by Nina Bangs
Declan was a vampire. How had she missed that? And what did that thing at the church want with him? Harpies didn’t shudder, but tonight was special, so she indulged herself.
Ganymede rolled on, oblivious of all undercurrents. “You gotta draw it into the open, bloodsucker, so I can eyeball it. Can’t destroy it until I ID what kinda entity it is. Sorta fixated on you, isn’t it? Wonder why? And what’s it doing underneath the church? If it wanted you, it coulda made its move last year when you first showed up. Oh, and why’s it bound to the church anyway? Lots of unanswered questions. We need answers fast.”
Declan rubbed a spot between his eyes. “Maybe it didn’t have the power last year. Maybe it wasn’t even here last year.”
“Vampires don’t get headaches.” Daria tore out her mental page dedicated to Declan Mackenzie and started a new one. At the very top, she noted: add to list of candidates for possible relocation. A vampire was fair game. And vampires were evil by their very nature, weren’t they? Hades had even mentioned vampires in his last memo. She thought about adding “too hot to ignore,” but decided against it. She didn’t want that particular reminder every time she accessed his page.
“When I was human I got these big, head-banging migraines. You never forget that kind of pain. If I were still human, I’d have one right now.” His expression said it might just be named Daria. He smiled at her. Lots of fang showing. “Hey, Ganymede, maybe you’d better rethink closing down the inn. Cindy and Thrain will kick your furry butt out the door if they come home to find that something ate their guests.”
Daria tried to concentrate on what was under the church. She couldn’t. Declan was a vampire.
Ganymede glanced over his shoulder, his cat eyes gleaming in the dark. “Understand this, vampire, nothing messes with me. I take care of what’s mine.”
“And that worked so well for Teilo and Sceolan. Look, I appreciate your help, but this is council business. The entity back there killed two of us. Its meal ticket stops with me.” Declan’s voice was filled with quiet menace.
Whoa. The church monster had killed two vampires?. “Hey, I didn’t know that—”
“Don’t want to start a pissing match in front of the little lady here, but when you take this thing down, I’ll be there.” Ganymede’s tail whipped back and forth as he continued along the path.
Okay, Daria was going to end all nine of his miserable lives. Just for giggles. Little lady? He was kidding, right? Her mouth opened and words came out before she could think about their impact on her new job. “Um, I don’t think a cute little kitty like you will be much help against the big bad monster back there.”
Ganymede looked up at her, and something absolutely terrifying glowed in his amber eyes. She sucked in her breath and stepped back. Uh-oh, scary kitty.
“Cute. Little. Kitty?” The cat held her gaze as everything in the forest stilled—the wind, the movement of animals and insects, life. And then without a whisper of sound, all the trees within a hundred yards of them fell down. Just fell down. Instant crop circle.
Declan and she stared at the cat. Ganymede turned away as though nothing had happened and continued across the new clearing. “See, I’ve got no self-control when I get ticked. Sparkle says I need to go to one of those anger management classes. Me? I say it’s bad to repress all that mad. Don’t know how I’m going to explain those trees to Cindy and Thrain when they come home, though.”
“Forget the trees. We have more important problems.” Declan sounded like a frustrated adult trying to reason with a couple of kids.
Probably because that’s how Ganymede and she were acting. Daria subsided without saying anything else. But she wasn’t thinking about the “big” problem. Sure, she was curious about whatever was under the church, but the fact that Declan was a vampire took center stage. Why? Maybe she didn’t want to know the why.
Hmm, come to think of it, now that she knew he was nonhuman, she could add him to her list of possible judges as well. It wouldn’t help her chances of passing the test if she tried to carry off the judge. So her first order of business shouldn’t be choosing a victim, but finding out who the judge was. Complications. She didn’t need them.
While she’d been thinking, Declan had turned his attention back to her. “So what’s a harpy doing at the Woo Woo Inn? And don’t tell me you’re not here to snatch someone. The question is, why not choose someplace easier, someplace where no one would know what you are?”
