Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS)

by Nina Bangs

  “The gargoyles. They’re ready.” Sparkle watched as Holgarth and Zane rejoined the group. “If the battle gets too intense—by that I mean we’re getting our asses kicked—retreat inside the castle. But I have every confidence that with so many powerful beings here, we’ll prevail.”

  “Prevail?” Someone snickered.

  Sparkle did the brow-raising thing. “Big occasions call for big words. Let’s go.” She strode out of the Castle of Dark Dreams and everyone followed.

  Thorn set Vince carefully on the counter of the registration desk before leaving. “Thanks for the heads-up.” He still felt dumb talking to a plant. “Stay safe.” He walked away.

  Everyone stood together for a moment staring out at a tranquil Gulf of Mexico. That’s when Murmur—who had already surrounded himself with music that sounded a lot like Metallica—spoke.

  “Now that we’ve worked ourselves into a frenzy of anticipation, will someone tell me how the hell we know Aegir is coming?” The pounding heavy metal rhythm punctuated each of Murmur’s words.

  Oh shit. Thorn had told Sparkle, and Sparkle believed in Vince’s message, but he wasn’t sure how some of the others would feel about standing out here because of a plant’s warning.

  Sparkle put on her superior expression. “I’d rather not reveal my information source, but I assure you it’s reliable.”

  Murmur didn’t look all that convinced, but before he could delve deeper, the Gulf exploded.

  19

  Ohmigod! Kayla watched Aegir erupt from the sea. And erupt was the right word. As he rose, the water fell away from him in churning waves that spewed spray and sea creatures.

  Her gaze followed him, up, up, up until she was craning her neck to see his face. The top of his head was level with the top of the castle.

  He looked the same as he had the first time she saw him, only madder. His long silver hair and beard were encrusted with sea plants. Guess he hadn’t had time to clean up after his escape from Loki. And he still wore streaming water as a unique fashion statement.

  Then everything happened at once. Someone shouted, calling her attention to the beach. Ran raced from the foaming waves, a giantess gripping her lethal net. Behind her Kayla could see huge waves rushing toward the shore.

  “Nine waves. Those are Ran’s daughters.”

  Startled, she realized that Cinn had joined her by the doors.

  Cinn tried to smile, but she didn’t quite pull it off. “We’re turning into perennial door-flowers. I suppose Thorn wants you ‘safe’ too.”

  Kayla nodded, her attention riveted on the unfolding battle. “I feel helpless. I can’t just stand here and watch them get hurt.” Watch Thorn get hurt.

  “I know.” Cinn lapsed into silence.

  Kayla didn’t doubt she was worried about Dacian. If things ended well—they would, they had to—she’d ask the other woman what it was like to love a vampire when you weren’t one yourself. Of course, Cinn was a demigoddess, so she didn’t have short-life issues. She could be with Dacian for the next thousand years.

  Then Kayla stopped thinking about anything but the battle.

  Kel and Banan had already leaped into the water. Zane, Holgarth, and the two witches looked as though they were weaving protective wards in front of the castle. See, she was learning the language of her new world.

  Something beyond the breakers caught her attention. She squinted into the darkness. It looked like . . . “Is that a giant squid?” It rose above the waves, tentacles wrapped around some huge sea creature she couldn’t identify. Then it took its prey beneath the waves.

  “Edge.” Cinn pointed to where the tawny-haired cosmic troublemaker stood near Sparkle. “He has crazy skills.”

  Kayla’s respect for grim-reaper guy took a giant leap.

  She forgot about Edge, though, as Aegir grabbed her attention. The sea god swept through the waves until he reached the end of Nirvana’s pier. He didn’t roar or shout or make any noise at all as he reached down and tore away half of it. She clapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her scream. Not satisfied with what he’d done, Aegir smashed his way through the wreckage and swiftly took out the rest of Nirvana.

  Gone. Within minutes.

  Horrified, Kayla listened to the shriek of tortured metal rising above background sounds of destruction. The roller coaster contorted and then fell over. The Ferris wheel tipped and crashed into the waves. The carousel dropped out of sight into the Gulf. Sparks from electrical equipment lit up the night. And then it was over. Only a tangled pile of wreckage and memories was left.

