Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS) (18 page)

Grim smiled. He nodded at Zane. “Ask him about it.”

The sorcerer shrugged. “I have a few untapped talents.”

Thorn clapped him on the shoulder. “I just bet you do. Thanks. A good drenching would’ve cooled them right down.” He tucked that information away for future use.

A sudden rise in the sound level jerked Thorn’s attention back to the gate. He frowned. The people still milling around the gate broke apart, stumbling to get out of someone’s way. A path cleared.

Now what? Whoever was coming had the power to intimidate the crowd.

He stared as the person came into view.

What the hell?

14

Sparkle Stardust sauntered from the human tunnel and set foot on Thorn’s pier for the first time. No one challenged her. The mob stopped grumbling and growling to watch. Kayla decided she was well worth watching.

Sparkle spotted them and walked toward them. No, “walked” was the wrong word. What Sparkle had going was a sexual stalk—all swaying hips and smooth, flowing strides. She didn’t hurry. She must’ve decided to give her audience what they craved.

Her black silk dress stopped at the top of her thighs, and her endless legs and four-inch stilettos created a sensual image that would make any man stop, stare, and probably do some heavy breathing. Kayla expected the males in the crowd to liquefy at any moment and drain into the Gulf.

Her long red hair lifted in a nonexistent breeze—Kayla hoped no one noticed that. Sparkle’s amber eyes glowed with erotic secrets and her full lips promised acts of incredible pleasure.

Kayla readjusted her previous assumptions. She’d always overlooked Sparkle when she was trying to decide which nonhumans were the most powerful. Now? Sparkle didn’t have a blow-everything-up kind of power, but Kayla suspected she could do just as much damage in her own way. Sex had brought down more than one nation.

Kayla heard a collective groan from the men in the crowd and probably some of the women. The groans from the women would be sounds of escaping envy and instinctive hatred.

As Sparkle reached them, her lips lifted in a sexy smile—tempting, teasing, lethal. She looked at Kayla.

“That’s the way you win, sister. Practice. It’s all about presentation.”

Kayla wasn’t sure if Sparkle was talking about the presentation H.A.T.E. had produced or her sensual presentation of a minute ago. It seemed everything Sparkle did was a sexual suggestion. Or maybe that was just Sparkle’s power.

Sparkle shifted her attention to Thorn. “We need to talk.”

Thorn’s smile wasn’t a smile at all. “Why would you want to talk? Looks to me as though you’ve won the day. I’ll have to shut Nirvana down while I make repairs. When this story hits the news, some people will be afraid to come here. You should be home celebrating by puttering around in someone’s sex life.”

“I don’t putter.” Sparkle frowned. “And that wasn’t supposed to happen. Things got out of hand. But the riot’s not the most important topic of discussion.”

“So, talk.”

Thorn might sound relaxed, but Kayla could feel his tension. He dropped her hand and instead put his arm around her waist. She leaned into him, sharing her warmth and support. To hell with what Sparkle thought.

“Not here.” Sparkle nodded at Thorn’s apartment. “I’m getting warm, cozy vibes from that building.”

“Someone told you.” Thorn sounded resigned.

“Perhaps my demon of music, Murmur, visited Klepoth a few days ago. Klepoth might have told him you had an apartment on the pier. And maybe Murmur mentioned it to me.” She shrugged. “I understand. I love living where I work.”

Thorn took his arm from around Kayla’s waist. She mourned the loss. He pulled a key from his pocket and handed it to her. “I have to talk to Grim. The police will want a statement. I’ll be back as fast as I can.” He speared Sparkle with a hard stare. “Have something meaningful to say by the time I return.”

Sparkle waved him away. “While you’re out, send someone to the castle to get Banan. We’ll need him at our meeting. And bring your water horse back with you.”

Thorn nodded and then he was gone.

Kayla didn’t say anything to Sparkle until they were inside the apartment. She collapsed onto the couch while Sparkle wandered into Thorn’s kitchen and opened his fridge.

“Blood, blood, blood, and
champagne
. Thank Dionysus. I thought I might have to drink water.” Sparkle opened the bottle, poured herself a glass, and then settled onto one of the chairs.

Thorn kept blood in his fridge? Kayla wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She’d never asked him about his eating habits. Something else to add to her need-to-know list.

Kayla firmly put thoughts of Thorn aside to focus on how mad she was at Sparkle. “Are you that desperate? People could’ve died tonight.”

Sparkle peered into her champagne. “Sparkly and bubbly, just like me.”

Kayla frowned. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Sparkle stopped staring at the wine. “Are you thinking of quitting, Kayla?”

