Kissed by Ice (12 page)

Something broke loose inside me. I want to say it was rage, but it was more than that. It rose, ice cold and deadly calm.

I. Would. Finish. This.

I'm not sure what I thought I was doing. With the Darkness riding me, I felt no fear. I brought up my knee, hard. Instinctively, the vamp doubled over despite the fact vampires don't feel much in the way of pain. The minute he did so, my knee came up again, smashing him in the face. I lashed out with my foot, kicking him in the head so hard he tumbled across the floor before jumping to his feet with a snarl. As the vamp rushed me, I simply raised my left hand, palm facing him. The new thing flooded my veins, a rush of icy liquid, chilling me to the bone. It swirled up and through me, down my arms to my fingertips, pooling in the center of my palm. I took a deep breath and then….

As I thrust out my hand, something flew from the center of my palm and lodged itself in the vampire's heart. The creature stared down at the thing sticking out of its chest, then back up at me, eyes wide. It opened its mouth and burst into a cloud of dust. The thing I'd thrown at the vamp hit the floor with a dull
thud
and shattered into a million pieces that bounced across the carpet like tiny, shimmering diamonds.

"Sweet gods above," I whispered, hardly believing my own eyes. I'd just killed a vamp with a freaking icicle. That wasn't normal.

There were still half a dozen more vamps to worry about. I had no time to think on what was normal or why I could suddenly throw shards of ice. This new power came surprisingly easy. I shoved the bloody letter opener in my jeans pocket in case I needed it later. Then, using both hands, I threw another icicle, and another. Within seconds I'd downed another three vamps. But with each icicle, I was growing colder, my movements slower. My entire body was starting to feel numb. Something from a long ago survival class niggled at my brain. Hypothermia. This new power of mine might be awesome, but it came with one hell of a nasty side effect.

I stopped throwing icicles and dug into my pocket with numb fingers for Alister's letter opener. The vamp blood had turned sticky on the handle, and my icy cold skin stuck like a tongue stuck to a frozen lamppost.

I knew the letter opener wasn't much of a weapon, so I made a dash across the room before the vamps were on me. Leaning down, I scooped up my blade. This one didn't stick so badly. Thank the gods for leather handles.

As I continued slashing and hacking and kicking, I tried to force the ice back down to that place inside me where my powers lived. To no avail. I was too sluggish and weak. Even the vamps could see it.

I did the only thing I could think of. I called Fire.

It ripped through me so fast, it left me gasping for breath. Fire shot from my fingers in hungry streamers, licking at the skin of the vamps, blackening it. They screamed in pain, rushing away from me, toward the stairs and daylight. I ran after them, the carpet squishing under my boots. The Fire had melted the ice. I no longer felt cold, but flushed and feverish. The Fire was out of control, licking at the walls, the ceiling. This house was going to turn into an inferno with Kabita and me still inside.

As the Fire lit up the blackness of the basement, I saw that Alister was gone. Damn him.

Screams erupted from the stairwell. The vamps had made it to the top of the stairs before realizing, too late, that bright sunlight spilled through the now open windows, bathing the living room above in deadly rays. The first one burst into dust before the rest hustled back downstairs only to be greeted by the Fire. And me.

I strode slowly toward them, dagger in one hand and letter opener in the other, ignoring the exhaustion that pulled at my limbs. I must have looked freaky as hell, because they appeared to be scared to death, their glowing red eyes fixed on my face. Except vampires were rarely scared, not like this. Their terror was almost palpable.

It hit me. Souls. Every single one of them had souls. Fuck Alister and his damn technology.

"I release you."

The words weren't mine, though I'd spoken them before. They came from the Darkness. Or maybe from something else, who knows? But they came out of my mouth as the Fire licked up the walls toward the trapped vampires.

I watched as the Flame and the sun took them. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. As their remains drifted slowly down through the air, I walked calmly up the stairs and out into daylight. Behind me, the fire raged out of control.

# # #

I didn't remember making it outside, but I must have, because the next thing I knew, I was laying on my back in the grass, staring up at the impossibly blue sky. I coughed a little, my throat tickled by smoke, but other than that, I felt fine. A little overly warm maybe, but that could have been due to being in the tropics.

