by Amie Gibbons
I jerked.
“What if they’re the same?” I said. “The way you just said that… it’s fuzzy but I’m almost… Okay, let me walk through this. They did the kill, zombie and passion spell, all to test magics they could do through Maria. Little ones. Okay. Then Jade. What if that wasn’t the thing. What if it was another test? Carvi said they couldn’t get it in except with her cooperation, but what if they could? What if they used her cuz she was willin’ to work with them, but actually put it in without her knowing and they did it to see if they could?”
“What if?” Grant asked.
“We keep…” I shook my head.
No way.
I couldn’t be right.
It was too out there.
But what if?
“Sir,” I said, “we keep asking what the bomb was for. Why put the bomb outside if they could get little magics in or have a human walk stuff in? Why bother putting the Fae magic inside Jade when they were channeling other magic through Maria and that worked just fine? Why have a bomb that only killed a few and injured others, but not with silver?”
“Ryder,” Grant said. “Point?”
“What if Jade was the test, and the bomb was the implementation of what they were testing? I mean, the magic in her apparently did nothing. It was just there. It makes sense!”
Understanding grew in Grant’s eyes and he put down his cup, walking into the bedroom.
I followed him to see him putting on his belt with his gun and extra mags still on it.
“The bomb wasn’t meant to kill. It was meant to hit as many as possible with the magic, which they carried inside like drug mules,” Grant said, opening his suitcase and pulling out his Kevlar again.
I grabbed mine from my suitcase and pulled it on and looked around for my gun.
I didn’t even know why we were gearin’ up, but if Grant was, I was.
“Leaves us with one question,” I said, putting a thick belt on over my sundress and sliding my holster on it. “Why the focus on takin’ out Carvi? Actually, two questions. That, and what big thing are they plannin’ for tonight?”
“Today,” Grant said, clipping grenades to the loops on his vest.
Wow, it was like he thought we were goin’ to war.
Maybe we were.
“Sir?” I asked.
“The summit theoretically should have ended last night after they took Carvi out of the equation,” he said, “but vampires wouldn’t want to travel that late, because after packing, it’d be too close to day, so even if they shut down the summit, vampires would be here until sunset. If you were going to attack a bunch of vampires, when would you do it? I know when I would.”
He paused.
“And I feel it,” he said. “Whatever it is, is starting now.”
My head went fuzzy.
“And what’s the one thing Carvi can do that no other vamp can?” I breathed, tryin’ to suck in enough oxygen to keep from dropping as the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
It wasn’t someone with a grudge against Carvi specifically, or at least not just a grudge. It was someone who knew he was the one vampire who could walk in the sunlight, and who didn’t want anyone with fangs leaving the hotel when they attacked in broad daylight.
Chapter eighteen
We called Carvi’s room and cell and he didn’t answer either.
Probably was sleepin’ it off.
I grabbed three of the grenades and clipped them to my vest.
Grant only brought eight.
You know things are more messed up than a June bug in December when you say only eight grenades.
We clipped on extra mags and put in our earbuds and grabbed a few extra.
Just in case.
I’d never been so grateful for Grant’s paranoia driven packing.
“Could’ve doubled as a diversion,” I said as we hustled outta Grant’s room. “Make everyone think they were just after Carvi this whole time. Keep us chasin’ our tails, maybe think it was about scaring vamps away from the summit with the little bomb. All that to keep us from figuring out they were planning something big today, with that dinky little bomb as the delivery mechanism.”
The elevator doors pinged open and we walked in.
I saw us in the mirror and almost burst out laughing.
Grant looked like he was off to war, but me? I looked like SWAT Barbie.
And I was slumping under the weight of the armor. I could use it when I had to, but I still wasn’t full strength after Carvi draining me, and armor is heavy.
“And it’s related to the spells,” I said, leaning against the mirrored back. “So, they what, are gonna have zombies here to attack us? But then again, if they just wanted to kill us all, they could’ve just had a much bigger bomb. Whatever it is has to be bigger than that.”
“The passion spell, zombie, and killing from the shadows,” Grant said. “Have they done anything else that we know of?”
“I don’t think so, but why do they need to channel through Maria if they got magic in through the bomb?”
Grant looked over at me. “Simple. They need both.”
“Again, gets us back to what? If they just wanted to kill as many of us as possible, they could’ve done bigger bombs or surrounded the building with them and set them off to take out the building from the outside.”
“It’s bigger than this conference,” Grant said, nodding along.
“So what could they do here that would affect more than just the vamps and people here?” I asked.
The lights flickered and the elevator stopped.
“Huh,” I said, stepping forward. “That was weird.”
The doors didn’t open though.
“Sir?” I asked.
“We’re not there, Ryder. We’re between twelve and thirteen,” Grant said, pointing to the number over the door frozen between the two.
My breath caught in my throat.
It’s started. This is it.
