Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS) (12 page)

But he needn’t have worried. Sparkle looked away and said nothing. Thorn understood. She wouldn’t want Ganymede to witness what they said to each other.

Thorn tried to look casual as he started to turn away. Every one of his instincts screamed for him not to turn his back on the cat. But he was counting on Ganymede choosing not to destroy him in front of so many witnesses.

He smiled at the cat. “If you’re not going to fry me tonight, I’ll be on my way. Hope you find who did the damage. I’ll let you know if my people discover anything.” Then he started to walk away.

“Don’t set foot in Live the Fantasy again, vampire. The only reason you’re leaving here in one piece tonight is because you saved Cinn. I won’t be so forgiving next time.”

Thorn knew better than to pull this cat’s tail, but he couldn’t help it. Ganymede’s arrogance begged to be deflated. “I don’t need to ‘set foot’ in your crappy park. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” He hated clichés, but when he found one that would irritate the hell out of Ganymede, he had to put personal likes aside.

“Are you threatening me, vampire?”
The tail in question whipped back and forth. Ganymede was pissed.

Thorn hoped his grin looked insulting enough. “Threatening
you
? Why would I? You’re not important to me.” He glanced at Sparkle so everyone would know who
was
important to him.

Sparkle paled and looked away.

“Just get your ass off my property.”
Ganymede puffed himself up, flattened his ears, and growled.

Sparkle glanced at Ganymede. Her glare said she took exception to the cat’s use of “my.” Good. Thorn loved stirring up dissension.

Deciding that he’d pushed the cat as far as he could for now, Thorn walked away. But he’d only taken a few steps when he heard a different voice in his head, the same small voice he’d heard in the greenhouse.
“Thank you.”
Thorn chose not to acknowledge the voice.

All the way back to Nirvana, questions beat at him. Ganymede had banned him from Live the Fantasy. Then shouldn’t he demand that Kayla stay away from
his
park? No, because he really wanted to see her again. Often.

Okay, so what he
really
wanted was to get her into his bed. Or her bed. He wasn’t picky. Nothing unusual in that. He’d wanted to have sex with a lot of women in his life.
But this is different
. He did some mental eye-rolling before shoving the thought aside. It was
always
about sex.

Back to what was really important. How would he ruin Sparkle’s business? It seemed too many variables had popped up suddenly. Thorn couldn’t give his revenge his full attention when someone was busy trying to drive him from Galveston. Someone who wasn’t Sparkle Stardust. And since it seemed the same person was determined to take out Live the Fantasy too, it spoiled his fun. The bastard who liked to blow things up would get the credit for Thorn’s brilliant acts of sabotage. Major buzzkill.

And how would he stave off the inevitable confrontation with Sparkle until her park was in financial shambles? Tonight had helped. No one would be able to stay the night with the smell of smoke. Sparkle would have to relocate her guests to other hotels in the area. And she’d have to close down the Castle of Dark Dreams for at least a few days until they cleaned up the courtyard.

Eric met him inside Nirvana. “Everyone okay over there?” He looked worried.

Why not? Eric had ties to the castle and its people. For just a moment, Thorn felt shame for using his power on the other vampire. But then he shook the feeling off. This was war, and in war you used the weapons you needed to win.

Besides, Thorn was doing penance. He’d used persuasion and woken the need that demanded he do it again and again. When he refused, he suffered. Hence the headache and generally rotten feeling that would take a while to fade.

“Everyone’s fine. The fire burned up the courtyard, but the castle wasn’t damaged.”

Eric nodded. He seemed relieved, but there was accusation in his eyes. “Next time do something that won’t hurt people.”

“What?” Eric thought
he
set the fire? “I didn’t have anything to do with that. But I’d like to know who did.”

“Glad to hear it. I like this job. I’d hate to have to quit.” Eric didn’t smile.

You can’t quit until I release you.
Thorn wasn’t proud of that thought. “Got it.”

“So how was your night?” Eric sounded a little more friendly.

“Shitty.”

The vampire had enough sense not to ask for details. “Well, tomorrow’s another night.”

