Wicked Edge

by Nina Bangs

  “What happened?” Passion was proud that her voice didn’t shake. “Where are you going?”

  Those sensual lips lifted in a smile so evil it made her gasp.

  “To kill Ganymede.” Turning away, he disappeared down the stairs.

  Ohmigod. She had to stop him. Passion rushed out into the hallway. “No. Wait. Don’t do this.” Panicked, she looked around. The old woman still stood by her door. “Go into my room and call the desk. Tell them to get…” Who? She couldn’t ask them to page the cat. “Never mind.”

  The woman looked confused and frightened, but Passion couldn’t worry about her now.

  She raced down the stairs and into the great hall. Then she searched frantically among the milling crowd for someone she recognized. There, by the courtyard door. Dacian, Holgarth, and Hope stood talking. For once the other angel didn’t look happy. Passion pushed her way through the costumed actors to reach them.

  “Where’s Ganymede and Edge? We have—”

  “What we have is a situation.” Holgarth pursed his thin lips. “Our stand–up comedian here”—he offered Hope a toxic glare—“made everyone laugh so hard that one of our customers flung back his head and cracked it on the stone wall. The ambulance just left. As soon as he wakes up, I’m sure the first words out of his mouth will be, ‘Call my lawyer.’ And then to end a perfect evening, my evil vampire hasn’t shown up. Again.” He slanted a speculative glance at Passion. “Perhaps you’d care to reprise your role as the vampire’s evil mate? Of course, you’ll have to make sure nothing unfortunate happens this time.”

  “Me?” She bit back her retort. Well, almost. “I hated the fantasy. Besides, it doesn’t matter now. You play the evil vampire’s mate. The wig is in the dressing room.”

  Holgarth looked as though she’d stabbed him in his shriveled little heart. Too bad.

  There went her charity. She wondered what angelic quality she’d shed next.

  “Edge is looking for Ganymede. He says he’s going to kill him. We have to find Ganymede first. Where is he?” Her heart jackhammered in her chest, fear wrapped sharp fingers around her throat and squeezed. She ignored Hope’s gasp.

  Angels were supposed to be impartial, unemotional. You. Are. A. Failure. She wasn’t even close to impartial. Passion was terrified for Edge. Not that she wanted to see Ganymede die, but dread for him wasn’t what made it hard for her to breathe right now.

  Dacian and Holgarth exchanged glances, and then Dacian spoke. “I’ll search.” He flung open the courtyard door and was gone.

  That wasn’t helpful. She wanted to search too, but she needed someplace to start. Passion skewered Holgarth with her fiercest glare, which probably wasn’t very fierce. She’d have to practice her human facial expressions. “Where?”

  “Murder? We have to stop it. Uh, who is Edge?” Hope looked bewildered but energized.

  The wizard studied Passion for a moment, and then seemed to come to a decision. “Sparkle will be in her candy store this time of night. Ganymede might be there. Sweet Indulgence is on the right as you leave the park.”

  Passion turned to follow Dacian.

  Holgarth put his hand on her arm, and the surge of power rippling across her skin surprised her. Maybe there was more to him than just some snarky old actor wearing a wizard costume.

  “If they fight, run as fast as you can as far as you can.” He dropped his hand from her arm.

  Well, that sounded ominous. Passion turned away from him and flung herself out the still-open door. She ran toward the park’s entrance. Hope was right on her heels.

  “It would be great if you explained things to me. We’re supposed to be partners.” Hope was breathing hard between each word. “And you were pretty ugly to Holgarth. I don’t think Archangel Ted would—”

  “Screw Ted. We have to stop them from killing each other.”

  Hope was either struck speechless by the ferocity of Passion’s attack on Ted or she didn’t have any breath left, because she didn’t say anything else.

  Passion was sucking wind by the time she raced out of the park and saw the sign for Sweet Indulgence. If she stayed here long, she’d have to work out. Only the avenging angels did much to stay in shape.

  Passion stopped in front of the shop’s door, and a few seconds later, Hope joined her. Thankfully, Hope was too busy gulping air to say anything.

