thoughtful. “One thing I don’t understand. If Airmid is so pissed at Cinn, why didn’t she just kill her when she had the chance?”
“I wondered about that, too. She sure doesn’t have a problem with destroying my plants.”
No one seemed to have an answer to why Cinn was still alive.
Speaking of plants…“Who’s guarding the greenhouse?” Panic touched her. Airmid would be in a temper, and she might strike at Cinn’s plants even with someone guarding them.
“Bain has it covered.” Edge smiled. “No one messes with Bain, even a pissed-off goddess. The man has skills.”
Cinn didn’t think she wanted to know what those skills were. The new world she’d stepped into when she had arrived at the castle overwhelmed her. She needed some adjustment time.
There was only one person she wanted with her now. She looked up at Dacian. His expression convinced her she’d never take a shower alone again as long as Airmid was doing her thing. “Thank you.” She gazed at everyone in the room. “Thank all of you.”
Then her attention returned to Dacian. “I want to take Vince back to the greenhouse.” She didn’t think she’d mention that Vince had finally spoken to her. That was personal and could wait. “We’ll somehow make him safe there.”
“And then you can go with me to get back my clothes. We’re lucky. The store is open late tonight.” Sparkle had slipped into the room. “Of course, I want my clothes back only so I can go forth and teach the masses the joyously ecstatic feeling that comes from looking sexy and stylish.”
Everyone stared at her.
“What?”
Dacian answered. “Airmid kidnapped Cinn from her bathroom.”
Cinn put in her two cents. “Ganymede was the hero. He sent Dacian and Edge to rescue me.” She raised her gaze to the ceiling. “Just a suggestion, but a person with true depth of character would understand the power of forgiveness.”
“They would?” Sparkle looked blank for a moment. Then she smiled. “They would.” She turned to Ganymede. “Since I’ll be getting my old clothes back tonight, I don’t need to be mad at you anymore. Time to leave that moldy old greenhouse and come home, my very own golden god.”
Golden god? Cinn took another look at Ganymede. All she saw was a chubby black-and-white cat. Talk about love being blind.
Ganymede leaped from the bureau and padded to the door. “I’ll get my things right now. And don’t worry, I’ll never again touch any of your clothes, no matter how shallow you get, my sweet strawberry.”
Sparkle blew him a kiss before offering a finger wave.
Cinn hummed in her mind until the Splenda moment was over. There was just so much artificial sweetness anyone could stand.
“I’ll be with Cinn everyplace she goes as long as I’m awake.” Dacian’s stare dared anyone to argue with that. Even Sparkle stayed quiet.
Edge finally spoke up. “Be careful. Don’t get caught somewhere we can’t reach you quickly.”
They all understood his implication. If Stephan attacked Dacian’s mind at the wrong time, a lot of people would die.
Including me. Somehow the thought didn’t horrify Cinn as it once had. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t be ready to run like hell if Dacian told her to.
Dacian nodded. “Sparkle will be with us tonight.”
Cinn found his comment interesting. She didn’t associate Sparkle with raw power. Sparkle did her sex thing and that was it. But Cinn had been wrong about Ganymede. So maybe she was underestimating Sparkle.
“Wow, I broke another nail. I’ll have to think of a reason to get a manicure that isn’t shallow.”
Or maybe n
ot.
As everyone except for Dacian left, Sparkle paused in the doorway. “I’ll give you an hour for your plants. And don’t forget we’re doing dinner.”
With that threat hanging over her head, Cinn clutched Vince to her as she followed Dacian down to the greenhouse. He didn’t say anything, and that gave her time to think. Silence was her enemy. She didn’t want to think right now.
They’d almost reached the greenhouse when Dacian broke his silence. “You know, I wanted to kill Edge when I found out he’d let you go into the bathroom alone. Then I remembered that I did the same thing last night. Someone’s going to have to take care of Airmid.”
Cinn didn’t like the sound of that last sentence. “What did you have in mind?”
“Maybe Ganymede can put one of my insane rages to good use. I could distract the goddess while Ganymede took her out.”
