Wicked Edge by Nina Bangs Read Free Book Online Page B

vampire’s mate and drag her off to the dungeon.”
    Oh, no. He wouldn’t. Dacian moved almost too fast for her eyes to follow. He would.
    Before she could even yelp her outrage, he scooped her up and whisked her into the dressing room. As he set her on her feet, she was dimly aware of the raucous laughter coming from the crowd in the great hall.
    “What’re they so happy about?” Passion didn’t find anything funny about the whole situation.
    Dacian shrugged. “Don’t have a clue. There’s some woman out there keeping them all happy and laughing. I’m damn glad she’s here tonight. What the hell happened up there, and who’re you?”
    Passion tried to pull her tattered dignity together as she absently noticed the violet swirling around him. Pride. Compared to the two fighting upstairs, Dacian was practically ready for sainthood.
    “I don’t know what happened up there. Sir Bain was doing his thing and then something tossed him across the room.” She refused to tell him about her glowing fingers. “Then Edge came along, and Sir Bain went ballistic on him.”
    He raised one dark brow to indicate she wasn’t finished with her answers.
    “I’m Passion, and all I wanted to do was to try one of your fantasies. Holgarth gave me the part of the vampire’s mate. I think I’m all fantasied out for the next twenty years or so. They’re too intense for me.”
    She looked up at him from under her lashes to see if he was buying her story. “I think I want to go up to my room now.”
    He’d evidently decided she wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things because he nodded absently. “Sure. Go ahead. But don’t give up on the fantasies, most of them are tamer than this one was.”
    Ha. With all the evil nonhumans cluttering up the castle, she’d bet death and destruction had permanent reservations here. She didn’t answer him as she stumbled from the room. Passion knewshe should find Hope first, but all she wanted to do was collapse into bed and forget tonight.
    But somewhere between the dressing room and her longed-for bed, she picked up a shadow. The gray cat paced beside her as she trudged down the long hallway to her door.
    “Damn, a good fight just makes me feel tingly all over. Too bad Bain didn’t rip Edge’s head off.”
    Startled, she looked down. The cat’s voice in her head still felt creepy. “You saw it? I didn’t see you.”
    “I was hanging in the shadows. You were a little busy, so I’m not surprised you didn’t notice me.”
    “What was really going on between those two? And why do you hate Edge so much?” Surprisingly, she found she didn’t want Edge to be a hate-worthy person.
    “Bain was pissed because Edge was the one who heaved him across the landing. Don’t blame Bain a bit. And I hate Edge because he deserves it.
”
    He stopped and waited while she fumbled in her pocket for the big old-fashioned key they’d given her. The hotel was into authentic.
    “But since I’ve sort of answered your question, maybe you can answer mine.”
    Anything
to get rid of him so she could think. “Sure.”
    “You’re not an angel, so what are you?”
    Passion dropped the key and didn’t even notice as it rolled into a shadowed part of the hall. She stared. Finally, she relaxed. He was crazy, of course.
    She’d use it to her own advantage, though. “Then I guess I’m just an ordinary human. You’re the one that assumed I was an angel, so I played along. Aren’t you supposed to humor the insane?” She widened her eyes and tried to look innocent. Passion had lots of practice at home.
    Ganymede yawned, showing sharp little teeth.
“Give me a break.You’re not human.”
He wore a waiting–by–a–mouse-hole-for-dinner–to–arrive look in his feline eyes.
“I think you believe you are, though. Strange. A real angel would’ve known about me. They all do. Think about that, sweetheart.”
Then he turned and disappeared down the winding stairs. The last thing she saw was that