Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS) (15 page)

Thorn had finished scanning Sparkle’s people. He narrowed his eyes. “Where’s the cat?” Suspicion flared. At this very minute, Ganymede could be slinking around Nirvana destroying it with every twitch of his tail. He started to rise.

“Sit down, vampire.” The man to the right of Sparkle spoke.

Thorn stared at him. He’d overlooked the man as he’d checked out the rest of the room. How the hell had he missed this guy?

The man smiled at him, a smile filled with malice. “You didn’t notice me because that’s the way I wanted it.”

That voice
. Thorn kept his eyes from widening, but only just. He was noticing now. The man was big, probably about six-five when he was standing. His tangled blond hair framed his face and almost skimmed his broad shoulders. He looked as though he’d only had time to finger-comb it before he stepped into the room. He could pass for a street-tough fallen angel, with a face that women would call beautiful, but hard enough to cut diamonds. Thorn recognized the look because he’d met a few of the fallen in his time.

“Ganymede.” Thorn didn’t make it a question.

The man nodded. “It takes a while for me to change, and it’s not fun. I left my TV and ice cream to be here. Make it worth my while.” He didn’t even try to hide the “or else” at the end.

“Why’d you bother?” Thorn thought he knew, but he wanted to keep Ganymede talking while he assessed things.

“I knew you were coming. The cat form is for sneaking. The human form is for other things.” His expression said that one of those other things was his desire for his enemies to put a human face to the one who killed them. “Besides, you and Sparkle have some kind of history. I thought we should be on equal footing this time.” He didn’t smile when he said it.

“Ganymede?” Kayla was an echo beside Thorn. She didn’t make any attempt to hide her wide eyes.

Ganymede’s smile was slow and meant to impress. “Definitely. You mentioned something about not knowing what Sparkle saw in me. Changed your mind?”

Kayla’s eyes weren’t wide anymore. She looked ticked. “I
thought
that. You were in my mind without my permission.”

“No big deal. I’m in a lot of minds without their permission.” He shifted his attention back to Thorn. “Why’d you call this meeting?

Thorn stood. “Aegir came calling a short time ago.” A glance told Thorn the others in the room recognized his name.

“He gave his message to me because I was once Viking. I understand the old language. He considers me one of his.” Thorn found Eric and Grim. They’d been Vikings too. “Eric or Grim can give you more details if you want them. The bottom line is that Aegir is tired of being an almost-forgotten sea god. Poseidon gets all the press. Aegir is moving his seat of power to the Gulf. More people to recruit. Maybe he’s tired of the cold climate, wants to kick back in the sun. Who knows. He wants all humans and nonhumans not of his choosing gone from Galveston so he can bring in those who will worship him.”

Sparkle had remained strangely quiet, but she spoke now. “That’s what the explosives and sinking ships are about?”

Thorn nodded.

“It’s not just that now. There’ve been fires and explosions all over the island today. Someone is targeting businesses.” The speaker leaned forward. He had tawny hair, a grim-reaper tattoo on his arm, and the cosmic troublemaker’s amber eyes. “Why would a god try to make this look like a human’s work?”

Thorn thought about his answer. “I’d guess he didn’t want to alert his enemies in the supernatural community. And the Norse gods and goddesses in Asgard might not be thrilled with what he’s doing. But he’s grown impatient. So now that he believes he has his operation in place, he’s taking off his mask.”

“And that means?” The question came from the man with the cat on his shoulder.

“He wants us out of here in three weeks. He’ll keep up his attacks on the humans so they’ll leave too. At the same time, he’s bringing in people who support him to take the place of everyone leaving.” Thorn noticed Kayla’s horrified expression. The others in the room just looked angry. They understood that gods and goddesses did what they pleased and expected everyone else to fall in line with their plans.

“What did he offer you, vampire?” Ganymede’s eyes gleamed.

Thorn tipped an imaginary hat to Ganymede. The cosmic troublemaker had assumed correctly. “If I help him get rid of your park, he’ll allow Nirvana to survive with me still in charge.”

Ganymede’s smile was one of the scariest things Thorn had ever seen. “That would work for you, wouldn’t it? Sparkle would be out of business. No more sneak attacks necessary. Problem solved. Maybe you were the one who suggested that Aegir look this way for his new home.”

But Thorn had his own scary smile. He used it now. “I don’t call in outside help to do my work for me.” He glanced at his people. Okay, so maybe he did. “And if I were going to help Aegir, I wouldn’t be here now spilling his plans.”

