Wicked Whispers (26 page)

But she didn’t get a chance to voice her anger, because Kellen finally got a good look at her. “What the hell happened to you?” His shock quickly turned to anger. “Who hit you?”

Ivy hesitated. Murmur understood her reluctance to tell Kellen the truth. She wouldn’t want to scare her brother. But Murmur had a little more belief in Kellen’s ability to cope with the facts.

“Tirron hit your sister. She found out something that he wanted to keep secret. He thought hurting her would scare her into compliance.” He glanced at her. “It didn’t.”

Kellen had already pushed to his sister’s side to get a closer look, a closer look that only seemed to make him madder. “If I had powers, I’d make sure he never hit another woman.” He clenched his hands into fists. “What was his secret?”

The moment of truth. Ivy would either tell him or she would lie. The Sidhe couldn’t lie, but he didn’t think she had enough of their blood to stop her from making something up.

Ivy bit her lip and avoided her brother’s gaze.

“Tell me, Sis. I’m not a little kid anymore. I need to know.” His voice broke. “Please.”

She nodded and met his gaze. Then she told him.

Everything. Murmur would have liked her to have been just a little less truthful.

When she’d finished, Kellen didn’t say anything for a moment. Klepoth looked surprised. Murmur knew it took a lot to put that expression on the other demon’s face. But a visit from the Sluagh Sidhe had accomplished it. He wondered if Klepoth would bail on Kellen now. For that matter, he’d probably consider Murmur toxic too, an enemy of the faery host and his master.

Kellen finally found his voice. He stared at Murmur. “You sent your death music after him. Will it wait for him outside of Faery?”

“No. Once he escapes into Faery, the music will dissipate.”

He nodded. “So Tirron can just wait until the music is gone and come after us again?”

“Yes.”

Kellen grasped facts quickly. “We have to stay here, Sis. We have some protection in the castle.”

Ivy suddenly looked exhausted. Murmur reached out to steady her. She tried to push him away, but he refused to be pushed. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her steady.

“You should be in bed.”

She ignored his advice. “Kellen, when the faery host reaches here, things will be dangerous. Things are dangerous
now
. I can’t protect you against any of these people.” She looked up at Murmur. “I don’t know who to trust.”

“I do.” Kellen looked sure of himself. “I trust Klepoth, Murmur, and Asima.”

Uh-oh. Murmur thought that last name was trouble.

Kellen met Murmur’s gaze. “And I like Asima. She was kind to me, and”—his glance slid away—“she’s lonely. She doesn’t have any friends. Guess that makes her the same as a lot of us.”

Murmur hated that Kellen was about to make him into the villain.

“I won’t let you do this to her.” Kellen took a moment to think about what he wanted to say. “She wants to be needed. I bet if you asked for her help and treated her with respect, she’d try to help you.”

Call him cynical, but Murmur didn’t see Asima, the queen of what’s-in-it-for-me doing anything out of the goodness of her tiny, feline heart.

“I’m going to warn her.” His stare dared Murmur to stop him.

Ivy stilled, her eyes suddenly shadowed by fear.

Fear? She was afraid of him? She thought he’d haul out his drum solo and beat her little brother into the floor with it?

Klepoth understood the gauntlet Kellen had thrown down in front of Murmur, and its consequences. He shoved his new friend away from Mumur. “Let’s get back to your room before Ganymede wakes up. He’ll be pissed if he finds out we sneaked off.”

Kellen nodded and reluctantly followed the other demon toward the stairs.

Instinct screamed that Murmur couldn’t allow Kellen to blab to Asima. She’d make life miserable for all of them, and Bain’s plans would be shot to hell. Murmur would have to find someone else to trade, and Ivy would hate and fear him even more for doing it.

Kellen paused at the top of the stairs.

Now
. Erase his memory of everything. Erase
her
memory of everything. Problem solved. He was a demon. That’s what demons did.
Do it, do it, do it.

He felt her hand on his arm. No words, just her touch.

He turned away from Kellen and helped Ivy back into his room.

Probably the dumbest move of his entire existence.

