Come Hell or High Water Read online

  I idly wondered if that was a skill I should acquire as well. Hmm. I found myself wanting to learn more. I wanted to work on increasing my powers, my knowledge, and my fighting abilities. I knew how to use my Glock, how to do hand-to-hand fighting, how to throw my knives. I wasn’t a total pussy. Still, in this company, I felt like the weakest link.

  I flicked a glance at Astria. “Do you know how to fight?”

  Her eyes widened. “Not really.”

  “She doesn’t need to know how to fight,” said Anise.

  “Why not?” I asked. “Afraid she’ll ruin her manicure?”

  Larsa muttered, “Nice one.” And Astria giggled.

  “We are her guardians.” Her tone said, End of discussion.

  I don’t know why I couldn’t drop the subject. Maybe because learning to fight was an opportunity for Astria to actually make a choice for herself. I was totally sympathetic to exercising some free will here. And Astria was looking at me as if I were somehow her champion. I wondered how often anyone ever asked her what she wanted. Really wanted.

  “I think she should learn to fight,” I said. “If you and Ren die, what happens to her?”

  “We won’t,” said Anise. I noticed that Ren was giving me the evil eye. Did the guy never talk?

  “They won’t,” echoed Astria. “I have foreseen it.”

  “Do you want to learn to fight?”

  Astria used a fry to make a pattern in the chili sauce. Then she lifted her chin. “Yes,” she said, “I do.”

  “Okay. Connor’s gonna train me,” I said. “You can join us.” I looked at Connor. “Right?”

  “ ‘ Twould be my honor.”

  Anise and Ren shot twin (ha) looks of annoyance at me.

  “We will discuss this at another time,” said Anise.

  Astria looked disappointed, and I figured it was because Anise’s words sounded more like, You will learn to fight over my dead body.

  “Definitely,” I said. “We’ll discuss when and where the lessons will begin.”

  “Thank you,” said Astria. She smiled at me, almost shyly. “It is time. Go forth, Phoebe, and win another battle.”

  Chapter 18

  We left Anise and Astria in the diner. Larsa and Ren took off toward the parking lot.

  “Don’t you find it weird that we’re off to rescue the victim of Lilith’s cult and some Sumerian ring? I can’t help but feel anxious about the talisman. Where is it?”

  “Safe.”

  “Connor, I’m getting really tired of nonanswers.”

  Scrymgeour, who’d been waiting outside for us, whined pitifully. I squatted down to scratch his ears. I felt like a bitch for thinking of Ella as a roadblock to fixing my own problems instead of a scared little girl at the mercy of crazy demon worshipers. I felt as if I were trapped in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

  I straightened, and Scrymgeour tilted his head, giving me a wounded look.

  “All right,” I said. “Let’s go get Ella.”

  We headed toward the I-44 freeway. I was glad to be stretching my legs even though vampires didn’t require exercise. Besides, I really didn’t want to have to deal with Nicor and his bunch; especially if everyone was right about the hunters being able to track magic signatures. Just on the other side of the freeway I saw the large neon sign of a castle. THE KNIGHTS INN gleamed red underneath it.

  We didn’t talk much on the way there. Scrymgeour followed us. Every so often the Chihuahua would dart away, chasing things I couldn’t see, and return looking satisfied. I didn’t sense any demon activity, so he could’ve been eating bugs and rats for all I knew. Blech.

  When we arrived at the edge of the rusted fencing, I peered at the scraggly grass poking up through the cracked blacktop. The building was shaped like a castle, its paint made to look like stonework. It was obvious it had been empty for a while. And it definitely had that hollow feeling of something forgotten.

  “Why do they leave the sign on?” I asked.

  “Who knows,” said Connor. “We can get in through the underground garage.”

  “How do you know about that?” I asked suspiciously.

  “I’m psychic.”

  “Har-de-har.”

  He laughed, then pointed at the side of the building. Above a dark tunnel was a rusted sign: EMPLOYEE PARKING.

  Connor scooped up Scrymgeour and wrapped an arm around my waist. Then, with one powerful push of his legs, we rose into the air and went over the fence. He landed with ease, letting me go as soon as my feet hit the ground.