“No!” Her reaction was immediate and unequivocal. Dacian would die. Amazing. That thought filled her whole mind, her whole heart. There was no room left to worry about the ethics of destroying a goddess or even wondering if it could be done.
He slid her a sideways glance. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Translation: I’ll do it when the time comes. Cinn fought down her panic. Things wouldn’t come to that. She’d figure out something else. Then they were entering the greenhouse and she stopped thinking.
“Ohmigod.” That was about all that came to mind. Asima was crouched beside Teddy with an open book in front of her. Teddy had suddenly sprouted colorful mittens at the ends of each of his prickly arms. And Asima’s special brand of musical torture shook the glass walls of the greenhouse.
“Just. Kill. Me. Now.” Bain lay on the cot, his hands pressed tightly against his ears. “If you don’t do it right now, I’m going to murder a cat. I’d enjoy it. A lot.” His eyes shone bright crimson.
Dacian must’ve believed him because he quickly pulled the plug on Asima’s small but excruciatingly powerful stereo system.
Bain slowly lowered his hands. “Oh, God—and I don’t use that term lightly—that feels so good. I was considering abandoning my post and taking a fun vacation in the fires of hell. My boss is missing a bet by not having that cat by his side.”
Asima hissed her displeasure. “You are all uncivilized cretins. You have no appreciation of the finer things in life. I was exposing Teddy to some good music.” She lowered her nose to the open book. “And good literature, too. I’m reading one of Shakespeare’s plays to him. No trashy romance novels for him.”
Cinn sighed. Words just wouldn’t come. She looked at Dacian.
He nodded. “I’m putting Vince on the floor under this table. It’ll shield him from anything Teddy can fling his way. Oh, and you might want to figure out how the cactus is managing to move his arms enough to actually throw a part of himself. Must take lots of concentration on his part. You’d better hope he doesn’t figure out how to go mobile.”
“If I knew how to stop this whole nightmare, I would.” She knew she shouldn’t snap at him. He was sacrificing a lot to help her. Lord knew he had his own troubles to worry about.
Then another revelation hit her. She would do whatever it took to protect Dacian from Stephan. Whatever it took. Other than her plants and her family, she’d never experienced that level of commitment.
Cinn walked over to Asima. “Look, I appreciate how you’re trying to help Teddy, but you can’t have the music. Not unless you use headphones. We need Bain to protect the plants.”
“I could protect them.”
Could she? Cinn didn’t know. “But protecting them is Bain’s job right now. He hates the music. So make sure he doesn’t hear it.”
Cinn could see the mutiny in Asima’s eyes, but the cat finally nodded her head. “I understand that you can’t trust me because of what I did to Vince. But Bast hasn’t asked me to hurt any of your plants again.” The thought seemed to cheer her.
A tough question. “What if Bast does ask again? What will you do?”
For a moment, Asima’s gaze looked evasive, and then she seemed to make a decision. “I wouldn’t hurt Vince or Teddy. I can’t make any promises about your other plants, though.”
“Fair enough.” Cinn appreciated her honesty. “I understand your loyalty is to Bast, but you also have to understand why I don’t want you to be alone with my plants.”
Asima nodded, and Cinn turned to Bain. “Will you be okay as long as the music is off?”
“Yeah. But I hope you guys figure out something soon, because a greenhouse guard is not who I am. I destroy, I don’t nurture. This whole gig is killing my street cred.”
Cinn was a quivering ball of stress. “We’re trying, and I really appreciate you giving up your usual wicked activities to help the cause.”
Bain smiled at her, and she thought briefly that for evil incarnate he was a spectacularly beautiful package of temptation.
“I heard that.” Dacian’s growl trailed her out of the greenhouse.
“You wouldn’t have heard it if you weren’t in my mind. Where I definitely haven’t given you permission to be.” Cinn didn’t know if it was possible, but she had to find a way to keep everyone from rooting through her thoughts. Especially Dacian, since so many of her thoughts centered around him.
“I try to stay out, but I saw the way you looked at the demon.” He sounded outraged.