  Someone had drawn a shade over the glass door and put a CLOSED sign up. But a light was on inside, and Passion could hear voices. She tried to listen past her labored breathing.

  A shrill scream from inside reached her. Female. Passion didn’t try to analyze the tone. A scream was a scream. Suddenly, Dacian appeared beside her. She couldn’t stop her startled yelp. How did he move that silently?

  “Edge isn’t anywhere in the castle.”

  “Someone inside just screamed.” She raised her hand to ring the bell.

  “Too slow.” Dacian narrowed his gaze on the door, and it exploded inward.

  Whoa. Passion took an involuntary step back. Hope found enough breath to shriek. Luckily, no one else was on the street.

  Passion followed Dacian into the store and then froze. Oh, crap.

  Sparkle sprawled across a large display counter. Chocolates, jelly beans, and gummy bears, along with her four-inch stilettos, littered the floor. Her long red hair spread like flame across the counter. She didn’t look frightened. She looked…

  This was embarrassing. Passion shifted her attention to the man who’d been leaning over Sparkle. He’d straightened to stare at them.

  Tall, shirtless, muscular with broad shoulders, he wore a scowl that made her want to turn and slink away. She got an impression of worn jeans tucked into calf-high boots and a black T–shirt lying on the floor at his feet.

  She widened her eyes as she took a good look at his face. Wow, beautiful but frightening. The face of a fallen angel, not that she’d ever seen one. And that face was framed by thick blond hair that skimmed his shoulders. Wait, there was something about his eyes…But Passion’s attention wandered from his eyes as she got a look at the blackness swirling around him. Another irredeemable one? What were the chances of there being so many in one spot?

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” His voice suggested that bad things happened to people who blew in his door.

  Dacian raked his fingers through his dark hair. “Sorry, Ganymede. Passion said Edge was on his way to kill you. Both of you are dumbasses for locking me out of your minds. I couldn’t warn you, and I couldn’t find him. Then Passion heard a scream.” He shrugged.

  “Of ecstasy, dear, all ecstasy.” Sparkle slid the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip as she stared up at the man above her.

  “Ganymede?” It couldn’t be. That gorgeous man couldn’t be the pudgy gray cat she’d met outside the castle.

  “Watch it, babe. Pudgy gray cats have feelings too.”

  Passion sucked in a startled breath. It was Ganymede’s voice in her head.

  Ganymede’s glare said he wasn’t forgetting about the ruined door and his interrupted moment with Sparkle, but he was putting it aside while he dealt with the Edge thing. “Look around. No Edge. Nothing to worry about. He might not like me, but he knows the rules. He kills me—not that it could ever happen—and the Big Boss destroys him. Edge has scary control; don’t know how he does it. Anyway, he’ll get over what’s bugging him.” Ganymede’s expression hinted that maybe they should leave before he crushed them like the squashed gummy bears beneath his feet. “When you leave, Dacian, prop that door up so we’ll have some privacy.”

  No, he couldn’t just dismiss the danger. Passion spoke up. “Edge is coming. I know he is. And he’s not in his right mind. Don’t be stupid.”

  “Stupid?” Ganymede skewered her with a piercing glare. “Be careful, angel wannabe.” He took a step toward her to emphasize his threat.

  God, he must be at least six feet five.

  “Leave. Now. It takes time for me to shift to human form. I mad
e the effort tonight so my cupcake and I could lower our stress levels.” He turned to Dacian. “Make me lose any quality time with her tonight, and I might do something. Bad.” He lifted his hands and made an exaggerated sweep of the store. “And see, Edge isn’t here.”

  “Yes, he is.” The whisper came from a shadowed corner of the store.

  Passion along with everyone else turned to stare as Edge glided forward. He made no sound as he moved, darkness and earthly endings trailing behind him. Power flowed from him, pushing at her, and she wanted to wrap her arms around herself to keep from shivering. At this moment, Passion didn’t doubt for a moment that Death was among them.

  No explanations were needed. Edge stared at Ganymede, his amber eyes shining with…nothing. Nobody was home in those eyes.

  “Shit.” Ganymede sounded more annoyed than terrified.

