Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS)

by Nina Bangs

  They raced down the winding stone steps instead of taking the elevator, ran across the great hall, and reached the hotel lobby in record time. Kayla was still busy congratulating herself on surviving with no broken limbs when Sparkle shouted.

  Three men who stood just inside the entrance turned and then strode toward them.

  Kayla sucked in her breath. Talk about spectacular. She didn’t think of herself as shallow, but wow, just wow.

  They stopped in front of Sparkle.

  One of them—a man with pale eyes that looked as though they could ice over with a single blink—nodded at Kayla.

  “And you are?” His question sounded casual, but something else seemed to flow beneath the surface.

  Kayla scooped her jaw off the floor and answered. “Kayla Stanley.” She didn’t owe him any other explanation. If Sparkle wanted him to know more, she’d tell him.

  Sparkle ignored Kayla and moved closer to the man. “What were you doing inside Nirvana, Zane?”

  Zane narrowed his eyes at her tone. “Meeting with the owner. He offered me a job, and I accepted. Consider this my two weeks’ notice.” He didn’t wait for Sparkle’s mouth to close before walking away.

  Well, that was interesting. Kayla looked at the two remaining men.

  “Ditto that.”

  Sparkle stared at the boy who’d spoken, and now that he was closer Kayla could see he really was a boy. About sixteen or seventeen. Beautiful even with the blue spiked hair.

  “Why, Klepoth?” They seemed the only words that Sparkle could manage.

  “More money, more everything.”

  Kayla got the feeling that the “everything” was important. She wanted to ask what it was, but decided against calling attention to herself when she saw Sparkle’s expression. Kayla worried that Sparkle was about to tug off her boot and go to work on the unsuspecting Klepoth.

  But all Sparkle did was glare at him before shifting her attention to the last man. She didn’t seem to notice when Klepoth left.

  “You were in Chicago. When did you get in? What happened? Talk to me, Eric.” Her expression softened a little.

  “The owner of Nirvana called. He said he had an offer for me. You’d spent so much time ranting about him that I decided to fly in. Glad I did. I’ve decided to accept. You’ll have to find someone else to take care of things in Chicago. I’ll stay on for two weeks before I start working at Nirvana.”

  Eric didn’t sound guilty, he didn’t sound anything. He sounded disconnected, distant from the words he spoke. That probably meant something, but Kayla found it hard to concentrate on his words because she was having a tough time looking away from his gorgeous eyes. She didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone with eyes that brilliant shade of blue. Once a long time ago she’d visited Moraine Lake in Canada. His eyes were the blue of that lake.

  Sparkle tentatively reached out toward Eric and then yanked her hand back. Her expression hardened. “What’s his name?”

  “Thorn Mackenzie.” He turned away.

  “Mackenzie?” Sparkle seemed too shocked to call him back.

  From the look on Sparkle’s face, the name meant something to her.

  As Eric walked away, Kayla breathed deeply and refocused on Sparkle. She took an instinctive step back. Sparkle had narrowed her eyes to amber slits. And if Kayla didn’t know better, she’d swear they glowed.

  Sparkle looked down at the cat who’d planted his ample bottom on the toe of her boot. “Do something, Mede.”

  Okay, her client had officially lost it. Kayla would call Dad as soon as she got to her room and explain that she couldn’t work with the insane.

  Her thoughts about where the nearest mental health facility might be were interrupted by the sound of an explosion. She rushed to the glass doors along with Sparkle, the cat, and everyone else in the lobby. Across the street, a small stand right inside the entrance to Nirvana was now nothing more than twisted metal.

  “I blew up a refreshment stand. Best I could do, sweetbuns. Made it look like an electrical problem. We don’t want the cops opening a major investigation.”

  Kayla actually felt her heart stop and then start again. She’d just heard a voice in her head.

  “Give the lady a prize.”

  A sarcastic voice. Frantically, Kayla scanned the people around her. Maybe she needed the mental health facility.

  “Your head’s fine, babe. Yo, down here. The cat.” He sounded impatient with her obvious density. “Sparkle should’ve spent less time with her binoculars and more time explaining things to you.” The cat stared at the glass doors and they opened. “I’m Ganymede.”

