By a Thread (38 page)

Vanessa shook her head. “Honestly, I haven't thought that far ahead. I'm just trying to figure out how I can put clothes on our backs and find us someplace to stay while everything gets sorted out. Even though I hate this place with every bone in my body, I almost wished that the mansion hadn't burned. At least then I'd have something to start with to help us get back on our feet.”

I pointed at the diamond
and pearl choker and cuffs that she still wore. “Those baubles you have on will be a good start. The diamonds are especially exquisite.”

“Really?” Vanessa asked, looking down at the cuffs on her wrists. “I thought they were glass, fakes, just as fake and twisted as Dekes was.”

“Oh, no,” I said. “I know a thing or two about gemstones, and those are the real deal. You won't have any problem hocking those for cold, hard cash—quite a bit of cash, actually.”

Bria cleared her throat. “Speaking of cash . . .”

Her voice trailed off, and she looked at Finn, who winced.

“Aw, come on. Do I have to?” Finn grumbled.

Bria cleared her throat again and gave him a little shove forward.

Finn sighed. “All right, all right. You know you were talking about cash, Gin? Well, these might help too.”

He reached into his pants pocket and came out with a fistful of gold doubloons. I recognized the gleaming coins as being part of Dekes's collection of pirate treasure. Bria cleared her throat a final time, and Finn stuck his hand in his other pocket, drawing out a lovely ruby necklace, three bracelets, and several rings. He stared down at the jewel-crusted booty in his hands before sighing again and handing everything over to Vanessa.

“Finnegan Lane,” I drawled. “You should be ashamed of yourself. When did you have time to stop and raid one of Dekes's treasure rooms? Some of us were fighting to stay alive, you know.”

Finn shifted on his feet.
“It was right after you said that you guys had found Vanessa and Victoria. We were retreating out of the mansion, and we passed one of Dekes's pirate rooms. I knew that if you had your way Dekes wouldn't be missing it, so I stopped long enough to slip a few items in my pockets.”

We all looked at him.

“What?” he muttered. “You can't blame a guy for looking out for himself.”

I laughed, leaned over, and rumpled his hair. “No, you certainly can't do that.”

26

“You know,” I murmured a few days
later. “I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this vacation thing.”

“Really?” Owen said, pressing a soft kiss to the hollow of my throat. “It certainly took you long enough.”

It was early Wednesday morning. Owen and I had left the others sleeping in the beach house and had slipped out to the cove so we could have a little privacy. The sun had just come up over the eastern horizon, and we were lying on a couple of blankets, protected once again by the striped umbrella over us.

And once again, we were completely, blissfully naked.

We'd already made love and were basking in the warm, soft afterglow, watching the rest of the world wake up around us. The seagulls were once again flying their usual circles above, while the heat of the day had already started to shimmer up in waves from the golden sand. The ocean rolled in and out of the shore on its endless journey, the sparkling water looking just
as bright and blue as the cloudless sky above.

“I can't believe we're going home this afternoon,” I said, snuggling a little closer to Owen.

“Don't tell me these past few days have turned you into a beach bum,” he teased.

“No, but it has been nice to just relax. As much as I hate to admit it, Finn was right. I needed a vacation.”

And I'd finally gotten one these past few days. We'd all decided to play hooky from work and stay in Blue Marsh a little while longer to help sort out the consequences of Dekes's oh-so-timely demise. Really, though, Donovan had done most of the heavy lifting, dealing with the police and their questions and keeping the rest of us out of things. I didn't know exactly why the detective was being so helpful, but I wasn't going to question his motives too closely, since his handling of the investigation had left the rest of us free to while away the hours as we pleased.

Jo-Jo had spent her days by the beach at the Blue Sands hotel, sipping tropical drinks and flirting with the cute cabana boys and lifeguards. More often than not, Sophia joined her older sister, although the Goth dwarf was more interested in swimming and relaxing than flirting. Finn also frequented the hotel to get his long-awaited massages and other lavish pampering, along with Bria.

My sister had also spent quite a bit of time with Callie, helping the other woman come to terms with everything that had happened. Callie had been more than a little shaken up after being kidnapped and smacked around by Dekes, and Bria was helping her friend deal with things as best she could. I thought that hanging out with Callie was good for Bria too,
and that it might get her to face her own lingering demons about being tortured by Mab. I hoped so anyway.

As for me and Owen, we'd taken more than one long, clichéd walk on the beach to the cove. In between walks, we'd gone out and explored Blue Marsh, from the downtown shops and restaurants to the island's nature preserves and parks. We didn't talk much, but just being with Owen soothed me and made my own nightmares about Dekes and his attack on me a little easier to bear. I would never forget what the vampire had done to me, how he'd stolen my blood and my magic and had almost killed me, but that was all right. I'd add the hard lessons that the vamp had taught me to all the other painful ones I'd learned over the years.

“So what are you going to say to Donovan when you see him this afternoon?” Owen asked, cutting into my thoughts.

Callie was throwing a good-bye luncheon for us at the Sea Breeze before we headed back to Ashland. I knew as well as Owen did that Donovan would be there. I hadn't seen the detective much these past few days, but I'd told Owen how Donovan had reached out to me when he'd seen me outside Dekes's burning mansion. Needless to say, Owen hadn't liked that one little bit.

