“For what? I don’t have to cut off their heads if we’re going to burn them.”
“No, but One Eye says she has power in that blue eye, and he wants it. He thinks if he puts it in his dead socket that he’ll see again.”
The second man laughed. “Bullshit.”
“Don’t laugh at the old ways or you’ll anger the spirits. Are you turning your back on your people already?”
The man took the knife from Standing Bear.
While they talked it out, my left hand was slowly creeping around inside of Christian’s coat and pants in search of a weapon since my only dagger was too far out of reach and quite useless against these men. Apparently it wasn’t easy to get daggers through airport security, so Viktor had told us to leave them at home. One person who searched my shoes grew suspicious, but Christian charmed him, and they quickly became preoccupied with a drunk who was threatening to blow up the airport if they didn’t find his luggage.
Each time I tried to move my hand higher, the wood in my back tore at my nerves. It had gone deep, and I could feel the blood trickling down my back just as tears were gathering in my eyes from the pain.
“Do you have a bag to put it in? I’m not carrying her eyeball around in my pocket,” the man said.
Standing Bear pinched his chin. “I’ll see if I can find a resealable bag.”
Relief swam through me when he walked away. The man in the hat wandered over and squatted down so he could brush my hair back. He held the pointy tip of the knife near my face, and I was seconds away from blowing my cover when he yelled out, “Bring me a spoon!”
“A what?” Standing Bear yelled from across the house.
“A spoon! The kind you eat cereal with. I can’t do this with a knife, or it’s going to get messy. Easier just to scoop it out.”
I shuddered inwardly.
He turned around and tossed the knife by his crossbow. Before he looked back, I hooked my right arm around his neck and yanked him in, sinking my fangs into his jugular. I sucked hard and fast, and when he scooted back to get away, it helped me to sit up. Since he was neither a Mage nor Vampire, I pressed my hand against his chest and knocked him out with a powerful burst of energy. His body convulsed, and I quickly retracted my fangs and spat out a mouthful of blood. Then I gave him a second shock to keep him quiet.
When I pulled the stake out of Christian’s back, he sat up and looked at me, completely nonplussed. “Well, you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
I gritted my teeth when he pulled the impalement wood from my back. “Every girl should have secrets,” I croaked.
Christian leaned in and gave me a hostile glare. “Why didn’t you share that with me in the training room? It’s a fairly important detail to know that impalement wood has no effect on you.”
“What would be the fun in that? Can we talk about this later? Standing Bear is on his way back with a spoon to scoop out my eye.”
Christian put his arm around my waist and helped me up. “And what exactly were you searching for in my trousers, Precious?”
I patted my hand on his chest. “A weapon? Sadly, I didn’t find anything impressive.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Maybe next time check a little lower. That’s where I keep the dangerous ones.”
I glanced down at the fallen man. “Maybe you should go take care of Spoon Man before he comes back.”
Christian straightened his back. “From the sound of it, he’s in the freezer using that spoon to eat ice cream. He’ll just be a moment. Why don’t you freshen up while I give my warmest regards to our visitor?”
I caught my horrific reflection in a hall mirror and went into the bathroom to rinse the blood off my mouth. Seeing myself like that brought back memories. When I emerged from the tiny room, Christian was dragging the unconscious man down the hall by his wrist.
“What about the guy in the kitchen?” I whispered.
“Already taken care of,” he sang. “Gather up the weapons, will ya?”
When I entered the living room, I chucked the crossbows and knife in a pile by the bodies.
“Christian, we can’t burn him alive,” I said, motioning toward the guy whose baseball cap had fallen off.
Christian knelt down and cracked his knuckles. “Worry not. I don’t like killing them when they’re as feeble as a kitten. I think One Eye needs a lesson on who he shouldn’t mess with, so I’ll make sure this one sends him the message.” Christian patted the man’s cheek. “It’s your lucky day.”
I collected my jacket and hat from the floor and grimaced as I headed to the bedroom to retrieve Penny’s diary. While Christian was busy searching for a can of gasoline or a nuclear device, I packed the laptop in his bag and did another search to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. Penny wouldn’t have photographs lying around, and people didn’t use address books anymore since they kept everything on their phones. Unfortunately, we hadn’t found a phone on either of the victims, so it led me to believe the killer had known them and taken the phones so nothing would trace back to him.
