The door was sealed with magic.
Each time one of the twins tried to close his fingers around the
handle, cold metal seared deeply into the palm of his hand. Kian was scowling
while he stared at the mechanism suspiciously, almost as if he expected it to
swallow him whole where he stood. Kieran merely contemplated the heavy oak and
stroked his fingers thoughtfully along the edge of his jaw.
Jessa was just as stumped as the twins were. Nothing she -- or they
-- could think of would make it open. "We're wasting time," she
muttered angrily, turning away. She spun to a halt, immediately on guard.
A witch stared back at her calmly, her violet eyes holding just a
touch of cynicism and a hint of distrust. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" Jessa countered coolly, her own expression
wary.
The witch's reply was mocking. "The Tooth Fairy. Anything
you'd like to donate?" Something fierce lit her eyes, dancing merrily,
almost as if she wanted to fight.
Jessa bared her sharp, slender fangs, only too happy to oblige her.
"Smile and we'll find out."
"Enough," Kieran said crisply. "She's trying to
distract you, Jessa. Trying to buy Giacinta time." He fingered the
glinting silver knife he'd taken from his pocket lovingly, his gaze even and
cruel.
Outrage washed over the witch's face, stunning and defiant, and she
was angrily unaware of the threat in Kieran's every movement. "Trying to
help Giacinta?" she asked coldly. "The only help I would give that
bitch is into an early grave."
Jessa looked at her swiftly. "Then why are you trying to stop
us?"
The witch looked suddenly uncertain. "I thought you were here
to help her."
"You're lying," Kieran said tonelessly, pushing past
Jessa until he stood on the step above the witch. "If you can get this
far, you've been helping her all along." One hand wrapped around her
slender throat. His other hand raised that wickedly sharp knife.
Rebellion shone hotly on her face. "I am not helping her." Something hard slammed into Kieran's
stomach, but he didn't loosen his grip. "If you don't let me go, she's going
to kill Cameron!"
The desperation in her voice must have finally convinced him,
because he removed his hand, although not before a few moments of suspicious
hesitation. "If you're lying," he said as a final warning, "not
a drop of blood will be left in your body when I'm done with you."
She sniffed haughtily, absently rubbing a hand over her aching
throat. "If I were lying, I
wouldn't blame you." She coughed lightly, glaring through thick copper
lashes, her hand lingering over bruised flesh.
He stepped back and gave her room to breathe, but his measuring
gaze never left her face.
Kian glanced back and forth between them, watching as emotions
scorched hauntingly across both their faces. "Do you know why we can't get
in?" he asked the witch quietly. "Or at least how we can get
it?"
With one last belligerent look at Kieran, she turned her attention
to his twin. "She made me put a spell on the door." A quick pause and
a hastily drawn breath, during which she cleared her rasping throat. "I
was coming upstairs to remove it." She hesitated slightly, then continued,
"A witch called Erin sent me to protect her, since I owed Giacinta a debt
anyway."
Suspicion wavered across Kieran's face. "What debt?"
"She saved my brother's life," she answered coolly,
dislike for him as natural as breathing, "and Cameron promised to help me
get it back."
Jessa's reevaluation of the girl was swift and encompassing. "We're ready whenever you are."
"My name is Calista," she said grimly, motioning Kian
aside. Kieran stood stubbornly where he was. "Stand back, unless you want
to become the world's largest shish kabob. That door isn't going to stay in one
piece."
Kieran reluctantly moved.
Orange witch fire sprang to life in her cupped hands, jumping and
crackling like a sparkler on the Fourth of July.
It exploded from her palms in a rush of hot air.
***
"While I have your attention," Giacinta started, the
knife flicking to deepen already painful cuts, "I should let you know I'm
going to kill you."
"Please, forgive my surprise," Cameron retorted. She bit
back a gasp of pain. "And here I thought you were just helping me augment
my pain tolerance."