14

Ivy stopped just inside the door. She was shaking. The way she was feeling, no way could she climb back into his bed.

He’d almost done it. He’d been ready to erase their memories. She’d seen the intention in his eyes. It would’ve been so easy for him. No more pesky complications. But he hadn’t. She’d touched his arm, and then… he’d allowed Kellen and her to keep their memories, their very
damaging
memories.

Ivy wanted to believe he’d changed his mind because she touched him. But that would be assigning emotions to him that he might not be feeling. He confused her.

She couldn’t concentrate around him, couldn’t deal with her tangled feelings. And she needed to be clearheaded for Kellen. “I’m going back to my room for the rest of the night.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “Look, I can go to Bain’s room. You don’t have to leave.”

“Yes, I do.” How to make him understand? “Even if you leave, your scent is here, everything I look at reminds me of you. I need to be alone. I have to
think
.”

She felt his need to argue; instead he nodded. “Fine. The clothes you were wearing had blood on them, so Sparkle left fresh ones for you.” He walked to his closet and pulled out jeans and a top.

Ivy felt his gaze on her as she slipped into his bathroom and changed out of her nightgown. She put on her sandals and emerged from the bathroom to find him on his cell phone. He put it away as she approached.

“Sparkle will spend the rest of the night with you.”

“I’m fine. I don’t need anyone watching me.”

“Cinn said that you did, and she knows best. Sparkle stays, or I stay.” His expression said he knew which she’d choose.

And he was right. She didn’t answer him, merely headed for the door.

He followed her. “I’ll take you to your room.”

She knew that wasn’t negotiable, so she didn’t waste energy arguing. Ivy said nothing as they walked to the elevator.

Her memories were too fresh, and she shuddered as the elevator doors opened. But she still felt too weak to take the stairs. She glanced at the car’s ceiling. “It’s fixed. That was fast.”

“It helps to have a wizard and a sorcerer on the payroll.”

Once inside the car, her muscles knotted, and her heart thudded loud enough to embarrass her.
Tirron’s not here. He
can’t hurt you
. Too bad her mind couldn’t convince the rest of her body not to go into fight-or-flight mode.

This time, Murmur was the one to touch
her
. He took her hand and held it in his warm grasp. “He’s not here. He’ll never be here again. I promise.”

She wanted to yank her hand away from him. That’s what she should do. She didn’t. “Do you keep your promises?”

His lips tipped up in that breathtaking smile. “To you? Always.”

“You lied to me.” There. She’d said it. And it certainly had needed saying.

His smile faded. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you all the details.”

“Lying by omission is still lying. Why?” She hadn’t known how important that one word was until she realized she was holding her breath.

She exhaled and tried to relax. After all, there wasn’t that much riding on his answer. They’d made love once. Big deal. It wasn’t as though they had a relationship. He wasn’t that important.
And
you
are such a liar
.

He remained silent until they were standing outside her door. “I knew I wasn’t going to allow Bain to trade you to the faery host, so I didn’t think it would hurt if you never found out about that part of Bain’s plan.”

“And?”

He looked away. “I didn’t want you to leave.”

“Why?” There was that word again.

“You were important to me even then.” His expression said he’d explained as much as he intended. “I’ll give you your space, Ivy. But I hope you won’t decide to leave the castle until the danger from the faery host and Tirron are past. Even if you don’t trust me to protect you, you can depend on Ganymede and Sparkle to make sure you and Kellen stay safe.”

Without waiting for her response, he walked away.

“I trust you to protect me.” She whispered her words to a man who was no longer there.

She
did
trust him to keep her safe. But she didn’t know if that trust extended to other parts of her life.

Ivy was about to go into her room when she thought of her brother. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Klepoth… Okay, honest? She
didn’t
trust him. Walking to the next door, she rapped softly.

The door swung open and… no one.

“Yo, cat level. Down here.”

She dropped her gaze to Ganymede. “Good to see your nap time is over. Did Kellen get back?”

He narrowed his eyes.
“I was tired. I worked all day and then had
to play bodyguard. A cat needs his naps. Your brother and the demon took advantage of my exhaustion.”