  Sparkle interrupted the craziness happening in Kayla’s head.

  “Mackenzie might still be over there, Mede. Find him. Incinerate his ass. Or send him into the past, the future . . .” She paused for some teeth grinding. “I don’t give a damn as long as he’s gone.” Then she paused and took a deep breath. “I’ve changed my mind. Don’t kill him. A murder would bring the police around. We don’t need them creeping through the castle looking for a killer.”

  “How about if I pound the crap out of him?” Ganymede looked hopeful.

  Sparkle nodded. “Fine.”

  “There’re some undamaged candy bars over there calling my name, honeybunny. I’ll fortify myself with a few, and then I’ll get right on the beat-down.” He padded toward Nirvana, his tail a plumed feline question mark.

  Fitting. Kayla curled her hands into fists to stop them from shaking. What was Ganymede? Who was Sparkle Stardust really? What had just happened to her sane and ordered world? And how long before she hyperventilated herself into unconsciousness? “Someone better explain things to me right now or else I’m catching a taxi back to Hobby Airport and heading home.” Maybe forcefulness would hold the hysteria at bay. Breathe slowly, breathe deeply.

  “Don’t be such a baby.” Sparkle sounded annoyed. “I’ll explain things later. Right now I have to talk to a few people. Stay with me.”

  Kayla wanted to run from this place where cats talked in your head and clients had names like Sparkle Stardust. But as she calmed a little, the denials began. She’d imagined the voice. She wasn’t insane. It was all a giant hoax. Sparkle was the crazy one. None of the explanations made her feel better. Then she thought about her father.

  He’d made it clear that Sparkle was an important client. And Kayla had made it clear that she didn’t want to join the family business. But she did need help with law school expenses. This job would pay well and keep her father off her back for a little while longer. But a freaking voice in her head? Before she bolted, though, she’d get some answers.

  “Did your cat just speak to me in my head?” Saying it out loud sounded . . . delusional.

  “Yes.” Sparkle held up her hand. “Later.”

  Stay calm. Kayla narrowed her eyes. To hell with later. She asked another question. “How?”

  Sparkle waved her hand in an I-don’t-have-time-for-this gesture.

  Kayla would get an answer to one of her questions. “Why are you so important to my father?” Does he know about the talking cat?

  Sparkle paused to stare at her. “Didn’t he tell you? I brought your mother and father together.”

  “It was your fault.” And if Kayla sounded outraged, she had a right to her anger. “My parents were a disaster together. Other than the sexual attraction, they never agreed on one thing. They did nothing but fight until the day they divorced. How could you not see how wrong they were for each other?”

  Sparkle brightened. “Wrong for each other, but perfect for me. They were one of my success stories.”

  Kayla glared. “You’re a sick woman. And why was my father so determined for me to come here? I have zero experience. Either of my brothers would’ve done a better job.” What had Sparkle meant by one of her success stories?

  Sparkle began walking again. “I told your father to send his daughter because I assumed the owner of Nirvana was male.”

  Kayla couldn�
��t believe what she was hearing. “You want me to use my sex?” She said nothing else because if she tried to speak, she’d just sputter. Not a professional response.

  Sparkle seemed puzzled. “This is war. We use every weapon we have.” A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her lips before disappearing. “And I can make you into a very powerful weapon indeed.”

  Kayla clenched her fists and kept up with Sparkle. If she decided to stay—and that was a giant neon “if” right now—they’d have to come to an agreement over the terms of Kayla’s employment. She had one more question for now. “The name Mackenzie seemed to mean something to you. What?”

  Sparkle’s heels made angry click-clacks as she crossed the great hall. She didn’t bother to look at Kayla.

  “It means the owner of Nirvana is a vampire.”

  Kayla was outta there.

  2

  Thorn smiled as he continued to stare out at the Gulf. He hadn’t done much smiling until a few centuries ago. Smiling had been a waste of time and facial muscles. And for those who thought virtual immortality meant eternal happiness, they needed to walk a thousand years in his soul. When you had the ultimate power of persuasion, everything became too easy. No challenges, just endless boredom.

