Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS) (19 page)

“I’ll speak to Grim. He’s related to Loki. I might not trust Loki, but he’s a powerful Norse god. And he doesn’t have any love for Aegir.” Thorn wondered if they might not be creating problems instead of solving them.

Sparkle looked puzzled. “I thought Loki was still bound.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear.” Thorn continued. “I’ll meet with my two witches. They pull Freya’s chariot in their cat forms. We could do worse than the Norse goddess who leads the Valkyries. What about you?”

While he waited for Sparkle’s answer, he glanced at Kayla to see how she was holding up. She might look shocked, but he saw the gleam of determination in her eyes. Pride and something else warmed him.

“Isis is Zane’s mother. She’s not a Norse goddess, but she controls magic. We need her.” She seemed to be going through her mental Rolodex for likely god and goddess connections. “I think we have enough power without calling in any more outside help. The demon of music works in the castle. He’s an arch demon, and an arch demon with legions under his command will help level the playing field.”

An arch demon? Thorn was impressed. “Then we’ll meet again tomorrow night as soon as I rise to hear what Kel and Banan found out. Then we plan our attack.” He had to address one more thing. “What about Ganymede?” Left unasked: who will he support or will he support no one at all?

Sparkle shrugged. “He’s never been this angry at me before.”

“He’s jealous.” Kayla folded and unfolded her hands in her lap.

Thorn narrowed his eyes. Something was bothering her. He couldn’t wait for Sparkle to leave so he could find out what it was.

“You know it’s more than that. I can’t take back the words I said, but I hope when he calms down he’ll realize I was looped.” Sparkle stared at her wineglass. “Don’t ever believe me when I’m drunk.” She stood. “Time to go back to the castle and rally the forces. I hope the police have cleared away the idiots.” A small smile touched her lips. “I will admit, though, to a tiny thrill when I saw all of your broken stuff.”

“Goodbye, Sparkle.” Kayla sounded weary.

Once Sparkle left, silence descended. Thorn could feel it like a blanket soaked in seawater—heavy and smothering. One of them had to speak first. “Something other than possible death bothering you?”

Kayla looked at him then. She was trying to keep her expression neutral, but her eyes gave her away. They looked stricken. He dropped his gaze.

“I know about your power of persuasion. Is that how you stopped the riot? I thought the H.A.T.E. leader caved too easily.”

She had the calm and cool tone down, but the slight quaver in her voice ruined the effect.

“Sparkle told you?” Who knew Sparkle would still be destroying things for him a thousand years later? To be honest, though, he was the one who’d invaded her space this time.

Kayla looked as though she wanted to say something, but in the end she only nodded.

“I guess you want to hear all the details?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I can convince anyone to do or believe anything just by talking to them.” He shrugged. “Guess that’s it. Unless you have questions, you can leave.”

She didn’t move. “Can you do it mentally, or do you have to stand in front of someone and speak out loud?” Her gaze slid away from his.

“Don’t worry, I can’t crawl into your mind. I have to speak aloud to the person I want to persuade. Anything else?” He was a vampire. He wasn’t supposed to feel weary or depressed. He must be a crappy vampire, because he felt both.

“Did you use persuasion on Eric, Zane, and Klepoth?”

Thorn admired how she was managing to keep her voice steady with just the right amount of casual interest in it. She shouldn’t have allowed him to see her eyes, though. They gave too much away.

He thought about lying, but why? It really didn’t matter if Kayla ran to the three and they quit. The park was closed. And if they all survived the coming battle, he didn’t think he had enough vengeful fires left to fuel his hatred of Sparkle. He’d probably let Grim manage the place and leave.

But she was waiting for an answer. “Yes. I needed them for my park, so I used my power.”

Pink tinged her cheeks. Not embarrassment. Anger. He smiled. A little rage would make things interesting. After all, he didn’t care what she thought of him. He allowed the lie to grow and take root. Thorn might even believe it in a few hundred years.

“You took their free will from them to suit your own selfish needs.”

He tried to look puzzled. “Not selfish. We’re talking righteous vengeance here.”

Contempt drew her lips into a thin line. “Do you slither through each day using your ‘persuasion’ to solve every one of life’s daily problems?”

Thorn allowed the silence to grow while he seemed to think about her question. Then . . . “Yes, pretty much.”