  That was okay, because Passion was terrified enough for both of them. She’d witnessed more violence in her short time at the castle than she had during her entire existence as an angel. Of course, she couldn’t quite remember how long that existence had been, but it was certainly longer than one night.

  Dacian moved forward. “This isn’t just a random attack of bad temper.” He waved Sparkle off the counter.

  She slid down and sidled away from Edge. “You don’t want to do this, sweetie.”

  Edge didn’t acknowledge either of them.

  “Hate to admit I’m wrong, because being wrong doesn’t happen to me, but I think Edge was right. Someone’s messing with our heads. And I’m really pissed at whoever it is because they broke my string of a million years without making a mistake.”

  Ganymede’s tone was the same snarky one Passion remembered from the seawall, but as she stared into his eyes, she saw a transformation that iced the blood in her veins.

  His eyes darkened and became the eyes of the chaos bringer—ancient, timeless. Passion knew if she stared too long, they’d drag her into their depths where memories of screaming horrors lived. She jerked her gaze away. She wasn’t ready for that.

  “Time to die.” Edge’s voice was a monotone, no excitement, no emotion, just Death delivering his message.

  “You can’t fight him, Mede.” Sparkle moved behind Ganymede and rested her hand against his back. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing. Besides, if you two get into it, humans will die. The Big Boss will come calling.” She paused. “And I might lose you.” The last was said so softly that Passion almost didn’t hear her.

  “Then they’ll die. And if the Big Boss comes, he comes. I have the right to defend myself.”

  Silence fell. Energy built, expanding, pushing at the limits of the room, flowing out through the open door. The walls made creaking sounds, the storefront window shattered.

  You’re an angel, for God’s sake, do something. But Passion had no communication lines to home, no way of summoning help. Punishment meant she couldn’t contact Ted. Anything she had to say got said during Hope’s nightly reports. She glanced at the other angel. “You’re not being punished. Call Ted.” Her order was a frantic hiss.

  Hope looked at her from glazed eyes. “I can’t focus. I have to concentrate. Passion, they’re going to destroy everything.”

  Well, maybe not everything, but since she and Hope were standing about five feet away from Edge and Ganymede, she was pretty sure she’d be history. She might technically be an angel, but she was in human form. Hope would survive, though. She was still an angel in good standing.

  “Damn, someone needs to do something.”

  Dacian’s voice startled Passion. She looked at him just as he drew back his upper lip to expose impressive fangs. She gasped. His eyes shone completely black, no pupils, no white, just…black.

  “Vampire.” She was too numb to feel shocked.

  He leaped at Edge, just a blur of movement. Edge didn’t even look at him. He simply held up his hand and Dacian slammed into an invisible wall.

  Ganymede glanced at Sparkle. “Get everyone out of here. Fast.” Then he focused on Edge.

  “It won’t do any good, Mede.” Sparkle sounded scared. “You might be able to control your damage, but Edge isn’t thinking, doesn’t know or care what he’s doing. Death running free will destroy the whole island, maybe more.” She took a deep breath. “Please. Disappear until he calms down.”

  Passion sensed that Sparkle didn’t get scared often, a testament to the seriousness of the situation. And she’d bet the other woman didn’t beg often either.

  “What happens, happens.” Ganymede didn’t look at her.

  Passion saw no regret in his eyes for the woman who seemed to mean a lot to him, saw no emotion at all, just a cold focus on Edge.

  Sparkle backed away from Ganymede, her body stiff. She blinked rapidly. “It’s always about you and your damn pride.”

  Passion thought that watching Sparkle fight back tears raised the terror factor a thousandfold.

  And then it began.

  Cold darkness seemed to flow from Edge’s fingertips, roiling blackness that coiled and crept along the floor bringing with it an overpowering sense of heaviness. It bubbled as though something living breathed just below its surface, and Passion thought she wouldn’t be able to hold herself upright, wouldn’t be able to resist the power drawing her down, down, into the grave.

  Ganymede wasn’t wasting any time either. Wind whipped into the room from the shattered window and door. It circled him, lifting his hair, even as flames leaped up around him. Passion blinked to make sure she wasn’t seeing things, but yes, the ends of his hair were glowing flame.