  He’d seen it all, done it all, and there had been nothing left for him. He’d been a solitary creature, so he’d had no friends. He’d seriously considered ending his existence. Not even the thought of raining down revenge on Sparkle’s deserving head had seemed to matter.

  But salvation had come a few centuries ago in the form of a human he’d met briefly as night was falling. The man had been perched on the edge of a cliff above the sea. He’d attached a pair of ridiculous-looking wings to his back. He’d told Thorn he was going to fly.

  That had almost made Thorn smile. Almost. A group of supporters had shouted encouragement to the idiot. Thorn had watched with interest as the man flung himself from the cliff. The pathetic wings had managed a few ineffectual flaps and then the man had plunged into the sea.

  Thorn had started to turn away from the cliff and the anguished screams of those who had been watching, but then he’d stopped. Maybe he owed the human for the few entertaining moments he’d provided. Thorn wasn’t easily amused anymore.

  So against his better judgment, he’d dived into the sea and hauled the drowning dumbass to safety. Once the man had heaved up the water he’d swallowed, he’d gasped his thanks.

  Thorn had been vampire for so many years he’d long since forgotten the things that motivated humans. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to the man. “Perhaps you weren’t meant to fly.”

  The man gave a hoarse chuckle. “At least not off cliffs that will land me in the sea. I’ll choose my spot more wisely next time.” He’d glanced at the water that had almost claimed him. “And I’ll do it when the sun is still high. I don’t want to be in the air when the monsters that wander in darkness are about.”

  The monster that wandered in darkness who had just saved his stupid ass blinked. Had Thorn heard him correctly? “Next time? Why would you put your life in danger again?” Human lives were already wretchedly short. Why would anyone chance chopping any more years from that brief span?

  The man met Thorn’s gaze. “It’s not the flying, it’s the thought that I might fly. Not this time, but the next, or the next.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what I would do if I actually did fly. I’d have no more purpose. A man has to have a purpose.”

  Thorn had stood watching as the man’s friends and family climbed down to where he lay and converged on him. They hadn’t noticed when Thorn left.

  That’s when he had his great aha moment. He needed “purposes” in his life. And since his greatest vampire gift, persuasion, made ordinary goals ridiculously easy, he’d stop using it.

  He’d paid for his decision. Who knew that using your power every day for centuries would become addictive, worse than any dependence on human drugs. Thorn now knew that the older the vampire, the worse the withdrawal symptoms. He hadn’t known how bad it would be back then. A good thing, because if he had, he might not have tried.

  The memory of his withdrawal still made him shudder even after all these years. His mind had scurried in circles—confused, panicked. It felt as though some alien creature were trying to claw its way out of his head. The pain pounded at him even during his day sleep. He remembered slamming his head into a wall over and over until blood poured down his face, blinding him. Stomach cramps tore at him, and he spent night after night curled into a fetal position, unable to hunt, to even move. So much pain for a creature who’d known very little of it until then almost took his mind. He now knew why he had never heard of other vampires denying their powers.

  But after a month, he’d emerged from his pain-filled hell free of any compulsion to persuade. The agony had been worth it. For the last several hundred years he’d lived as a human would. He solved his problems as a human would. Yes, he still took blood, but that was necessary to survive.

  He’d rediscovered his joy in existing, found once again the thrill he’d experienced so long ago when he’d sailed as a Viking. And as an added bonus, he found that people liked him. He usually didn’t have to use persuasion to sway them. Of course, their liking would turn to terror if they knew what he was. Once a monster always a monster.

  This was the first time he’d used his power to persuade in two hundred years. And he’d done it only because Sparkle was a special “purpose.” He wanted to create something so spectacular that it would drive her into a frenzy, and he didn’t have time to woo his new employees the human way.

  Thorn hoped that since he’d used his power briefly and on only a few people, he wouldn’t have to pay the full price when the urge to use it again came calling and he said no. Thorn didn’t have a clue how much it would take to form a new addiction.