"Don't try to be cute," the vampire replied, her voice
cold and hollow and somehow sharp. Empty black eyes contemplated the bloody
mess in front of her. She shifted the knife to her left hand and fingered the
ornate handle thoughtfully. "I can promise it will only make your death
slower."
Cameron grimaced as Giacinta prodded at a bruise on her forearm,
but everything ached anyway, so she barely felt it. "You really should
work on your motivational techniques. I heard there's a great class at the
University. Just remember: positive is always better."
"Positivity is relative, rather like normalcy." Giacinta
dropped her hand, turning away from her. She walked slowly to the window and
her hand hovered at the edge of the curtain, but then she paused, turning back.
"I used to be normal once," she said softly, her voice
wistful. "I used to have hopes and
dreams and--" She smiled. "I was in love once."
"Forgive me for my tenacity," Cameron snapped, staring
hard at the ceiling, "but did he wake up one day and realize he'd be safer
dating a rabid elephant?"
The pain numbed if she focused on something other than where she
was or what was occurring. If she pretended she wasn't slowly dying -- not from
loss of blood, not from pain, but from Giacinta's determination to destroy --
and that this was simply a bad trip or an awful nightmare, breathing was a
little easier.
So she concentrated on the swirling lines of plaster, searching for
a pattern, and let her mind wand far from this suffocating room.
The sun set and died in Giacinta's eyes, leaving them empty,
without that brief spark of life that for one second almost made her look
human. But Cameron didn't see this. "No, he woke up and realized that if
he didn't give himself, if he kept himself locked inside, any sort of love was
worthless, and so he was worthless as well." The bone deep chill crept
back into the depths of those fathomless black pools.
Cameron couldn't think of anything to say and wasn't sure she
wanted to comment.
"Aren't you even curious to know what happened to him?"
Giacinta prodded impatiently. "Whether he's still festering away
somewhere?"
Cameron suddenly concluded it might be a good idea to keep her
talking and to buy herself just a little more time. She nodded slowly.
The lethal smile stretching across the vampire's face was not quite
sane. "I killed him. He was just an empty shell and not of much use."
The hunger that lurked in the stark lines of her face was
terrifying.
"He was my soulmate," she admitted, "but I wanted
something more." Her smile flashed again, quick and secretive. "I
wanted excitement instead of coldness; hope instead of emptiness. Kian gave me
that."
"It's a shame he didn't give you a terminal disease
instead."
"No, just terminal hatred," Giacinta acknowledged,
"but then, perhaps even that was wasted on you. I know everything else has
been."
Cameron's expression turned skeptical. "Everything else? I'm
not sure what that includes. The torture, perhaps? Or was it the repeated
homicide?"
Giacinta sighed, fidgeting unhappily with nothing to occupy her
hands. "You are the most disturbingly ungrateful waste of humanity I have
ever met. I tried to warn you."
"Perhaps you should
look into taking some classes at the university. Your comprehension of human
psychology is sorely lacking." Cameron finally turned her head to meet the
vampire's eyes. "You tried to warn me? Was that before or after you tried
to convince me what bastards the twins are?"
"Oh, they are that," Giacinta answered. "I shouldn't
have had to convince you."
Cameron smiled. "Don't worry. You didn't, at least not about
the twins." She let that statement hang suspended in the air, dangling
between them unclaimed.
Sneering, Giacinta turned back to the window, this time lifting the
curtain slowly so she could observe the twins fighting on the street.
Except they weren't there.
She whirled around. "You did that on purpose, didn't
you?" she hissed. She picked a porcelain figure from the decorative table
standing beside her -- standing precariously on two legs, no less -- which was
miraculously untouched. For about two seconds.
It shattered against the wall with a sharp crack.
"It was a distraction, wasn't it?" Her piercing black
eyes were furious. "You knew they were coming and you were trying to keep
me occupied!" Her normally low voice gained fury quickly, the tones rising
to a shriek.
Cameron reminded herself to stay calm. "What are you talking
about?" she asked, stalling. It wasn't hard to guess that the twins were
no longer outside.
