Forever Wicked (Castle of Dark Dreams)

by Nina Bangs

  It was neither.

  Sparkle slammed the door so hard on her way out of the parlor that it shook the house. Then a short time later came the crash of her bedroom door upstairs. Ganymede heard the massive exhalation of breath as everyone relaxed. No one spoke.

  Finally, Holgarth broke the silence. “Rarely have I witnessed such a monumental screw-up. I do hope you intend to exercise a bit more self-control when you meet Zendig. I would also suggest that you—as the guilty party—go after her before she brings the house down around the heads of those of us who were simply innocent witnesses.”

  “Hey, that was more fun to watch than anything I’ve seen since you left. We really miss you at the Castle, Ganymede.”

  Zane. Ganymede hadn’t even noticed Holgarth’s son standing beside the Viking. “Yeah, I bet you do. Welcome to my house. Look, I have to talk to Sparkle.” He paused then sighed. “Everyone might want to walk on the beach for a while. You know, just in case.”

  They all followed his advice. Ganymede watched the cowards abandon him until only Jill remained.

  “I don’t know much about Sparkle’s power, but I saw her expression. You’re a dead man walking. Guess I’ll take that stroll on the beach.”

  Ganymede scowled. “Thanks for the support. Go find someone’s dream. Scare the crap out of them.”

  Jill laughed as she left the room. Ganymede reluctantly headed for the stairs.

  Each step was a memory—of other times he’d messed up, the fights that followed, and then the making up. He almost smiled. The making-ups were incredible. His almost-smile faded. But this time was different. This might be the time she wouldn’t forgive him. He’d made it clear he didn’t want her here, so maybe she’d pack up and leave. Forever. The thought shook him. When he’d stormed away from the Castle of Dark Dreams a month ago, hurt and fury had blinded him to what losing her really meant. Those slamming doors had cleared away the anger this time.

  He stopped at the top of the stairs. Sounds of smashing and breaking came from her room. He winced. Didn’t sound promising for his health. But he’d brought this on himself, so it was his job to fix it. If he could.

  He would take precautions, though. Shape shifting didn’t come easily to Ganymede. It took time he couldn’t spare, and it hurt. He envied Mistral’s instant changes. But he needed to get rid of his human form, the one that would trigger Sparkle’s throwing arm. So, clenching his teeth, he changed to his favorite nonhuman form—a chubby gray cat. Chubby cats were lovable.

  Ganymede smiled his cat smile. If she heaved something when he opened her door, she’d miss because she’d be aiming where she thought his head would be. He took a deep breath. Couldn’t put it off any longer.

  He stared at the door. It swung open. A heelless shoe whizzed over his head to slam into the door across the hallway. Uh-oh. He slipped inside to a scene of carnage. Sparkle’s shoes—more than he could count—lay scattered across the floor. All with their heels broken off. One rested close to him. He could read the label. Jimmy Choo would mourn tonight.

  Ganymede didn’t waste time looking at labels, though. He who hesitated got a shoe up his butt. He leaped across the room and took refuge behind a chair.

  Sparkle made a guttural sound of fury before shouting, “Get out of my room. Now.” Another shoe bounced off the floor right beside him.

  Ganymede jumped into her mind before she could shut her mental door. “What the hell are you doing?” He held off on calling her cupcake. This didn’t feel like a cupcake moment.

  Sparkle pulled two more pairs of shoes from her closet. “I” SNAP “wanted” SNAP “to murder” SNAP SNAP “something I loved.” Sparkle reached for more shoes. “It was either” SNAP “my shoes” SNAP “or you” SNAP SNAP.

  She peered into the closet. “Out of shoes.” She turned to him. “So I guess that leaves you. Your head isn’t worth a damn anyway.”

  This was serious. The bodies of her beloved shoes surrounded him. He couldn’t even begin to understand how angry she must be to do this. Ganymede didn’t fool himself. Her specialty might be sexual chaos, but she had the strength that all cosmic troublemakers had. His head might be in real danger. He tried to form an explanation she would believe, but she didn’t give him a chance.