“Right. Look, if anyone needs me, I’ll be in my apartment. I have plans to make.” Plans for Kayla, for Sparkle, and for whoever the dirtbag was that liked to blow things up. First, though, he had a date with some major painkillers.

* * *

Kayla was shaking. Not a reaction her father would applaud. Dad expected his children to sneer in the face of extreme danger and imminent death. But the fear wasn’t for her. She’d really believed that Ganymede would kill Thorn.

Standing there, Kayla had
felt
power pouring from the cat. He’d terrified her. If he’d aimed all that aggression at Thorn, the vampire would’ve been dead. She didn’t doubt that for a moment.

How far would she have been willing to go to stop Ganymede? Fine, so she didn’t believe anyone could have stopped him if he wanted to destroy Thorn. But she would’ve tried. And that was a frightening revelation.

“You know him.”
Ganymede stared at Sparkle.

Startled, Kayla realized she was the only one left standing with Ganymede and Sparkle. She should walk away and allow them their private moment, but she was too hungry to find out whatever she could about Thorn. So until they realized she was still here, she’d stay and listen.

Sparkle wouldn’t meet his gaze. “What makes you think—?”

“Don’t lie to me.”
His tail twitched back and forth, growing more agitated with each twitch.
“I’ve known you for too many years, babe. You recognized him from some other time and place.”

Sparkle sighed and finally looked at him. “Yes. But it was a long time ago, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

Ganymede stood.
“Well, when you do want to talk about it, you know where I’ll be.”
He padded away, oozing injured pride.

No matter how much Kayla wanted to hear more, she couldn’t justify hanging around any longer. She started to slip away.

“Wait.”

It took a moment for Kayla to realize Sparkle was speaking to her. She stopped.

“I’ve been meaning to work on your image. Come with me.”

“Now?” Kayla didn’t think this was a good time for a makeover.

“I need a distraction, and you need help.”

Kayla considered saying no. She didn’t need Sparkle’s insults on top of everything else that had happened tonight. But her god-awful curiosity whispered that she might learn more about Thorn from Sparkle. “Sure. Why not?”

Sparkle didn’t speak until they were inside her apartment. Ganymede wasn’t there.

“Mede won’t bother us. He’ll spend the night at my candy store. He goes to Sweet Indulgence when he’s mad at me. I guess surrounding himself with sweets takes him to his happy place.”

She seated Kayla at her dressing table and pulled up a chair beside her. Then she opened a rolling suitcase.

Kayla’s jaw dropped open. “Why would anyone need that much makeup and hair stuff?”

Sparkle narrowed her eyes. “I’m an artist. Only a true artist could create a masterpiece given the raw material I have to work with.”

She could learn to hate this woman. Kayla stared at her face in the mirror and asked the question that was gnawing at her. “When did you meet Thorn?”

“About a thousand years ago.” Sparkle picked the things she wanted from her suitcase.

“How?” Kayla waited for the moment that Sparkle would tell her to mind her own business.

“His name was Brandt back then. He was just out of his teens, still human. So young.” Sparkle paused, her gaze fixed on a spot somewhere above Kayla’s head. “And so very beautiful.”

Kayla waited, holding her breath and hoping Sparkle wouldn’t stop.

“Watch every step in my process so you can duplicate it.” Sparkle didn’t say anything more for a few minutes as she worked on Kayla’s face.

“Umm, why are you doing this now?”

“I told you. I need a distraction. When I’m stressed I have to keep my hands busy. And I’m not the only one who needs a distraction. Our angry vampire needs one badly. And what’s more distracting than a beautiful woman? One who understands the power of an enhanced face.”

Kayla might have argued about the power of cosmetics, but she had something more important on her mind. Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore. “So what happened between you and . . . Brandt?”

Sparkle paused to think. “He fell in love with me, naturally.”

Kayla raised one brow. “Naturally?”

“Keep your brows still while I’m shaping them.” She continued working. “I’m the queen of sex and sin, the cosmic troublemaker in charge of sexual chaos. He was a child. Of course he fell in love with me.”