I pulled my phone off the clip on my belt and dialed Carvi again.
Took me a moment to realize there was no dial tone.
I looked at the phone and it had no bars and no WIFI signal.
Through the hotel’s free WIFI or the data that came with the phone.
I held it up for Grant to see and he pulled out his phone, shaking his head and putting it away.
Which told me all I needed to know.
“Spell to cut off communications,” I said.
“Or normal human tech,” Grant said.
“And froze the elevators?” I said. “I know they do that sorta thing in TV shows all the time, but it can’t be that easy, especially with whatever security measures Carvi must have in place. And again, why? Why freeze them? What does it accomplish?”
“Makes everyone take the stairs,” Grant said. “If they block stairs, they can isolate people.”
“Isolate for what?” I asked.
“Whatever they have planned. It’s just past three now. Five hours until sunset.”
“And we’ve got to assume they’ll want to do it all early enough to get it done before these guys would be up for breakfast and to pack.”
“Ryder, I think it’s safe to assume they are doing it now,” Grant said, staring at the elevator ceiling. “I’ll boost, you open the hatch and climb out.”
“How do we get you out, sir?” I asked.
“You don’t. You get Carvi and he pulls me out. Your com on?”
I nodded, the echo in my ear tellin’ me at least they were still working.
So whatever spell they used was specifically targeting phones.
“Come on.” Grant formed a basket with his hands and I stepped on them, holding his shoulders as he lifted me.
I pushed the trapdoor at the top and it went up easier than I thought it would. I grabbed the edges and lifted myself, Grant doing most of the work below, and I crawled onto the top of the elevator.
“Sir?” I looked down the hole in the top. “Can you use magic to
get out?”
“I can try, Ryder, but it’ll be easier if you get Carvi. There should be a lever or button up there you can use to open the doors. Then you can haul yourself up.”
“How do you know?”
“Looked up the building plans before we got here.”
I shook my head.
What hadn’t he thought of?
The shaft looked just like ones in movies, long and dark, with cables running above.
There was only one lever and I shined the flashlight on my phone on it, looking around for a label.
Nothing.
Call me crazy, but pulling a lever on an elevator when you didn’t know what it’d do seemed kinda stupid.
“Sir, are you sure?” I called down. “There’s a lever up here but nothing saying what it does.”
“It opens the doors, Ryder,” Grant said. “It’s for situations like this, so you don’t have to drag the elevator doors open. It works on a system of magnets to open the closest doors so you can get out. Just pull it.”
I took a deep breath, my stomach heavy and aching.
Bad feeling didn’t cover it.
But was it about the elevator or the situation in general?
I pulled the lever and clanging filled the shaft.
I jerked, lookin’ around and up.
The doors onto the thirteenth floor opened next to my shoulders and I grabbed the floor, pushing myself up, the extra weight making my arms go jelly.
If it’d been any higher, I don’t think I would’ve been able to lift myself without tossing the gear up first.
I climbed to my feet and the elevator doors closed a moment later.
Thirteenth floor. That meant I had seven flights of stairs.
I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the armor, AR and extra mags, and pistol on me.
“After this, I swear I’m gonna start lifting,” I whispered, hitting the stairs.
I powered up the stairs, going fast as I could while my legs held out cuz as soon as the burn started, I’d have to stop for a rest.
Best way to tackle stairs is quickly.
Don’t ask me why.
I stopped after four sets, two levels, thighs burning and breaths short.
In all the gearing up, I’d forgotten my inhaler.
Clang rang through the stairs and I froze.
“Start with the top, that’s where the most important are,” someone said way down near the bottom of the stairs, voice echoing up.
Did I know that voice?
It was male and very human, so it wasn’t the Fae I’d run into in the vision world.
But with the echo, it was hard to tell if it was someone I’d met.
I couldn’t risk a trip to the astral plane in a vision to check, but something told me these guys were on the inside.
Maybe some of Carvi’s workers?
Steps thundered up and my breath snagged in my chest.
They were coming right for me!
I hauled ass up the next few sets, losing count of how many, and how many left.
I had to pause after another few, sucking in oxygen.
The guys below were having a much easier time of it and I swore their steps were gettin’ closer.
I took a deep breath, willing my burning legs to move, and moved.
Next set. And next. And next.
I couldn’t even feel my legs anymore.
I hit the last set before the door marked roof and paused.
The guys were still thundering up, their echoes masking any noise I might’ve been making and I shoved the door open, letting it shut softly behind me, legs shaking so hard my knees knocked together.
Was there any way to block it?
I looked around and there was nothing I could obviously use, especially since the door opened inward.
I took off my sandals and lodged them under the door, one near the opening and one near the hinges, pushing them in until a yank wouldn’t get them out.
That’d have to do.
The term wedges had never been so literal before.
I ran down the hall, carpet thick and soft under my feet, and the door shook, shouts drifting through it as the shoes did their work.
