Wicked Whispers (10 page)

“Yes, well, I just wanted to let you know there are now officially two crazies in the family.” She widened her eyes. “Please, don’t tell Mom.”

“I won’t. She’d never understand.” His resignation sounded years old. “Your mother is a wonderful woman, but staying grounded is her obsession.” The silence built. “And I’m sorry I never handled things better, sweetheart. I pushed everyone out of my life except for the voices and the… things I saw. You, your mom, and your brother deserved better.”

Ivy swiped at her tears and focused on not sniffling. “At least you’re not alone anymore, Dad.”

He sighed. “I’d rather stay alone forever if it meant you’d be spared this—a lifetime of pretending you didn’t see them standing right next to you, pretending you didn’t hear them talking to each other.”

She wondered if he was wiping away his own tears.

Then he was all worried-Dad again. “Do you want to come home? I don’t think you should stay in that place. I have a final check coming from the job I just quit. I can send you a plane ticket tomorrow and—”

“No, I’m fine here.” Maybe. “I’ll stay for a few weeks and then if things don’t work out I’ll find another job.”

“If you’re sure that’s what you want.”

“I’m sure.” She stared out the narrow window. Darkness was falling. She would meet her first vampire tonight.

“Then stay safe. I love you.”

“Love you too, Dad.” She listened as he hung up.

Ivy lay there a while trying to think things through. Maybe it was her imagination, but it felt as though curls of comfort were unwinding in her mind, pushing away the bad stuff, warming her from the inside out.

Take Whimsy. She’ll make things a little better.
Ivy glanced at the plant.
Nah.
She swung her feet to the floor.

Just in time to answer the knock on her door. She paused with her hand on the knob. What might be on the other side of that door? She dismissed her fears. Any of the scary things in the castle wouldn’t have to knock if they wanted in. Ivy pulled the door open.

Murmur stood smiling at her.

How did he
do
that? The pure impact of him, from his shining fall of blond hair to the almost-imagined music in her mind, drove every thought from her head—what he was, what
she
was, what he’d already done to her, and what he could still do to her if he chose. All gone.

“Sparkle wants us in her office.”

She blinked, and it all came flooding back. She wanted her glare to freeze him into a solid block of ice, but she doubted it would work. He was way too hot to ever freeze into a solid anything. “Us?”

He motioned her from the room. “Us.”

Ivy knew she could refuse to go with him, but that would give him further proof that he bothered her. He’d enjoy it too much. She went back to the nightstand to retrieve her room key, and then followed him into the hall. “Stairs.” She might never get into an elevator again.

He followed her down the steps, and she could feel his glance skimming her back and coming to rest on her butt. It wasn’t a bad feeling. “Why does she need
you
? I assume she just wants to go over my duties.” With the sound and fury she’d heard coming from the candy store, Ivy was surprised that Sparkle was in any condition to meet them at all.

Murmur’s laughter was soft and cynical. “Sparkle is the cosmic troublemaker in charge of sexual chaos. She’s decided that we’re absolutely not right for each other, but the sexual vibes feel good, so she’ll play with us for a while.”

Ivy didn’t like the sound of that. There were
no
sexual vibes. Not many anyway. Okay, so maybe there were a few. “How do you know what she’s planning? Besides, she can’t force us to do anything we don’t want to do.” She wished she felt as positive as she sounded.

“I’ve been here a little longer than you. I’ve seen her in action.”

She sensed his smile.

“I wouldn’t mess with Sparkle. Ganymede can end your life in a moment, but Sparkle can make you wish for death for a thousand years.”

Ivy almost smiled. “You’re exaggerating.”

“No, really.”

She turned her head in time to see him widen his eyes in mock sincerity.

They reached the office tucked around the corner from the conference room. Murmur held the door open for her. Ivy took a deep breath and then stepped into the room.

Sparkle sat behind a massive desk. An empty desk. She watched them from across its wide expanse of richly polished wood, her expression that of a cat with a particularly tasty mouse. “Come in and sit.” She gestured at the two chairs facing her.

Ivy obeyed, aware of Murmur taking the seat beside her. She scanned the room, her gaze stopping as she realized who sat in a shadowed corner of the office.