“I . . . don’t know. Maybe.” Surprised, she realized that resigning had been hovering in the back of her mind for days. She didn’t want to be a party to driving Thorn out of business anymore. Her father would be furious, but it was his own fault. He’d known she didn’t want the job. She’d find another way to finance her education.

The thought empowered her. Defying her father had rarely been a viable option. His steamroller personality had flattened all challengers. Maybe she’d found someone important enough for her to refuse to play the part of the pancake anymore.

“You’d resign. Because of Thorn?”

Sparkle sounded sympathetic, but something sly moved in her eyes.

“Yes.” Kayla decided to be honest. “And maybe I’m not as committed to my father’s business model as I should be.” That was an understatement.

“Have you made love yet?”

“Wow, you don’t pull any punches, do you?” Kayla prayed that Thorn would get here soon. “I don’t think I’ll answer that.”

Sparkle looked thoughtful. “Probably not. I don’t get a satiated sexual buzz from you.” She sipped her wine. “I have some information you might find interesting.”

“What?” Kayla didn’t like Sparkle’s small satisfied smile.

“I’d been wondering about Thorn’s power. I hadn’t seen any sign of it so far, but every Mackenzie vampire has impressive skills. So I did a little research. It was tough, because Thorn changed his name every time he sneezed. But I know lots of people. I finally found someone who knew him about five centuries ago.” She set her glass on the coffee table, leaned back, and crossed her legs. All in slow motion.

Sparkle looked at her from under her lashes, waiting for her to ask what his power was. Kayla refused to give her that satisfaction. She remained silent.

Sparkle blinked first. She sighed. “You’re no fun. Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s persuasion.” She waited for Kayla’s reaction.

“What exactly does that mean?” Foreboding was a black storm cloud building up on her personal horizon. She had a feeling this wasn’t going to be good.

“I hate explaining the obvious.” Sparkle almost managed to look petulant. “It means he can persuade anyone to believe anything he wants them to believe. For example: I’m sure he used persuasion to steal Eric, Zane, and Klepoth from me.”

So what did that have to do with . . . ? Oh. “He could persuade me to care for him.” And she wouldn’t remember him doing it. Zane, Eric, and Klepoth certainly didn’t know he’d used his power on them. She took that thought to its logical conclusion.

Sparkle gave voice to the thought. “And he could make you believe he cared for you.” She oozed fake sympathy. “It’s a heartbreaking situation. You’ll never be able to trust your own feelings or his.” Then she smiled, and the ancient cosmic troublemaker shone from those amber eyes.

“This is what you do.” Kayla made it a statement.

“Yes. Does it hurt?” She answered her own question. “Of course it does. That’s the point of my whole existence—proving that love is painful, messy, and should be avoided.” A tear slid down her perfect cheek.

What the . . . ? Kayla leaned forward. “This isn’t about me at all, is it?” Well, in a way it was, because Sparkle was taking her down in flames too. But she’d think about that later. “Is Ganymede still gone?”

Sparkle nodded at her wine.

“Where is he?”

Sparkle shrugged.

Frustrated, Kayla spoke louder. “Talk to me.”

“I don’t know.” Sparkle finally met her gaze. “But wherever he is, he’s still causing trouble. I brought in the demonstrators, but I didn’t cause the distractions that drew most of the police away.”

“Ganymede?”

“I spoke to one of the officers. Every one of those reports was real. Who else but Ganymede could get a parade of elephants onto the Causeway?” She looked stricken. “One of the crowd said a big blond guy sneaked the liquor to them.” Sparkle glanced away. “The blond man even spoke to the leader of H.A.T.E. and whipped up his anger. That’s what Mede can do. He raises aggression levels. He’s a destroyer.” She looked back at Kayla. “After the Big Boss set boundaries for Mede, I thought he’d settle for only using his power in emergencies, but I have a bad feeling about things.”

Kayla remembered the look on Ganymede’s face when Sparkle had screamed at him.
We
were
nothing. We
are
nothing.
Ouch. “What will he do now?” Did she want to know?

Sparkle shrugged. “Mede is capable of anything when he’s in a rage.” She looked lost. “We have to pray he’ll stick to small stuff: trying to kill Thorn, destroy Nirvana, and hurt me.”

“And if he decides to go big?” Kayla thought she knew the answer.

“Everyone and everything on Earth is in danger.”

Well, that sort of painted an ominous big picture. They sat in silence. Kayla figured that Sparkle was worrying about Ganymede while she thought about the power of persuasion.