She stood. “One more question. Did you make me . . . care for you?” She seemed to have surprised herself with that question.

She’d sure surprised him. Kayla cared for him?
Don’t get too excited. She’s well on her way to hating you.
He wanted to lie, to treat this question the same way he’d treated the others. But he couldn’t. “No.”

Thorn didn’t ask if she believed him. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t. He was going to leave it at that. He should have. “Aren’t you going to ask if I persuaded you to think that I cared for you?”

Now it was her turn to look puzzled. “Why? I never thought you did.” She left his apartment.

He sat staring at the closed door for a few minutes. Then he got up and methodically destroyed everything in his apartment—the cheap print above the couch, the ugly dishes with the flower design he’d bought at the nearest store, every impersonal piece of crap in the place. In the end, with broken furniture and glassware piled around him, he still didn’t feel any better. See, he was evolving even further. Breaking things used to improve his mood.

Sitting on the floor surrounded by rubble, he called Grim.

Grim opened the door and then froze. He stared at Thorn sitting on the floor and then scanned the apartment again. “That must’ve been a hell of a party.” His words sounded light, but his expression was serious.

“I expressed my displeasure with my shitty night by indulging in a tantrum. It’s healthy to channel your inner child once in a while.” Thorn pointed to the floor beside him. “Sit.”

“What happened?” His security chief lowered himself to the floor.

“Sparkle and I talked. We decided it wouldn’t be safe or profitable to keep our parks going. So we’re shutting them down. Tomorrow at sunset we’ll make plans to get rid of Aegir.”

Grim’s eyes widened. “You think big. How will you do that?”

“We’ll need some help. Aegir doesn’t fear humans, so he’s been openly destroying their businesses, sinking their ships, and ordering attacks on swimmers. He’s made an attempt to be a little more circumspect with us—first trying to make us believe the guilty party was human, and then once he gained some confidence, giving us a three-week window to clear out. I think there’s only one group of beings he really wants to keep out of this fight.”

“Let me guess, the gods and goddesses.” Grim massaged a spot between his eyes.

“We know Loki would be a ticking time bomb. But if you can get him here, I’ll take the chance and hope he goes off all over Aegir and not us.”

Grim winced. “Right. I’ll try. I suppose you’ll want Freya’s help too.”

Thorn nodded. “You’re closer to the witches than I am. See if they can convince Freya to help out. And it wouldn’t hurt if she brought her Valkyries.”

“No problem.” His expression said the exact opposite. “Is that all?”

“Almost. Sparkle did some digging into my past. She found out about my power of persuasion. It didn’t take her long to connect dots and realize I’d used my power on her three employees. While she and Kayla were here waiting for me today, she told Kayla. I assume Sparkle’s next step is to gleefully tell her former employees what she discovered.”

“Ouch. How did Kayla take the news?” Grim didn’t look hopeful.

“Kayla took it well.” Thorn looked around at the wreck of his home. “
I
broke things.”

Grim only nodded as he stood. “I’ll get working on those immortal connections.”

“One more thing.”

“There can’t be.” Grim glared at him. “You’ve used up your quota of crappy news for the night.”

“Ganymede has gone rogue. Sparkle cooked up the basic recipe for tonight’s demonstration, but Ganymede added the spices that turned it hot. She thinks he caused all the trouble that drew the police away from Nirvana. She knows he gave the rioters liquor and pumped them up for violence. And he hasn’t phoned home.”

Grim didn’t say anything, just walked out the door and slammed it behind him. Thorn seconded that emotion.

It was still a few hours until dawn, but that didn’t stop Thorn from flinging himself onto his bed. He lay there staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow night he’d start paying for using his power. He’d used it twice within the last week, and his addiction was primed and ready to beat on him if he didn’t go back to using it on a daily basis.

But he’d whip it the same way he’d whipped it before. He’d suffer a little, but so long as he didn’t use it a third time things would calm down in a few days. He hoped Aegir cooperated with that wish.

He’d kept Kayla for last. He wanted some quality brooding time for her. All of his budding hopes for them had been ground back into the dirt by Sparkle. Kayla would never think or feel anything good about him from now on without wondering if he’d made her feel that way. In other words, she’d never trust him again.

