Wicked Pleasure

by Nina Bangs

  “Interesting. Doesn’t sound like a fun place, though. Uh, would this black center of chaos be a fancy name for hell?”

  Brynn could feel the audience’s unease growing. He didn’t blame them. This was a seriously creepy call. Kim continued to lean into him, and even with his growing tension he could still appreciate the warmth of her body close to his.

  “If naming it hell makes you more comfortable, please do so.” The archdemon’s amusement was a cold slide of malevolence.

  Kim shivered. “That is one scary voice. I don’t think I’d want to go mano a mano with that particular demonic entity.”

  Donna forged onward, but she was looking a little uncertain. Even a vampire might think twice about taking on something that projected so much power and evil.

  “Why did you call?” She was ready to wrap up this conversation.

  “I’m issuing a challenge to all Vaughns. Come to Galveston, and I’ll teach you the meaning of true power.” Again Brynn got a sense of sinister humor. “And since I’m a stand-up kind of guy, I’ve left two tokens of my affection in a Vaughn’s room.”

  “Affection?” Donna sounded a little breathless.

  “Almost a warm and fuzzy feeling. I love to cause suffering, despair, and death.” Brief pause. “Forgive me. Thinking about how much I enjoy inflicting all three of those chokes me up. I live in hope that the legendary Vaughns will try to stop me.” Huge evil sigh. “So foolish. Because of course I’ll grind them beneath my cloven hooves like so many roaches. No, not roaches. I have a fondness for roaches. Perhaps ladybugs? Anyway, I’m depending on the Vaughns to provide my entertainment, so of course I think of them with affection.”

  “Tokens?” Donna had been reduced to one-word questions.

  “Mmm. Something amusing along with a small temptation. Oh, and any Vaughn who joins me in making Galveston a cozy family getaway can expect similar . . . souvenirs. Until the next time, I am the One Whose Name Cannot Be Uttered.”

  The call ended with a clap of thunder. Donna stared blankly into the silent audience.

  “Pompous jerk. His name’s probably Cecil. That’s why he doesn’t want anyone to utter it. I wouldn’t either.” Eric’s muttered comment sounded overloud in the quiet.

  There were a few nervous giggles, and then everyone started talking at once.

  Donna recovered and smiled at her audience. “Wow, we haven’t gotten a call like that since last year when Taurin, the vampire, called in.” She was working hard to make the call just another in the many strange calls the show had received over the years. “If any listeners want to comment, we’ll have open lines for another half hour right after the break.” As soon as she was off the air, Donna cast a desperate glance toward Eric and then turned to meet her producer’s questions.

  Eric rose to go to her, but before he could leave, Brynn grabbed his arm. “We’ll have to take a look at the rooms of the three Vaughns who’re here.”

  Eric nodded and then went to speak with Donna. Brynn and Kim walked over to where Holgarth and Conall stood. Kim took Fo from her purse.

  Fo sounded motivated. “I could tell by his voice that he was the lowest of the low, the baddest of the bad, the scummiest of the scummy, the—”

  “We get the idea, Fo.” Kim pushed a strand of hair from her face, and Brynn wished he’d seen it first. Eyes narrowed, she frowned. “I can’t believe he tried to bribe members of my family to turn traitor. And how could he get past the gargoyles?”

  Brynn shrugged. “Beats me. I guess we’ll just have to take a look and see. As far as the bribery, demons are manipulators. The divide and conquer technique might work if the ‘temptation’ is big enough. Every man has his price.”

  Holgarth was offended. “I guarantee, Ms. Vaughn, that the demon did not get past my gargoyles.” He sniffed. “The idea is preposterous.”

  Eric’s return forestalled any snarky reply by Kim. “I’m going to stay here with Donna. The call sort of shook her up. If you need me, give a shout.”

  “Let’s hit Lynsay’s room first.” Kim looked worried.

  Just before they reached her sister’s room, Asima joined them. “Eric told me what happened. Don’t you think a mob of immortals plus a demon hunter is overkill? Kim can take care of any demons. Conall, you don’t need to be here. What can you do with just a sword? I mean, if you destroy a demon by cutting off the host’s head, there’s going to be a really ticked off headless human. Oh, wait, you’re not wearing your sword tonight. I think you should go back to your room now.”