Ganymede subsided for the moment, his gaze still drilling holes in vulnerable parts of Thorn’s body.

“Anything else we should know?” This was from the woman sitting beside the tawny-haired troublemaker.

“Aegir isn’t well liked. He has a rep for sinking ships and taking the crews.” He looked around the room, meeting everyone’s gaze. “His wife, the goddess Ran, is here too. I met her on the beach. I didn’t remember who she was until tonight.”

“Damn.” Eric breathed the word. “Ran is a cold bitch. She pulls men overboard with her net and drowns them.”

“So here’s what we have to work with.” Thorn had their complete attention. “We have three weeks to get rid of both of them. We know that Aegir isn’t beloved. That’s probably why he lost his chief-sea-god status. We might try fomenting an uprising in his ranks.”

“And we know he has an underwater hall off the coast. Kel has seen it.” He nodded at the kelpie before looking back at the others. “Since searchers didn’t find any bodies from the sunken ships, Aegir might be holding the crews there to use as hostages if he needs them.”

“Some of you may have powerful god or goddess connections.” He glanced at Grim. “Use them.” Thorn started to sit down and then paused. “Sparkle, you have two guests who probably belong to Aegir.” He told her the room number.

She cut him up and scattered his pieces with her stare. “How do you know this?”

He offered her the smile he’d saved just for her, filled with all the promises of retribution he’d planned over the centuries. “I saw them when I was attaching my special air fresheners to your walls.”

Her lips tightened, but she said nothing to him. Instead, she looked at two of her people and nodded. They immediately left. “I’ve sent for the two you mentioned.”

“So are we finished here?” Ganymede’s expression didn’t bode well for Aegir or anyone who worked for him.

Sparkle looked back at Thorn. “I assume you’ll still be working to get rid of me even while Aegir tries to take over Galveston.”

“Of course.” Good. She wouldn’t expect a truce while they fought the sea god. If they won, he’d still want her gone. And if they didn’t? He wouldn’t have much of anything to worry about.

Her smile was sly, wicked, and looked great on her.

“I thought so. I guess you know I’ll still try to stop you.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

She nodded, satisfied.

Just then the two she’d sent from the room returned shoving a man and woman ahead of them. They pushed their captives into seats and stood behind them waiting.

Ganymede stood for the first time. Thorn felt the troublemaker’s power. It hit him and drove him back in his seat. If he’d had to breathe, he’d be gasping for air now. He looked at Kayla to see how she was taking this show of power.

She looked pale, but her gaze met his calmly. He felt a rush of pride in her. Without thinking about it, he reached for her hand beneath the table. She clasped it and hung on.

Ganymede leaned across the table and spoke to the man and woman. “You’ve stayed in our castle while you worked for a scumbag who’s trying to destroy us. That pisses me off.”

The walls of the room vibrated while thunder rumbled in the distance. The two captives pressed themselves back in their seats as far as they could to escape him.

“I want you to tell me everything you know about his plans.” The ends of Ganymede’s hair flickered with blue flames. Suddenly, the electricity went out, leaving his glowing eyes and the flames the only lights in the room. Another crack of thunder that sounded as though it was right over their heads shook the walls.

Thorn grinned. Hey, this was great stuff. Entertainment at its best. Of course, if he’d chosen to use his power of persuasion, he would have had answers from them without all the theatrics.

The lights flickered back on.

Oh, crap. Where the two captives had sat there were now two terrified moray eels. Four-feet long with big teeth. They started to slither off the chairs. Everyone in the room was on their feet and shouting.

Without warning, the eels just disappeared. Everyone sat down and stared at Ganymede. He didn’t meet their gazes. “I sent them to the Pacific Ocean. I hate seafood.”

“You overplayed your hand.” Thorn knew he sounded gleeful. “You scared them into shifting.”

“Shut the hell up, vampire.” Ganymede’s expression said he wouldn’t mind sending
him
to the Pacific as well.

Thorn decided the party was over. “Guess we’ll get back to Nirvana. I’m keeping my park open until I feel it isn’t safe for visitors.”

Sparkle stood. “Live the Fantasy will stay open too.” The stare she sent Thorn could have stripped the varnish from the floor. “We’ll deal with
all
threats.”

Thorn didn’t feel that needed an answer. He nodded at his people and started for the door.

“Vampire.”

Thorn turned slowly to face Ganymede. He readied his persuasion. He didn’t kid himself. He’d need it to survive if Ganymede decided to eliminate a threat right now.

“You knew Sparkle. I want to know about it. Now.”

