by Nina Bangs
Thorn forced a smile. “The modern world is soft. A few bad smells and they bail. They should’ve been around when no one washed for six months at a time. A few whiffs standing in a crowd on a hot day would toughen them up fast.”
Grim nodded. “So what went wrong? You’re smiling, but I don’t sense a lot of happy thoughts.”
“Two big guys stopped me on the way back here.” Thorn had already decided not to mention Kayla. He quickly told a shortened version of what had happened. “Something’s not right. The two I saw in the hotel smelled of the sea. Had to be shifters. And the two who wanted to rearrange my face started their change as soon as they got far enough into the Gulf.” Too bad Kayla had seen that. “There aren’t a lot of shifters who choose to leave the sea, and now I trip over four in one night. Who’re they working for? Why try to drive me from Galveston?”
“Sparkle?” Grim shrugged. “Seems a logical choice.”
“Could be. I don’t think Sparkle recognized me, but she could’ve just sent them out to find someone who worked at Nirvana. And they chose me.” He stared at the carousel. “But it still doesn’t feel right. Ganymede’s not subtle. He’s a blow-everything-up kind of guy. At least that’s what my research showed. I can’t see him bothering with muggings and threats.”
“At least we’ll have security now.” Grim sounded . . . grim.
Thorn glanced around. “So where’s your team?”
Grim’s frown turned to a smile. “You’re looking at it.”
“The carousel’s going to protect Nirvana?” Thorn didn’t know what he’d expected, but this wasn’t it.
Grim reached back and flipped a switch. The carousel began to turn. No music, so at least Grim had spared him that.
“Look carefully.” Grim’s voice was tight with anticipation.
Thorn narrowed his eyes. Seemed normal to him, a bunch of horses mixed in with other creatures big enough for people to ride. Then his eyes widened. “Stop.”
The carousel slowed as Thorn moved toward a big black horse. He stared. “There’s seaweed tangled in its mane.” He reached out to touch the seaweed and to smooth his fingers over the mane. “It’s wet.” He knew his mythology as well as any thousand-year-old vampire. But this seemed beyond belief. “A kelpie?”
Grim nodded. “I met someone centuries ago who had one of the magical bridles that controls a kelpie’s shape-shifting power. Now I have it. I’m not using it on him, and I promised to give it to him to keep in return for a few favors. He’s a freshwater kind of guy, but he’ll do his thing in the Gulf for a limited time.”
Thorn rocked back on his heels and just stared at the legendary fairy water horse. “And I suppose this man just gave you the bridle.”
Grim’s smile turned savage. “I took it. Because I could. And because I wasn’t as civilized as I am now.”
“That’s not saying much. I saw you in the wilderness. Grizzlies ran from you.”
“As well they should.”
Thorn continued pacing around the carousel. He stopped in front of two blue cats as big as ponies. He shook his head. “How?”
“Ah, you recognize them.”
“They’re hard to miss. As far as I know the only giant blue cats are the ones who pull the goddess Freya’s chariot. So once again, how?”
“They’re witches in their human forms. I did them a few favors.” He shrugged. “Now they owe me a few.”
Thorn raised one brow in a silent question.
Grim’s grin widened. “Hey, while you were perfecting your imitation of an ordinary human guy, I wasn’t. I was busy forging relationships with the most powerful nonhumans I could find.” He speared Thorn with a hard gaze. “I don’t get you. You could go on TV and convince people to make you king of the universe. Why do things the hard way?”
“I’ve tried the easy way. It didn’t work for me.” He’d never make Grim understand his need to actually work for what he got, the sense of accomplishment that had kept him from checking out centuries ago.
Grim didn’t look impressed with his excuse. “Fine. Make it tough. Now that you’re here, let’s have a brief team meeting.”
Thorn waited expectantly. He knew Grim’s power, but never got used to seeing him wield it.
Grim turned to the carousel. He didn’t speak, chant, or do a damn thing that Thorn could see. But suddenly, three people stood in front of them—two women and a man. Thorn glanced at the carousel. The two giant blue cats were still there. He took the time to walk around the carousel. Yep, so was the black horse.