They probably wouldn’t work for long, and then these guys’d know someone was onto them.
I hit Carvi’s room and slid in my key card.
My heart thundered through my body as I glanced over my shoulder at the door.
Any second now.
The room door beeped and I turned back to see the light turn green as it made that grinding noise unlocking the door.
I opened and went in, blood and breath so loud I couldn’t hear the sounds in the room for a moment.
I paused as they hit my ears.
I didn’t want to walk in on that!
Then again, we were under attack.
And Grant would tell me to suck it up.
I hit the bedroom door, sliding it open.
Adrenaline was the only thing keeping me from stumbling back out.
Carvi was jackhammering a blond woman doggie style with another woman with brown curls draped over his back, her arm around him so he could have her wrist in his mouth and he was drinking her, ripping and messy as every pump jerked his mouth on her.
The bitten woman’s head lolled to the side, mouth open and frozen in a scream as her face twisted in ecstasy.
The whoring bastard was really…!
Whoa!
Not mine. And I am taken by a man who is fine with sharing and I sooooo do not have room to talk!
And it’s not like jealousy really had any place here anyway.
“Carvi!” I said.
What if the men out there could hear me if they were already out into the hall?
What if they were in the first room and already doin’ whatever they were planning to do?
Carvi jerked and opened his eyes as he looked up.
And met my eyes.
Come here. I’ll fuck you hard as this next.
My legs moved without my permission and I shook my head.
“No,” I said.
I wouldn’t be able to pull you if you didn’t want it. Join us. I’ll call in a few of the boys and you’ll see the fun of group sex.
My legs shook from more than the run up here and heat flooded me as I went wet.
I know you like it rough. Like to be dominated. That’s why I wasn’t too worried about pretending I’d rape you, since you like being pinned down like that. God, Ariana, let me have you. I’ll throw you on your knees and fuck you with all your gear on, pinning your arms to your side. I’ll give you any of my men of your choice and he’ll caress you and tongue you as I ride you from behind and dig my teeth into your beautiful neck. Or I could-”
“Carvi,” I said through gritted teeth, grunting as I took another step, “I’m not wearin’ the gear to roleplay. We’re under attack.”
The hold released me so suddenly I fell to my knees and the lust vanished from his face.
He dropped the woman’s wrist and slid out of the other one.
“My apologizes, ladies,” he said, rolling off the bed to his feet.
He was hard and pointing straight out, big enough to make me wonder how I’d fit that before I remembered I wouldn’t try.
Ever.
“Explain,” he said.
At the same time, one of the women said something in another language.
I didn’t have to speak it, or even recognize it, to know she was demanding he come back to bed.
Carvi met her eyes, making a motion almost like a flicked birdy, and she jerked straight, falling back on the bed with a short scream.
I took a half step forward before realizing he wasn’t hurting her.
Her eyes rolled up and she moaned.
The woman he’d been biting looked like she’d already had hers and was sprawled at the bottom of the bed where he’d left her.
“Can’t leave a woman wanting after what she just did for me,” Carvi said. �
�Rude doesn’t begin to cover it.”
I looked between him and the woman still writhing on the bed.
How long could an orgasm last?
Carvi grinned, wide and dirty like he read my mind.
Maybe he had.
I cleared my throat.
Dear God, if Grant saw me pause and dither like this in this situation, he’d head slap me.
“Fae are attacking now, not tonight,” I said.
The grin vanished and Carvi blurred across the room, coming back with a T on and pulling on black tactical pants.
His member was still up and in the way as he tucked it to the side so he could zip up.
“I’m not full power, lea,” he said, face locked down and serious. “These ladies helped, but I’d say eighty percent at best, especially since we didn’t get to finish.”
I told him about the phones and elevator being down, Grant still being stuck, and what the men on the stairs said while he clipped pouches on his belt and shoved a flask into one of his giant pockets I was willin’ to bet my inheritance didn’t have liquor in it.
We geared up our way, he geared up his.
Whatever weapons work for ya.
“You don’t know what?” Carvi asked when I was done and said they were starting their plan now.
“Nope,” I said. “We got that magic came in the injured last night, and we’re guessing they wanted you out for the day walking, and that they want more than to just kill everyone here, cuz they could’ve just set a serious bomb last night to take out the entire hotel if that’s all they wanted.”
“May not have worked with my shields, but if they could get past them, yeah,” Carvi said, nodding, “they could have snuck the bombs in with the magic they’d already tested and just not done anything like trying to trap me so we would’ve had no idea.”
“But they did try to trap then kill you,” I said. “And cut me off from the vision world by tracking me. And cut us off from calling. Oh yeah.”
I pulled the spare earbud out of a pocket in my vest and clicked it on, handing it to him.
He put it in his ear without a word.
“Sir,” I said into mine, “you catch all that?”
“Loud and clear, Ryder,” Grant said. “They haven’t cut off earbuds.”