  Conall growled his anger at the suggestion he wasn’t needed. “You’re not my mother, cat. I’ll do what I please.”

  Holgarth twitched his lips, his equivalent of raucous laughter. “You worry about Conall too much, Asima. I’ve always wondered why.”

  Asima whipped her tail from side to side and flattened her ears against her aristocratic head. “He appreciates cats. I feel a responsibility to keep him safe.”

  Conall looked embarrassed that a cat thought she could protect him better than he could protect himself. But he didn’t get a chance to retort because they’d reached Lynsay’s room. Holgarth used his master key, and they crowded into the room.

  Nothing. Kim sighed her relief. “I guess she’s still with Deimos. At least she won’t get back to her room and find a nasty surprise.” No matter how relieved she looked, her voice said she wondered what Lynsay was doing with Deimos.

  Brynn grinned. “Relax. He’s showing her his action hero stuff. Maybe we should be worrying about Deimos instead.” Lynsay looked like she could eat Deimos for lunch.

  Kim returned his smile. “You’re probably right.”

  They all trooped to Dirk’s room. He answered Brynn’s knock and assured them everything was okay. That left Kim’s room.

  Brynn stood beside her as she cautiously opened her door. She had Fo out, and the detector’s purple eyes gleamed with anticipation. Holgarth, Conall, and Asima were behind them.

  Something primitive and protective in Brynn demanded he go through the door first, so he slipped in front of her and flung the door wide. He’d braced himself to meet the charge of a dozen enraged demons, but nothing happened. The only thing that met him was a blast of loud music.

  He could hear everyone crowding into the room behind him, but he was too focused on the bizarre scene in front of him to think about it.

  “Howard Stern?” The amazement in Kim’s voice said it for him, too.

  The shock jock sprawled across her couch surrounded by four women who’d evidently lost most of their clothes, because they must’ve started out with more than they had on.

  Howard looked up from the women long enough to grin and wave at them. Then he held up a glittering necklace for all to see. He swung it back and forth, a sparkling tease for the avaricious.

  “Oooh, a pretty sparkly necklace, Kimmie. Can I have it after I zap the Howard Stern demon? Can I?” Fo would be the only fake cell phone with a diamond necklace wrapped around it.

  “Is he a demon, Fo?” Kim’s cold and calm voice signaled she’d morphed into her demon hunter persona.

  Holgarth and Conall moved further into the room, one on each side of the couch. Asima stuck close to Conall.

  “Um, I’m not sure.” Fo was in tiny-voice mode.

  “Okay, is he human or nonhuman?” Kim sounded puzzled.

  “I don’t know.” Fo’s voice was barely audible.

  Kim looked worried. “Why don’t you know? Are you malfunctioning?”

  Conall moved a little closer to the couch. “Why hasn’t he said anything? Howard Stern wouldn’t go this long without running his mouth.”

  Fo rolled her purple eyes up at Kim. “I’m functioning perfectly. But my sensors aren’t sending any information for me to analyze.”

  The strange Howard Stern image turned his gaze toward Conall. Asima moved in front and hissed at the shock jock.

  “Time to rock and roll.” Kim raised Fo and pushed the red button.

  The be
am of light blinded Brynn for a moment, but when he could see again, Howard and the women were simply gone with no little piles of ash to mark their passing.

  Brynn could almost feel the collective sigh of relief in the room. “Our archdemon has a warped sense of humor.”

  Holgarth walked to the couch. “I told you the demon wouldn’t get past my gargoyles. This was merely a clever projection. None of it was real.”

  “I wouldn’t celebrate too soon, Holgarth.” Kim joined him at the couch. “Howard left the archdemon’s ‘little temptation’ behind.” She reached between the cushions and pulled out the diamond necklace.

  Asima leaped onto the couch and batted at the necklace with one slim paw. “Diamonds suit me. They make an elegant statement.”

  Fo’s possessive growl said she had first dibs on the necklace.

  Asima ignored Fo. Royalty didn’t brawl with commoners. “I fear your gargoyles failed you, Holgarth. If the archdemon left the necklace, then he breached your walls.” She stared unblinkingly at the necklace, obviously a lot more interested in the diamonds than she was Holgarth’s breached walls.