  Because even now, when revenge was so close, he’d still keep his “humanity” unless circumstances forced him to take out the gifts that made him vampire, dust them off, and throw everything he had at the Castle of Dark Dreams and all who stood in his way. And to hell with future pain.

  “You’re smiling. It looked as though your meeting went well, so I suppose you have a reason to be happy.”

  Of course, that didn’t mean that Thorn wouldn’t hire the supernaturally gifted. He turned to face his new security chief. “I have three new employees. The power they wield will make Nirvana a success.”

  “Nirvana opens tomorrow. Will they be here?”

  “They mentioned something about a two-weeks notice.” He laughed. “Two weeks? More likely two hours. When Sparkle gets really ticked, she doesn’t think straight. She’ll kick all three out of her castle tonight. They can stay with me until I find them housing.”

  Grim shook his head. “Hope Ganymede doesn’t interfere. He’s trouble.”

  “So are we, Grim. So are we.”

  Thorn had met Grim Mackenzie in the wilds of Alaska years ago. Thorn had seen what he had once been in the other vampire—a loner, but a survivor. So when he’d been considering who he’d put in charge of protecting his pier, he’d thought of Grim. Luckily for him, Grim had grown tired of communing with nature at the same time that Thorn had tracked down Sparkle and thought of the perfect setup for his vengeance. Turned out that Grim had once met Sparkle and Ganymede. An added bonus.

  Like all Mackenzies, Grim was tall, muscular, and gifted with the Mackenzie eyes along with a very useful talent.

  “The rest of my team will be here in about a half hour.” Grim paused.

  Thorn sensed that Grim had something to add, so he waited.

  “You used your power on those three.” Grim met his gaze. “Why didn’t you use it on me?”

  “How do you know that I didn’t?”

  “I thought about your offer for days before accepting. Persuasion works faster than that.”

  Thorn raised one brow. “Would it have worked?”

  Grim seemed to consider that. “Yeah, I think it wou
ld have. I saw how you controlled them. You didn’t even break a sweat.” He grinned. “But you never know. I’m a stubborn bastard.”

  Thorn returned Grim’s smile. “I didn’t need to persuade you. My money did the persuading for me.”

  Grim nodded. “There’s that. But the money wasn’t what sold me on the job.” His eyes glittered with anticipation. “It was the thought of matching wits with Sparkle and Ganymede. I haven’t had a challenge like that in a long time.”

  Thorn opened his mouth to answer him . . .

  And the refreshment stand near the gate blew up. The boom shook the whole pier as a cloud of smoke billowed into the night air. When the smoke finally cleared, only twisted metal remained along with a scattering of torn snack bags and a few candy bars.

  “What the hell!” Grim crouched, lips peeled back and fangs exposed.

  “Well, that was fast.” Thorn felt a predatory satisfaction. And so it begins.

  Grim looked confused. “Uh, someone blew up your freaking stand. A little more reaction, please?” He glared across the street at the Castle of Dark Dreams. “Wonder who it could be?”

  Thorn narrowed his eyes. “I guess my three new employees gave Sparkle their notice. Maybe I’ll go over and see how she’s taking the news.”

  Grim snorted. “Not well. Go over there and they might blow you up too.”

  Thorn felt a surge of excitement. “They won’t know it’s me. I’ve lived a long time as a human. No one will sense my true nature.” He glanced at Grim. “What good is revenge if I don’t see her expression, feel her rage? If I hurry, I might be in time to catch Sparkle in full fury.” What a rush.

  “I think you just did feel her rage.” Grim shook his head. “Better hurry. The cops will be here soon. You don’t want to get tied up with them.”

  Thorn nodded. He strode toward the small windowless building tucked behind the game stands. It didn’t take long for him to put on his wig, insert colored contacts, brush a little powder on his brows to lighten them, and pull on his hoodie. He drew the hood far enough forward so that it shadowed his face. Finally, he shoved a few things he’d need into his pocket. Luckily it was a cool spring night in Galveston, so the hoodie wouldn’t look out of place.