by Nina Bangs
Then why did Passion want to make a run for the door? She forced herself to stay in her seat and concentrate instead on the swirls of violet and yellow wrapped around Sparkle. Greed and pride. Strange, no sign of lust. Whatever Edge and Sparkle shared, it wasn’t sexual. At least not at this moment. The thought perked her right up.
That worried her. If she expected to fix whatever was wrong here, she had to stay emotionally detached. Only no one had explained how to turn off her feelings.
“Passion’s an unusual name.” Sparkle leaned forward. “I absolutely love it.”
Startled, Passion yanked herself back to the business at hand—to find out what was going on in the castle and then to stop it. “My parents loved strange names.” The truth? The Council frowned on too many personal freedoms, but they did allow the angels to choose their own names. Passion had chosen one she knew would drive them crazy.
“You’re staying at the castle?” Sparkle studied her nails. “The color’s starting to chip. Damn.”
“For a few weeks.”
When Sparkle looked up from her nails, her eyes held a manic gleam. What was that about? Okay, Passion was outta here. The only person who’d given off normal vibes in this place was Bill at the registration desk. She needed to get out of the castle for a few minutes and clear her head before going back to her room to map her strategy. Once away from Edge and Sparkle, maybe she’d get her perspective back and realize she was just overreacting to everything. But she didn’t think so.
Besides, there was no real reason to stay, because she wouldn’t be getting any more information from Edge. He kept staring up at the exposed beams that crisscrossed the restaurant’s ceiling. She glanced up, trying to see what had caught his attention. But shadows hid whatever it was. Sparkle was staring too, and she didn’t look happy about what she saw.
Anger was in every line of Edge’s tense body. And all that fury seemed centered on whatever crouched in the shadows above them. Not a mouse. Something bigger, more dangerous. Okay, that was stupid. Nothing was up there. She hoped being human wasn’t making her paranoid.
“I think I’ll go for a short walk and then get to bed early. It’s been a long day.” She pushed her chair back and stood. “It was great meeting both of you.” Passion smiled as she looked at Edge. “Thanks for the meal.”
He returned her gaze. The coldness in his stare froze her smile in place. She took a deep breath. That look wasn’t for her. She sensed it was for whatever lived in those rafters. And what could that possibly be? Her paranoia was alive and well.
Sparkle waved. “Bill told me you’d lost your luggage. I’ll have a surprise for you in the morning.”
Secret joy filled Sparkle’s eyes, and foreboding touched Passion. Crap. Vulgar but not a curse. She needed the real thing right now. Damn it to hell. There, that felt better.
She hurried from the restaurant, and she could feel Sparkle’s stare drilling into her back the entire way. Passion quickly crossed the hotel lobby and didn’t breathe easily until she stepped outside.
A cool November breeze revived her confidence. There wouldn’t be anything here she couldn’t handle. All she had to do was to find the emotional trigger for each troubled person and use it to convince him, her, or it that evil wasn’t the best career path. What about the irredeemable one? What can you do with him? She didn’t know.
Passion stared across the road separating the castle from the Gulf of Mexico. Light from the full moon gleamed on the surf rolling onto the beach. It soothed her on a soul-deep level, something her home never did. Don’t get too attached. This isn’t forever. And of course she didn’t want it to be.
“Angels lose their wings here, babe. I have a whole collection of them.”
Passion’s heart pole-vaulted into her throat. Who was in her head? She spun in a complete circle. No one. She looked up. Nothing. She glanced down.
A big gray cat sat a few feet away from her, watching her from unblinking amber eyes that gleamed with feline superiority. Just a cat. Her gaze swept past the cat, searching for someone powerful enough to get into her head.
“Yo, back up. Just a cat?”
What the…? Passion tried to regroup. Some kind of shape-shifter? Powerful. Wow, all kinds of colors whipped around him. He pretty much had the sin market cornered—greed, sloth, pride, and the always popular gluttony. But those sins she could handle. It was the black swirling in the background that worried her. Like Edge, he was irredeemable. She didn’t even want to think about what he’d done to earn the big black.