  “Forget the necklace, Asima. You, too, Fo. If we keep it, the demon wins. It goes to charity.” Kim walked to her bureau and dropped the necklace into a drawer before returning to sink wearily onto the couch. “An archdemon can cloak his presence from the detectors, so I don’t see why he couldn’t fool the gargoyles.”

  Conall made the obvious leap of logic. “So this archdemon could be in the castle, and we wouldn’t have a clue.”

  “Right.” Brynn was trying to think things through. “But his demon hordes can’t get past the gargoyles. That’s one good thing. On the downside, he could create havoc among the guests without any help from his minions.”

  Kim yawned. “I’m too tired to come up with a plan tonight, but I’d say by the weekend we’d better have our act together. That’ll give my family four days to gather from around the world. If the archdemon sees this as some kind of challenge, I’m hoping he won’t attack until the Vaughns are all here. We’ll have to find him and his portal before then if we want to have a prayer of winning the war.”

  Conall turned to Brynn. He didn’t look happy. “I hate to even suggest this, but we might consider closing down the castle if it looks like the guests are in danger. We’d have to use an excuse like electrical problems.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want to even think what the owner would say about that idea, especially during spring break.”

  “As the owner’s attorney, I would advise that it’s better to lose money from canceled reservations than to pay it out in lawsuits if anyone is injured in the castle.” Holgarth compressed his lips into a thin line—his lawyer’s face.

  “That’s what I love about you, Holgarth, always putting the public welfare before money. What a guy.” Kim sounded too tired to generate much enthusiasm for her sarcasm.

  Brynn held up his hand. “Whoa, I don’t think closing down the castle is the answer. We’ll have to let the Vaughns stay here when they arrive, so that’ll shoot down any excuse we make. Besides, guests are probably safer here than they’d be anywhere else on the island. The archdemon might do things to annoy us, but I don’t think he’ll start his war until the Vaughns are all here. He seemed pretty definite about his challenge.” He thought some more about what he’d said. “Besides, that old quote about keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer might have merit. If he’s really in the castle, then he’s in our world, and he’s cut off from the other demons.”

  “Makes sense.” Conall nodded. “Then we’ll just have to make sure our guests stay safe.” His expression said the archdemon didn’t want to mess with him.

  Holgarth and Conall left. Asima lingered for a moment. “Don’t forget that I’m bringing you a new outfit on Wednesday. Oh, and you might want to know that Ganymede and I are no longer an item. He admitted he hated the opera, thought the ballet was a bore, and wished Shakespeare would’ve written his ‘damned plays in English a regular guy could understand.’ ” She sniffed her displeasure. “He was not worthy.” She left.

  Kim giggled. “God, I’m so tired I’m slaphappy.”

  Brynn didn’t want to leave Kim for a whole bunch of reasons. She’d be asleep before he got through listing them. “Guess I’ll go back to my room. Just Ganymede and me.” He paused to let her digest what that would be like. “Still don’t have my new bed, so it’ll be another night on the couch. No way would I sleep in the bed anyway. Ganymede wants half of it, and he snores loud enough to wake Eric at noon.”

  She looked amused, but she didn’t say, “Hey, no problem. You can stay with me.”

  He narrowed his gaze on her. Okay, no more gentle hints. “I want to stay with you tonight.” No hokey reasons, no begging.

  Her smile faded, and something soft and welcoming filled her eyes. “I’d like you to stay.” Kim glanced at her watch. “No sign of your compulsion yet. If you leave, we can’t keep track of the time between them.” She tried to look serious, but her laughter seeped through. “This is all in the name of scientific inquiry, of course.”

  Of course. He closed the door quietly and turned off the lights.

  Purple eyes gleamed in the darkness. “Hey, you guys. I can’t see.”

  17

  Where had Tuesday gone? Last she recalled it’d been Monday night. Now it was Wednesday morning. She seemed to remember a blur that could’ve been Tuesday. There were fuzzy images of her trying to do her architect thing while Fo whined nonstop because Kim hadn’t given her the diamond necklace and hadn’t allowed her to off any demons.