  The nine daughters of Ran in their wave forms rose above the destroyed pier and then crashed down onto it. When the waves receded, they took even the wreckage with them. Nothing was left except a few pilings.

  Her gaze found Thorn. His face showed only deadly focus and rigid control. Since he had to be all brave and stoic, Kayla lost it for him. Tears streaked her face, and she rooted around in her pocket for a tissue. After the tears came rage. Aegir might not have hurt Thorn physically, but he’d struck at something her vampire cared for. Something she cared for.

  “Bastard.”

  Beside Kayla, Cinn said it for both of them.

  Kayla clenched her hands so tightly she could feel a trickle of blood where her nails had bitten into her palm.

  The battle escalated.

  With a few huge strides, Aegir emerged from the Gulf and stood in the middle of Seawall Boulevard. Coming ashore had to weaken him, didn’t it? He was a sea god for heaven’s sake.

  Please let the magical protections hold. Until this moment, the good guys had been safe behind the wards. But now, Aegir pounded the wards with massive fists. With each impact, flashes of light and explosions shattered the night. Sweat glistening on their faces, the magic-makers struggled to keep the wards up. But Kayla could see their walls flickering.

  Sea shifters poured from the Gulf, changing into human forms as they came. She wanted to close her eyes, make it all go away. But she had to watch. If Thorn and the others could battle the monsters then she could bear witness to their courage.

  She gasped as a killer whale broke the surface of the water and quickly became a dark-haired man with a white streak in his hair. He charged toward the castle with the rest of them.

  Kayla felt the exact moment the wards came down. One moment there was a subtle vibration of power and the next . . . nothing.

  Now was the time to retreat into the castle. That’s what Thorn wanted her to do. But as she looked at the scope of the attack, she doubted the castle would keep her safe. In fact, nowhere in Galveston would be safe from Aegir and his sea hordes.

  The defenders of the castle didn’t wait for Aegir to come to them. They charged out to meet the invaders.

  Frozen, Kayla watched Thorn struggle with another man. His vampire strength obviously trumped the power of whatever sea creature in human form he fought, because suddenly Thorn struck. Kayla looked away as Thorn tore out the man’s throat.

  No, she couldn’t run inside and be sick. She owed loyalty to the ones battling Aegir. She owed love to Thorn.

  “I can’t watch this anymore. I’ve got to help.” Cinn strode purposefully toward the fighting. In a few moments, Kayla saw thick vines pushing up through the concrete, wrapping around the legs of the enemies, pulling them down.

  Even Asima was doing her part. Still wearing her diamond collar, the cat prowled the battlefield searching for prey. Kayla watched as she attacked Ran’s net and tore gaping holes in it. Ran howled her fury. Asima answered by leaping onto the goddess’s head and digging her claws into Ran’s scalp. The goddess stumbled and fell to the ground, frantically trying to yank Asima from her head. Blood streamed down Ran’s face, blinding her. Cat and goddess rolled and screamed and scratched.

  Meanwhile, the nine waves crested, broke, and reformed again. Waiting for the moment they could help Aegir tear down the castle.

  Enough. The longer this went on, the greater the chance one of the people she’d
grown to care about would die. She had to do something. She had no powers, only the will to stand by Thorn’s side and help take this puffed-up bully down.

  She had only one advantage over everyone else out there. She was invisible as far as Aegir was concerned. It would never enter his mind that a human could hurt him. And so she crept toward the sea god, making sure that Thorn didn’t see her.

  When she’d gotten as close as she dared, Kayla reached down and pulled her knife from its sheath. She couldn’t kill Aegir, but that wasn’t her goal. Kayla wanted to inflict optimum pain while disabling him in some small way. A distracted god was a vulnerable one.

  Straightening, Kayla yelled up at Aegir. “Hey, Mr. Big-and-Ugly! Afraid of Loki, weren’t you? That’s why you ran.”

  The god paused to look down. Then he bent over to swat at her. His face would never be closer.

