Wicked Whispers (15 page)

Ganymede continued,
“You give an arch demon a hard time, and he doesn’t pass your name on to his boss, because the Big Bad doesn’t want to be bothered punishing demon insubordination. He has other fun stuff going on down under. So your arch demon gets to punish you.”

“Right.” What did the cat have in mind?

“Now, he’d like to destroy you outright, but my guess is you’re too powerful for that. So he’ll do the next best thing and try to strip you of all your power.”

Murmur didn’t answer. He’d never stopped to think things through, but Ganymede was right. “Go on.” He’d hate to lose his power, but he was more afraid that his master would take his music from him. Murmur didn’t think he could exist without his music. It had always defined him; it
was
him.

“The Big Boss has enough power to talk mano a mano to your master. He can work a deal, favors and items of interest will change hands, and you will then be working for the Big Boss.”
Ganymede began to purr.

“So it’s like going to work for a new crime boss instead of sleeping with the fishes.”

“You got it. But the Big Boss is more of a freethinker; there’s a little give in him.”

Mumur didn’t believe a word the cat said. Ganymede was running a con, and Murmur wasn’t about to be his clueless mark. The Big Boss had no incentive to make an enemy of an arch demon. Why would he bother? But since Murmur really wanted to spend quality time with Ivy, he’d agree. Allow Ganymede his small triumph. “You have a deal.”

Sparkle clapped her hands. “Oh, good. I can’t wait to begin.”

Murmur allowed himself to relax for a few moments. “Hey, where’s Zane? I thought he’d still be hanging around bugging you about castle security.” He didn’t give a damn what the sorcerer was doing, but he wanted to keep track of the competition. Not that Zane
was
competition. Oh, what the hell, who was he trying to kid? He hated every time the sorcerer even glanced at Ivy.

Sparkle frowned. “I banned him from my office. He answered all two thousand of my e-mails.”

Uh-oh. Ivy would be ticked at Zane. Murmur lowered his head so Sparkle wouldn’t see his smile.

“He told all two thousand women to stay pure and virginal, not to wear revealing clothing, and never to think sensual thoughts.” Sparkle actually growled. “If he weren’t Holgarth’s son, I’d toss him out on his virginal ass.”

“My honeybun has no sense of humor when it comes to sex.”
Ganymede allowed himself a cat chuckle. Sparkle glared at him, and he stopped.

Sparkle threw her arms wide. “Now go forth, Murmur, and seduce the hell out of Ivy.” She smiled benevolently at him.

“Sure. Getting right on that.” He stood and headed for the door. He’d had about as much of the two troublemakers as he could take.

Deep in thought, he stepped into the lobby and slammed into someone. He looked up.

Tirron smiled coldly at him. “Hi, partner.”

Hell. He’d forgotten about the faery.

8

Kellen slouched in the chair with one leg flung over the arm. He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “If you send me back, I’ll just leave again.”

Ivy sat on the end of his bed. She loved Kellen, but now she wondered if she’d ever really known him. Thinking back, she remembered the years spent listening to Mom complain about Dad and his voices. When had Kellen started disappearing whenever the conversation turned to Dad?

“Kellen, do you hear voices like Dad does? Do you see things others can’t see?” She had to ask. There was no way to avoid it.

He looked up. His eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

She took a deep breath. He was going to make her spell it out. For a moment, she wished Murmur were here. He’d be able to speak to her brother without emotion getting in the way. No, this wasn’t Murmur’s job. Her brother, her responsibility.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve suddenly started seeing…”
Say it. Just say it.
“Monsters. Or maybe not monsters, but beings who aren’t human. Ordinary people don’t see them as they really are. But they’re real. They’re
all
real.”

She watched her brother’s face crumple. He blinked, trying to hold back tears that would embarrass him.

“There are people here who can explain what’s happening to you.” Ivy didn’t care if she mortified the hell out of his teenage psyche; she crossed the space between them and hugged him tightly. He leaned into her.

Finally releasing him, Ivy sat cross-legged on the floor in front of his chair.