“No one was supposed to know what I am. How did Sparkle and you figure it out?” She’d kept her shields up. No one should’ve been able to get past them.
Ganymede glanced back and gave her what passed for a cat grin. “Sparkle knows shoes and people. She loves hooking up the unhookable. And as challenges go, harpies are big game. I’d bet she’s come across a few of you guys before.”
Daria nodded. That made sense. Sort of. She glanced at Declan. “Okay, how about you?”
He didn’t look at her, focusing his gaze instead on the path ahead. “Dad wasn’t a vampire.” A long pause hinted that Dad was much more. “He passed down some of his power to his only son. I can strip away surface illusions to see what lies beneath.”
Surface illusions? What did that mean? When the silence stretched out, Daria figured he wasn’t going to volunteer any more info about his family, so she turned her attention elsewhere. “I’m still not clear on my duties, Ganymede. Sparkle and you have been pretty vague.”
Declan put his hand on her arm, and no matter how impersonal it should feel, it didn’t. The slide of sensation wrapped around her awareness with a warning that touching him back would be a huge mistake. But she wanted to. She definitely wanted to.
“How about answering my question? Why here?”
Declan sounded casual enough, but she sensed a deeper interest. She wondered what was behind it even as she prepared her lie. “Aunt Ocypete said this was a great place to relax. I figured I could work here for a while and wind down a little. Even harpies need some R & R.” Not really. When she reached Mom’s level, she’d have to maintain eternal vigilance, always on the lookout for victims. “I don’t know what Aunt Ocypete’s definition of relaxing is, but this isn’t mine.”
They reached the inn before he could comment. Daria thought about doing some night manager stuff, whatever that was, but decided to stick with Declan and Ganymede instead. Blame her insatiable curiosity.
Sparkle was in the middle of arguing about nail color with one of the guests when they walked into the front hall. She allowed the woman to wander away as she fixed Ganymede with a tense stare. Daria figured the cat was filling her in mentally on the night’s excitement.
A tiny smile played around Sparkle’s mouth as she cast a glance Daria’s way. “Any lust-induced touches happen out in the woods?”
Daria remembered their bet. She returned Sparkle’s smile. “No.” It was a good thing the bet didn’t include thoughts. But there’d be a few rage-induced touches if Sparkle didn’t return her clothes. “I want all my stuff back. Now.” She left the “or else” possibility hanging in the air.
Sparkle ignored the demand and the implied threat. She sighed. “I mourn your lost opportunities.”
Opportunities? Daria wasn’t going there any time soon. “Oh, and I still don’t know what my job is.”
Sparkle didn’t look interested in any conversation without sex in the topic heading. “Boring, boring.”
“I think you need to shut this place down.” Declan’s attention returned to Ganymede. “Whatever is under that church might be bound now, but who knows when it’ll get powerful enough to escape. And you can’t stay on guard 24/7. If it gets loose, it might decide to vary its menu. After all, one council member every few weeks isn’t too filling.”
Sparkle put two fingers up to her forehead and closed her eyes. “I sense a seismic event coming. Cause—two hard heads bumping.” She opened her eyes and grabbed Daria’s hand. “If you’re going to work here, you need to see the place. Let�
��s take a quick tour. I guarantee when we get back they’ll still be going at it. You won’t miss anything.” Daria took in the light of battle in Ganymede’s eyes and decided to go on the tour. Who knew, a perfect victim might pop up along the way. She trailed after Sparkle.
“Parlor. You’ve seen it. Big room, fireplace, yawn. Ignore the chimney sweep ghost.” Sparkle started to drag Daria away. “All the woo woo stuff is good for business. People don’t go away disappointed when they come here.”
“Chimney sweep ghost?” Daria stopped walking. “No biggie. He got stuck in the chimney a bunch of years ago.” She shrugged. “The house was empty. He died. Don’t worry, he doesn’t make much of a fuss. A little cursing, a few complaints about his crappy minimum-wage job, and pieces of coal dropping into the grate. Nothing major. Two lovers trapped in the chimney would’ve made for more fun.” She turned away from the parlor. “Let’s go on to the kitchen.”