  Kayla threw her knife in one smooth motion. Then she turned and ran. She didn’t have to look back to see if she’d gotten him. His roar of rage and pain told its own story. Terror bared its teeth, urging her to run even faster as she chanced a quick glance over her shoulder. With her knife buried in his eye, Aegir pursued her. And considering that he took one step to her ten—she knew this because she could feel the earth shake every time his foot hit the ground—it would be a short chase.

  Kayla could see Grim racing toward her to help. Too late. The cascade from Aegir’s robes was already pouring over her.

  Thorn. Kayla wanted to see him one more time before she died.

  “Stop!” Thorn’s voice carried across the field of battle.

  And everyone stopped, even Kayla. She closed her eyes, afraid to hope. Footsteps approached. She opened her eyes. Thorn stood beside her facing Aegir. Kayla turned so she was also facing the god. She winced. Aegir had yanked the knife from his eye. It was pretty gruesome.

  Thorn spoke to Aegir. “You’re losing, Aegir. A bunch of supernaturals who aren’t even gods or goddesses are beating your ass. They’re humiliating you. The best thing you can do is to leave now and take all your followers with you. Creep away. Hide somewhere far from here. And hope that no one in Asgard hears about this battle.”

  Aegir stood staring at Thorn from his one good eye. He looked uncertain.

  “Go. Now. Never come back. Never try to hurt anyone here again.”

  Even Kayla, who didn’t pretend to be very sensitive to nonhuman power, could feel the incredible force of what Thorn was flinging at Aegir.

  With a sigh that would qualify as a wind gust, Aegir turned and retreated into the Gulf without saying a word. His followers trailed after him. No one spoke until the last one disappeared beneath the waves.

  Kayla looked at Thorn. “Was he losing?”

  “No.”

  She nodded. “Didn’t think so.”

  “I thought I told you to stay safe. Flinging a knife at a god doesn’t qualify as staying safe.”

  Thorn sounded furious, but the underlying fear she heard in his voice warmed her. And he’d used his persuasion to save her. Which brought up another question.

  She didn’t have a chance to ask it, though, because his fellow warriors descended on him for some hearty backslapping and congratulations.

  And while everyone swirled around him, she stepped back. Looking across to where Nirvana had stood only a short time ago, Kayla mourned. What would Thorn do now? What will you do now? She had no more reason to stay here unless Thorn gave her a reason.

  In the distance, she heard the sirens. The battle had seemed to go on forever, while in reality it hadn’t lasted very long.

  She rejoined the others. “Umm, I don’t want to stop the celebration, but you might want to move the bodies and get anyone who’s injured into the castle before the police get here.” Call her weak, but Kayla couldn’t look at the dead.

  Sparkle took over. “Kayla’s right. Three bodies, none of them ours. Zane and Holgarth, can you get rid of them quickly? We have a few people with injuries. Someone help them into the castle. Hopefully no humans were close enough to see what actually happened. We’ll claim the rogue waves destroyed Nirvana.”

  Within minutes, the only evidence that something big had happened there was the missing pier. Thorn stood across Seawall Boulevard viewing the empty spot with the police.

  Inside the lobby, Kayla watched him through the glass doors. Grim stood beside her.

  “What will he do now?” Kayla still felt dazed by how quickly everything had ended—Thorn’s park, her dreams.

  “I don’t know.” Grim looked troubled. “He has some decisions to make.”

  Kayla remembered the question she’d wanted to ask Thorn. Grim was close to him. Maybe he would know the answer. “I realize Thorn saved everyone’s butt tonight, so don’t think I’m ungrateful. But why didn’t he use persuasion sooner? Why wait till the last moment?”

  “He probably wouldn’t have used it at all tonight if you hadn’t been in danger.”

  That didn’t make sense. Kayla dug deeper. “You mean he’d have allowed Aegir to destroy everything rather than use his power?”

  Grim smiled for the first time. “Aegir might not have been losing, but he wasn’t winning either. The more time he spent out of the Gulf, the weaker he would’ve grown. And the sea shifters aren’t half as strong on land as they are in the water. Besides, some of our most powerful friends were just getting started. Edge was Death for thousands of years. Piss him off at your own risk. And Murmur’s music is insidious. A little longer and a bunch of them would’ve dropped dead. That’s not even taking Zane, Holgarth, and the witches into account.”