Thorn lay there for a long time thinking about Kayla. Funny that all of Sparkle’s in-your-face sensuality left him cold. It was Kayla he wanted. Finally, he turned on his side as he felt the first touch of his day sleep. Maybe he could persuade himself that none of it mattered anyhow.

15

Kayla woke and picked right up where her dreams had left off—thinking about Thorn. At least sleep had helped her find a balance between emotion and reason.

The news that he could persuade her to quack like a duck and think it was a great idea had triggered an emotional tsunami. Betrayal, pain, loss, and fury jockeyed for position in her heart.

Then the realization had smacked her. What did her extreme reaction say about how deep her feelings for Thorn ran? Kayla had leaped into denial. Too bad she had hit her head on the way down.

She had known she was supposed to come to Galveston, do her job, and go home. What she hadn’t known was that a sexy vampire would stand in her path waving a sign that read
HUGE COMPLICATION
.

But now she was thinking clearly—or as clearly as she could where Thorn was concerned. If he had used persuasion on her, wouldn’t her attraction have been a lot more dramatic? She would have broken her nose when she did a face-plant on the castle floor the first time she met him. She’d have been so obsessed she wouldn’t even have noticed some of the negatives about him. None of that had happened.

Her feelings for him? Not that deep. She had overreacted. When she saw him again, she’d laugh at her initial response. Kayla had liked other men just as much and then forgotten them once they left.
Just as much? Really?
She ignored any opposing views.

His amazing hotness had drawn her, but more intense feelings had grown gradually. She winced. No, that was a slip of her mind. There were no intense feelings.

Thorn had said he didn’t use persuasion on her, so why not give him the benefit of the doubt?
You know you want to.
She’d think about it.

Kayla thought about it all day until the sun set. And amid news of more destruction in Galveston, she went with Sparkle to meet Thorn. Actually, Kayla was surprised Thorn even wanted her there. But persuasion or not, she wasn’t going to miss a chance to be with him.

“So why am I the only one going to the meeting with you?” Kayla asked Sparkle her question as they crossed the eerily empty Seawall Boulevard on the way to Nirvana.

“Banan will already be there. Mede is still in the wind. Thorn removed his persuasion from Eric, Zane, and Klepoth. Then he told them what he’d done. I wanted to be the one to break the news.” She looked annoyed at that. “They’re somewhere being mad. And I need everyone else as guards or to help close down the park. I’ll bring any decisions we make back to everyone. If they approve, they’ll stay. If not?” She shrugged. “They’ll go.”

“Why not leave me back at the castle too? I won’t be much help. My father never covered assaults on supernatural forces in his lessons. But if you want me to pick a lock, I’m your woman.” Dumb. Why was she giving Sparkle a reason to send her back?
Fear.
She was afraid to face Thorn, to face her feelings. The ones she kept denying.

Sparkle shot her a long, searching look. “He cares for you. I might be able to use that.”

“That is so cold.” Was Sparkle telling the truth? The thought that he might care warmed Kayla all over. Not that she wanted the other woman to use her as a weapon against Thorn.

“Not cold. Practical. People perform incredible acts for those they love.” Sparkle glanced at Kayla. “Not that he’s at the love stage yet, but he’s close. And he’ll probably go to amazing lengths to keep you safe.”

Kayla didn’t know what to say to that, so she looked away. Then she frowned, really noticing the destruction around her for the first time. The major rides seemed okay, but Thorn would have to replace most of the other things on the pier.

All of the stuffed monsters had disappeared. She’d bet a lot of the demonstrators’ children had stuffed monsters sitting on their beds today. Rotten thieves.
Why all the outrage?

Dad would applaud. He’d say her job was done and she should come home. But Thorn could be back in business within a month once they took care of Aegir. She couldn’t leave. Kayla still had work to do. The sense of relief she felt unsettled her.

The mob had shattered all the windows in the restaurant. She didn’t want to think about what they’d done to the inside. The idiots were lucky no one had died last night.

Did Thorn even care about Nirvana? Was it just a means to an end? She looked back at Sparkle. “How can someone still want revenge after a thousand years?”

“Sometimes hate becomes a habit. For some of us who exist for centuries, love and hate are often the only emotions that still warm us.” Sparkle made her words sound personal.

