“I will, but only because this is pointless. If I’d known you were acting out some juvenile vendetta because of Finn, I would have ignored you to begin with. You’d think a demon and a werewolf would have done something a lot more interesting than just a breakup to get you so pissed. Overreact much? Breakups happen, so what? How old are you, anyway? Twelve?”
“Mind your own damned business, Pew—”
He cut off Caitlin’s response and instead addressed Shane. “Sorry I got you tangled up in this, wolf. I can’t say I understand all that is going on right now. I misunderstood your involvement.”
Shane ignored him and looked down at me. “Yeah. I can’t say I understand it all either. I thought you said you didn’t have a boyfriend.”
“I don’t. Finn is my ex.”
Shane ignored the distinction, returning to the fairy. “Just don’t get me airborne again, and we’re good. Oh, or put me in the water.”
The fairy nodded and failed to suppress a grin. “Deal.”
“So, letme get this straight. A fairy, a witch, a demon, and a werewolf are going to capture a vampire.” Shane glanced around at the rest of us. “And this isn’t some setup to a really bad joke? Some punch line where the four of us walk into a bar or something?”
“I still say we should just kill the fucker.” Even the thought caused a delicious rush of fire to surge through my blood.
Caitlin took a swig of her bottled water, then placed it on the table between the two beds in the hotel room she shared with the fairy. “For the last time, we need him. He might be able to give us some information that could help us save Cynthia.”
“And help you rescue the mers.”
“Not the point, fairy.” Caitlin gave him a warning glare.
Newton hadn’t said much when the four of us left the jungle and came back into town. He’d seemed both irritated and bored the entire time until I’d explained to Caitlin why I’d come to Costa Rica. To my surprise, she hadn’t been shocked at all. Of course, she hadn’t yet told me about Finn’s role in the Vampire Cathedral. The only person in the room who had shown any reaction to the revelation of the mers’ existence had been Shane. For the second time in an hour, he looked at me liked he’d just met me. Of course, he had, hadn’t he? Still, I wished I’d explained about the mers before we’d arrived in Montezuma. And told him about Finn. Though the idea that Finn would have been relevant to what we had to do at the Vampire Cathedral would have been ludicrous. That and the fact that Shane and I were nothing more than a hookup that had led to a vampire adventure.
I couldn’t help but be touched by Newton’s passion about the imprisoned mers. Though he struck me as odd, it was good to have another person who seemed genuinely concerned about them.
The fairy didn’t hesitate to rise to the chance of arguing with Caitlin. “It’s totally the point, witch. If we’re going to do this, we try to save them all. The mers and your sister. Especially now that he’s here.”
She scoffed. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew him like I did.”
“He’s a demon who brought a werewolf. I’d say things are looking up.” The fairy leaned back against the headboard and folded his arms, his point made. I wished he’d show his wings again now that he was closer.
“So, you don’t know how many mers there are? Has Finn found out any of their names?” It was beyond my wildest hopes that I actually would find some alive. Of course, that had been the goal, but I hadn’t really believed it would happen. At best, I would have figured out exactly who was behind the captures and found a way to make it stop. Or at least come up with a way to help the mers avoid further incidents. The idea there might be a couple still alive made me want to storm the castle gates—or whatever the Vampire Cathedral equivalent was. Maybe even some of the Chromis were there. How great would that be, to bring back lost members of our tribe? Maybe that redheaded kid Lelas loved so much.
“You’re not even going to ask how he is, are you. All you’re worried about are your precious mers. Not a thought about Finn. Or even Cynthia.”
I looked at her, uncertain how to answer. Actually, to my shame, Finn had been on my mind just as much as the mers. The mers should have blocked out any emotions about my ex-boyfriend. Their lives were much more important than how I’d left things with Finn.
Unable to suppress my emotions, I was filled with both excitement and terror over the thought of seeing him again. So much so that the idea of taking on the Royals sounded less daunting than coming face-to-face with Finn. The thought of him nearby was too much to take in. I’d made peace with never seeing him again.
Or at least I thought I had. Every time I tried to think of what I’d say if I saw him—when I saw him—my mind went totally blank. Nothing but white noise and terror.
Newton’s drawl had returned to slow and bored. “Get some perspective, Caitlin. The man’s got the fate of an entire species on his shoulders. Finn’s nice and all, but let’s have some priorities here.”
Caitlin started to retort, but Shane spoke up from where he sat on the edge of the chair by the window, outside our little circle. Both of his hands rubbed at his temples. “Again, I think the part we need to figure out first is this vampire. I don’t believe it’s going to be as simple to capture him as the plan you laid out, Newton. No offense.”
“None taken. And typically, I’d agree with you. There aren’t any other species that are more dangerous than vampires. Other than full-fledged demons.” He gave a dismissive wave toward me. “Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, we don’t have one of those among us. Still, as strong as they are, I think with our combined skills, we have more than a good chance of containing him.”
Again my skin tingled with anticipation. I’d waited so long to rip the fucker to pieces, and here the chance was, right in front of me. “It would be easier to kill him.”
He nodded. “That’s true, Brett. Keeping him alive for information is taking much more of a risk. And we’re depending on you being able to control your fire to pull that off, instead of just burning him to ash. I still say we should get Finn and Schwint to help us.”
“No!” Caitlin and I both shouted at the same time. She shook her head. “For the last time, no. If this goes badly, one of us needs to be able to stay and help Cynthia. And if Finn knows about our plan or knows that Brett is here, he’s not going to stand by and not try to help.”
I sluffed off the desire to ask who Schwint was. The first time he’d been mentioned, I nearly did, but the expression on Caitlin’s face kept me from it. I didn’t think I wanted to know. “I agree. There’s no reason to risk him. Or Cynthia. Besides, let’s say things do go badly here. Finn would never let anything bad happen to the mers either.”
The fairy gave me a knowing glance. “You might be surprised.”