  “I left the Castle of Dark Dreams to find you before the Big Boss did. I stayed to help. And how do you repay me? By losing your temper and humiliating me in front of everyone. All because of your stupid jealousy. Or maybe it’s just your bruised ego.” She stalked over to the chair to glare down at him.

  Ganymede leaped to the back of the chair so he wouldn’t have to look up so far. Maybe the cat form hadn’t been his best idea.

  “We’ve spent centuries apart. I’ve had lovers, though not as many as you probably imagine. I, at least, had discriminating taste. You’ve had lovers. I bet they numbered in the thousands. When are you going to get over yourself? Thorn is just one of the men in my past. And he’s married to a woman he loves now. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”

  Tears shone in her eyes, but Ganymede suspected they were from anger rather than sadness. He was rarely lost for words, but the right ones weren’t popping into his head right now.

  “Yeah, but my lovers didn’t set up an amusement park right across from your home.” Not a great argument. Sounded kind of whiny. He should’ve told her that he’d never had thousands of lovers, at least not after he’d met her.

  “Weak, Mede. Really weak.” She narrowed her eyes and leaned closer. “Thorn was there to make me suffer. He hated me because he thought I’d caused all his misery. I abandoned him. And who did I abandon him for?” She pointed at Ganymede. “Maybe I left the wrong guy.”

  Wow. That hurt. Ganymede was glad to be in cat form now. His cat face didn’t show expressions. But that didn’t stop his ears from flattening and his tail from whipping back and forth. “Back in the Castle you said—”

  She waved a dismissive hand in his direction. “Let’s not sing that song again. You’ve worn it out. I’m about ready to pack and go home. Because if I stay I might be tempted to rearrange some of your body parts. Your brain is in the wrong place, so maybe I’ll just lop it off and stick it in your ear. That’s about as close to where it should be as I can manage without opening up your head.” She looked thoughtful. “I guess I could open your…” She shook her head. “No, too messy.”

  Now he was getting mad. “I’m a chaos bringer. I was bred for violence. It’s in my genes. Zendig made sure of that. Give me a break. Maybe I got carried away down there, but—”

  Sparkle slowly levitated to about two feet off the floor. Her hair whipped around her, and her eyes glowed amber. She bared her teeth. “Don’t you dare make excuses. You controlled your need to destroy for a long time before this last binge, so don’t tell me you couldn’t keep from making an ass of yourself.”

  He’d controlled his compulsion because Sparkle didn’t want him to kill humans. Ganymede had done it for her. He’d never told her that. He wouldn’t tell her now. After all, he had his pride. He put on his inscrutable cat stare.

  “Thorn has never shown any desire for me since he came to Galveston. So. What. Is. Your. Problem? Did you drive away all the other women in your life with your jealousy?”

  No. He’d never felt jealousy for anyone but Sparkle. When the Viking had set up shop across from the Castle of Dark Dreams, and Ganymede realized who he was, he’d been afraid. Everything inside him had contracted into a solid ball of denial. But it was true. Sparkle made him afraid—of losing her to another man, of driving her away with his need for violence.

  “Nothing to say?” She floated closer.

  Fear. The word shuddered through him. Zendig had called it the greatest sin. A troublemaker should never feel afraid. And Ganymede had lived with that belief for thousands of years. But he felt it now, had felt it since the first moment back in Galveston when he’d learned who Thorn was. And the emotion shamed him. He lifted his head to meet her stare.

&nbs
p; “How can I make this right?” He looked at all her shoes. Useless now. Sparkle had loved every shiny, glittery pair. Ganymede had never understood her obsession with them. But now, looking at them made him sad. He didn’t know what to do to show how sorry he was. She wouldn’t believe his words. He didn’t blame her. Sparkle wouldn’t let him close to her for a long time after this. Maybe never. No, he couldn’t believe that. There had to be something he could do to show how much he regretted his outburst.

  Sparkle drifted back to the floor. Her hair stopped floating and her eyes didn’t glow anymore. She stared around her.

  “I don’t think you can, Mede.” She just felt tired now. That kind of rage took everything out of her. “Just leave me alone so I can clean up this mess.” Sparkle nudged her favorite Manolo Blahnik shoe with her toe even as she fought back tears. She would not allow him to see her crying over her shoes. And she refused to admit that some of those tears might be for him.