That poor spirit. Daria caught herself before more sympathetic thoughts polluted the waters of her harpy soul. But she was still thinking about the spirit when they reached the kitchen.
“This is Katie the cook. She practices Wicca. Katie might be a sweetie”—Sparkle’s expression said not—”but her broom is armed and dangerous. Don’t cross it.” Sparkle gave the short woman a finger wave. “This is Daria, Katie. She’s our new night manager. Be kind.”
The cook was a dinosaur on a starship. She fit in with the old-fashioned look of the rest of the house, but she commanded an army of new stainless steel appliances. Katie scowled at Daria. “We’ll do just fine together as long as you stay out of my kitchen.” She peered at Daria. “Need to do something about your face, gal. I can give you the name of a good plastic surgeon.”
Daria brightened. Katie was a sweetie. That was the nicest thing anyone had said to her since she’d arrived.
Sparkle didn’t give her a chance to thank Katie as she hurried her on to the library. “I like this room. All dark and manly.” She sniffed. “It even smells like a man. Old leather. And someone used to smoke a pipe in here. Cindy has hundreds of books on paranormal stuff.”
“What’s this?” Daria reached down to open a book resting on the desk. “The Advice Book. What kind of advice?”
“Everything. We don’t have time—” She started edging toward the door.
The book thought they did. “Oooo, you’re the first ones to visit tonight. And two good ones you are.” The cackle sounded a little fiendish. “Harpy, lots of destiny issues coming your way soon. What you think you want, you don’t want; and what you really want might kill you. But go for it.”
“What?” Daria blinked.
“Sparkle, big change ahead. You could lose your way. And a new nail color won’t fix it.” Another cackle.
Sparkle reached over and slammed the book shut. “That thing gives me the creeps.”
“A talking book? Where’d that come from?”
“Who knows? It just showed up one day and Cindy let it stay. She’s softhearted that way. I’d bond with it more if it gave sensual advice.” Sparkle glanced at her watch. “Look, we only have time for one more room. My sensitivity session starts in five minutes.”
Daria almost walked past the guest bathroom until Sparkle grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the small room. She glanced around. Nothing special. “Why here?”
Just then the toilet started flushing. And flushing, and flushing, and flushing. At the same time there was a rap on the mirror. Startled, Daria glanced up in time to see a message in red appear on the glass surface. Let me out!
“Uh, I think someone’s trapped in the mirror.” Daria figured this was as bizarre as it got. A human would have to be in desperate need to brave this room.
Sparkle shrugged. “We’ve invited it to leave, but it just keeps writing messages and flushing the toilet. The flushing will stop once we’re gone. I wanted you to see this so you’d know why guests run screaming from here trailing toilet paper behind them.”
“Why not break the mirror to free the entity?”
Sparkle shook her head. “Seven years of bad luck. Can’t take the chance. Besides, it might not work and then you’ve ruined an antique that cost megabucks.”
She was right. Daria straightened her spine. She was a harpy. Harpies didn’t give a flip about the suffering of others. No more saving anyone, even Trouble.
Sparkle hurried away, leaving Daria to walk slowly back to where Declan and Ganymede were still arguing. She stopped to peer into the dining room. Guess she’d have to find out on her own what lived in here. Later.
Daria sensed their anger even before she reached Declan and Ganymede. It was too late to turn and walk away, so she joined them.
“The Woo Woo Inn doesn’t close down for anything as long as I’m in charge, bloodsucker. I’ll blast that thing outta the ground if I have to.” Ganymede’s ears were flat against his head and his tail whipped from side to side.
“Yeah, and how long do you think you’ll stay in charge once guests start disappearing? And I don’t think the return of one finger will satisfy the grieving relatives. Their fingers will be busy punching in the numbers of their lawyers. What will Cindy and Thrain think of that?”
Ganymede hissed.
Declan showed fang.
“You know, I bet you guys could work out a compromise if you’d stop going all aggressive with each other.” Daria, the voice of reason.