  Other than that, Tuesday had been about placating Holgarth who was so not happy about searching all of Galveston for rooms to house the Vaughns and trying to remain sane while Mr. Hot slept on her couch.

  Wait, she did have one positive memory from yesterday. Brynn’s last compulsion to date had occurred Tuesday morning.

  Wednesday, ack! Just the thought made Kim want to roll over and cover her head with her pillow. Castle of Dark Dreams? Ha! More like the Castle of Unfulfilled Dreams. Because she knew if she stretched out her hand, Brynn’s side of the bed would still be empty.

  Not only that, but if she opened her eyes, she’d have to face a high-kicking chorus line of things she didn’t want to do. Like refereeing the battle between Sparkle and Asima over what she’d wear today. Like doing a fantasy tonight with ordinary Vic Burton, when ordinary was no longer on her radar screen. Like dealing with all the Vaughns pouring onto the island. And like discussing things with Brynn that would be uncomfortable for both of them. Ah, for the good old days of Monday, or maybe even Tuesday.

  The worst thing of all? She’d have to face another day with the knowledge she was falling in love with . . .

  A demon? His compulsions were coming farther and farther apart. He didn’t demonstrate the usual demonic behaviors. And the archdemon didn’t exert any power over him. Of course, he could be a eudemon like Wade, but he didn’t exhibit Wade’s indifference to humanity.

  A human? Nope. He didn’t die. Not a human characteristic.

  Any other recognizable nonhuman entity? Not that Kim could tell. No fangs or unusual cravings. No desire to howl at the moon.

  So, she was falling in love with none of the above. Just peachy.

  A sudden rattling and rustling forced her eyes open. At the same time, Fo’s disgustingly cheerful voice swept away any hope she could just go back to sleep.

  “Yo, Kimmie. Asima’s here. She brought you lots of neat stuff.”

  Kim propped herself up on her elbow and met the morning with a grumpy scowl. “It’s called knocking, Asima, a pesky human ritual in which you announce your presence and your wish to enter a room. The human can then choose to yell through the door that she’s not home and wants to be left alone.”

  Disbelieving, she watched an equally grumpy Conall stomp into her room and dump a bunch of clothes on her bed. Without a word, he turned and left. Kim winced as he slammed
the door behind him, then she shifted her attention back to Asima.

  “Are we bad-tempered in the morning, hmm? You are so human, Kim. Immortals aren’t a slave to the clock. I’ve been up for hours.” Asima leaped onto the foot of the bed. “Get up and see what I’ve brought you.”

  A glance around verified that Brynn wasn’t in the room. She didn’t hear water running so he wasn’t in the shower either. Her mood, which was already pretty low, hit bottom and settled there. Kim glanced at her travel clock on the night table. She groaned. “It’s only six, Asima.”

  “All the better to get you dressed before the Queen of Bad Taste rises.”

  “The Queen of All Things Sexy has risen and is seriously considering kicking your man-stealing butt all over Galveston.” Sparkle swept into the room and laid the things she’d brought on the couch.

  Asima raised her nose into the air. “Men appreciate good breeding and naturally seek me out. You can hardly blame me for that.”

  Sparkle rolled her eyes. “Oh good grief, now we’ll hear about how the Tight-Ass Fairy whacked you over the head and turned you into the Goddess of Boring Bitches.”

  Ack! Kim was officially wide-awake and heading for the shower. If she came out and there were bodies, she’d dispose of them. But she’d keep the clothes.

  Once in the shower, she forgot about Sparkle and Asima. Showers turned her mind to Brynn and how the water flowing over that incredible torso would bead on his nipples, slide over his abdomen, and bathe his glorious sexual package in warm . . .

  Pounding on the bathroom door. “Get out here fast before these two rip each other’s heads off.” Brynn’s voice.

  Kim’s instant relief was pathetic. No matter how frustrating the last few nights had been with Brynn sleeping on her couch, it was preferable to him sleeping on his own couch. After Sparkle and Asima left, they’d have to talk.

  A few minutes later she walked from the bathroom still wearing her robe—why dress when she was getting a new outfit—and prepared to be fought over like a new chew toy.