  Mede leaped from the chair then padded to the door. He paused before opening it. “Tomorrow I’ll drive us into Philly, and we’ll buy you new shoes.”

  Sparkle froze. “Us?”

  “Sure. You and me. I’ll help you pick them out.”

  She widened her eyes. Color her shocked. Mede had never gone shopping with her before. Sparkle had accepted that he’d rather go a month without ice cream than tag along with her to a mall. Roses and chocolates wouldn’t have put a crack in the ice around her heart right now. But this… Something warmed a little inside her. She wouldn’t make it too easy for him, though. “Get back to me tomorrow.”

  Sparkle watched the door swing open and then close behind him. She sank onto the couch. She loved him, but he’d never made it easy for her. Maybe it was time to give him a taste of what it had been like for her all those centuries. Starting with their trip to Philly tomorrow. If nothing else, it would take his mind off of Zendig and vengeance.

  She left the shoes where they lay while she waited for the sounds of Blue and Jill coming up the stairs. Then she opened her door and waved them inside.

  Jill looked at the shoes. “Wow. Someone was really ticked off.” She sat on the couch.

  Blue crouched down to pick up one of the Louboutins. Sparkle allowed a tear to slide down her cheek. She didn’t try to wipe it away.

  “You’re crying over your shoes?”

  Jill sounded puzzled. Sparkle noticed it didn’t occur to Jill that she might be crying over Mede. Sparkle approved. The girl had the right attitude.

  Blue smoothed her fingers over the leather. “It was beautiful.”

  Sparkle nodded. “We shared many good times.” She sat on the floor beside Blue. “Remember. Men will make you cry, but shoes will never fail you.”

  “So what did you want to talk to us about?” Jill was all business.

  Sparkle was thankful Jill didn’t question her about Mede. “It’s time both of you started to learn what it means to be a woman. Tomorrow you’ll come with Mede and me to Philly. I’ll buy new shoes to replace these, and then I’ll begin your education.”

  “Will Ky notice me more after you’re finished?”

  Blue sounded eager. Well, well. Sparkle smiled. Young love, so fragile, so new. “Oh, he’ll definitely notice you more.”

  Jill’s gave her a narrow-eyed stare. “What if I don’t want your education?”

  Sparkle shrugged. “Then at least you’ll have gotten out and seen something new.”

  Jill thought about that for a moment and then nodded. “I’m ready for a trip.” She stood. “I have to get busy on the dreams for those people who saw the fight on the beach. See you in the morning.” She left and closed the door quietly behind her.

  Blue was still staring at the shoe. Finally, she looked up. “Sparkle, did you ever lose control when you were young?”

  Sparkle could’ve told her she’d never been young, at least that’s how it seemed when she thought back. “Many times. I had no one to guide me. It was one long orgy of…” Pleasure, emotional highs as she brought the wrong couples together and then tore them apart as soon as they fell in love. “Well, let’s just say I had lots of job satisfaction, but I was pretty undisciplined.”

  Blue nodded. “That’s me. Undisciplined. I never know when I’ll accidentally call an animal to me. I want to go with you and Ganymede tomorrow, but I’m afraid of messing up.” She gently set the shoe down.

  Sparkle felt a rush of protectiveness for this young innocent. Motherly concern? The thought almost gagged her. She might not remember Zendig’s imprinting on her soul, but she knew that any type of motherly feeling was considered a failure in the cosmic troublemaker code book. She awkwardly patted Blue’s shoulder. “I’ll be there. I won’t allow you to mess up.”

  Blue smiled. “Thanks. I’d better go now. I have to help Ky take care of Tuna and Momo.” She scrambled to her feet and stood for a moment looking down at Sparkle. “I don’t know what happened between you and Ganymede, but don’t be sad. There’s always tomorrow.”

  Sparkle sat staring at the closed door after Blue left. There’s always tomorrow. But how many tomorrows should she give Mede before deciding that her love wasn’t enough to hold them together for the long term? Over thousands of years it had been a pattern of come together, drift apart, repeat process. Maybe that was all she could ever expect from him. Maybe he was never meant to be her forever man.