"Morgan. Oh my goddess, Morgan, say something."

I blinked as Kabita's face came into view, hovering over me. "Oh, good," I mumbled. "You made it out."

"Of course I did," she hissed. "Now stop this before the neighbors see."

"Can't stop a house fire." The very idea was absurd. And was that a rock poking me between the shoulder blades? How rude.

"Not that, you ninny. The
Fire.
You're still channeling it."

Oh, shit. I hadn't realized. The Fire had always been the hardest of my powers to control. The wild nature of it, I supposed. I tried to pull it back down into its hole, but it refused. It was out, and it liked being out. It wanted to burn. Burn everything.

Water was Fire's natural enemy, but calling it was out of the question. I'd nearly frozen myself to death with it. Earth. Yes. Dirt put out a fire, right? That's what people who camped did. Threw dirt over the fire pit to put it out. Not that I knew about such things personally, as I found camping a ridiculous pastime. Still, if throwing dirt was needed, I could do that.

I reached down into my metaphorical core and called for Earth. It came slowly, no hurry, easing its way through me, unfurling gently like a blossom or a vine. It twined its way through my body, creating that green shimmer only I—and possibly a few magical others—could see. Mentally I sent it toward the burning building. I saw it twisting and curling its way over the grass and up the sides of the house, across the roof, through the windows, down the chimney. Wherever it touched, the Fire retreated. Sulkily, like a child who has had its favorite toy taken away.

I called the Earth back to me, and it came, calmly, as if to thumb its nose at the unruly Fire. The Fire slunk back with it, firmly put in its place. I grabbed them both, the Earth gently, but the Fire with a very firm grip, and pulled them back inside myself. Then I slammed the metaphorical lid on them both and lay back on the grass with a sigh. I was bone-deep exhausted. All I wanted was a nap.

"You okay?" Haakon's face appeared beside Kabita's.

"Yeah, fine." I wasn't fine, but I didn't want to look like a wuss. Besides, what could he do about it?

"Find anything?"

Kabita shook her head. "No tech. I think Morgan found some vamps."

Haakon raised an eyebrow. Why could everyone do that but me?

"Yeah," I said, slowly sitting up, realizing I was still gripping blades in either hand. My mouth tasted like week-old socks, and a headache pressed behind my eyes. "They're dust."

"Good. I don't suppose you found who was controlling them," he said.

"Oh, I didn't say that," I said, sliding my dagger into my boot before heaving myself to my feet. I ignored his offered hand. I might be a bit wobbly, but I wasn't an invalid. The minute I was standing, or rather swaying, I shoved the bloody letter opener into my pocket. No sense disturbing the neighbors any more than they already were.

Kabita's eyes widened. "You saw who it was?"

"Better. We had a nice little
tête-agrave;-tête
."

She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, really. Do tell."

"It was your father, Kabita. It was Alister Jones. He's got the book. And we need to go after him before he finds a way off this island."

# # #

We left the burning house behind us. The neighbors were too busy gawking at the blaze to worry about three random tourists. They had even forgotten Haakon's bizarre behavior in the wake of this new excitement. I heard the wail of a fire engine in the distance. The three of us picked up our pace, trotting downhill toward the center of town and the harbor.

"Are you sure it was my… I mean Alister?" Kabita asked. A frown marred her usually placid face. It took a lot to rattle Kabita.

"Definitely. No doubt about it. He even taunted me about the, uh…about stuff." I didn't want Haakon knowing too much about the book. He might be a Sunwalker, but he was an unknown factor in this…whatever this was. War, maybe?

Haakon shot us a glance. "You saw Alister Jones? Here? On the island?"

"Yeah. And we need to get a move on. He's way ahead of us." We picked up the pace, moving almost at a jog. I turned to Kabita. "He left this behind. Thought maybe you would want it." I pulled out the letter opener.

She stared at it in distaste. "Vampire blood?"

I gave a slight shrug. "I needed a weapon. It was handy."

"No, thanks," she said. "I don't want anything of that man's."

I couldn't say I blamed her. Since I was low on weaponry, I tucked the letter opener away. Never knew when something like that would come in handy. "You find anything in the house?"