He scrubbed at his eyes and turned his head away. “I thought I was crazy. I started seeing them when I was twelve. I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Because of Dad?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you talk to him? He would’ve understood what you were going through. It would’ve made him realize he wasn’t crazy if you were hearing and seeing the same things.” Why hadn’t she noticed that her brother was suffering?
Maybe you were too busy staying grounded.

“Dad
sees
things too?”

Ivy nodded.

Kellen shrugged. “I figured if I was seeing things, that made me twice as wacko as Dad. Then Mom would start in on
me
. I thought maybe insanity ran in families.”

“Is that why you left home?” Guilt poked at her, whispering that if she’d been closer to her brother he would have shared his fears. What kind of sister did that make her?

And how could she explain this to her mother? Mom, who thought shows like
Ghost Hunters
were giant cons, that things that went bump in the night didn’t exist.

“That was part of it.” He swung his leg off the arm of the chair and sat up straight. “The money was part of it too. Mom’s thinking of taking a second job to help pay for everything.” He stared down at his hands clenched in his lap. “Things aren’t great between Mom and Dad either. Mom wants him to get help. He won’t go to a shrink. I think she might finally walk away. I guess I can’t blame her.”

Oh, boy. “How do you feel about Dad?”

Even though she’d always believed it might happen, the thought of her mother and father splitting shook Ivy more than she’d expected. But right now was Kellen’s time. She’d worry about her parents later.

Kellen took a deep breath. “I think Dad needs to suck it up. No matter what I can see and hear, it’s not going to keep me from going to college and getting a great job.”

“Good.”
Thank God.
“All those people you saw in the room with me were nonhumans. I’ll ask one of them to explain what you’ve been seeing.” She’d do it herself, but Ivy was still almost as confused as he was.

“Really? None of them are human?”

“None of them.”

“So can I stay?” He made the question sound casual, but there was nothing casual about the fear in his eyes.

Ivy didn’t know what to say. Finally, she came down on the side of keeping her brother close so she could help protect him—from whatever was out there as well as from her parents’ turmoil. “You can stay for now.” She only hoped she could convince her parents.

Ivy watched the tension drain from him. “Thanks, Sis.”

She stood. “Let’s find someone who can set you straight on things.”

Murmur would do the best job.
Wouldn’t he?
Or was he just the one she trusted most right now? Or maybe this was only an excuse to spend more time with him. She dismissed the thought. No way was she going there.

“I’ll get you something to eat first.”

She stood and walked to the door with Kellen trailing behind her. A few minutes later, they were in the hotel lobby headed for the restaurant.

Ivy was reaching for the restaurant’s door when she saw Murmur. He was standing in the lobby talking to someone whose back was to her, but she didn’t bother looking at anyone except the music demon. She’d interrupt him for just a second to ask if he could speak to her brother later.

Suddenly, he turned toward her. But instead of a welcoming smile, he glared at her.
What the… ?
Ivy didn’t have a chance to wonder what was going on before music—something tuneless and discordant—blasted in her head with enough power to shove her backward. Sound beat at her mind, a shrill demand that she turn and run. Instinctively, she clapped her hands over her ears. No use when the music was already inside her head. She tried to force it from her mind. Didn’t work. She was helpless against its command. She grabbed Kellen’s hand and started to drag him backward.

He resisted. “What’s wrong?”

Before Kellen could say anything more, the man talking to Murmur turned toward her. It was Tirron, the guy who’d passed her on the stairs, the one who’d said he was Murmur’s friend.

He smiled when he saw her, and then his gaze shifted to Kellen. Shock wiped the smile from his face. And before Ivy could decide what to do, Tirron was walking toward her. Murmur strode beside him, his expression thunderous.

Ivy gasped as the music stopped. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath. It was too late to run without looking silly, and besides, she wanted to know what the hell was going on with Murmur’s musical attack, because it definitely
was
an attack.

Tirron stopped in front of her, but his attention never left Kellen. “We meet again, Ivy. Who’s your friend?”

She’d forgotten how uneasy he made her feel. “This is my brother, Kellen.”

“Hello, Kellen. I’m Tirron. Will you be staying here?” He held out his hand.

She didn’t like the way he stared at her brother. Questions tripped over each other. Was he human? Probably not if he was Murmur’s friend. Was he a demon too? Murmur looked furious as he stood a little behind Tirron.