  She got up from the floor. Lord, she felt tired. And old. Sparkle had never felt the weight of all her years as much as she did now. The truth? She didn’t want a sometimes man anymore. If they survived Zendig, they’d have to make a decision. Either they were together or they were apart. Forever. Because she couldn’t stand the wear and tear on her heart anymore. Another tear crept down her cheek at the thought of never seeing Mede again.

  Sparkle took a deep breath. Enough of this. She was Sparkle Stardust. Time to pick herself up and remember who and what she was. She was the bringer of sexual chaos. She hadn’t been doing much of that lately. Time to return to her roots. But first she’d get a good night’s sleep.

  Someone knocked on her door.

  Or not. Why wouldn’t people leave her alone? Tomorrow she’d make a Do Not Disturb sign.

  The someone knocked again. Louder.

  She stepped around her shoes—tromping on the bodies of her dead babies seemed like sacrilege—as she made her way to the door. Sparkle flung it open then stood barring the way into her room. Whoever it was could just talk to her from the hall.

  Mistral waited for her with an expression that could only be described as frazzled.

  “Hey, sis.”

  She controlled her need to bash him over the head with his “sis.” “You wanted something?”

  “Sort of. Jerry and Orion are downstairs talking about who will do a better job of destroying Earth.”

  Sparkle blinked. “So? I don’t see a problem. You’re a man. They’re boys. Give them a man to boy talk. Explain the complexities of being an Earth destroyer.”

  He avoided her stare. “Yeah, well, I’m not good at that sort of thing. Could you come down and talk to them?”

  She raised one brow. “Let me get this straight. You’re saying you can’t explain to two boys that making the world go poof would be bad for all of us? Mistral, for all of your failings—and there are many—being tongue-tied is not one of them. So what’s your real reason?”

  Mistral glanced down. When he looked up, he had changed. His face had sharpened. It now held shadows it never had before. His mouth slanted into a cruel line, and his amber eyes held fire in their depths. This was his real troublemaker face, with all the surface charm erased.

  “Because I want to join them in destroying Earth. The compulsion whispers how much fun it would be, how I was created to take this world apart. I don’t need that temptation, sister dear. You, on the other hand, seem to have lost your compulsion over the centuries. The boys’ lighthearted fun won’t touch you.”

  Sparkle stared at him. “What’re you ta
lking about?”

  His expression slowly returned to normal. “I talked to Holgarth. How many couples have you wrecked emotionally lately? Your wizard said all of the ones you’ve brought together that he knows about got married and are living happily. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. You’re supposed to leave broken hearts and ruined lives in your wake. To misquote: ‘The force is no longer strong with this one.’ When did you lose your compulsion, sis?”

  Someone had squeezed all the air from her lungs, and Jerry wasn’t even in the room. Sparkle forced herself to breathe. “Go away.” She could only manage a whisper.

  “But the boys are—”

  “Go away.” Almost a shout this time.

  Mistral must’ve seen something in her eyes, because he nodded then turned away.

  Sparkle closed the door, stepped around her shoes, stripped down, and then fell into bed. She pulled the blanket over her head. If Orion and Jerry decided to destroy Earth tonight, Earth would just have to deal. Because she had more serious things to think about.

  Like when had she lost the will to stomp on love, to sneer at romance, and to laugh at heartbreak? When had she crossed out the word “troublemaker” in her title?

  Sparkle knew the answer. It was when she had climbed down from her cold, heartless throne to fall in love with Mede.

  After lots of tossing and turning, she fell asleep on the thought that she would have to prove she was still the queen of sex and sin. And soon.

  14

  Sparkle tried not to smile. Mede’s expression said she had cast him into the lowest circle of Hell by making him stand around in the Neiman Marcus shoe department while she tried on her fifteenth pair of heels. Of course, she had already chosen the shoes she intended to buy, but she wanted to test his commitment to saying he was sorry. She’d bet he was regretting his offer right about now.

  “What do you think?” She stood to parade the newest pair in front of him.