She stared at the cat, widening her eyes and trying for the kind of shocked expression a human would have. “No. You’re not real. A cat can’t talk in my head.” Did she look terrified, barely able to stand? Would a human scream? She considered the most effective reaction even as she reinforced the wall surrounding her thoughts.
“Cut the crap. The wall isn’t working. You can’t keep me out.” The cat stood, stretched, and padded over to wind itself around her legs. “Come on, sweetie, tell me why you’re here. And why are you in human form? Hey, if it’s any comfort, you almost fooled me.”
Giant whoop. Almost didn’t count. “Who are you?” And how did you recognize me when no one else did?
“Ganymede.” He stared up at her. “And I recognized you because I’m just that good. Nothing gets past me.”
“What are you?” She glanced behind her. Could she make it back to the hotel if he decided angels weren’t welcome here?
“You’re safe with me. They took your powers away, didn’t they? The bastards. Why? What did you do? Must’ve been bad for them to kick you out.” His big amber eyes glowed with his need to know.
“You first.” She backed a few steps toward the hotel. Passion didn’t for a minute think she was safe with him.
Ganymede kept pace with her. “I’m the cosmic troublemaker in charge of chaos. Used to do the big stuff—massive storms, meteor strikes, all kinds of planet-altering disasters…” He flattened his ears as his tail whipped back and forth. “Then the Big Boss grounded me. Thought I was out of control. Now I have to stick with the smaller stuff. Messing with humans doesn’t give me much of a rush, but you take what you can get.” His eyes got that sneaky-cat look. “Sometimes I cheat when the Big Boss isn’t looking, though. Gotta stay in shape in case he ever turns me loose again.”
Passion knew her mouth was hanging open. Cosmic troublemaker? Why hadn’t anyone told her about him? “I never heard of you. Are there others like you? And why did you even tell me this stuff?” Uh–oh. The obvious answer was that she wouldn’t live long enough to pass on what she’d learned.
His cat eyes gleamed in the darkness. “Yeah, there’re more like me. Don’t know why you never heard of us. That’s just weird.”
Something dark and threatening slid over her. She shivered.
“I can tell you all this because you won’t pass it on. I’ll know if you try.” He sat down and began to wash his face with one gray paw. “I sense you’re a survivor. You won’t survive if you blab. Simple.” Finished with his grooming, he returned to studying her. “And I can reach you anywhere. Got it? Anywhere.”
Was this why the Council had sent her here? Did they know about these cosmic troublemakers? But why send her? Without her powers, she was pretty much helpless against this kind of evil.
She’d ask them directly, but none of the angels were allowed to meet the Council members. Archangel Ted passed on all of their messages.
She stared into the cat’s eyes as the silence stretched and stretched until she expected to hear it snap. Wait. The cat’s eyes…“Your eyes are the same color as Sparkle’s and Edge’s.” What were the chances?
“Give the lady a Snickers bar. I’ll leave it to you to figure out.” He turned away from her. Then he paused. “Just for your info, I take bribes. Ice cream, chips, and cookies will buy lots of forgiveness.” He padded toward the castle.
“Wait. I thought you wanted to know about me.” Not that she wanted to tel
l him, but she needed lines of communication if she were to have any chance of clearing evil from this place.
He ignored her. She watched him disappear around the side of the castle.
“Well, hell.” Passion felt no guilt over the curse. The situation called for it. Not here one day and a fat cat had blown her cover.
Passion thought about the cat’s eyes, about Sparkle’s and Edge’s eyes. She widened her own eyes. Oh, no. Were they all cosmic troublemakers? Who had set her up for this? She wasn’t qualified to deal with new evil entities.
Clenching her fists, she closed her eyes. “Someone had better get their ass down here to help me. This isn’t punishment, it’s murder. Because you know damn well I’m human and the evil here isn’t the ordinary kind. If you want me dead, just say so to my face.”
“I’m here, I’m here. Jeez, I’m so excited. I get to help you. Where’re the bad guys? Are they ugly, slimy, and repulsive? Oh, and I have to remind you that ‘hell’ and ‘damn’ qualify as curses. ‘Ass’ is just an ugly, ugly word.”