  “I could do that myself, you know,” I said.

  “Yeah, but I’ll take any excuse I can get to put my arm around you.”

  “Smooth talker.”

  It didn’t take long to make the journey across the weed-filled, cracked outside parking lot.

  Our footsteps echoed in the tunnel that led to the underground parking. Even with my vampire vision, I couldn’t make out much, although it smelled dank and dusty. When we were far enough inside, Connor touched my elbow. I paused. “What?”

  “Solas,” whispered Connor. Red orbs burst from his palm and floated above us, lighting our way.

  “You can do fairy lights?” I asked, amazed. I’d seen other Sidhe create them. They were so pretty.

  “It’s not difficult magic. I’m half Ghillie Dhu, remember?”

  A Scottish fairy, a protector of trees, a cavorter in nature. I couldn’t reconcile Connor with such images. But imagining him as a demon was easy. I didn’t know if that reflected something about Connor – or about me.

  The tunnel ended and we entered the parking structure. The red orbs danced around us. We stepped onto a sidewalk, and I studied a metal door that probably led up into the hotel.

  “Are we going back to Jennifer’s?” I asked.

  “No,” he said. “And we canna risk Broken Heart, either. You thinkin’ this might be a good place to sleep?”

  I was, sorta. Then again, I wasn’t sure hanging out in the same place where a bunch of kidnapping murderers had occupied the space was necessarily a good idea. I might not have a choice, though. Dawn was creeping ever closer. I realized that I’d have to trust Connor to watch over me, or stay with me, if I did go toes-up in vampiric rest.

  “Definitely sunproof,” I said. “But nothing to sleep on.” I wondered if the hotel had any sheets or blankets left, and if they did, if they were even worth using as covers. Who knew what crawled among the abandoned relics of this place?

  “We must be careful about the magic,” he said apologetically.

  “I remember,” I said. “Asking you to whip up a bed would be like setting off a demon alarm.” Then I glanced pointedly at the red lights dancing above his head.

  “I told you. That’s not demon magic.”

  How could it not be? It might’ve been something he learned as a Ghillie Dhu, but wouldn’t it still be a beacon to the ones who hunted us?

  Connor wouldn’t jeopardize us, and I was surprised that I trusted him. At least for now.

  “I think we should separate,” he said. “You check the lower floors, and I’ll start on the roof and work my way down.”

  “What?” I couldn’t explain my reluctance to be parted from him. Maybe it was the bond solidifying, or maybe it was the flare of foreboding I couldn’t shake off.

  “Afraid of the bogeyman?”

  “You are the bogeyman.”

  “And you’re the one who sucks the bogeyman’s blood.”

  “I don’t feel like the late-night-horror-flick villain,” I groused.

  “Maybe you should practice more.”

  I laughed.

  “If you need me,” he said, “use our connection.” He tapped his temple.

  Connor believed I would love him, but he hadn’t yet said a word about loving me. That I had even entertained this idea made me feel like I’d fallen into a dark, cold pool of water. I didn’t know what the right thing to do was, not really. How much was my choice? How much was dancing to the tune of a
prophecy that Astria still had not revealed to me?

  Ella first, I thought. Then the rest.

  Connor dropped a kiss onto my forehead, which startled me. It smacked of spousal affection. “Scrymgeour will stay with you.”

  The Chihuahua whined.

  “Now, lad, we talked about this. When I’m not here, you’ll protect our lady.”

  That was the second time Connor had called me his lady, and it had an old-fashioned feel that I liked.

  Scrymgeour dutifully tiptiptipped to me and then sat, his sad eyes on his master.

  Connor directed the fairy lights to me. With one last quick smile, he turned and headed toward the exit tunnel. I waited until I couldn’t hear the ring of Connor’s boots on the concrete before I turned toward the metal door.

  “Let’s go look around, Scry,” I said.

  The hellhound yipped at my heels as I pulled open the door and headed up a concrete staircase. The door at the top of the stairs gave way with a hard shove. The lights revealed a hallway with doors open on each side, and another set of stairs at the end.