Zane slouched in a chair watching her. He looked annoyed, dangerous, and beautiful all at the same time. He offered her a brief smile.

“Who won?” Murmur sounded amused.

Sparkle sniffed. “The bitch is lucky I didn’t unload all my power onto her furry ass.” She glanced at her nails. “Broken. Three of them. I’ve already made an appointment at the salon. And I snapped the heel off one of my favorite stilettos trying to drill a hole in her ungrateful head.”

Ivy caught herself staring. Livid scratches and what looked like bite marks marched up Sparkle’s arms. Her hair sort of stuck out all over. Sparkle saw the direction of Ivy’s stare and reached into her desk. She pulled out a mirror, comb, brush, and hair spray. They all waited while Sparkle whipped her hair into its usual tumbled glory. Murmur coughed at the cloud of hair spray.

“Now, where were we? Oh, I wanted to talk to both of you before I had to leave. Ivy, I want you to answer my e-mails. I’ve let them pile up while I took care of some of the Big Boss’s business.” She waved at the work station against the far wall.

“Answer them?” Panic. “How can I answer them? I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Sparkle looked unconcerned. “Be creative. Murmur will stay to help you. He knows me well enough to figure out how I’d probably respond. Oh, and my password is ‘sexyforever.’”

“Why is
he
here?” Murmur nodded toward Zane.

Ivy didn’t miss the animosity in his voice. But she couldn’t worry about Murmur’s attitude. She was too busy hyperventilating.

Sparkle didn’t even glance at the sorcerer. “Zane and I were discussing a few minor details about the castle.”

“
Minor
details?” Zane snorted his opinion of Sparkle’s description.

Sparkle didn’t get a chance to respond because a woman walked into the office. She was petite with short black hair and wide blue eyes. She wore a gray business suit, sensible shoes, and a disapproving expression. She paused, hesitant, when she realized Sparkle wasn’t alone.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize… You said you wanted to see me.” The woman glanced at each of them before focusing on Sparkle.

Sparkle sighed. “This is Ella. She’s one of the cosmic do-gooders we liberated from Ted, the fake angel.” She glanced at Ivy. “Ted had raised an army of powerful nonhumans like me—not nearly as interesting, though, because they’re disgustingly righteous and nauseatingly kind, merciful, and all that other crap. He told them they were angels, and they believed him. Long story short, they attacked the castle trying to overthrow the Big Boss. Edge got rid of Ted for us. Unfortunately, he left Ella and the others here.”

“Edge? But I thought he was in charge of political chaos. How did he—?”

“He was in charge of death back then. He has a new job description now. His work doesn’t take him away from the castle much, though. The politicians usually create their own chaos.”

“I see.” Not. Ivy thought her head would explode.

Ella’s smile looked ragged around the edges. “Since we lived our whole lives following Ted’s rules, we have no idea how to interact with humans on the mortal plane. The Big Boss assigned Sparkle as my mentor.” She didn’t seem totally down with that arrangement.

“Interesting.” Murmur cast a speculative glance Ella’s way. “And what is your particular talent, Ella?”

Ivy wanted to draw the conversation back to the e-mails. How could she possibly answer—?

“I encourage loving committed relationships between couples. I help them see the advantage of practicing purity, sexual control, and modest dress.” Ella didn’t look at her mentor.

Sparkle’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “I will personally kill the Big Boss and take over his stupid empire for this.” Then she stood. “I’m taking Ella with me. After I get my nails done, we’re going shopping for some more stylish clothes.”

“But they must be modest,” Ella reminded her.

“Of course.” Sparkle’s smile was a brief lifting of her lips to expose perfect white teeth.

Ivy wondered why Ella didn’t see the cunning anticipation in that smile.

Sparkle walked around the desk and headed for the door.

“Wait.” Zane finally spoke. “We didn’t finish our discussion.”

Sparkle paused to cast him an impatient stare. “We don’t need increased security, Zane. The gargoyles protect everything in the park.”

The sorcerer stood and reached her in two strides. “They’re not enough. Ted was able to shut them down. Any powerful entity could do the same.”

