Kissed by Ice by Shéa MacLeod Page B

closed doors. Somebody had taken the time to weather-strip the crap out of them. Definitely a good place for a bunch of vamps to hang out.
    "This is definitely it."
    Kabita nodded and stepped to the left. Twisting the doorknob, she shoved the door open and shone her flashlight into the kitchen beyond.
    "Where's yours?" she asked.
    "Didn't bring one."
    She shot me a look. "You didn't?"
    I shrugged. I didn't bother pointing out I could see better in the dark without one. I didn't like reminding her I was a freak and getting freakier by the second. Not in a good way, either, if that whole flooding thing was anything to go by. Yeah, I was pretty sure that had been me, but I really didn't want to think about it right now.
    Since Kabita was going left, I went straight to the second closed door. Pushing it open, I found more hallway and closed doors. Fantastic.
    Straight ahead was the front door. All the glass inserts had been covered over with tin foil and duct tape, and weather-stripping had been tacked around the cracks to prevent even the tiniest amount of light from seeping through. There was a door on either side of the hall. Same deal with the weather-stripping, I guessed just in case somebody accidentally opened the front door in broad daylight. Which was doubtful, seeing as how it was barricaded with a steel bar. Nobody was opening that door from the outside.
    The door to the left revealed a dining room, its giant picture window covered in more tin foil and topped by a heavy velvet curtain. Totally out of place in the tropics. I could make out a long table large enough to seat twelve. Matching chairs had been pushed back against the walls like it was a ballroom, and black garbage bags covered the floor beneath the table. Weird. Another door led to what I assumed was the kitchen. I left the room to Kabita and crossed to the other side of the hall.
    The main room ran the full side of the house and, like the dining room, its large windows were completely blocked off. Still, I could easily make out the low huddled forms of sofas, easy chairs, and side tables. The room was as empty as the rest of the house, but still I could feel that gripping on the back of my skull that told me vamps were nearby.
    "I'm headed upstairs." Kabita's whisper broke the silence. I turned to see her standing in the doorway, her flashlight pointed at the floor so it wouldn't blind me. Who was I kidding? Kabita knew all my best freakish qualities.
    "Sure thing. I'm going to poke around down here some more." I couldn't say why, but I had the strongest feeling our answers lay here, not on the floor above. Kabita nodded and disappeared. I could just make out the sound of her footsteps ascending the back stairs.
    I returned to prowling the room. Heavy velvet drapes graced every window despite the aluminum foil. Double security, I guessed. Someone had hung matching drapes on the opposite wall to balance the room. It was weird, but it kind of worked. All dramatic and stuff. I frowned, wondering why. The room wasn't that large that it needed balancing. Why not just paint the wall or hang pictures or something? Why hang curtains?
    I swished back the first curtain, revealing bare white wall. The next was the same. By the time I reached the last curtain, I was starting to think I was an idiot, but instead of bare wall, there was a cheap wooden door.
    "Oh, bravo," I murmured, pushing it open. A set of stairs led down into what was clearly a basement. All righty then.
    Leaving the door open, I made my way around the room, shoving back curtains and ripping foil off the windows. Light flooded the space and filtered down the stairs. Perfect. Anyone running up here would either be human, or they'd dust. Well, they could be demon, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
    Blinking my eyes against the bright light, I made my way quietly down the stairs. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, sharpening edges and picking out details. I cursed silently as I realized the