Kayla tried to keep track of what Sparkle was doing to her face, but it was tough. She kept picturing a young and sexually innocent Thorn falling for the mother of all cougars. It wasn’t a pretty picture.
And you’re jealous, admit it.
Fine, so maybe she was. A little. “So what happened?”

Sparkle sighed as she rooted for the right lip color. “Things didn’t end well. He told me he loved me. I knew I had to end it. Ganymede had popped back into my life, and Brandt couldn’t have a part in my future. I didn’t know he was a Mackenzie, so I assumed he’d live his short human life and then die.” She shrugged.

Kayla bit back her urge to hit Sparkle with a few pointed words, including but not limited to “cruel” and “bitch”. She decided it might not be wise to tick Sparkle off when she had a mascara wand in her hand.

“What did he say when you told him you didn’t love him?” Kayla had expected to feel sad for Thorn, but the anger surprised her. Why all these emotions? He was a virtual stranger.

Sparkle didn’t meet her eyes in the mirror. “I didn’t. I was supposed to meet him by the harbor. I think he wanted to talk about us, our future together. I sent a message that I’d met an old friend and was leaving with
him
. I never saw Brandt again until now.”

Kayla remained silent, gathering her thoughts, her feelings, into a manageable pile. Her overriding emotion was sorrow for that young Thorn. She couldn’t imagine how shattered he’d felt when the woman he loved disappeared without a word. And, yes, some of that sorrow was for herself, because maybe she’d started to like him just a little. “He must’ve loved you very much to carry your memory for this long.” A thousand years. “Must
still
love you.”

Sparkle laughed. It was cold and brittle. “Don’t fool yourself. Love hasn’t brought him here. Try vengeance. He tracked me down so he could destroy my business the same way he feels I destroyed his heart.”

Since she put it that way . . . Kayla liked Sparkle’s take on the situation better than her own. She found she didn’t
want
him to still love Sparkle.

Then something occurred to Kayla. “Why trust me with this story?”

Sparkle’s smile held true amusement this time. “It’s not a case of trust. I needed to talk about it with someone, and you were there. Besides, I’m positive you won’t mention it to anyone because my punishments for blabbing are legendary and infinitely horrible.” Her smile widened. “Think about PMS every day, all day, for the rest of your pathetic life. With cramps. Can’t forget the cramps.”

Kayla thought about it. “I won’t say anything.”

“I didn’t think you would. Mede can never know. Jealousy makes him do crazy things. You wouldn’t want to be on the same continent with him if that happened.”

Kayla only nodded.

“There. Your face is done, and now I’ll do your hair. What do you think?”

“Wow.” No other word could express her shock. Her face was . . . She looked up at Sparkle. “Make sure you give me everything you used tonight.” Because as shallow as she knew it was, Kayla would be wearing this face the next time she saw Thorn.

And he
was
Thorn to her. Brandt would always belong to Sparkle, but Kayla had hopes that in this time and place Thorn would be hers at least for a little while.

After Sparkle finished her hair and Kayla made the expected sounds of awe and appreciation, she returned to her room and crawled into bed. Kayla didn’t remove her makeup. She lay in the darkness and stared at the ceiling. Great makeup and awesome hair and absolutely no one to appreciate it. Some things just weren’t fair.

But tomorrow . . . Kayla smiled into the darkness. He thought she was a spy, so she’d live up to her title. She’d put on her makeup, fix her hair, and do the kind of spying that would bring James Bond to tears.

Tomorrow night. She couldn’t wait.

10

“You’re joking, right?” There were some things so horrific that once seen could never be unseen. Kayla stared. “This is a disguise?”

She had spent all morning creeping over every inch of the castle to make sure no more nasty surprises exploded in everyone’s faces. She’d found nothing.

Then Sparkle had ordered Kayla to get ready for her daily visit to Nirvana. Makeup? Check. Sexy outfit straight from Sparkle’s wardrobe for wantons? Check. Trusty sidekick to accompany her? Che . . . Wait. No.

So here she was, facing her very own “nasty surprise” while she waited in an endless line to enter Nirvana.