“Work. Right.” Ivy couldn’t help her snarky attitude. She wasn’t tuned in to her kind and gentle side right now. “So is my brother okay?”

“He’s tucked into bed all safe.”
Ganymede stared at her.
“Wow, you look like shit.”

“That’s what Sparkle said.” She’d need some heavy duty concealer tomorrow.

At the sound of Sparkle’s name, his ears pricked.
“Was she with that freaking faery?”

“No, and she’s right next door for the rest of the night. By herself. She’s keeping an eye on me. Not that I need anyone.”

His eyes gleamed.
“By herself? Maybe I’ll visit for a few minutes later on.”
His tail whipped back and forth.
“Do you think she’d mind?”

“She’d mind a lot less if you came armed with an apology for heaving Braeden out of the castle.” Ivy didn’t know why she was trying to help the cat when all she wanted to do was to fall into bed.

Ganymede seemed to consider this.
“Yeah, you might be right. Besides, even if she’s still pissed, she won’t do anything noisy that could wake you up.”

Ivy nodded and walked back to her room. Once inside, she reached for the light switch. She squeaked her alarm as someone grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t turn on the lights.” Sparkle’s voice.

Ivy gulped for air. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Sparkle didn’t comment on the threat. “I’ll lead you to your bed. Undress and slip into your nightgown.
Don’t
turn on the lights.”

“What’s this all about?” She was almost too tired to care.

“I’m working on a surprise for you. It’ll be ready in the morning.”

“Great.” Not really. She’d had enough surprises lately to last a lifetime. All she wanted now was sleep. Slipping into bed, she started to drift off immediately.
Please, no dreams.
Because they’d probably all revolve around a green-eyed demon who’d become way too important to her.

Murmur headed for Asima’s room. Sparkle had whined about giving up a room to her, but if she hadn’t, Asima would simply have made herself at home in some guest’s room. Not good for business.

He allowed a melody to weave through his mind, something dark and solemn to fit his mood. If Ivy decided to leave, he wouldn’t stop her. But he’d damn well make sure she was safe.

Make sure she knows how you feel about her too
. She was better off without that little piece of information. Besides, he wasn’t even certain what he could say to her.
I think I’m falling in love with you, but I’m not too sure because I’ve never loved anyone before.
He didn’t think that would win any devotion points for him.

The music in his head gained strength and power. It was now a call to battle. He stopped in front of Asima’s door. This was going to be bloody. But he needed to tell her before Kellen blurted out everything first. At least he could attempt damage control, try to put a positive spin on it. And if he thought hard enough, he’d find one.

To soften Asima up a little, he chose a musical piece from her playlist and allowed it to fill the space around him. Then he knocked.

The door swung open. No one was there. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Asima sat in the middle of her bed.

“I hope this is important, demon. I spent an exhilarating
evening with Braeden, and now I need my rest.”
She leaped from the bed, padded over to one of the chairs, and jumped onto it. She sat again, curling her tail around her elegant body. She studied him from her slightly tilted blue eyes.

Before he got down to business, Murmur wanted to know something. “I assume you spent your time with Braeden in human form, so why take the shape of a cat just to sleep in your own room? I don’t think Bast would notice.”

“I find my feline form more relaxing. Besides, no one at the castle
has seen my human form. What if I was called upon to save the castle in the middle of the night? Sparkle would see me. The slut queen would hate that I’m far more beautiful than she is. She’s a vicious woman when she senses competition.”

Murmur was sorry he’d asked. “Braeden’s a Gancanagh. Legend says that once he leaves a woman, she dies from the withdrawal.” He shrugged. “Just saying.” There he went again, doing something kind. Somewhere, his master must be crying.

Asima made a dismissive feline sound.
“I’m not a mere mortal—weak, emotionally soft and squishy. I can handle Braeden.”

He dropped onto the chair across from Asima. Now for the tough stuff.

“Asima, the Sluagh Sidhe is on its way.”

Her eyes widened.
“The faery host?”