  Two of the doors led to restrooms, one to a break room with empty vending machines and rusted lockers, and the last to an office with listing file cabinets and a black metal desk. It smelled even mustier here, the sense of abandonment so strong I wanted to leave. It was almost like stumbling into a forgotten cemetery.

  Still, without Connor to stand with me, or at least tease me until I forgot to be scared, I hesitated on the second set of stairs.

  Scrymgeour, however, had no problem bounding up the steps. He got to the top and barked.

  “You are so bossy,” I said as I climbed up to join him. I opened the door, and we went through, the fairy lights following us.

  Scrymgeour went off exploring, his claws scoring the dusty red carpet. We were behind the oversized check-in counter that stretched the length of lobby. The lights revealed scattered papers, blank monitors, and boxes of card keys. I went in the direction of the hellhound, still feeling uneasy about this place.

  The place was massive. The lobby led into a bar that still held its pretty display of dusty liquor bottles behind black marble countertops. Tables had been turned over, chairs broken. I didn’t doubt the occasional person had broken in here to wreak havoc or do drugs or hide out, but it seemed the Knights Inn had been abandoned for so long, even the troublemakers had gotten bored with the novelty of it.

  I found Scry digging in a turned-over trash can near the bank of elevators. The elevator doors were painted to look like wrought iron, the kind you might see in a castle’s dungeons. I grinned. I imagined what this place must’ve been like when it was open; it had the kind of cheesy atmosphere that made people enjoy it.

  Even though poking around the musty old place still made the hairs rise on the nape of my neck, I thought I was falling a little in love with it.

  I heard a bang, and an, “Oh, shit!” I turned around and saw two tiny blond women dressed in red robes scuttling behind me. So much for my vampire senses. I’d been so busy nosing about the hotel, I hadn’t heard them creep up. One held a long, thin, bejeweled object that might’ve been a staff except it was too short.

  “You are such a fucking klutzoid, Drusilla,” said the one holding the glittering pole. She swiped it at me.

  I ducked and backed up. Scry rushed to my side and growled.

  “Look at the puppy, Mita! Isn’t she adorable! C’mere, puppy. C’mere!” Her empty gaze wandered to the lights bobbing around me. “What are those?”

  “Who fucking cares!” The one called Mita took another ineffectual swipe at me and I backed away.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. I was more annoyed than scared.

  “I’m trying to hit you. Duh.”

  I zipped past her using vampire speed, stopping when I was in the bar, and whirling to face the crazy girls. They both stared at me with open-mouthed astonishment. Why were they wearing such weird clothes? The crushed-velvet robes were bloodred and covered them from neck to feet. They had to be sweating buckets.

  Scry bounded past them and sat next to me. He barked, just once, to let them know who was boss.

  “How the fuck did you do that?” asked Mita. “Did you fucking see that? Fucking A!”

  “Dude.” Druscilla nodded.

  “You two are such twits!” The irritated female voice came from behind me. I didn’t get a chance to turn around, because something heavy whacked me across the base of my skull.

  I saw sparkles dance before my eyes, and then I fell straight into a pit of darkness.

  Chapter 19

  When I woke up, I realized two things: One, I was on my side, bound to something cold and flat. Two, I faced someone else with tearful blue eyes. Her oval face and brown hair were familiar.

  Ella.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered. Her face was dirty, and tear tracks were evident in the grime. Her lips were crusted and chapped, probably from the way she was currently nibbling on her lower lip.

  “I’m really getting tired of people smacking me around,” I answered. “Where’s my dog?”

  “I d-didn’t see a dog.”

  “Everything’s gonna be okay,” I said. I sounded more grim than reassuring. I could just imagine how much Larsa would enjoy my being trapped by two ditzy girls and whoever whacked me over the head. I felt like a freaking idiot. “What are we strapped down with?”

  “Duct tape.”

  “Classy.”

  She offered a quivering smile.

  “You’re Ella, right?”

  “How’d you know? Are you here to get me?” Then she blinked, and the hope in her gaze crumbled. “Oh. You didn’t get captured ‘cause of me, did you?”

  “No, honey. Don’t you worry, though. We’re getting outta here.”

  “Probably not in the way you plan,” said the same irritated female who’d bashed in my head.