  She was rooted to the spot. Not a good place to be now. Even if everyone else made the decision to stay and watch the disaster unfold, she should be outta here. She was the only human, the most vulnerable of them. Still she stayed. There was no logical reason, but there was a darn good illogical one. She remembered the virgin on the landing. If Ganymede killed Edge, maybe she could…Give it up. By the time one of them is dead, this store and possibly all of Galveston will be in pieces and drifting out into the Gulf. Still, she stayed.

  Passion was vaguely aware of the wind outside. It had risen to gale force, and she could hear waves crashing onto the shore. The floor shook, and a display of chocolate creams fell to the floor.

  Edge crouched and Ganymede did the same. Passion pressed her hands against her temples, trying to relieve the immense pressure from the buildup of power. Any minute her head would explode.

  And right at the very moment the two cosmic troublemakers would have leaped at each other, Hope ran between them.

  Passion made a grab for her as she raced past, but missed. Ohmigod, they’d kill Hope. Passion started to run after her.

  “Wait, wait, wait!” Hope held up her hands, as though that would stop the apocalypse about to rain down on them. “Let’s talk this out.”

  Then something weird happened. Hope started speaking. Passion could hear her, but the words didn’t make any sense. They seemed to flow together, creating a rhythm that somehow soothed Passion, made her feel almost relaxed and…happy. She wondered how that could be, because something bad was about to happen, and it should worry her.

  But Passion couldn’t seem to remember what the bad thing was. She started to smile. She even decided to hum a tune she’d heard…somewhere.

  It might have been seconds, minutes, or even hours, but suddenly Passion blinked and looked around.

  Dacian sat on the floor carefully placing the spilled chocolate creams back in their box. He was smiling. Sparkle leaned against the wall examining her nails. She seemed happy with them. Ganymede wasn’t smiling, but he’d shed the flames and just stared at Edge.

  Edge lay curled up on the floor, his eyes tightly shut and his breaths coming in gasps.

  Hope had stopped talking and had started to back toward the door. “I don’t know what happened.” Her voice shook. “I’m going up to my room.” With no further explanation, she ran from the store.

  Passion didn’t care what had ha
ppened. Hope had somehow stopped Edge and Ganymede. But something was wrong with Edge. She pushed past Ganymede and fell to her knees beside Edge. “Are you okay?”

  “No.” His answer was pushed through clenched teeth.

  “Try to relax.” She placed her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort Edge while she looked around for someone to help him.

  She felt the moment his muscles relaxed and he went limp. He opened his eyes to stare at her.

  “When you just touched me…it felt like…” He seemed to make an attempt to focus on her. “And that other woman, she talked and…” He raised a trembling hand to his face.

  Passion could hear Ganymede’s murmur behind her.

  “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, is it really a duck? Or just a cheap knockoff?”

  5

  Edge tried to focus, to understand. He forced himself to remember. He’d left Passion’s room, and then wham, the need to kill Ganymede hit him. Not like before. This time it had overwhelmed him. He couldn’t resist. It had been lights out until the sound of a strange woman talking had drawn his mind back. Problem was, he couldn’t remember what she’d been saying.

  He fought despair. Over the thousands of years of his existence, he’d lost what he might have been, lost the future to endless death. He couldn’t change that. But he’d managed to hang on to one thing that brought him pride—his control over his thoughts, his emotions. Now it too was gone. He took a deep breath. Get over yourself. You can rebuild the walls in your mind higher and stronger. He won’t just stroll in next time. Edge turned his attention to the one person able to distract him from his own dark thoughts.

  Passion. His maybe-angel had knelt beside him and put her hand on him. Why the hell was she even here? Someone would pay for letting her stay to witness whatever it was that had almost happened. He knew it was an “almost” because if he’d fought Ganymede there’d be nothing left of this store. Or Passion. Not something he wanted to dwell on.

  Feeling protective? The thought horrified him. He never felt emotional connections to anyone. Emotional attachments were like rubber bands. They’d stretch just so far, and then they’d snap. The sting you got from the recoil was a bitch.