Kayla glanced down at Sparkle’s nails. Chipped and colorless. She’d learned that as Sparkle’s nails went, so went her world. It looked as though love and hate were still warming one cosmic troublemaker. Kayla decided the conversation was taking her down a path she didn’t want to explore right now. Besides, they’d reached Thorn’s place.

Sparkle knocked. When Thorn answered, his gaze went directly to Kayla. But he didn’t say anything, just stepped aside for them to enter.

Kayla walked into the room and then stopped. She scanned it before looking at Thorn. “What happened to your old furniture?”

Thorn dropped onto a new leather couch. “I lost my temper.”

“Remind me never to invite you over when you’re in a bad mood.” Kayla looked at the other people in the room. Grim slouched in a new recliner, Banan didn’t seem quite as relaxed in an armchair, and Kel had pulled up a kitchen chair.

Kel gestured to the couch. “We saved the couch for you and Sparkle.”

Kayla moved a little too slowly. By the time she reached the couch, Sparkle had already settled herself at the other end from Thorn. If Kayla made a big deal of avoiding the middle of the couch in favor of dragging over another kitchen chair, then Thorn would see it for what it was—cowardice.

Making sure she didn’t meet Thorn’s gaze, she sat in the middle. He spread his legs so his thigh pressed against hers. She’d have to sit in Sparkle’s lap to avoid touching him.

Thorn looked at her and smiled. Filled with wicked intent, that smile was probably the only persuasion he’d ever need with most women. But Kayla was made of sterner stuff. Her stare dared him to move another body part into her personal space.

Finally, he looked away from her. “First, did anyone have luck recruiting help from the gods or goddesses?”

Kayla sighed her relief. While he was concentrating on the others, she studied him. Now that she wasn’t focused on herself, she noticed that something didn’t seem quite right. Thorn held himself stiffly, as though any sudden movement might shatter him. There was a crease between his brows, and while she watched he massaged his temple.

Was he in pain? Kayla had never asked if vampires could get headaches. She’d add that question to the one about his eating habits.

Sparkle crossed her legs and every male eye followed the motion. Her small smile said she was very aware of how men would react to anything she did. Kayla felt a momentary stab of jealousy. How would it feel to be so assured of your desirability? But then she thought about how Sparkle and Ganymede were hurting each other. Maybe she didn’t want to be Sparkle Stardust right now.

“I asked Zane if he’d contact his mother, but he was too busy making threats against you, Thorn, to answer. You might not want to count on Isis showing up.” Sparkle stared at the far wall. “That painting is a spectacular failure. Who paints that crap?”

Kayla could get whiplash from trying to follow Sparkle’s change of subjects.

Thorn ignored the insult to his artistic taste. “How about you, Grim?”

His security chief looked conflicted. “The good news first. Loki will be here. The bad news? Loki will be here.”

Kayla didn’t understand the sudden tension filling the room. Shouldn’t everyone be thrilled that Loki was coming? She’d seen
The Avengers
. Loki might be cunning, vicious, and ethically challenged, but he was powerful. Everything would be fine as long as he aimed all that evil power at Aegir.

Thorn broke the silence. He stared at Banan and Kel. “What did you find, guys?”

Kel wasn’t smiling. “Aegir’s hall at the bottom of the Gulf is pretty much impregnable.”

“It’s a freaking fortress.” Banan seemed offended by the idea of someplace he couldn’t get into. “Most of it is buried. The part above the sea floor is a clear dome. No way to sneak up without being seen.”

“I spoke to some of the sea shifters in the area. They don’t like working for Aegir, but since the only other option is death, they’re dealing with him. One of them told me the humans from the ships he sank are being kept in his hall. Ran and her daughters are guarding them.”

Ran? Then Kayla remembered: Aegir’s wife. “If Aegir’s stronghold is at the bottom of the Gulf, how do you reach him?”

Thorn looked at Kel and Banan. “Will any of the sea creatures fight with us?”

“And risk losing fins and tentacles? Not likely.” Banan bit his lip as he thought. “You might get some of them to agree to stay neutral if they thought you had a chance of winning. That’s the best you could hope for.”