  She came around the table, or whatever the hell we were taped to (duct tape, really? Talk about your unimaginative abductor) and leaned over Ella to peer at me. She wore her dark hair in a choppy cut that was highlighted with purple streaks. Both of her ears were pierced all the way around. Silver skull earrings dangled from the bottoms of her lobes. Her eyes were kohled, and unfortunately, her gaze held the keen intelligence the two blondies lacked. Her robe was also crushed velvet, but it was black. The leader, then.

  “Lilith will be pleased with a double sacrifice,” she said.

  “S-sacrifice?” echoed Ella.

  “Aw. Now I’ve spoiled the surprise.” She patted the girl’s apple-blossom cheek. “My mistress needs blood.”

  “More like a lobotomy,” I said.

  “You shouldn’t say such things about the goddess of the Underworld!” she hissed. “I’ll kill you first, nonbeliever!” She bent closer, her robes nearly suffocating poor, sweet Ella. “I’ve already killed once.” Her voice held the kind of relish that suggested supreme job satisfaction. I couldn’t think about the victim she’d sliced open and bled out in Lilith’s name, only that she wasn’t going to do the same to Ella.

  “Let us go,” I said, keeping my gaze on hers. I added the glamour, lowered my voice. “Cut through the tape like a good little psychotic. Tell the others we’re leaving and not to bother us.”

  Her pupils dilated; then her eyes went dreamy. “Yes,” she said. “Of course.”

  She unsheathed a sharp silver dagger and used it to saw through the tape binding Ella.

  “Penelope!” screeched one of the blondes. Mita, maybe. “What are you fucking doing?”

  Yeah, definitely Mita.

  “Letting them go.”

  “Are you nuts? We need them for the ritual!” She removed the knife from Penelope’s hand and snapped her fingers in front of her face. “Fucking A, dude!”

  Penelope blinked, looking at Mita as if she’d never seen her before; then she stared down at Ella’s half-severed bonds. Her crafty gaze met mine.

  “I know what you are,” she said. “Lili
th told me about the creatures who walk the night.”

  “Like your boyfriend?” I asked.

  She yanked the knife from Mita’s hand and jabbed it deeply into my side. I hissed as pain tore through me, but I pressed my lips together to keep from crying out. Crazy Penelope probably enjoyed it when she heard her victims scream. Ella stared at me with wide eyes. I tried to convey that everything was gonna be okay, but I probably wasn’t all that convincing.

  “You’re a vampire,” cried Penelope. “And sunrise is in an hour.” She grinned at me, her gaze finally showing the edge of her insanity. “You’re gonna fry, bitch.”

  “Aw. Your mother should be so proud,” I said.

  Penelope screeched and jabbed the knife into my side again. Agony ripped through me, but I clenched my teeth. I guessed Penelope had mommy issues on top of everything else.

  “Quit hacking her up,” said Mita. “She’ll be fucking dead before we can invoke our queen.”

  She dragged Penelope away, but not before Miss Crazy sent me a look that said, I can’t wait to carve you like a Christmas ham.

  Yeah, well, she had another think coming. I’d drain her dry before I let her throw me into the sunlight.

  “You’re b-brave.” Ella’s lower lip trembled.

  “So are you,” I said.

  My words managed to stall her quivering lip, which she started chewing on again.

  “Did it hurt when she stabbed you?”

  “Oh, yeah.” I grimaced. “But I heal fast.”

  Ella stared at me and kept gnawing her lip to bits. “Are you really a vampire?”

  I’d already decided to glamour Ella. Why let her remember being abducted and talked about like a side of beef? It wouldn’t hurt to be honest, since she wasn’t going to remember the experience.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’m a vampire.”

  Doubt seeped into her gaze. “I thought vampires were scary. And strong.”

  “We are.” I sounded defensive, and for a second, she looked as though she pitied me. Then she just looked scared, and I realized I needed to get my ass in gear with the whole rescue operation.

  It wasn’t like they’d bound me in any magical way. Penelope and her cohorts were having a hushed convo near a table filled with food and drinks. I counted thirteen wandering souls. Twelve in red robes. Lucky thirteen. Nice. How much cheesier could this outfit get?