Jennifer Estep: By a Thread

While we waited for things to calm down, I filled the others in on my battle with the vampire and how Vanessa had helped me defeat him. Vanessa crouched down on the lawn a few feet away, her arms wrapped around Victoria, who was now awake and sitting up. Both sisters stared at the burning mansion with grim, satisfied expressions on their faces. I got the impression that if they could have, they would have blasted the structure again and again with their Fire and Air magic to make it burn that much hotter and faster.

Finally, Bria broke away from the group of cops and came over to where I was standing with Owen, Finn, Sophia, and Jo-Jo.

“So what’s Donovan telling them?” I asked.

Bria shrugged. “Some lame story about a gas leak getting out of control, exploding, and causing the fire with the added unfortunate consequences of Dekes and several of his men being trapped and burned alive by the flames.”

“And what’s he going to say about the busted gate and all the bodies with bullets in them?” Owen asked. “Especially the ones outside?”

He jerked his head. The giants that Finn, Bria, and Sophia had killed on their way inside the mansion lay strewn about the lawn like oversize garden gnomes that had been toppled over onto their sides.

Bria shrugged again. “Donovan’s claiming that he came to rescue Callie from Dekes and that the giants wouldn’t stand down and forced him to fire on them. Apparently, he’s going to hang the four bodies Gin and I left in the pool at the Blue Sands on the vampire and his men as well. I heard Donovan say something about infighting among Dekes’s men, some feud that got out of hand.”

Well, that was a rather convenient way for Donovan to clear his case, but I wasn’t going to complain, since it would keep the cops from looking at Bria and me in connection with those deaths. For once, the detective was actually doing me a favor. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was mellowing.

“I don’t think anyone will be too concerned about Dekes, his men, or how they really died,” Bria added. “The folks the vamp threatened will just be glad that he’s gone. So will the other power players on the island, since his death will let them grab a little more of his empire for themselves. Pretty soon, it will be business as usual again.”

Eventually, Vanessa helped Victoria up to her feet, and the two sisters drifted over to us. Victoria still looked frail, weak, and ashen, but Jo-Jo had claimed she’d be all right in a few weeks now that Dekes wasn’t around to continually suck out her blood and magic anymore.

Vanessa walked toward me, her arm around her sister’s slim shoulders. “I just wanted to thank you. For coming back for us. If I could have spared you what Dekes did to you in the library last night and again today, I would have. I hope you know that.”

I waved my hand, dismissing her concerns. “You tried to warn me about him during the press conferece. It was my own fault that I didn’t listen to you. But I think things turned out okay in the end, since the bastard is burning in hell right now. The question is where will you two go? What will you do now that you’re free of him?”

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.”

“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.