“I don't think there's anything to say,” I replied. “Donovan made his choice back in Ashland, and I made mine the other night. Actually, I made it a long time ago, even if I didn't know it yet.”

“Really? What choice would that be?” Owen asked.

I tapped my index finger on his nose. “Why, you, silly.”

“Oh. That.”

I rolled my eyes and punched
him in the shoulder. Owen just laughed, his deep, rumbling chuckles washing over me like the waves crashing into the shore.

“Well, I still think that I should kick Donovan's ass for hurting you. Hell, just on general principles,” Owen said. “The man's an idiot.”

“Oh, quit being such a guy. I am perfectly capable of defending my honor and whatnot. Besides, kicking Donovan's ass might be satisfying, but in the end it's not worth the effort of washing the blood out of my clothes.”

“But I thought you womenfolk liked it when your guy acts all rough and tough and alpha male. When we take charge of things.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. “It depends on what you think you're taking charge of.”

Owen drew me into his arms, and his hands started sliding down my body once more in slow, deliberate, delicious way. I drew in a breath and arched my back, leaning into him.

“Just maybe?” he whispered, his violet eyes shimmering with heat.

“Definitely,” I whispered back, before pulling his lips down to mine once more.

Owen and I made love again and then lounged on the beach for most of the morning before putting our clothes back on and heading to the beach house. We took a shower, threw on some fresh clothes, and packed up our belongings. Jo-Jo, Sophia, Finn, and Bria came back from their various excursions and did the same, chattering on about all the things
they'd done and seen. Then we all headed over to the Sea Breeze for our last vacation hurrah.

Callie had decided to close down the restaurant for the afternoon to give us a private good-bye luncheon—and what a luncheon it was. Grilled chicken smothered with a sweet mango salsa, sticky cilantro rice mixed with chunks of pineapple, smoky mesquite-marinated steaks, lobster tails dripping with butter, blackened shrimp, fresh-baked bread, baskets of deep-fried hush puppies, crispy sweet potato fries, gallons of pomegranate lemonade, even a couple of key lime pies for dessert. Callie had pulled out all the stops, and we all dug into the scrumptious meal, sitting at a series of tables that had been pushed together in the center of the restaurant.

“I couldn't have made it better myself,” I told Callie after I'd stuffed myself with two pieces of pie.

Callie smiled. I hadn't spent as much time with her as Bria had these past few days, but we'd gotten to know each other a little better. I'd told her all about the Pork Pit and the food I cooked up there, and she told me how her family had started the Sea Breeze decades ago. I wouldn't say that Callie and I were friends now, but we weren't enemies either. I'd even apologized to her for the bitchy way I'd acted the first time we'd met. It was important to me to be friendly with Callie for Bria's sake, and I found that I wasn't jealous of their close relationship anymore. We were both part of Bria's life, and we each had our place in my sister's heart. What exactly those places were was up to Bria to decide, and I was going to respect her wishes—whatever they might be.

“So do you have any idea what
you're going to do now?” Bria asked her friend.

Callie's smile widened. “Just keep on keeping on right here at the restaurant. You don't know what a relief it is, not to have to worry about Dekes or his men bothering me anymore.”

She didn't have to say the words—I could see the difference in her for myself. The worried purple smudges were gone from under her eyes, and her whole body was utterly relaxed. Her gray-green eyes were that much brighter in her pretty face, and there was a lightness in her step that hadn't been there before. A weight had definitely been lifted off Callie's shoulders, and seeing how relaxed and happy she was made me glad that I'd been able to help her.

“In fact,” Callie added, “I'm thinking about expanding the Sea Breeze with the help of my new business partners.”

Callie looked down the table where Vanessa and Victoria were sitting next to Finn. As was usual whenever he was around anyone with money, my foster brother was telling them all about the wonderful things he could do with the cash that the sisters had made hocking the treasure he'd swiped from the mansion before the fire. Victoria's eyes glazed over as Finn started talking about tax shelters, but Vanessa had a shrewd, calculating expression on her face. I thought that the Fire elemental was going to be a force to be reckoned with in Blue Marsh someday very soon.

Callie, Vanessa, and Victoria had become fast friends, bonded together by what they'd suffered because of the vampire. The sisters had been
staying at the beach house with the rest of us these past few days. I'd thought that they would leave Blue Marsh immediately, but apparently, despite the bad memories, they liked it here and felt it would be a good place to settle down. Besides, someone had to stay around to oversee Dekes's many business interests on the island. The vampire had died without leaving a will, so everything he owned now belonged to his wife, Vanessa. Vamps. They all thought they were going to live forever.

Vanessa had already hit the ground running. Finn had helped her get started, and she'd already scrapped the casino project and planned to return all of the property that Dekes had bought to their rightful owners—with a little something extra for their time, trouble, and suffering at the vampire's hands. It would be a lot of work, erasing Dekes and his legacy from the island, but I thought Vanessa was up to the task.

“I'm glad you're going to be here for a long time to come,” Bria said, squeezing Callie's hand. “And the restaurant too. Blue Marsh wouldn't be the same without either one.”