Kissed by Ice Read Online Free
was kind of glad Inigo hadn't inherited his brother's size. I liked my men on the lean side.
"I thought you liked it warm," I said, shucking my flight clothes. I wished I'd had shorts or something. Boots and jeans weren't exactly meant for the tropics.
"Warm and dry. This humidity is bullshit."
Couldn't argue with him there. "We need to find Kabita, if she's here, and Eddie." I pulled out my cell phone.
He laid his hand on mine. "Won't work until I lower my shields."
What was he? A freaking starship? "Uh, okay. So lower them."
"Not here. Don't you think people would be a bit surprised to suddenly find two strangers standing in their midst?"
Frankly, I doubted it. Most people couldn't see two feet in front of their noses. "Fine." I tucked the heavy flight clothes under my arm, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into a stairwell. "Okay, this ought to be safe enough."
He nodded. There was a slight shimmer in the air. "We can be seen and heard now."
I glanced at my phone, selecting Kabita's number first. There was no answer.
"She may still be on her way," Drago pointed out. "After all, it would have taken her awhile to convince someone to give her the ship's location and then find a means of transport."
He had a point. I dialed Eddie next. Again no answer. I was starting to feel that sick queasiness in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't sure if I should chalk it up to a sudden onset of seasickness or my sixth sense telling me something was wrong. Based on past experience, I was going with the latter. Although I really wished I'd thought to bring along some Dramamine.
"Surely there is someone on board who can tell us where Eddie is staying," Drago suggested.
"The head concierge," I said. "If I can find him. Probably has an office below decks somewhere. Don't you need to get back to the castle?"
"And leave you alone to face the unknown? I don't think so. At least not until Kabita arrives and we discover what is going on. Inigo would have my scales if I let anything happen to you."
I wasn't so sure about that. "Sure. Great."
I admit I was kind of relieved he was sticking around. Normally I didn't mind being on my own, but I'd never been on a cruise ship before, and I had no idea what I was facing. Going in without any sort of backup was just plain stupid. At least I had weapons now. Back at the castle, Drago had loaned me a boot dagger and a wrist sheath knife. He'd then made arrangements for my weapons to be shipped from Paris to the castle with a promise to have Finn deliver them either to me on the ship or to my house in Portland, depending on what went down during our visit.
I had no idea where on earth to begin looking for the concierge, or if the place had a front desk like hotels. Fortunately we came across a map on the wall indicating the location of guest services.
"That's it," I said, tapping the location on the map. "They should be able to tell us how to find Eddie. I hope."
Drago nodded and took off in the direction indicated with me hurrying along in his wake. Dragons had an unerring sense of direction, one that put my inborn Hunter abilities to shame. Although the deck was fairly busy, the crowd seemed to part for Drago with ease. No one appeared conscious of it, but as he approached, people veered away, leaving a clear shot toward his goal: the elevators.
"Did you do that on purpose?" I asked as we stepped on board.
Drago punched the button for the correct deck. "Do what?" He seemed genuinely confused by my question.
"Never mind."
We rode the elevator in silence. It stopped with a ping, and the doors slid open, revealing an enormous lobby with soaring ceilings and marble floors. At one end was a long desk of polished dark wood like in those snazzy hotels. Above one end of the desk was a sign that said Guest Services.
I wasn't sure exactly how to handle this. They'd realize pretty quickly we weren't legitimate guests, and it wasn't like we could make up some random excuse for how we'd just happened to
"I thought you liked it warm," I said, shucking my flight clothes. I wished I'd had shorts or something. Boots and jeans weren't exactly meant for the tropics.
"Warm and dry. This humidity is bullshit."
Couldn't argue with him there. "We need to find Kabita, if she's here, and Eddie." I pulled out my cell phone.
He laid his hand on mine. "Won't work until I lower my shields."
What was he? A freaking starship? "Uh, okay. So lower them."
"Not here. Don't you think people would be a bit surprised to suddenly find two strangers standing in their midst?"
Frankly, I doubted it. Most people couldn't see two feet in front of their noses. "Fine." I tucked the heavy flight clothes under my arm, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into a stairwell. "Okay, this ought to be safe enough."
He nodded. There was a slight shimmer in the air. "We can be seen and heard now."
I glanced at my phone, selecting Kabita's number first. There was no answer.
"She may still be on her way," Drago pointed out. "After all, it would have taken her awhile to convince someone to give her the ship's location and then find a means of transport."
He had a point. I dialed Eddie next. Again no answer. I was starting to feel that sick queasiness in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't sure if I should chalk it up to a sudden onset of seasickness or my sixth sense telling me something was wrong. Based on past experience, I was going with the latter. Although I really wished I'd thought to bring along some Dramamine.
"Surely there is someone on board who can tell us where Eddie is staying," Drago suggested.
"The head concierge," I said. "If I can find him. Probably has an office below decks somewhere. Don't you need to get back to the castle?"
"And leave you alone to face the unknown? I don't think so. At least not until Kabita arrives and we discover what is going on. Inigo would have my scales if I let anything happen to you."
I wasn't so sure about that. "Sure. Great."
I admit I was kind of relieved he was sticking around. Normally I didn't mind being on my own, but I'd never been on a cruise ship before, and I had no idea what I was facing. Going in without any sort of backup was just plain stupid. At least I had weapons now. Back at the castle, Drago had loaned me a boot dagger and a wrist sheath knife. He'd then made arrangements for my weapons to be shipped from Paris to the castle with a promise to have Finn deliver them either to me on the ship or to my house in Portland, depending on what went down during our visit.
I had no idea where on earth to begin looking for the concierge, or if the place had a front desk like hotels. Fortunately we came across a map on the wall indicating the location of guest services.
"That's it," I said, tapping the location on the map. "They should be able to tell us how to find Eddie. I hope."
Drago nodded and took off in the direction indicated with me hurrying along in his wake. Dragons had an unerring sense of direction, one that put my inborn Hunter abilities to shame. Although the deck was fairly busy, the crowd seemed to part for Drago with ease. No one appeared conscious of it, but as he approached, people veered away, leaving a clear shot toward his goal: the elevators.
"Did you do that on purpose?" I asked as we stepped on board.
Drago punched the button for the correct deck. "Do what?" He seemed genuinely confused by my question.
"Never mind."
We rode the elevator in silence. It stopped with a ping, and the doors slid open, revealing an enormous lobby with soaring ceilings and marble floors. At one end was a long desk of polished dark wood like in those snazzy hotels. Above one end of the desk was a sign that said Guest Services.
I wasn't sure exactly how to handle this. They'd realize pretty quickly we weren't legitimate guests, and it wasn't like we could make up some random excuse for how we'd just happened to
Readers choose
Louis L’Amour
R.E. Butler
Hannah Howell
Kate Avery Ellison
Julie Klassen
Kaitlyn O'Connor
Zena Wynn
Sidney Bristol