Sparkle reached out to Ganymede. “No. Let it go. We’ll talk about it another time.”

Ganymede didn’t even look at her. “Now.”

For a moment, Sparkle looked shocked. That changed quickly to anger. “Bastard.”

Thorn wasn’t sure if the word was aimed at him or Ganymede. He hadn’t planned to confront her now. He’d wanted to save it all up until her business was in ruins around her.

But why not now? He had an interested audience. Besides, his anger was killing off some of his wisest brain cells. He hated Ganymede’s attitude. This would hurt the troublemaker too.
And then the troublemaker might hurt you
. He’d take the risk.

Thorn stood with his hand on the doorknob. He gathered his revenge into a compact ball and flung it at Sparkle. “He wants to know about us. Let’s give him what he wants.”

“Please.” Only the one word.

Sparkle lifted her chin, letting him know that this was the closest she’d ever come to begging.

He just shook his head. Then he faced Ganymede and smiled. “You think you know all about her? Not even a little.”

12

Kayla knew she should get up and leave the room. This confrontation had nothing to do with her. But then she’d have to squeeze past Thorn. Besides, this whole thing was like a horror movie. You knew the maniacal laughter rising from the dark cellar couldn’t be good. You knew the idiot woman would go down there to see what it was anyway. You knew the laughter would be followed almost immediately by the bloody knife. But you just had to sit and see it happen.

Resigned, she sat back. This would be ugly, and she’d probably find out things about Thorn she didn’t want to know. Fine, so that was a lie. She wanted to know everything about him. Kayla cursed whichever of her ancestors had enjoyed suffering and passed the stupid gene on to her.

Thorn spoke directly to Ganymede. He ignored Sparkle. “I met Sparkle a long time ago. I didn’t know what she was then, I only knew that I loved her.” Thorn’s eyes were flat, cold, emotionless. “I was twenty-three and believed her when she said she cared. I never asked why a woman like her would be interested in me.” His lips tipped up in a humorless smile. “She didn’t know I was a member of the Mackenzie vampire clan. She didn’t know that in five years I’d become vampire.”

Thorn had just started talking, and Kayla was already confused. She glanced at Ganymede. She couldn’t see any sign of the snarky cat in his eyes. A destroyer lived in them now.

Thorn finally shifted his gaze to Sparkle. “You told me to meet you down by the harbor. My family had come to the village to trade, and I left them that night to be with you.”

Sparkle was pale, but she didn’t look away from him. She said nothing.

“When I reached the place where we were supposed to meet, you weren’t there. A man was there instead. He had a message from you. He said you’d met an old friend and had decided to leave with him. I wouldn’t be seeing you again. You were sorry.” Thorn’s eyes burned with remembered anger and pain. “You. Were. Sorry.”

Kayla feared to breathe. It was so silent in the room that a breath would call attention to her. Sparkle grew even paler, if that was possible. She started to say something, but Thorn held up his hand to stop her.

“I’m not finished.” Thorn took a step back toward the table. “I didn’t get a chance to return to my family and mourn a love that was pathetically one-sided.” He took another step and Ganymede tensed. “Because your messenger knocked me out and sold me to a slaver.”

There was a collective gasp from everyone not named Ganymede. Sparkle put her hand over her mouth, and Kayla noticed that she’d methodically peeled off her nail polish.

Thorn’s eyes were narrow slits of fury. “I have lots of sympathy for demons, because for five years I lived in hell. There were times when I didn’t think I’d see the next sunrise. Most of the time I was afraid I would. Those years melted me down and reshaped me into someone with lots of sharp edges and a thirst for vengeance.”

Then he smiled, a ragged thing that filled Kayla with sorrow, along with pity she suspected he’d hate.

“But guess what happened in five years?” He looked around the room. “I did what every Mackenzie does at that age. I became vampire.” His expression turned savage. “And then I killed every one of the bastards who’d tortured me.”

Grim put his hand on Thorn’s shoulder. “Maybe you shouldn’t—”

He shook off the hand. “I should.” Thorn stalked all the way to the table and leaned toward Sparkle. “I came home to rejoin my family. You know what I found?” He curled his lip, baring his fangs.

“The night I was taken, only my mother along with my younger sister and brother were in the village. My father was away with his ship. He was due home that week. My father had always told us that when he was away, I was responsible for the family. If I was gone for any reason, they were to stay safe with a cousin who lived in the village.”

Kayla knew what was coming, could feel the horror of it creeping up on her, slithering up her backbone and winding around her heart.