“I don’t have a clue why Sparkle felt I needed
you
,” Kayla complained to her Sparkle-appointed shadow while the park security guy checked her out with some kind of handheld scanner that clicked and beeped. She noticed that no one else was getting this treatment. Kayla understood. Thorn probably alerted his staff after what happened on the beach. She was the enemy. Surprisingly, the thought bothered her.

Finally done with security-guy, Kayla followed her unwelcome partner into the park. She should have kept Banan.

Wow, the place was packed, more than yesterday if that was even possible. She stopped to study the carousel. If she rode it, would it make her trusty sidekick sick too? The thought tempted. He could ride the kelpie. “No one will believe you’re just an ordinary tourist.”

Holgarth managed to look supercilious even wearing a wig—long black hair to match his long narrow face. He’d colored his pointy beard a matching black and braided it. Sunglasses along with a sleeveless tee, khaki shorts, and flip-flops completed the transformation. Kayla tried not to stare at his skinny arms and legs, but it was a compulsion.

“Your job is to see what you can see. Mine is to do what I can do. Although I should remind you that I’m not only a wizard, I’m also Sparkle’s attorney. And I explored every legal avenue before you arrived. I doubt you’ll find anything I missed.” Holgarth had perfected the contemptuous sneer. His expression said that since he was an amazing lawyer—and she wasn’t—he was
certain
she wouldn’t find anything damaging enough to shut down Nirvana.

“Still—”

“You don’t have the stomach for the tough stuff, so Sparkle had to send someone who did.” He paused to consider the bumper cars. “I’ll adjust them on my way out. And of course I don’t look like a common tourist. A talented wizard could never disguise his innate brilliance.”

“His? Are there any female wizards?” Since she’d have to put up with him, she may as well ask questions. Maybe he’d get tired of listening to them and return to the castle.

“Very few. Women lack the magical sensitivity to excel.” He kept walking.

“Sexist slime.” She wandered over to examine some machinery tucked behind a small building. Exposed. Sure, there was a keep-out sign that read:
THIS AREA OFF-LIMITS
. But everyone knew that people never obeyed signs. Besides, the sign was only printed in two languages. Visitors from Russia wouldn’t have a clue. They’d trip over the machine or stick a finger where it shouldn’t be—not that she could see any place where a finger would fit—and lose said finger. Okay, so she was reaching. Kayla pulled out her phone and took a quick picture. She’d add it to her list of unsafe conditions. She wouldn’t guarantee it would fly in court, but it was better than nothing.

“Interesting. Whatever it does, it won’t do it much longer.” Holgarth stretched his hands toward the machinery and mumbled a few words.

There was a flash of light, a muffled boom, and something flung Holgarth onto his butt. Luckily, Kayla hadn’t been standing too close to the wizard.

“I love watching a good ward do its thing.”

Kayla gasped. Where had Zane come from?

Holgarth’s sorcerer son walked over to his father and helped him up. “Cool disguise, Dad. But if you were going for the braided-beard-of-the-pharaohs look, you didn’t quite pull it off. I think they shaved their heads. And they didn’t wear khaki shorts.”

Holgarth glared at his son. “How did you recognize me?”

Zane’s lips tipped up in a crooked smile. “You mean besides the superiority dripping from you with each step? I guess I was pretty sure it was you when you tried to fling a spell at that machine.”

Zane glanced at Kayla. “Tell Sparkle to send someone else next time. Someone a lot sneakier.”

Holgarth drew himself up to his full height. But it was tough to impress when you were wearing flip-flops.

“Did you ward everything?” Holgarth dusted himself off.

“The important stuff. After what almost happened to the Ferris wheel last night, we’re staying alert.”

“Aren’t you afraid visitors will accidentally bump into the things you’ve warded and injure themselves?” She’d have to do some research to see if anyone had ever won a personal injury suit claiming a magical attack as the cause.

Zane raised one brow. “You mean the visitors who ignore the very big signs?”

Kayla matched him brow for brow. “The very big signs in only
two
languages?”

“Right.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’ve warded our equipment against a direct assault. The attacker’s intent-to-destroy triggers them. An accidental bump does nothing.”