No, no, no! Passion opened her eyes and slowly turned.
“Hope.” She was dead.
3
Edge didn’t like the look in Sparkle’s eyes. He’d seen that hungry, eager shine before. “Leave her alone. Don’t you have other things to do?”
Sparkle seemed reluctant to pull her gaze from the door Passion had disappeared through. “Other things to do?” She sighed and transferred her attention to him. “Like keeping you and Mede from tearing each other apart along with half of Texas?”
“Trying to make me feel guilty?” He glanced up at the empty beam above them where Ganymede had crouched a few minutes ago. He’d disappeared right after Passion left. “Not working. Haven’t felt guilt for thousands of years.” So many memories, poking and prodding at him, insisting that he pay attention. But every time they tried to surface, he buried them under a few more layers of denial. Remorse was a weakness, an emotion he couldn’t afford in his job. “And I’m okay with leaving Texas in one piece as long as I get a shot at that bastard.”
His hatred for the other cosmic troublemaker rose on a wave of red that pushed at his control, roared its demand that he kill, and scared the crap out of him.
Edge had walked the earth as a destroyer for tens of thousands of years. But he never killed in a mindless rage. He prided himself on his coldness, his methodical completion of each job. Emotion never entered into it, couldn’t enter into it. This time it did.
“What’s wrong with you?” Worry darkened her eyes. “I know you’ve never liked Mede, but suddenly I’m sensing real hatred. Did I miss something?”
“He’s an arrogant son of a bitch.”
Sparkle returned her attention to her nails. “See, something in common. Work with it. Bond over all that male ego.”
“You don’t get it.” He didn’t get it, but he wasn’t about to discuss his unease with the queen of emotional manipulation. She’d enjoy it too much.
“Maybe not, but I do know that if war breaks out between you guys, the Big Boss will step in.” She glanced at him and then looked away. “I don’t want to lose either of you.”
Because you love Ganymede. Edge would never understand that. Never. The chaos bringer wasn’t any more lovable than he was, and he didn’t fool himself about that. Women might be drawn to Edge’s looks, but it didn’t take long for them to realize that loving him would be like trying to sink their teeth into a frozen block of ice cream. The pleasure wasn’t worth the pain.
“I need some fresh air.” He wanted to see what Ganymede was up to.
“Keep the damage away from the castle.” Sparkle waved down a waiter. “I need a drink.”
Edge didn’t breathe easily until he was outside. Sparkle was the cosmic troublemaker in charge of all things sexual—not a position that called for statements that ended in catastrophic ruin and death—but she wielded a mean payback when someone crossed her. He’d never underestimate her power.
Ganymede, in his gray-cat form, sat on the edge of the seawall looking out over the Gulf. Edge ruthlessly stomped on his sense of relief that Passion wasn’t with him. He strode across Seawall Boulevard to join the cat.
“Did you talk to her?” Of course he had. Ganymede wouldn’t miss the chance to stick his whiskered nose into anyone’s business.
The cat didn’t look at him. “Yeah. Interesting.”
“Interesting how?” Edge was instantly suspicious.
“Just…interesting.”
Ganymede’s voice in his mind had an I–know-something-you-don’t purr to it. Cryptic jerk. “Did you get into her head?”
“Of course.” The cat finally turned his gaze on Edge. “Did you?”
Edge narrowed his eyes, wishing he could splatter the dumb shit all over his precious castle.
Cats weren’t supposed to be able to smile. Didn’t have the facial muscles for it. But damned if Ganymede didn’t have a triumphant grin pasted across his furry face.
“You didn’t.” He gave a cat shrug. “Hey, some of us have talent, some don’t.”
Edge hung on to his temper. Barely. “What did you find out?”
Ganymede turned his attention back to the Gulf. “Don’t think I’ll share that until I figure out what to do about it.”
He joined the cat in staring at the waves rolling onto the beach. “You know how much I want to kill you right now?”