“My mother was upset because I’d disappeared. I can only believe she wasn’t thinking straight. The next night she told her cousin she had to leave and return to our small farm outside the village. She said she had too much work to do now that I was gone. My mother probably thought they’d only be alone for a few days because my father was returning.”

Almost as though Sparkle wasn’t aware of her movements, she stood. She gripped the edge of the table so hard that her knuckles turned white.

“She shouldn’t have gone home.” He closed his eyes for a moment.

Kayla wondered what he saw—his family as they’d once been, his own long path that had led him to this moment, or just his despair.

He opened his eyes. “There hadn’t been any raids for a long time. Everyone had grown careless, forgotten how fast death could come. Two days after I disappeared, they attacked our home. My mother, my brother, and my sister died.” He was still for a moment. “I sometimes wonder if the raider was the same man who delivered the message from you. The attack seemed too much of a coincidence.”

Thorn smiled, and Kayla hoped he never smiled at her like that.

“You know, I only remember one thing about him. He had the same color eyes as you. Does that mean he was a cosmic troublemaker?”

Sparkle only nodded. Ganymede leaned forward and growled low in his throat. It was a warning and threat all rolled into one. Thorn ignored it.

“So now you know. My park isn’t blocking your view of the Gulf because you dumped me. I got over that. Nirvana is for the ones I loved who died because I was so stupid. And it’s for five years of hell and a thousand regrets.”

Sparkle looked lost for a moment, and then she pushed away from the table, straightened, and took a deep breath. “I
did
care for you, Brandt, but we never would’ve worked. I was a coward for not telling you in person. I didn’t know what happened to you after I sent the message. The man who brought it . . .”

“Wasn’t Ganymede. I would’ve remembered him.”

Ganymede’s eyes burned with his need for violence. “I wouldn’t have bothered selling you to slavers. I would’ve killed you. Dead men don’t come back to cause trouble.”

“I’m sorry.” Sparkle didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands.

This from a woman who
always
knew what to do with her hands. The depth of Sparkle’s distress shocked Kayla. Thorn’s story had stripped away her confident veneer to expose someone Kayla didn’t recognize.

“Sorry isn’t nearly enough.” Thorn looked as though he wanted to tear the castle down around all of them. “I want a name. Who delivered your message that night?”

Sparkle shook her head. “Another cosmic troublemaker who happened to be in the village at the time. I don’t remember his name. It was a long time ago.”

“You’re lying.”

Thorn looked ready to explode. Kayla watched him curl his lip away from his fangs and clench his hands into white-knuckled fists. She could almost feel death’s cold breath on the back of her neck. Would any of them survive a battle between Thorn and Ganymede in this small enclosed space?

Sparkle looked a little desperate. “Knowing his name wouldn’t help you. Going after him would only get you killed.”

“My life, my choice.” Thorn’s eyes had turned black, signaling that he was close to losing control. “One more question. Who was the man you met instead of me? Because I know it was a man. It would always be a man with you.”

“She met me, vampire.” Ganymede’s narrowed eyes suggested that a swift end was the best Thorn could hope for. “She knew me a long time before she knew you.”

Ripples of power filled the room. Kayla felt it as pressure building and building until she expected the walls to explode outward. Ganymede’s anger terrified her.

“Figures.”

Kayla heard nothing but contempt in Thorn’s voice.

Grim tried again. He moved up behind Thorn and grabbed his arm. “Enough. Let’s get out of here.”

Thorn ignored him. “Anything in particular you want to say to me, asshole?” He met Ganymede’s gaze.

Grim dropped his hand. “Jeez, next time I take a job I’ll make sure my boss doesn’t have a death wish.”

Kayla started to panic. She didn’t think Ganymede would ignore that insult. He might blast Thorn into oblivion.

Without thinking, she jumped to her feet. Making her way around the table, she stopped in front of Thorn. She smiled.
Think before you act.
She could almost hear her father’s voice in her head. He’d be disappointed in her.

There were times, though, when everyone had to think on their feet. And the threat of imminent annihilation was a great motivator. “We’re all a little tense, but we have to keep our focus on Aegir.” She looked away from Thorn’s glare. “You left Nirvana unprotected. I mean, Aegir’s followers could be doing anything over there.” She chanced a quick peek at Ganymede’s thunderous expression. “Now might be a good time to go. You remember that stuff about living to fight another day? Well, that might be now.”

Thorn blinked and then looked at her as though he was seeing her for the first time. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Too late to run back to your little park. I don’t allow threats to stick around long. To hell with the Big Boss, I’m going to fix this problem permanently.”

