With nothing better to do, I went back inside, changed into a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top I had bought at the boutique, and grabbed the paperback I’d been reading before I fell asleep on the plane. I had every intention of spending the afternoon lolled on one of those patio recliners, trying to think about anything but Helen and the wolves, but before I stepped foot outside, my cell phone rang. The screen lit up and showed a picture of my dad’s smiling face.
My parents. Oh crap.
I hadn’t thought much about them in the last few days, and the guilt of my disloyalty settled over me like a heavy cloak. Mom and Dad were my weakness, leverage that Helen or anyone else could use to manipulate me. If I thought telling my parents the truth might motivate them to seek safety, I would, but it also depended on them believing the truth. I doubted I possessed the persuasive skills to convince them, and I wasn’t going all the way back home just to show them how I could toast my own marshmallows. The best solution was to end this whole mythological plot as soon as possible.
If only Helen would return our calls.
“Solina,” my dad said when I answered my cell. “We haven’t heard from you in days. We’ve been waiting for you to call and tell us when you were going to come home.”
Uhhh, about that… “I finished Mani’s apartment,” I said, forcing a smile into my voice, “and I thought I’d take a few more days to sightsee. What are the chances I’ll ever get to come to Alaska again? And with the holiday rush coming soon at the bakery, I won’t get a break again until after the New Year.”
“Sightseeing?” Dad said. “You?”
That’s how well my parents knew me. I wasn’t a sightseer. I was a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of girl. “Sure,” I said. “I went kayaking. Saw lots of wildlife.”
My dad chuckled, but it held a hint of disbelief. “Kayaking and wildlife. Huh. You’re not going to turn into your brother, are you? Chasing a life of adventure?”
I almost choked on the irony. “You know that’s not really me.” Although I’m trying very hard to change that. “I’ve got one more thing on my to-do list, and then I’ll be home.”
“I’ve been doing all I can to keep your mother calm, but I’m half afraid if you aren’t home in the next day or two, she’ll explode.”
“I don’t know about a day or two, Dad. I think it’s going to take a little longer than that.”
“What are you up to, really? It’s more than just a little sightseeing, isn’t it?”
“Uhhh,” I said, my brain spinning to come up with an answer. A lie. I wasn’t good at deceit and had never had a reason to develop the skill. For twenty-five years I had walked within the lines my parents drew for me, never questioning, never rebelling. That was a lot of psychological constraint to overcome in the length of one phone call.
Fortunately my dad supplied the answer for me. “It’s that friend of Mani’s, isn’t it?”
“What?” I said, mystified.
“Val is his name, right? I saw the sparks between the two of you when he was here before, and you’ve gotten closer over the past few months. It was him you spent all that time on the phone with, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, Val. Yes. Um…” Never had I had a stranger conversation with my father. And never had we discussed my love life. “That might have something to do with it.”
“Young love. I remember those days. Like a drug, muddles everything so you can’t think straight. But, Solina, he lives there and you live here. What do you think is going to come of it?”
Dad knew how to push my buttons. Both of my parents did. A little flame of anger rose up in me. I snuffed it out and forced the bright tone back into my voice. “Oh, I don’t think anything’s going to come of it, Dad. I just don’t get to see Val very often, and being with him helps me feel close to Mani again.”
My dad huffed, and it carried over the line. “Well, as long as you keep your head about it, I’m sure everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.” He paused, and an awkward silence filled the space between us. Maybe he’s realizing the futility of giving love advice to his grown daughter. “So, what should I tell your mother?”
“About what? Val and me?”
“No,” he said with a snort. “About when you’re coming home.”
“Tell her…” Tell her I’ve joined a carnival to make a living selling candy apples and fried dough, and I’m never coming back. “Tell her to give me another week.”
“A week?” my dad squeaked.
“Yes, a week,” I said. “I’ll work double overtime when I get back.”
Dad was still grumbling when I said my goodbyes and hung up. I tossed the phone onto the bed and exhaled a heavy sigh. “I’m definitely going to need a margarita after that.”
A few minutes later, I was sprawled on a patio recliner, sucking a Diet Coke through a skinny straw and trying to convince myself the caffeine was as good as a cocktail. In my current mood, it would have taken three or four margaritas to mellow me out. Or one of those huge fishbowl drinks. Prudence suggested now was a bad time to spiral into a drunken stupor, so I sipped on soda and basked in the sun in hopes of finding a more natural path to peace and serenity.
I had almost achieved a state of Zen when Thorin invaded my tranquil afternoon. He strolled around the side of a giant blooming bougainvillea and stopped at the foot of my chair. “Contrary to how it may appear,” he said, “we are not here on vacation.”
Thorin’s eyes were black again, but not from anger. A tingle wormed its way up from my toes until the sensation prickled pleasantly over my scalp. Thorin scraped his gaze up the length of me before meeting my eyes. I thought I saw interest in his expression, but the sentiment faded too fast to be sure. “You’ve made yourself comfortable, haven’t you?” he said.