Cinn couldn’t help it; she smiled. “What way? The same way I look at you? You’re not a perceptive vampire. If you were, you’d notice that no matter how I looked at Bain, I didn’t get the same feelings I get when I look at you.” There. That was as much as she was willing to admit.
He blessed her with that slow sexy smile that tied her toes into big goofy bows.
She was still feeling the glow when they met Sparkle in the lobby of the hotel. Sparkle wore black silk pants, a bright red silk top, and stilettos with four-inch heels.
Sparkle laughed at her expression. “I know. Not appropriate for a trip to a resale shop. But it feels so good to look like me again that I couldn’t help overdressing.”
That was an understatement. “So what’s the plan?” Cinn hoped this foray out into the real world ended better than the last one.
“It’s dark. The plan is to get there before the place closes.”
Sparkle waited until they all piled into her car before saying anything else. “This should be pretty straightforward. I simply go in and take my clothes back.”
Cinn hesitated to bring this up. “What if they don’t want to give them back?”
Sparkle looked unconcerned as she pulled into the parking lot of the store in question. “Of course they’ll give them back. They’re mine.”
A few minutes later, Sparkle was leaning over the counter, glaring at a woman who refused to look intimidated. “You will tell me where my clothes are and return them to me right now.” She emphasized the “right now” by punching a hole in the top of the counter with her fist.
The woman gasped as she reached for her cell phone.
Uh-oh. Cinn saw a 911 call in their immediate future. She touched Sparkle’s arm.
“What?” Sparkle snarled the word as she turned on Cinn. Her amber eyes were glowing. Not a good sign.
Dacian just stood there grinning. Jerk.
“A person who wasn’t shallow and had lots of character would understand that being charitable is a positive trait, definitely something that would impress, say, a Big Boss.”
“Charitable?” Sparkle looked as though she needed to flip through a dictionary.
“Right. I’m sure the nice lady here”—who had just crossed herself—“would be perfectly happy to sell your clothes back to you.”
“Sell?” The glow was fading from Sparkle’s eyes.
“A charity needs money. If you pay to get your clothes back, everyone benefits. The charity gets money, and you get a positive check in the Big Boss’s not-shallow column.”
“You’re right.” She turned back to the woman. “Show m
e where my clothes are and then tell me how much I need to pay for them.”
The woman’s hand eased away from her cell phone. “We didn’t have a chance to price the stuff that just came in, so it’s all in the back.”
And if the woman’s voice was a little shaky and her steps a little meandering as she led them into the back, Cinn understood perfectly.
“Oh, here they are.” Sparkle pounced on her stuff. “How much do you want for all of this?”
“Well, I really don’t have that priced yet and—”
Sparkle dug into her purse and tossed a pile of bills onto the counter. “Will this cover it?”
As the woman counted the money, her eyes widened. Evidently the bills would cover it.
A short time later, with Sparkle’s clothes safely packed into her car, they stopped at a restaurant on Seawall Boulevard. Soon they were settled at a table with a view of the Gulf of Mexico.
While Sparkle and Cinn ate, Dacian amused himself by studying his own personal menu. The woman three tables down had initiated eye contact. She was the type he’d usually feed from: pretty and someone who’d serve up a sexual side dish. Tonight he wasn’t interested. Which didn’t mean he wasn’t hungry. He slanted a look at Cinn. Her return glance was a little desperate.
“I feel so fulfilled now that I’m helping my fellow man. Woman, in your case. My outfit looks wonderful on you. I called my stylist as soon as you explained that I can look good and still be a worthy person. I’ll take you with me tomorrow. We’ll do your hair, makeup, and nails. You’ll emerge a new woman.”
“Don’t you have to make appointments way ahead to get all that stuff done?” Cinn looked hopeful.
Sparkle waved her away. “I make it worthwhile for every person in the shop to squeeze me in whenever I need to be squeezed in. They’ll all come in early to take care of us.” She looked at her own nails. “It’s okay, babies, you’ll look beautiful again tomorrow.”
“Now…” Sparkle looked at Dacian and Cinn.