"You know what I'm talking about," she snapped. She
strode over to where Cameron was tied helplessly to a destroyed but still heavy
dresser. Her breathing came harsh and rapid as she stared down at the witch's
placid features. Then she kicked her.
Doubling over in pain -- as best as she could with her hands
strapped over her head -- Cameron gasped, "What was that for?"
But Giacinta wasn't paying attention to her. Her eyes were focused
on a gleaming hint of silver across the room. She retraced her steps
purposefully, wrapping her fingers almost lovingly over the handle. Walking
back, almost humbly now, she smiled. "Well, this just hastens the process
a bit."
Relatively certain that she didn't want to know, Cameron didn't
bother to ask what that process was. She remained quiet as Giacinta kicked her
way through the rubble in the room to where she lay.
The vampire leaned cautiously over her, not certain what to expect.
Her hands and her movements were no less careful when she began sawing at the
rope binding Cameron's wrists. Not the ones that connected them, but the ones
that kept her fastened to the leg of the heavy Colonial dresser.
"Are you crazy?" Cameron's voice rose despite her
conscious effort to remain calm. The vampire jerked her roughly to her feet.
Giacinta slapped her. "Shut up!" She cocked her head,
listening intently for some noise or some warning. No sound echoed through the
silence.
The vampire relaxed. "If you make one sound," she warned,
the whisper so soft that Cameron strained to hear, "I will make sure you
watch both of your soulmates die before I hurt you. And I might show you mercy
when I'm done."
Cameron wisely kept her mouth shut.
Refusing to loosen her guard, Giacinta stepped behind her, the
knife rising threateningly to her throat. She yanked her backwards, away from
the door, away from where she could be taken by surprise.
Still the dead silence held, broken not even by the sound of their
anticipatory breathing. Cameron was sure she should be able to hear the
pounding of her pulse against the slick silver blade, beating as loudly as a
nuclear explosion. Sluggish. Waiting. Terrified.
The door crashed inward.
Jessa and the twins stood framed in that doorway, their expressions
furious and cold. It was Kian who stepped forward first, but then Kieran
exploded past him, only a blur moving surreally fast in the grotesque silence.
He was only ten feet away when Giacinta dug the knife into
Cameron's flesh so hard she screamed. The twins skidded to a halt at the same
time, almost as if two images had been paused in the exact same frame.
"Stop," she commanded, although it wasn't necessary. Although the
twins had already done so. "Don't make me kill her," she murmured
softly. The threat in her voice was hard to miss.
Kian's response came coolly through the quiet. "We're not
going to make you do anything."
"And you can't blame what you do on us," Kieran added.
Then he glared, dangerous and irrepressible. "Nor can you blame us for
what we do in retaliation."
Jessa supported them silently, a shadow hovering behind the twins,
simply watching and waiting for her chance.
"You're assuming you get a chance to retaliate," Giacinta
noted. She smiled without humor. "Sorry, boys, but the rules have changed.
You can walk away now and you can live or you can stay and die. I can't make
you play, but I can make sure that you play by the rules. Oh, and don't move or
I'll kill her."
Then Kieran did the last thing any of them expected -- he took a
step forward.
Giacinta turned suddenly wary, tightening her grip and pressing the
knife more firmly against Cameron's soft white throat, so shocked that she
forgot to carry out her threat. "What do you think you're doing?" she
demanded.
His deep violet eyes sparkled, warm flecks shifting and sliding
secretively. "I have something I want to share with you," he
murmured, and came just a little closer.
Her voice lowered, just a shade more seductive. "I've got
something I'd like to share as well."
Cameron bucked, intentionally elbowing her hard in the stomach. She
could suffer through the pain, through the bleeding, through the taunting… but
she would be damned if Giacinta would seduce her soulmate in front of her. Some
things were just not polite, mortal enemy or no.
The vampire grimaced, but she did not loosen her grip -- which both
knew was not why the witch had suddenly started fighting back. Giacinta took
immense pleasure in yanking a tuft of silky black hair from the back of
Cameron's scalp. Holding her head at a fiercely painful angle, she exposed that
pale throat. "Are you sure you don't want a bite?"