"No sign of the soul vamp tech anywhere and nothing that would point us to where it is. You?"

I shook my head. "No tech downstairs, either. Just Alister and a whole lot of vamps."

"He wouldn't have it here," Haakon said, falling into step beside us.

"Excuse me?" We both turned to stare at Haakon.

"This soul vamp technology you keep talking about. Jones wouldn't have brought it here. He would keep it in a safe place." He said it slowly as if he was talking to a couple of idiots.

"But then how could he create soul vamps?" I asked archly. "He's got to have the tech to do that."

"Sure. But he probably turned these on the mainland and brought them here. It's not that far. He could easily fly them over at night or bring them in the cargo hold of a ship. Like the ones on-board my cruise ship."

"Okay, good point," I agreed. "But why?"

"That," Haakon said grimly as we arrived at the marina, "is the question."

While Hakkon and Kabita made inquiries at the marina, I hot-footed it to the largest, snazziest hotel on the bay. It was the sort of place that catered to the "discerning traveler." In other words, rich people. Everything was immaculate and fresh, and the employees wore perfectly pressed uniforms. Giant urns filled with tropical flowers perfumed the lobby, but underneath I could smell barbeque wafting over from somewhere nearby. My stomach gave an unladylike rumble, reminding me I hadn't eaten in far too long.

The desk clerk gave me a startled look. I'd swum through the ocean, tromped through the jungle, been flooded out of a dirt tunnel, and fought a bunch of vampires. Oh, and I'd lit a house on fire. I must have looked a sight.

He cleared his throat, straightened his shoulders, and gave me a wide, professional smile. "How may I help you?" His tone was carefully neutral.

"Is there an airport on this island?"

His eyes widened. "Of course not, Madame. The island is too small for a runway."

"Then how do people get here other than by boat?"

"Sometimes a float plane lands in the harbor. Occasionally guests arrive by helicopter." His tone was calm, unflappable, but I could see it was a struggle. He was trying hard not to stare at my singed clothing or the dirty footprints I'd left on the white marble floor.

"Okay, let's say they want to leave. Where would they grab one of these helicopters?"

He licked his lips. "Well, Madame, they would either need to have their own helicopter, or they'd need to hire one. In either case, there is only one place a helicopter can safely put down."

"And that is?"

"The helipad just outside town."

"Where exactly?"

He pulled a glossy trifold brochure from beneath the counter, unfolded it, and laid it flat on the counter. There was a small map of the island with various points of interest marked with large black dots. "We are here." He drew a big X over the spot on the map where the hotel was. "The helipad is here." He drew another mark about a mile or so out of town. "The only way to get there is by taxi. Or walking."

"How about a phone number?"

"Certainly, Madame."

I was getting heartily sick of him calling me "Madame," but at least we were getting somewhere, so I held my tongue. He tapped a few keys on his computer, then scrawled a number on the map. "This is the phone number. If anyone is in the office. They don't keep regular hours."

"Thanks," I said, grabbing the map. "How about a phone?"

He pointed across the lobby to a cream-colored phone fixed to the wall. "There is a customer courtesy phone. Feel free."

"Thanks again." I strode across the lobby and quickly dialed the number. Somebody answered on the sixth ring.

"'Lo."

"Is this the helipad?"

"Sure."

"Have you had any helicopters fly in or out in the last couple hours?"

"Sure."

This was going nowhere. "Did a man named Alister Jones fly out today?"

"Dunno."

I wanted to scream into the phone. Instead I told myself to enhance my inner calm and tried again. "Did a helicopter carrying male passengers fly out within the last couple hours?"

"Sure."

Now we were getting somewhere. I quickly described Alister Jones, down to his pink and blue striped shirt. "Was he the passenger that flew out?"

"Yup."

"Fantastic. Do you know where they were headed?"

"Nope."

"How about which direction they flew?"

I could almost hear him shrug. "West? But that don't mean nuthin'."

He was right, of course. Whatever direction the helicopter had flown initially, they could easily change course once they were over open water. Did helicopters even need to file flight plans? I was pretty sure they didn't, which sort of left us up a creek.