Sparkle edged closer to the door. “The Castle of Dark Dreams has three cosmic troublemakers, a vampire, a wizard, a sorcerer, and two demons in residence. I believe that’s sufficient security.”

Without giving Zane time to mount an argument, she hustled Ella out the door.

Zane stared at the closed door before turning his frustrated gaze on them. “She refuses to listen.” He threw up his hands in disgust. “An attack by a powerful force could destroy the gargoyles and take the castle down stone by stone. The castle needs more powerful wards.”

Murmur shrugged. “So why don’t you take care of that?”

“She won’t let me. Sparkle and Ganymede don’t trust me enough.”

“You worked for their enemy, so, yeah, I can understand their distrust.” Murmur didn’t try to hide his dislike.

“That has nothing to do with the castle’s safety.” Zane’s expression said he wasn’t a fan of Murmur either.

“Maybe Holgarth can—”

Zane didn’t give Ivy a chance to finish. “My father is a powerful wizard, but he isn’t strong enough to create the wards the castle needs.”

She didn’t have any other ideas to offer, so she walked over to the computer and sat down. Zane and Murmur positioned their chairs on either side of her. “Let’s take a look at these e-mails.” It shouldn’t take too long to answer them. How many could there be? She just hoped she could get away with general answers. And if she messed up, it was Sparkle’s fault for not giving her some directions.

She put in Sparkle’s password, clicked enter, and waited for the e-mail list to appear. It appeared. She stared. “Crap. Is this even possible? She has two thousand unanswered messages? How am I supposed to answer all these?”

“One message at a time.” Murmur reached over to open the first one.

Hi Sparkle,

I was so happy when you hooked me up with Sidney. You can see from my photo that I created a new me. Everything was perfect. The sex was incredible. I fell in love with him. But then I found out he hunted defenseless animals so he could put their heads on his wall. I told him I couldn’t live in a house filled with dead animals. He broke up with me. Sparkle, he loved his ten-point buck more than me. Now I’m so sad. What should I do?

Totally depressed,

Sally

Zane muffled his laughter. She suspected Murmur was doing the same. Jerks.

Ivy stared at Sally’s photo—really short body-hugging dress that gave new meaning to cleavage, and stilettos with heels high enough to give Sally a nosebleed. Sidney never had a chance.

“What am I supposed to tell her?” Ivy had no desire to mess around with someone’s broken heart. “I can answer business mail. I can’t answer this.” Ivy looked at Murmur.

Murmur smiled. “I can channel Sparkle as well as anyone. I’ll take care of this one.”

Ivy changed places with him and then watched him type his answer to Sally.

Sally,

Accept my deepest sympathy, and now suck it up. Sidney was a loser. He didn’t deserve you. Forget him.

Concentrate on the positive. You look hot, lady. Think of Sidney as a practice game. You know the rules now, so go out and get another man. Just make sure you vet the next guy a little better.

Stay sensual,

Sparkle Stardust

“That is so cold.” Ivy was horrified.

“That is so Sparkle.” Murmur didn’t sound too concerned. “If you intend to work for her, you have to think like her.”

“I’ll never do that. I want my seat back.”

Murmur moved without commenting.

She opened a few more e-mails. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll answer these if it saves one person from the kind of answer Sparkle would give. It’ll take a long time, though. I’ll have to think about my answers, make sure I’m giving people the right advice for their situations. But it’ll be
my
advice, not Sparkle’s.”

Ivy frowned. This would be a monumental job. “I’ll print out twenty of these and take them back to my room so that I can really get a feel for their problems.” She waited as the printer did its thing.

“Oh, good grief.” Zane shook his head. “This isn’t that deep.”

She glared at him.

“Okay, here’s what I’ll do to help you. I have some free time. I’ll go through these and answer only the ones thanking Sparkle for her awesome advice. Will you trust me to do that much for you?”

Ivy glanced at Murmur. His narrowed-eyed expression said he wouldn’t trust Zane to take out the trash. For a moment, she wondered why he seemed to dislike Zane so much. Then she allowed the thought to slip away. It wasn’t any of her business.