Grim had crazy talent. Who could split one into two? The real horse and cats were held in stasis on the carousel. But at the same time there was a real version of them standing in front of him.
Finally, he returned to the group. He waved at Grim. “Introduce us.” He smiled at the women. They didn’t smile back.
Grim clapped him on the shoulder. “The lady with the long blond hair is Bygul, and the one with the curly black hair is Trjegul.” He smiled at the women. “This is Thorn.”
The women ignored Grim.
Bygul cast Thorn an impatient glance. “I have no idea why Grim told you we were here because we owed him favors. We’re here because—”
Grim frowned. “I think that’s enough for now.”
Trjegul’s smile was a sly curve of her lips. “You haven’t told him, have you?” She gazed at Grim from under long dark lashes. “I think any partnership should be based on truthfulness.” She widened her eyes. It didn’t make her look innocent. “Don’t you?”
Thorn stared at Grim. “What’s she talking about?”
Grim glared at the witch before turning to Thorn. “Okay, so they don’t owe me favors. They’re doing this because my grandfather is Fenrir, the oldest son of the god Loki. The Norse gods and goddesses take care of their own. That’s where I get my power to do the two-out-of-one thing.”
Wow, some family tree. “Why wouldn’t you want me to know that?”
“I don’t like to brag about family connections.” Grim glanced away. “I bet you feel the same way. I don’t hear you saying anything about your relations.”
“That’s because I don’t have any worth talking about.” For just a moment, he thought about his father. Then he closed his heart against the old longing. Thorn needed to change the subject. He didn’t want Grim asking questions about his family. “You haven’t introduced your kelpie friend.”
Grim’s kelpie friend didn’t look particularly friendly. He was tall and lean. A tangled mass of black hair framed his face and fell across his forehead. Bright green eyes glared at them from between the strands of hair.
“He doesn’t have to introduce me, and I’m not his damn friend. Kelpies don’t have friends. I don’t need a name either.”
Thorn decided with that crappy attitude it was no wonder the kelpie was friendless. “Maybe you don’t need a name, but I need to call you something. So let’s compromise. You’re now Kel.”
The kelpie nodded and sank back into smoldering silence. Thorn ran his fingers through his hair. The perfect end to a rotten night—except for Kayla. He now had a security chief who was related to a bunch of badass Norse gods, and a team that made crappy attitudes into an art form. He focused on Grim. “What will each of them do?”
Grim was glowering at the witches. “Bygul will watch Nirvana during the day, and Trjegul will take over at night. Kel will be on call if trouble comes from the Gulf. When they’re not on duty they can do what they please as humans. Their carousel forms will still be here if needed.”
“And what will Kel do besides sitting around getting a tan while he watches the waves break?” Yes, Thorn felt cranky.
Kel stared at Thorn from narrowed eyes. “You know my options. In my horse form I can lure the enemy to climb onto my back. Once they’re on, they’re stuck. Then I dive deep and drown them. And if they’re shifters who change into water creatures, I’ll just tear them apart.” His lips curved up in an anticipatory smile.
Gre
at. Just freaking great. “Murder and mayhem. Can’t wait to see that. You’ll go viral on YouTube within an hour. Nirvana will be a megahit with gawkers and the police.”
Kel shrugged. “I can kill quietly. Most attacks will probably happen at night anyway. I’m a black horse. I’ll blend. Besides, you guys have the power to make everyone forget what they saw.” He allowed himself a small smile. Very small. “And if all you want is to give someone a good scare . . . ? I’m extremely scary.”
I bet you are. But he couldn’t argue with what Kel had said, although the only time Thorn wiped memories now was after he’d fed. Couldn’t have his dinner screaming, “Vampire! Vampire!” from a dark alley. Thorn didn’t have to ask what the two witches could do. They’d be lethal in human or cat form. “Well, welcome to Nirvana. We’re in great shape. We have a kelpie, two witches, a sorcerer, a vampire, and a demon besides Grim and me. I’ll leave you to do your things. I need to make some plans.”