And to his horror, Kieran felt his canines lengthen painfully.
He forced his thoughts away from that smooth, pulsing skin, drawing
on inner strength to focus on the vampire's carefully blank face. "Maybe
later," he answered, his voice neutral.
His expression molded to match. "Now," he said,
"about the thing I'd like to share--"
"Don't bother. I'm not interested."
Cracks slipped into that glossy, sleek mask and threatened to
destroy. "You're never interested, Giacinta dear, which is why we never
worked in the first place." He smiled, but it looked more like a threat.
"Now be a good girl and keep your mouth shut."
Giacinta only returned his smile and dug the cold silver blade into
Cameron's throat. "Perhaps you should remember who exactly has the upper
hand here," she advised dryly. "It's not exactly smart on your part,
when your lovely little soulmate is already bleeding from the pressure."
"Oh, is it the pressure that causes that? I thought it was the
knife."
"You learn something new everyday," Kian added, from his
safe position at the other end of the room. Or maybe not so safe. Kieran had
hurriedly and silently commanded him to keep Jessa as far from the actual fray
as he possibly could -- and if it wasn't
possible, then he was to protect her at all costs.
He hadn't thought, however, that he would be protecting himself
from her or her from herself. That made things just a little bit harder.
The look Kieran bestowed on him was scathing and he suddenly
realized he wasn't helping the situation. He opened his mouth to atone for this
mistake, but his twin cut him off. "You have the right to remain silent,
Kian," he purred. "Why don't you take advantage of it?"
Sulking, Kian subsided.
"Now let her go, 'Cinta, and we can talk about this
reasonably." Kieran's voice was
soft and convincing, the sensual undertones rubbing roughly over Cameron's
senses. She wondered how Giacinta could resist that persuasive purr pulling and
pushing toward the depths of her soul.
And then she had her answer. "You don't fool me, cher. Tell your lies and weave your
illusions, but remember how easily I can see through you."
She shoved Cameron to the floor behind her, stepping back lightly
on her hair to keep her from moving. Kieran sprang toward her. She caught him
easily, shifting his weight so that his body fell into her, but did not cause
them to fall.
His eyes met hers, startled, questions swimming within those violet
depths, and tried to pull back. She shook her head lightly and gripped the soft
material of his shirt even tighter. And something sparkled in the depths of
those eyes, something promising and something sad. He was bewildered at the
emotions he saw there.
She leaned forward, her mouth raising to catch his lips. Just
before that first brush of flesh against flesh, there was a loud crash.
"'Cinta?" a loud voice wailed from the doorway.
Kieran blinked, as if released from a sorcerer's spell. "Talk
about ruining the moment," he quipped, horrified at what had almost
happened.
The vampire's eyes narrowed and Cameron whimpered as she slid her
foot, yanking the hair. "Not now,
Morgan," she answered. Her voice was calm. "Go to bed."
"But--" Morgan protested. Giacinta could almost hear the
tears welling in her eyes.
"No, she said firmly. "Bed."
Soft footsteps padded away, but Giacinta didn't look back to make
sure Morgan had followed orders. All her attention was concentrated on the twin
before her. She smiled and it was cruel.
She swayed toward him again, her black eyes sucking him in. He
tried to look away. He tried to think of Cameron, think of anything other than
what was in front of him. But her eyes drew him like two giant black holes and
then he felt her lips brush softly against his.
The kiss was poignant, or would have been if they hadn't stopped
caring for each other long ago. And instead it became a symbol, but of what,
Kieran wasn't sure. He pulled back when she blinked, those hypnotic eyes losing
whatever draw they'd held. Furious, he jerked his head away.
Giacinta brushed the pad of her thumb lightly over that full lower
lip, absently, as though she didn't notice that anger. "Cher," she said, "you know
I'll always care about you."
Then the stake slid smoothly into his heart.
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]