Kayla turned at the sound of Ganymede’s voice. Great, she was directly in the line of fire. But that was a good thing. She didn’t doubt that she was the weakest person in the room. Ganymede would lose face if he used his power on her. At least that’s what she hoped.

Except for the major players along with Grim and her, everyone else in the room had stayed frozen in place. Finally, the man with the grim reaper tattoo and cosmic troublemaker eyes stood and walked over to Ganymede. He didn’t make the mistake of touching the other man.

Grim-reaper guy made his pitch for sanity. “You don’t want to do this, Ganymede. Sure, it would feel good, but you know what’ll happen as soon as the Big Boss hears about it. He’ll demote you, kick your ass out of the castle, and take away everything you have that makes life worth living.”

Kayla figured that “everything” included ice cream, candy, and chips.

“He can try.” Ganymede threw grim-reaper guy a murderous glare.

“Shut up, all of you.”

Sparkle didn’t shout, but there was something in her voice that made them obey.

“You.” She pointed at Ganymede.

Ganymede reluctantly turned his attention from Thorn.

“How dare you! This is your fault. You forced him to tell that story in front of everyone. What was between Brandt and me was private.”

Ganymede looked surprised. Kayla decided he might be one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe, but he was a zero when it came to understanding women.

“I did this for you, sweetheart.”

“Don’t you sweetheart me.” Sparkle picked up her chair and swung it at his head.

Everyone scrambled out of her way. Ganymede ducked away from the chair.

He tried to explain. “I figured that once the story was out and everyone heard it, the vampire wouldn’t have any more leverage. And then I could kill him for threatening you in public.”

“Son of a bitch!” Sparkle bent down and grabbed the ultimate weapon—her shoe. Gripping it by the toe, she leaned toward Ganymede and waved the lethal five-inch heel at him. “I’m going to punch a hole in your head and then put my ear next to it. I bet I hear the ocean.”

That seemed to be the signal for the rest of the nonhumans to sneak out. Kayla was amazed at how fast and silently they moved. Within a few seconds the only ones remaining in the room with her were Thorn, Ganymede, Sparkle, and her shoe of death. Thorn’s people waited for him outside the room, close enough to come to his rescue but not close enough to be within reach of Sparkle’s shoe.

Ganymede eyed the shoe warily. “We needed to know what his gripe was. Now we know. We can pay him off, or I’ll kill him.” His expression said he had only thrown in the paying-him-off part as a sop to Sparkle’s feminine aversion to violence and other manly stuff.

Thorn looked outraged. “My dead family doesn’t have a price tag.”

Sparkle glared at him. “No one’s talking to you.” Then for just a moment she looked regretful. “Sorry. I’ll speak to you later.” She turned back to Ganymede. “After I take care of
him
.”

Ganymede still seemed puzzled, so he repeated himself. “I did it for you.”

Sparkle’s laughter mocked him. “No you didn’t. It was all about your stupid ego. It’s always been about your ego. You wanted to force Brandt to tell his story so you could act the big hero and come to my rescue. Did you for one minute think about how I’d feel, knowing that everyone in the room was listening and judging?”

“You never cared what people thought before.” Now Ganymede sounded a little mad.

“Maybe I’m changing. Maybe I
do
care about what people I like think. Now every nonhuman in the castle knows what happened a thousand freaking years ago.” She was breathing hard.

Ganymede narrowed his eyes. “Well, since everyone else is pissed, maybe I have a bitch too. Everyone in the castle also knows you screwed the vampire. Oh, and that you ‘cared’ for him. How do you think that makes me feel?”

“Who gives a shit? You can go to hell. I don’t want you in the castle. Sleep in the candy store for all I care. And don’t eat up my inventory.” Still gripping the shoe, she stormed from the room.

“Guess she won’t be talking to me now. Not that she could say anything that would make a difference.” Thorn watched Sparkle go and then turned to Kayla. “That went well.” But he looked uncertain about how “well” it had actually gone.

Ganymede ignored both Thorn and Kayla. He pushed past them muttering about women who didn’t appreciate what they had.

Without making a conscious decision, Kayla walked with Thorn and the others back to Nirvana. She stopped at the gate. He waited until they were alone to turn to her.

“Thanks for trying to defuse the situation.” Thorn raked his fingers through his hair. He looked tired. “I didn’t want to do things that way, but Ganymede wouldn’t let it go.” He smiled. “Would’ve served me right if he’d ripped off my head. He’s capable of it.”