“Yeah, I feel your hate. Me, I don’t have time for that shit. All I want to do is destroy…everything. The need’s been getting worse each day.”
“Why?”
Ganymede washed his face with one gray paw. “Chaos is my thing, but I’ve always controlled it. This time, not so much. It’s like something in my head wants to break out and tear Galveston apart. Never felt anything like it.” He paused to stare at Edge. “What’s happening?”
Edge shrugged. “Someone’s messing with us?” Funny that he could talk rationally with Ganymede about this while he still burned to kill him.
“No one’s that powerful.”
Nothing wrong with Ganymede’s sense of self.
“Sparkle wants this to be a long-distance thing. No rubble littering the castle.” He clenched his fists as he gathered his power to him.
“Got it. Whatever my honeyfluff wants. But I’m either going to do some heavy damage or explode, so I’ll just have to…” Ganymede’s voice faded away as he stared fixedly at nothing.
“Same here.” Edge’s need to kill almost choked him.
Suddenly, Ganymede seemed a little less tense. “Somewhere in the Himalayas, a mountain evaporated. Must be all that global warming. Jeez, that felt good.”
“And somewhere in Colombia, a drug lord died.” The Big Boss hadn’t ordered the hit, but Edge figured that in this case he’d be okay with some freelancing.
“The San Andreas Fault just shook her booty.” Ganymede looked almost relaxed. “Okay, I can handle my destroy–it–all obsession for a while longer. But if this crap keeps escalating, these little pressure releases won’t work anymore.”
Edge closed his eyes. “Almost there. Maybe something more challenging will…” His eyes popped open. “Damn, that was Bain.” He’d recognized his target at the last moment and pulled his punch, but he had no doubt he’d put a hurting on the demon. He raked his fingers through his hair. “I figured any demon would work and didn’t check for ID.”
Ganymede laughed. “Hey, maybe I won’t have to kill you after all. Bain will do it for me.” He was still chuckling as Edge started to walk away.
“Got one more thing to say to you, Finis.”
Edge froze. Ganymede had used his real name. Finis. The end. The Big Boss had named him, and it fit his job description. Edge hated the name, and Ganymede knew it.
“You’ll never be my equal. You know why?” Ganymede didn’t wait for an answer. “Chaos bringer is who I am. It’s my whole existence. Death is just a job to you. That’s all it’ll ever be. You’ll never know what it’s real
ly like to live the dream, sucker.”
Edge didn’t turn to look at Ganymede. If he did, he might do something that would piss Sparkle off enough for her to order him from the castle.
He decided to slip through the restaurant’s kitchen entrance to save time. He was late for his next fantasy, and Holgarth believed the show must go on with or without one of the major players. Besides, Edge didn’t want to meet anyone who would want to stop and talk. He had things on his mind.
Ganymede’s ego wouldn’t allow him to believe that anyone could be powerful enough to influence his emotions. But Edge didn’t see any other explanation for his irrational hatred that had been building over the last few weeks. Right now, he was handling it. But how long before the fury took over and drove him into mindless battle? Sparkle wasn’t kidding about them obliterating half of Texas if that happened.
He took a deep breath. He’d like to track down Passion so they could continue the conversation Sparkle had interrupted, but he didn’t have time now. He glanced at his watch. Later than he’d thought. The fantasy had started.
He’d play the evil vampire in this one. Edge was seeing a trend here. Holgarth always cast him as the evil something in every fantasy. Sure, he’d had lots of experience with the part, but just once he’d like to be the hero.
You’re not hero material. Couldn’t deny that. He headed toward the dressing room for his vampire outfit.
“We’ll share your room. It’ll be fun. Just us girls, doing our nails while we plot the overthrow of the unspeakable evil polluting the castle.” She frowned. “Is caring about my nails pride?” She answered her own question. “Archangel Ted won’t be able to see my nails. Besides, it’s just this once.” Hope was almost bouncing with enthusiasm. “I’m so excited. I can’t see the colors of sin like you, so you’ll have to point me in the right direction. But I still have my powers, so once you identify the wicked ones, I can delete their files permanently. I can—”