Thorn didn’t wait to see if Grim had anything else to say. He made it back to his small apartment behind the game stands without having to talk to anyone else. After taking out the contacts and removing the wig, he took a shower then flopped onto his bed and waited.
When the knock came, he glanced at his bedside clock before heading to the door. Sparkle had allowed them to stay longer than he’d expected. He opened the door.
Grim smiled. “Your demon, sorcerer, and vampire are waiting for you at the gate.”
Thorn grunted his thanks and walked to meet his new employees.
“I see you have your bags with you.” Thorn smiled. “Sparkle kicked you out?”
Zane scowled. “She kept me there just long enough to get rid of that god-awful smell you planted in the castle then she kicked me out.” He glanced at the demon. “Lucky tomorrow is Saturday. Klepoth won’t have to go to school.”
School? The demon went to school? Thorn muffled a laugh. “Too bad about getting thrown out.” Not. He’d been counting on it.
Eric looked disgusted. “It’s a shitty way to show gratitude. Sparkle has a short memory. I did a lot for her. I won’t forget this. My wife’s still working in Chicago. I think I’ll tell her to hold off moving back here until things are more stable.”
Thorn shook his head in mock sympathy. “Good idea.” He pulled out his house key and written directions to his place from his pocket and handed them to Zane. “I feel guilty about this. I’m staying here, but you can crash at my beach house. It’s a couple of miles down the road.” He pointed west. “You can stay there until you get on your feet.”
Klepoth grinned. “A beach house? Great. Thanks.”
Thorn wondered about the wisdom of turning over his house to a demon. “Eric, I have a safe room set up for vampires. Zane and Klepoth, be here at dawn tomorrow. The day manager will be here to fill you in. You don’t have to worry about the running of the pier. Everything’s been taken care of. I’ll check in with all of you at sunset.”
“One concern.” Zane flipped the key into the air and then caught it. “How many hours do you expect us to work? We can’t be here every minute that the pier is open.”
“Not a problem.” Thorn was ready for this night to be over. “Zane, come up with a spell that will make any illusions Eric or Klepoth create automatically repeat with each new customer. Klepoth will control the illusions during the day, and Eric will take the night ones. Once you have things set up, you can kick back and relax. Unless we have an emergency”—like Sparkle mounting an assault on the pier—“you can leave once Grim and I are awake.”
The men nodded and left. Thorn closed his eyes for a moment. His revenge had better be worth all this. Then he opened them and headed back to his apartment. He had work to do, castles to destroy and cosmic troublemakers to lay low.
But strangely enough, he spent more time thinking about Kayla—her smile, her voice, her everything—than he did planning.
And as the day sleep finally took him, Thorn regretted that he couldn’t dream.
6
Kayla couldn’t wait to get out of the castle. She’d spent most of the day dodging Sparkle and Ganymede while she tried to find evidence of what had caused last night’s noxious odor. She’d found none.
But Sparkle had managed to find her over and over again as she peppered Kayla with ideas for getting rid of Nirvana. Now Kayla waited impatiently by the lobby doors while her client gave her some last-minute advice.
“I don’t know why you wanted to wait until night before going over there.” Sparkle studied her perfect nails. “Today was their grand opening. You could’ve done a little of this, a little of that, and then lost yourself in the crowd.”
Ganymede sat on Sparkle’s foot. He wore his disapproving-cat expression. “You could’ve taken me. I would’ve brought that crappy Ferris wheel down in seconds.”
“Subtle, Mede. We have to be subtle. We don’t need the police asking questions.” Sparkle didn’t seem upset by the mass-destruction concept, just its consequences.
“I don’t do subtle.” He seemed definite about that.
Kayla stared at him. “Doesn’t it bother you that innocent people might get hurt?”
“Collateral damage. It happens.” He gave the equivalent of a cat shrug.
“Zane is over there.” Sparkle glanced down at the cat. “He’ll have taken precautions. Besides, do you want to face Holgarth and explain that his son was collateral damage?”
Ganymede looked up at her. “That’d be ugly, wouldn’t it?”