Then she put it together—Tirron, the musical attack. Murmur had been trying to drive her away before Tirron saw them. Why? Did Tirron see Kellen’s resemblance to Mab? Fear pushed at her. There was so much she didn’t know. And ignorance was dangerous in this new world she’d fallen into. Whatever happened, she had to protect her brother.

Kellen shook Tirron’s hand, but he looked puzzled. “Hi. Yeah, I’ll be staying for a while.” He glanced at Murmur uncertainly.

“Good. Very good.” Tirron looked away. “As much as I’d like to stay, I have somewhere I have to be. I’ll see all of you again.” He speared Kellen with a hard stare before walking away.

Ivy looked at Murmur. “What was that about?”

Murmur raked his fingers through his hair. “That was an unfortunate meeting. Where were you headed?”

“The restaurant. Kellen needs to eat.” She glanced at her brother. “Kellen, this is Murmur.” Ivy started to add “a friend” but stopped herself. Right now, she wasn’t sure who her friends were. She thought about packing and leaving, but then decided she was overreacting. At least here there were people powerful enough to protect her brother. Besides, if she was going to support Kellen, she needed the money from this job until the new one kicked in.

She turned to her brother. “Kellen, why don’t you head back to your room? Order whatever you want from room service. I’ll be along in a few minutes. I have to talk with Murmur about something.” Ivy had to find out what was going on with Tirron.

Kellen shot her a frustrated glance. He wouldn’t be held at bay much longer. “Sure.”

She watched him walk away before turning to Murmur. “Now, why the flexing of your musical muscles?”

He hesitated and looked past her. She turned to follow his gaze. Holgarth was bearing down on them, robe swirling and pointed hat swaying. The wizard stopped in front of them and glared.

“I hate playing messenger boy. It’s demeaning for someone of my stature. But I suppose this time it’s necessary.” Huge dramatic sigh. “We have a situation in the great hall that Ganymede feels you should address, Murmur.” Holgarth shifted his attention briefly to her. “And Sparkle wants to see you. She’s not available at this very moment, but she will be. Eventually.” He turned, his blue robe whipping around him, and strode away.

Murmur strung together his favorite curses and put them on repeat as he followed the wizard. He glanced at Ivy. Her expression said she’d talk to Sparkle and then she’d talk to him. No escaping.

He followed Holgarth through the door separating the hotel lobby from the great hall. Music swirled around him.
His
music. The music he’d sent winging its way to the faery host. It was playing to human and nonhuman ears alike. Not good. And there was a crowd of women surrounding someone in the middle of the room. What the hell was going on?

Ivy moved closer to him. He didn’t think she realized it. Murmur allowed himself a moment to feel satisfaction. Instinctively, she trusted him to protect her. He listened to his music that was
not
coming through any speakers. Okay, moment over.

“That music. I remember hearing it in your room. You said you were sending someone a music-gram. Did that someone answer it?” She leaned forward, trying to peer around the seething mob of women.

“No.”

“Yo, demon. Someone just showed up, and he brought your music with him. Said he had an invite. Explain.”

He glanced down. Ganymede glared up at him, eyes narrowed to amber slits. Murmur tried to ignore the cat as he strode toward the women. Ivy kept pace with him.

“My honey-tart is in there somewhere. I think you need to trim the deadwood from your list of visitors. I don’t like any guy who makes Sparkle get that look in her eyes.”

“Right. Got it.” Murmur pushed his way through the growing crowd of women. He finally was able to see who was at the center. “Oh, crap.”

“Who is it?” Ivy stood on her toes trying to look over the head of a tall woman in front of her.

He heard Ivy gasp. Yeah, she’d seen him.

“Who is
he
?” The word “he” was drawn out on a breathy sigh.

“
He
is a faery, a Gancanagh. Unseelie Court. Now what the hell am I supposed to do with him?” Murmur knew he was muttering, but things were getting out of control. He’d have a long talk with Bain. This plot was his baby, so he needed to do some of the policing. Murmur had agreed to do a favor for his friend, not run around corralling random members of the fae.