Holgarth sniffed. “Wise. But I still think you made a terrible mistake agreeing to work here.”

Kayla smiled. Lost dignity and all, Holgarth couldn’t hide his pride in his son. He was having a tough time maintaining his angry expression.

Zane slapped his father on the back. “I have some things to do, but I’ll send someone to escort you around the park, sort of a tour guide.” And he was gone.

Holgarth narrowed his eyes. “He means a guard.”

“Well, can you blame him?” Kayla felt weary, and they’d only been in the park a short time. Sparkle expected her to stay here until after dark.

But Kayla perked up a little at the thought that once the sun set she might meet Thorn again. She’d drag Holgarth back to the castle for dinner and then make sure he didn’t return with her afterward. Kayla’s perkiness wilted a little, though, at the thought that Sparkle would send someone else with her. No alone time in sight.

“I’ll be your tour guide for today. You may look, ride, or cast admiring glances at Nirvana’s wonders, but spells, charms, or other magical tricks are forbidden.”

Kayla hated the sexy snide voice behind her even before she saw who owned it. Holgarth swung to face the woman, and his eyes widened. Kayla sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to this. She turned.

The woman was spectacular. Tall and slim, she wore jeans that made her legs go on forever and a skimpy top guaranteed to hold men’s interest. Her long blond hair curled over her shoulders.

“And you are?” Kayla kept her voice cool but courteous. She wasn’t ready to be banned from the park.

“I’m Bygul. Park security.” She watched Kayla from forest green eyes.

By
who? Kayla frowned. This woman’s name was as bad as the one from last night. Trje something or other. Who named these women?

Holgarth puffed himself up. “Feel free to leave. We don’t need your services.” He allowed a small shimmer of flame to flicker from his fingertips.

Kayla glanced around quickly. His monstrous ego would attract attention.

Bygosh or whatever the hell her name was didn’t look impressed. A flame twice as large as Holgarth’s danced across her fingers.

Holgarth sucked in his breath. But his shock didn’t last long. He narrowed his eyes, flexed his fingers, and then whipped out flames that made Kayla do some breath-sucking herself. He was well on his way to turning his hands into freaking flamethrowers.

Kayla was having an oh-my-God moment. “Don’t make this into a mine-is-bigger-than-yours pissing contest. Put out the fire, wizard. People are staring.”

Her angry hiss had the desired effect. The flames disappeared.

Bygone licked her bottom lip, her eyes slits of pleasure. “I can feel your power, wizard. Mmmm.”

Oh, jeez. Kayla rolled her eyes. This was
not
happening.

“Witch.” Holgarth smiled.
Really
smiled. With teeth and all. “What a pleasant surprise. It’s not often I find a rare jewel among all the cheap imitations.”

Bygum linked her arm through Holgarth’s. “Since the boss wants me to stay with you while you’re in the park, we may as well enjoy ourselves. Let’s talk shop.”

Kayla trailed behind them and thought her own thoughts. Everything had seemed so simple back in Philly—put legal stumbling blocks in the middle of Nirvana’s smooth path and do a few harmless this and thats. No real damage. No one would get hurt. Too bad she’d never seen the irony until now of tiptoeing outside the legal lines so she could earn money for law school.

Kayla’s first two days here had been a big icy splash of reality. Anything she did to help Sparkle would hurt Thorn. Was that what all this soul-searching was about? Not her conscience, but the fact that she liked Thorn? Kayla wanted to believe her conscience would put up a fight even if Holgarth owned Nirvana. She thought about the wizard’s snark. Okay, so maybe not a big fight.

Sighing, she pushed that line of thought from her mind. She had a job to do. Kayla spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about ways to
legally
drive Thorn crazy. There had to be a way to prove that Nirvana’s employees weren’t safe for visitors to be around. Not an easy sell.

She could just imagine it. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, notice the big black horse on this merry-go-round. He’s really a mythical monster who will kill your loved ones and enjoy every moment. And you won’t even be entitled to a refund. Why not, you ask? Because the sexy owner of this perilous park has posted a tiny notice—barely legible—stating that Nirvana is not responsible for injuries caused by mythical monsters. You are screwed, people.”