Ganymede turned angry cat eyes on her. “Go manage something. That’s what I’m paying you for.”
Okay, now she was ticked. “Fine.” Turning her back, she walked away.
“Someday you’re going to find out you’re not as almighty powerful as you think you are. Last year it was Sparkle that saved our butts, not you.” Declan turned and followed Daria.
Ganymede was royally pissed. He wanted to kill something. Through his rage he heard a noise. Cocking his head, he listened. It sounded like… No, it couldn’t be. Panic drove his anger away in an instant. It sounded like an ice cream truck.
Someone shouted from the parlor, “Hey, take a look out the window, it’s a freaking ice cream truck.”
“Woohoo! An ice cream man. Let’s eat him.” The werewolves.
Ganymede was in charge. He should go in there and tell the wolves to keep their mouths shut in front of the humans. But he couldn’t. All he could hear was the ice cream truck. Playing “Don’t Be Cruel.”
“What’s an ice cream truck doing here this late?”
“Way to go, Elvis is in the house.”
“Let’s get some ice cream.”
The voices rolled over him while he stood frozen. He watched the guests stampede out the door to get ice cream. Ganymede just watched.
And when everyone had gotten a cone and wandered back inside, Ganymede waited. He knew. The ice cream guy had come for him.
Ganymede wouldn’t give him any satisfaction. He’d go to meet him. Cosmic troublemakers didn’t run and hide. He stared at the front door, and when it opened, he walked onto the front porch with legs stiff from tension. The ice cream guy was sitting on the porch swing. He looked at Ganymede from serene eyes. Ganymede had never been able to tell what damn color those eyes were. But he did know they were deep and penetrating and they saw to the core of his black soul. Okay, not so black anymore. He’d toned it down a lot since they’d first met. “Well, well, Ganymede. It’s been a while.” He still had all that dark hair that flew in every direction and a fuzzy beard.
He had a deep soothing voice. Ganymede hadn’t forgotten that voice, any more than he’d forgotten the first time he’d met the ice cream guy. “Nine years.” Ganymede fought to keep his attitude. “So how’s the goodness-and-light business doing? I never got a name from you last time, so how about I call you Chill? It goes with the ice cream crap.”
“Business is passable. And give me any name you want.” There was a hint of laughter in his eyes.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I still have some of the goodness-and-light you ga
ve me last time. I’ll let you know when I need a refill.” Ganymede said the words even as he felt despair setting in. Chill wouldn’t be here if he thought everything was okay.
The man shook his head. “You should know better, Ganymede. Lying doesn’t work. Last time we met, you were working for the forces of darkness. The Big Boss gave you a second chance, allowed you to keep your cosmic troublemaker job because it meant so much to you. Everything was great for a while, but recently you’ve been falling back into old ways.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try to do better.” He couldn’t help it. The guy brought out the sullen in him.
“You’ve promised before, Ganymede.” Chill stared into the darkness. “Now you’ll have to make a decision about your future.”
This couldn’t be good.
“You have to give up cursing, threatening to kill things, and Sparkle Stardust.”
“Fine, I can do…” Ganymede choked. “Sparkle?” His voice was a strangled gasp.
“Afraid so. She’s not a good influence on you. Sparkle is selfish, vain, and fixated on sex.” There was no condemnation in Chill’s voice, only a sad statement of facts.
“Yeah, but she’s—”
“Your choice, Ganymede.”
“What’s on the other side of ‘or’?”
“Or you’ll no longer be a cosmic troublemaker. You’ll be an ordinary Joe going to an ordinary job each day.”
“Human?” No. The Big Boss couldn’t do this to him. “Wait. I can’t choose. I—”
The ice cream guy rose. “Now. Make your choice, Ganymede.”
Panic took all reasoning power from him. He couldn’t give up Sparkle. But being a cosmic troublemaker was everything to him. Why get up in the morning if you couldn’t mess with someone’s life?
Chill waited patiently.
Ganymede hated him with a white-hot intensity. “I’ll give up Sparkle.” Every word was torn from his heart.