“Would you prefer I curled up on the couch in my sweats, crying and hugging a pillow? Because I did that already. For months. And I do not want to be that girl anymore. It didn’t bring him back. It didn’t give me any answers.”
Thorin said nothing but shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and worried his bottom lip with his teeth.
“Did you come out here to give me grief, or did you have something to say?” I asked.
Thorin took a deep breath, and his shoulders slumped. He padded in bare feet to a chair near my lounger and sank onto the cushion. I pointed to his toes. “You look comfortable, too. I can’t say I’ve ever seen you relax.”
“Relaxation is expensive at a time like this.”
“My brother would say it’s times like this when it’s most important to take a little pleasure in life.” I smiled sardonically and batted my lashes. “I mean, tomorrow we could all be eaten by wolves.”
Thorin snorted, and his eyes flicked over me again. “You’re not much like him.”
Well, no. I have boobs. “Did you expect us to be? Did you think because we were twins that we shared a personality? I may be out of my element in your world, but I assure you that I am devoted to my brother and doing what is necessary to prevent his murderer from avoiding justice.”
“Does ‘doing’ what is necessary include Val?”
I balled my fist but held back, knowing it would do no good to hit him. “Why are you so hung up on me and Val? It almost sounds like you’re jealous.”
Thorin leaned closer, his eyes ablaze. “This has nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with your disregard for the seriousness of the threat facing us all. Val is distracted from his purpose, and so are you, when it pleases him. I will not have you putting my future or the future of my kind in jeopardy for a meaningless fling.”
“What if it wasn’t meaningless?” I asked. “What if we were soul mates fated to be together for eternity, like Baldur and Nina? Apparently then it would be perfectly fine to put your future in jeopardy.” The dig on Baldur was a low blow; he seemed like a nice guy, even though I wasn’t sure going to Vegas to look for an obscure woman was the brightest idea.
Thorin growled. “You are
talking of things you know nothing about.”
“Then explain them to me.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Because I’m too ephemeral and insubstantial?”
Thorin raised an eyebrow, shrugged a shoulder. “You’ve lived… what? Twenty-five years? So, yes, you are ephemeral and insubstantial compared to Baldur and Nina’s epochs and eons. Do you have the proper frame of reference to appreciate that kind of devotion and loyalty? I think not.”
I rolled to my feet and stood over Thorin, fists clenched, pulse racing, and poured out my scorn by the bucket. “If Mani and I are the beings you all insist we are, then we have shared those epochs and eons, as well. Maybe I don’t have the awareness of my history with my brother that Baldur and Nina have, but I’m willing to bet the goddess inside me does. She knows, and she can appreciate that kind of loyalty.”
“But Baldur is immortal and Nina is timeless. My mortal status is a lot more uncertain. If I die going after some godly whim, Sol reincarnates again in another thousand years, which is fine and dandy for her. But what happens to the girl I am now? What happens to Solina Mundy? That would mean both of us were gone, Mani and me, and no one will be left to avenge us.” Tears burned in the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I had just thrown a self-righteous hissy fit before the God of Thunder, who should also be called the God of Stone-Cold Composure. This was not how I wanted to make my point. “Is that really a risk you expect me to take for someone else’s sake?”
Thorin rose to his full height, unwilling to let me lord over him. “You going to burn me down, Sunshine?” The corner of his mouth curled up in a smile. “I see it in your eyes. The flames are dancing in there.”
“You think this is funny?”
His smile fell. “Not one bit.”
I drew in a calming breath and pushed aside my anger. If Thorin could keep his cool, so could I. “I will not defend myself to you when I’ve done nothing that requires defense. Tell me what you want, or I’m going to my room.”
“I’ve heard from Helen. She wants to meet.”
My bubble of fury burst, and my knees gave way. I wobbled, but Thorin caught my shoulders and held me. I took a deep breath and pushed him away, standing on my own strength. “When and where?”
“Just you, alone, tomorrow.”
“She’ll kill me.”
“She’ll try,” he said. “But I don’t intend to let her get away with it. Neither are you totally defenseless.”
“She knows my tricks. She’ll be prepared. Probably have fire extinguishers and sprinklers pointed at me from every direction.”
Thorin laughed. He rarely did so, which was a shame because his laughter was lovely, the rumble of a distant summer storm. A strand of my hair had fallen loose from its knot, and Thorin reached to tuck it behind my ear. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Because you can’t let Helen succeed?”
“Yes.”
I sighed. “That’s fair enough. If I’m your security blanket, then at least I know you’ll do anything to keep me safe. A girl could have it worse.”
Thorin sniffed, and his eyes roamed over me. The mood suddenly changed from animosity to something… else. “There’s no girl here.”
What would have happened next I couldn’t say because Skyla raced onto the patio, excitement crackling from her like electricity. “Val’s been picked up by hotel security for cheating. They’re holding him downstairs until they can review the video.”
“What?” Thorin and I cried in unison.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Security said they could only hold him a couple hours unless they found something incriminating.” Skyla tilted her head toward me, smirked, and waggled an eyebrow. Trust me, she had said. Trust her to get Val in trouble and get me out of a dinner commitment. “I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding, but I think he’s going to be more than a little late for your dinner.”