  “Then why did they seem—?”

  “As long as the wards were up, our guys could conserve some of their energy. Once the wards came down, the real dance began.”

  Something still nagged at Kayla. “What’s the big deal about Thorn not wanting to use his power at all? So what if he used persuasion tonight? That doesn’t mean he has to use it again. He might not need it for another two hundred years. He can just go back to living his life as a human.”

  Grim looked as though he was choosing his words carefully. “There are consequences to using his power.”

  Kayla thought back. “I remember now. He looked as though he had a headache once before. I remember thinking that vampires weren’t supposed to get headaches. Is that it? Using persuasion gives him a headache?” Even a migraine didn’t seem to be a strong excuse. But who was she to judge.

  Grim shrugged. “Look, it’s not my place to explain Thorn to you. Maybe you should take your questions to him.”

  She nodded. “I’ll do that. Tomorrow night.” Tonight he could stay in her room. She would hold him until the day sleep took him. Then she’d sleep beside him and be there when he woke at sunset.

  * * *

  None of what Kayla had wanted went as planned.

  Thorn had chosen to stay at his beach house for a while. Alone. Eric had decided to catch a late-night flight back to Chicago to be with his wife. Zane and Klepoth had moved into the castle for the time being.

  She’d waited two nights for Thorn to visit her or at least call. Nothing. By the end of the second night, she was frantic. Ugly possibilities took turns poking at her: he’d lost interest in her, he’d discovered that he still loved Sparkle—and the most outrageous one—he’d died and no one wanted to tell her.

  At sunset on the third night, Kayla took action. No more waiting around imagining the worst. If he no longer wanted to see her, he could damn well say it to her face. She climbed into the car she’d borrowed from Cinn, glanced at the directions Zane had given her, and then headed west.

  When she pulled into his driveway, Kayla didn’t see any other cars. If they were there, they must be parked in the garage.

  She reached his front door on adrenaline alone. But by the time she got to the ringing-the-bell part, she’d used her supply for the night. She hesitated. Don’t be such a wuss. Postponing this won’t make it better. Ring the damn bell. She did. And waited. And
waited.

  Kayla had just reached for the bell again, when Grim opened the door. He stared at her from expressionless eyes.

  “Thorn doesn’t want to see you now.” He looked as though he was about to close the door.

  “No. Wait.” She took a deep breath of courage. Now was the time to break out her pushy-bitch act. Dad would approve. “I want to know what’s going on. I never thought Thorn was a coward, but only a coward would send his friend to the door to get rid of someone he didn’t want to see.”

  Grim shrugged. “Not my problem.” He moved back, ready to close the door in her face.

  Kayla frowned. Something was wrong. She took a closer look at Grim. His face seemed drawn, and now that she was paying attention, those expressionless eyes looked tired. Who knew that vampires could wear the same stamp of human frailty on their faces as ordinary people?

  He started to swing the door closed. Kayla had to make her decision now. But her worry over Thorn won out over being polite. She slipped past Grim into the house. Then she turned to face him.

  “I have to warn you that tossing me out will be messy. I’ll kick and scream and curse. Loudly.” She tried on a winning smile.

  He didn’t smile back. “Crap. Just what I need.”

  His disgusted mutter didn’t bode well for any extended visits.

  “All I want is to make sure he’s okay.” And to find out if he’s avoiding me.

  Grim stared at the ceiling as if hoping for intervention from a higher power. Didn’t happen. He did a great imitation of a human sigh. “Come into the great room. I was watching TV.”

  She followed him into a large room that ran the length of the house. The wall facing the Gulf was all glass. There was a fireplace and lots of comfortable seating. Kayla could feel at home here. Like there’s a chance.

  Grim motioned for her to take a seat. She sank into a large armchair while he clicked off the muted TV. He didn’t offer her a drink.

  “Where’s Thorn?” No use wasting words on polite conversation.

  “In his room.”