“Very. And if this Thorn has a bit of sense, he’s hired a bunch of nonhumans to help protect his property. We don’t want to start a supernatural war. We just got over the last one.” Sparkle leaned down to give him a quick scratch behind his ears.
The cat did some low grumbling. “If he had any sense, he wouldn’t have set up shop across the street from us.”
Kayla had heard enough. “I’m not going over there to do damage. I need to look around, find weaknesses, and then do some planning. I don’t intend to get caught by some crazy vampire or go to jail. If I can find a way to put Nirvana out of business without violence, that’s what I’ll do.”
What she really meant was that she’d try to do the job without crossing any legal lines. If not . . . ? She wasn’t sure. Her internal battle was epic. Dad never hesitated to embrace illegal if that was the only way to satisfy his clients. Jeez, he’d even named his business Whatever It Takes. He’d been thrilled when she decided to go to law school. If he got in legal trouble—which he did on a regular basis—he was convinced he’d have his very own attorney in the family. But law school had changed her perspective. Soon she’d have to make a choice: do what her father wanted or keep her self-respect.
“You’re a great disappointment.” Ganymede glared at Kayla before switching his attention to Sparkle. “You should’ve asked for one of her brothers.”
Sparkle sighed. “She’s right, Mede. We want Thorn out of business, but we have to keep our own hands clean if we expect to stay in Galveston.”
Ganymede mumbled something about just sinking the whole pier and being done with it.
“Violence will bring the police. You saw what happened last night after you blew up that stand. The police came over to find out what we knew about it. I don’t think they believed it was caused by an electrical problem. I mean, we’re Nirvana’s competition, so they’ll suspect us first.” Sparkle looked thoughtful. “As much as I hate to admit it, I sort of admire what the vampire did to us. The stench made some guests leave, but there’s no evidence to take to the police. Smart.”
“Dead, if I catch him or his people in the castle.” Ganymede wore a sulky expression. “Besides, what evidence would he have if I just made his pier go away? What would he tell the police? The cat did it?”
Kayla didn’t want to listen to any more of this. “So can I leave?” She wanted to get moving before nerves got the better of her.
Sparkle widened her eyes. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? We’re waiting
for your partner.”
Kayla froze. “My what?”
“He’s worked for us before. You’ll find him perfect for the job.” She frowned at Kayla. “We’ll have to get you some new clothes. The jeans, T-shirt, and jacket make you blend in with the mob of idiots across the street. Blending is never good for a woman. Although I suppose a good spy can’t look too spectacular.” She seemed to consider the problem. “I’ll get back to you about the clothes.”
Kayla was getting used to Sparkle’s lightning changes of subjects. She stayed focused on her “partner.” Yes, she’d been willing to accept a nonhuman to watch her back, to protect her from other nonhumans, but “protector” didn’t have the same meaning as “partner.” Kayla worked alone. “Look, I don’t need a partner, I—”
“Here he is now.” Sparkle waved at someone behind Kayla.
Kayla turned. She blinked. She sucked in her breath and then exhaled slowly. Were her eyes too wide? Was her mouth hanging open? He was . . .
“This is Banan.” Sparkle watched Kayla expectantly.
He was tall. Were all nonhumans tall? Weren’t there any short stubby ones floating around? Kayla glanced down at Ganymede. Guess there were.
She forgot about Ganymede, though, as her shock faded and she inventoried her new “partner.” Long, pale hair that stopped just short of his butt, sensual mouth, and eyes so dark she couldn’t see his pupils. Her gaze slid lower. He was all lean sculpted muscle in his jeans and gray polo shirt. But her gaze kept returning to those dark eyes. She shivered. Surprised, she realized he scared her.
“What are you?” Did she sound a little too breathy?
He smiled. No fangs, just beautiful white teeth. So why did those teeth still make her nervous.
“That info is on a need-to-know basis. You might never have to see the other me.” His smile widened. “That would be a good thing.”
Kayla nodded. “So what you mean is that if you told me what you are, I might refuse to go into the night with you?”