Thorn finally returned. Banan and Kel were with him. He paused in the doorway. “Something happen while I was gone?” Thorn addressed the question to Sparkle.

Kayla and Sparkle just shook their heads.

Thorn walked to the couch and sat down next to Kayla. She edged away. He frowned, but he didn’t mention it. Instead he looked at the other two men.

“There’re drinks in the fridge. Help yourself.” Then he turned his attention back to Sparkle. “Okay, I brought the shark and the water horse. Let’s hear it.”

Sparkle lifted her chin and showed Thorn attitude. “Stop glaring. I organized the demonstration, but all the bad stuff came from Mede. He’s still pissed off, and I don’t know where he is. I don’t doubt he’ll try to cause more trouble for
both
of us.”

“Lovely.” Thorn leaned back against the cushions. “Just freaking lovely.”

“But we have worse problems right now.” Sparkle watched Kel and Banan return with their drinks.

“Worse?” As in worse than the destruction of life as Kayla knew it?

“Let me reword that. We have more immediate problems.” Sparkle included all of them in that statement. “Aegir’s deadline is getting closer, and we don’t have a plan to kick his immortal ass out of the Gulf.”

“I assume you have something in mind?” Thorn’s expression said she
always
had something in mind.

Sparkle seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. “First, we have to stop trying to wreck each others’ businesses. Live the Fantasy will go bankrupt no matter what you do if Aegir isn’t stopped. No one’s staying in the castle because people are afraid of Galveston at night. They might still come to Nirvana, but they scurry right back to the mainland when they leave.”

Kayla was on team Sparkle with this one. No matter how many federal agents and local police patrolled the island, Galveston was dying. The cruise ships had shut down operation here yesterday. People were putting their businesses up for sale and hoping someone would buy them. She’d bet that followers of Aegir would be scooping them up for pennies.

Sparkle met Thorn’s gaze. “I watched the news right before I came over here. I wanted to see what reporters were saying about the riot. A cargo ship went down about an hour ago. You probably didn’t notice because of . . . other things.”

“Shit.” Kel said it for them all.

Thorn grabbed his remote and turned on the TV. They sat in silence through the announcement that the Port of Houston was closing until further notice. All boats, large and small, were to stay out of the waters near Galveston. Some nearby oil rigs were being evacuated. And since the attacks on businesses were continuing, Galveston officials suggested that those who could should leave the island.

Thorn turned off the TV and pulled out his cell phone. He punched in a number. “Grim, tell everyone we’ll be shutting Nirvana until further notice. Don’t bother trying to fix anything right now. I’ll speak to everyone on the team after I’m finished with this meeting.”

Sparkle seemed relieved. “I’ll tell Holgarth to shut down Live the Fantasy as of tomorrow.”

“Now we deal with Aegir.” He looked at Kayla. “You’re human.”

Kayla heard, “You’re fragile.”

“You should get a plane home in the morning.”

She wanted to believe the pain she saw in his eyes was real. But what did she know about how persuasion worked? If he was using his power now, though, he was doing a crappy job. Because she wasn’t listening. “No.” No explanation, no begging. Just the one word.

“Fine.” But his expression said it was definitely
not
fine.

Thorn spoke to Sparkle. “You had a reason for asking Kel and Banan to sit in at the meeting?”

“No one has found even one body from all of those sunken boats. That makes me believe Aegir is holding them.” Sparkle looked as though she was figuring things out as she went along.

Kayla added her thoughts. “Alive, they’d make a great fail-safe in case his plans went south. Hostages are always useful.”

“That means we have to get them away from him first, before we hit him.” Thorn looked at Kel and Banan.

Sparkle nodded. “Kel and Banan are the only two sea creatures we have. They need to go out and see if they can find a weakness in his headquarters.”

Thorn met Kel’s and Banan’s gazes. “You didn’t sign up for this. I’ll understand if you walk away from it.”

Kel and Banan looked at each other. An understanding seemed to pass between them. Banan spoke for both. “We’re in. We’ll leave now while it’s still dark.”

Everyone remained silent until they’d left.

Then Thorn spoke. “Now we plan for war.”

* * *

Thorn raked his fingers through his hair. He hated that Kayla would be in danger, but he couldn’t force her to go.
You can if you persuade her.
No, he wouldn’t listen to the part of him he’d rejected so long ago. In fact, the voice wouldn’t even be speaking to him if he hadn’t used his power twice in the last week. Now it was awake and whispering its small temptations. But he knew small temptations would lead to bigger ones. He also knew the price he’d pay when he kept resisting those temptations.