“Ganymede and the Big Boss are the only ones who might give a damn about us and are powerful enough to blast Aegir from the bottom of the sea. I’m not counting on the gods or goddesses because who the hell knows what they’ll do. Ganymede is busy going rogue, and I don’t have a clue where the Big Boss is. Ever since he decided that I’d make a great assistant, I haven’t seen much of him. He’s probably vacationing in some exotic alternate reality.” Sparkle looked at the fridge. “I need a glass of wine.”

She got up to get her drink, and Kayla welcomed the chance to edge away from Thorn. “You can’t blast anything until you get the people out.” Kayla noted that Kel’s expression said keeping the humans safe wasn’t one of his top priorities. She watched gloom settle over the group.

Sparkle didn’t return to her seat. She got a glass for her wine and stood sipping it. “So the first thing we do is find a way to free the hostages. Then we decide how to drive Aegir away.” She looked a little more decisive. “I’ll talk to my people. A few of them have major talents. Some of them might have an idea we didn’t explore.”

Everyone stood, and Kayla stood with them. She looked at Sparkle. “Well, my presence certainly helped. We accomplished so much.” As weapons went, sarcasm wasn’t much, but it made her feel better. Kayla didn’t look at Thorn as she followed Sparkle to the door.

“Wait.”

Thorn was right behind Kayla. How had he moved that fast? He was close enough for her to feel him, that particular awareness she had for him alone.

“I’d like to speak with you for a moment, Kayla.”

His voice was husky and soft, a sensual caress that stroked her with invisible fingers. She imagined he’d use that same voice to invite her into his bed. And God help her, she’d go.

Kayla nodded and turned back to the room. This time she took the recliner. His lips lifted, acknowledging her reluctance to sit near him. He returned to his seat on the couch and waited until everyone had left.

The door closed on the last person. To Kayla, it sounded like the boom of a dungeon door shutting, locking her into his personal keep.
Get a grip
. She smiled at him. “You have something to say?”

He met her gaze. “I wanted to clarify some points from last night.”

She raised her brows and remained silent. Kayla wouldn’t make it easy for him.

Thorn looked grim. She wasn’t sure if it was because of what he was about to tell her or because of physical pain. He reached up again to massage his temple.

“I’ll repeat what I said from last night just in case you didn’t hear it the first time. I never used persuasion on you.”

“Just everyone else.” Even she could hear the nastiness in her voice. Kayla didn’t like the sound of it.

“Not really.” He closed his eyes. “During the last two hundred years I’ve only used persuasion three times—to convince Eric to fly in from Chicago, to make sure Eric, Zane, and Klepoth accepted my job offer, and to force the leader of the mob to calm his followers.”

She had an almost irresistible urge to walk over to the couch and smooth that crease away with her fingers. And from there . . . ? Kayla took a deep breath. And from there, nothing. “That’s not what you said last night.”

“Last night I was angry and figured if you already thought the worst of me, I may as well live down to expectations. I lied to you.”

He opened his eyes and speared her with a hard stare. “I stopped using persuasion two hundred years ago because it made life too easy. I could get whatever I wanted, so there were no challenges. Life grew boring. I even thought of ending it.” The last was a mere murmur.

Horror so powerful she felt like heaving shook her. What if he had killed himself? She never would have known him.

“So I decided to live the way a mortal would live. Working for what I wanted gave me goals, reasons for living. It’s worked for me.”

Kayla straightened in her chair. “True?”

He nodded. “True. Anything else you want to know?”

“Sparkle said you had blood in your fridge, but what about your dining-out nights?”

“I don’t kill when I feed. And when I’m finished, I wipe the memories of what happened from their minds. So yes, I do still use a few small powers necessary for my survival.”

She wasn’t sure she believed everything he’d said, but she wanted to. Kayla decided for tonight she’d go with what she wanted. “Fine.”

His smile had hard edges. “That seemed too easy.”

“Maybe I’m tired tonight. I’ll be argumentative and disbelieving again tomorrow.”

“Deal.” Thorn stood. He looked as though he expected her to leave.

She didn’t. “This might be one of my last chances to try another one of Nirvana’s rides. How about the roller coaster?”

He seemed surprised. “Sure.”

Something moved in his eyes, a challenge. It was warm and curled like a sleeping cat inside her. But she knew the sleeping cat could always waken, teeth and claws ready. The thought was sort of exciting. At least she knew there was no persuasion involved because it had been her idea.

“Let’s go.” He sounded eager.