“Dinner?” Thorin asked.
“She bought a new dress and everything,” Skyla said. “Too bad she doesn’t get to wear it.”
“Are there reservations?” Thorin scratched at the blond stubble on his jaw.
“Probably,” I said.
He nodded as if making up his mind. “Get dressed. I’ll meet you there.”
“You will?” I said, aghast. “That can’t be good for my digestion.”
Thorin turned on his heel and ambled toward the villa. “Be on time,” he called over his shoulder.
“I should kill you,” I said to Skyla, “but Val will likely beat me to it.”
“You should thank me,” Skyla said, wearing a devious smile. “And Val never has to know.”
“You get a kick out of pulling everyone’s strings, don’t you?”
Skyla skipped away, yodeling a song that sounded vaguely familiar.
After she disappeared inside, I realized the tune had come from the marionette scene in the Sound of Music.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I disregarded Thorin’s instructions to be on time. I had no intentions of standing around in a lobby looking like an expensive hooker waiting for propositions from high rollers. If anyone was going to wait, it would be Thorin. And he was, glancing impatiently at the clock on his phone as I rounded the corner from the casino into the lobby of the hotel’s fanciest restaurant.
Thorin wore a dark suit, and his hair fell loose, pale and glossy, past his shoulders. How could a man look so fine in a suit and tie and ancient armor? It was a conundrum, and a disturbing one. I didn’t want to find Thorin attractive. Things were complicated enough already.
Thorin looked up, and his breath caught. “Sunshine,” he said, holding his hand out for me. For once he said the nickname in a way that sounded like a compliment rather than criticism. When I took his hand, he slipped my fingers into the bend in his arm. “You are… sublime.”
“Thank you.” I waited for something harsh to follow the praise, but his reproach never came. Perhaps Thorin suffered a bit of the same weaknesses as Val when it came to revealing red dresses.
The restaurant’s host gathered menus from his stand and led us to our seats. A waiter arrived and poured wine. “I took the liberty,” Thorin explained. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“At least it isn’t club soda,” I said, smiling.
Thorin smiled back. “You proved you could hold your alcohol.”
“Ah, you were there in the bathroom the next morning with me, or did you forget?”
“I think that was more of a side effect from your pyrotechnics.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged and sipped from the red he’d selected. I stopped myself from draining the glass in one gulp, though my nerves demanded alcoholic relief.
To accompany his dark suit, Thorin had chosen a pale cream shirt that softened his eyes into pools of warm chocolate. Don’t think flattering things about him. You’ll regret it later.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“I’m sorry?”
“That was a terribly forlorn sigh.”
“I wasn’t aware I had sighed.”
“I hope you aren’t entertaining fantasies of defeat. It’s too early to give up.”
Oh, I was entertaining fantasies all right, but they had nothing to do with Helen Locke. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
“Actually, I have some thoughts,” Thorin said. “You won’t like them, but I want you to listen before you get upset.”
“Can we at least get through the first course before you start pissing me off?”
A slim smile tugged at Thorin’s lips. “I can try.”
Accordingly, Thorin and I shared a plate of buttered mussels and talked about French cuisine. I explained what I knew from a baking standpoint, and Thorin’s interest seemed real. The waiter brought my crab cakes and Thorin’s steak, but neither of us picked up a fork. “I’m not as hungry as I thought I would be,” I said.
Thorin shook his head. “Neither am I.�
�� We lingered a few more minutes before he pulled his wallet from his pocket and slipped out a single bill. “What do you say we get out of here?”
“What about our food?” I hated to think of all that lovely crab meat going to waste.
“We’ll have them send it to the room. I’m sure Skyla and Baldur will know what to do with it.” Thorin motioned to the waiter, and he trotted over. They muttered to each other, arranging delivery of the food, and then Thorin slipped him the cash. Thorin stood and drew out my chair for me. He took my hand, and I didn’t protest.
Thorin led us out of a side entrance to a footbridge spanning Las Vegas Boulevard. The sun had set, and a chill fell over the desert. If I’d hated my tiny red dress before, I now loathed it for its lack of insulating fabric. I also mentally kicked myself for not buying a shawl or wrap in anticipation of this kind of situation. As if I could anticipate anything. I’d never been to Vegas before and certainly never prowled around at night in unsuitable attire. Thorin noticed me rubbing my arms and shrugged off his jacket. I slipped it on and relished the residual body heat trapped in the fabric. It also carried his scent, the vague odor of ozone and damp air.
From our vantage point, the city presented a grand display of lights and animated billboards. Those signs were their own vignettes, miniature digital performances, regardless of what they advertised. I could have looked at them all night.
“Baldur is very upset, isn’t he?” I said, seeking conversation to fill the silence between us.
Thorin grunted. “He’s been put through hell, literally, and now he’s seeing there’s a chance he might face it again. I think most men would be depressed—or downright insane.”
Midnight Burning Page 20