Kayla finally tired of thinking. Her brain was about to self-combust. Instead, she amused herself by stopping some of the visitors and asking them about their experiences on the different rides. With each telling, her eyes grew wider. No way. She’d have to try all of them. With Thorn? It could happen.

The sun was just dipping below the horizon when Kayla finally dragged Holgarth away from Bypass. “We have to leave. I want to eat dinner and report to Sparkle before coming back here. Too bad you have to get ready for your nightly fantasies. I’ll just have to stumble along without you.”

“Yes, too bad.” Holgarth seemed distracted. “Bygul is quite charming. And her skills are extraordinary.”

“I’m sure they are.” Kayla wanted to get behind him and push. Could he move any slower? He stopped altogether when he reached the bumper cars.

“Humans have a thirst for violence. Look at them. They get pleasure from slamming those ridiculous little cars into each other.” Holgarth smiled. A happy smile. “I neglected my duty today.” He spoke a few words while making a small hand gesture. “There. Done. My son warded against destructive impulses, but he forgot to protect against simple performance tweaks.” He turned and walked toward the gate, triumph in every step.

Kayla started to follow him but then stopped. Angry cries rose from the cars’ drivers. No matter what they did, the cars wouldn’t bump into each other anymore. Someone shouted for his money back. She slunk away.

Dinner left a lot to be desired. Oh, the food was great, but the company wasn’t. Kayla had never thought of herself as sulky, but she was doing a great imitation right now.

Sparkle sat across from Kayla at the table. They were dining in a small private room off the main restaurant. Her client tapped one perfect crimson nail on the edge of her bread plate. She’d narrowed her amber eyes to ticked-off slits.

“I may as well tear my money into tiny pieces and let it rain down as confetti on that abomination across the street.” Sparkle paused to slurp her wine. She was way past the sipping stage. “My wizard spends most of the afternoon drooling over some slutty witch and only manages one small act of sabotage. And my well-paid spy comes back with some dreary plans to
sue
Thorn Mackenzie?” She gulped more wine. “I expected more creativity from you.”

“You’re right. I’m a failure. Send me home. Dad will get one of my brothers to finish the job.” Only Kayla realized she didn’t
want
to go home. Not until she worked through the attraction she felt for Thorn Mackenzie.

“This is all a bunch of crap, cuddlebunny. Just turn me loose and by morning there won’t even be a piling left standing. I can manifest a wave that’ll make Nirvana only a bad memory. The police won’t have a clue.”

Kayla tried to ignore the whole cat-in-a-restaurant thing. Board of Health? Not her problem. “You can do that? Create a tsunami?” The possibility gave her chills.

He stood with his hind legs on the chair and his front legs on top of the table. His face was buried in a dish of ice cream.
“The big wave is only a thought away. I’m magic, babe.”

Kayla decided not to comment on that.

Sparkle studied her empty glass. “Your big wave would also take out the castle, magic man.” She looked at Kayla. “Go back to Nirvana tonight and come up with a few new strategies. Seduce Thorn Mackenzie. I gave you the face and clothes, now use the tools. Find out his weaknesses, things that would make him give up and leave Galveston.”

Ganymede tried offering his help again.
“You want him dead? I can make him dead.”
He sat down on his chair and cleaned the ice cream from his whiskers and face with one gray paw.
“Or maybe not. Guess I got caught up in the moment. The Big Boss is still stuck in his no-murder-or-mayhem rut.”

“The Big Boss?” Did Kayla need one more person to worry about?

Sparkle waved Kayla’s question away. Her eyes looked a little glazed. “He’s in charge of all cosmic troublemakers. Don’t worry, he’s not here right now.” She smiled at the cat. “Keeps Mede on a short rein.” She tilted toward Kayla. “Whoa, I’m a little woozy. Too much wine. Anyway, I don’t want to kill Brandt. Woops, forgot. He’s Thorn now. Just want him to go away. Forever.”

Ganymede growled, a low angry rumble.