Forever Wicked (Castle of Dark Dreams)

by Nina Bangs

  Bourne turned to Ganymede. “Take her to the dungeon. Make her as comfortable as you can. Then go talk to Mistral.” He spoke to the others in the room. “We’re at war. Once everyone realizes that, we can go from there. Here’re the details of my plan.”

  Ganymede didn’t wait to hear any more. He stood even as Sparkle called his name and then pushed his way to where Amaya sat rigid, her eyes wide. When he reached her, she stared up at him, terrified. Guess it would be tough for a fox to be locked inside a small room. But in this he had to obey Bourne. If she wasn’t with them, she was the enemy. He reached for her.

  She became a fox with five fluffy tails whipping around her.

  Startled, Ganymede stepped back as the fox lunged onto the table, scattering papers, cups, and water pitchers behind her. Bourne looked mildly annoyed.

  The prey was escaping! That quickly, Ganymede’s troublemaker instinct took over. With a curse, he reached across the table for her. Amaya barked in alarm as she jumped from the table and scooted under it.

  Ganymede ignored the panicked attempt everyone made to get out of his way. The ones along the wall—except for Eric, Brynn, and Conall—rushed for the door. Idiots. An open door meant a fox hunt through the Castle’s halls. Those still sitting at the table frantically scuttled away from the fox, trying to lift their feet out of danger as she snarled and snapped at any legs in her way.

  Enough of this crap. Ganymede focused his power, and the table rose into the air, sailed over everyone’s head, then slammed into the far wall. Chaos erupted. Exactly how Ganymede liked it. He smiled.

  The fox hurtled toward the door, but Ganymede was there first. She leaped. He grabbed. She was a clawing, snapping ball of red fur and slapping tails. Squeezing tightly, he murmured, “Caught, little vixen.”

  Then Sparkle was beside him.

  “Stop. You’re scaring her.” She leaned toward the fox, ignoring its threatening growls. “Amaya, he won’t hurt you.” Sparkle glanced at Ganymede. “Will you?”

  He wasn’t sure. His troublemaker instinct said he should. He decided he wouldn’t. But he was pissed off that Sparkle even asked. “You know, you’re the one who wants to return to your wicked roots. So where do you come off making me the bad guy?”

  Sparkle ignored him in favor of talking to Amaya. “You won’t have to stay in the dungeon long.” She rushed on as the fox fought harder. “We’ll make it just like one of the regular rooms—TV, comfy bed, microwave, beauty products. And I’ll talk to Bourne, convince him that you should be freed.” Amaya stopped struggling.

  Ganymede shook his head. “Face facts, Sparkle. Amaya was working for Zendig even if she didn’t know it. I don’t think she ever gave him her two weeks’ notice. We forced her to come here. If she goes free, she’ll run right back to Cape May where Zendig’s spy can force every bit of info from her. I think Bourne is right this time.”

  Sparkle offered him her stubborn face. “I don’t agree.”

  “Nothing new there.” He looked down at the fox. The fox glared at him in return. “Look, Amaya, things would be a lot less messy if you looked human. You’re going to the dungeon no matter what your form, but we don’t want to cause a sensation.

  Evidently Amaya thought a sensation sounded great because she stubbornly remained a fox. He shrugged as he carried her across the hotel lobby, into the great hall, and down the stairs leading to the dungeon level. Heads turned in his wake as Sparkle walked by his side with a nonstop litany of explanations for the curious.

  “The fox is part of a petting zoo. The fox is acting in a movie being filmed in Galveston. The fox just wandered in off the street. We don’t have a clue who owns her, but she’s obviously tame.” Sparkle didn’t sound as though she believed any of them.

  Amaya snarled and tried to bite Ganymede to show how not tame she was.

  Fueled by a string of curses against all kitsunes, Ganymede finally made it to the dungeon. Sparkle flipped on the lights and closed the door behind her as he dumped the fox onto the floor. Amaya immediately scurried into a corner where she crouched with bared teeth.

  Sparkle made an impatient sound. “Get over yourself, Amaya. No one’s going to torture you.” She waved at Mede. “Move the iron maiden into the corner.”

  The fox’s eyes widened even more. Sparkle ignored her. “I’ll stay here with Amaya. You can find Holgarth. Tell him to send someone with a bed and anything else she’ll need.”

  Good. Ganymede wanted an excuse to be gone from here. This place had always made him feel claustrophobic. He needed to be in a room with windows. “When I finish with Holgarth, I’m going to find Mistral. I don’t know what’s eating at him, but we don’t want him leaving. He’s too powerful to lose. We’ll need him.” He shoved the iron maiden along with a few other instruments of torture against the walls before heading out.

  Sparkle followed him to the door then leaned in close to whisper, “Play up how grateful Amaya is that he tried to protect her. Tell him he might want to stick around to see that Bourne treats her fairly.”

  Ganymede was puzzled. “I never pegged him for the protective type. You think he’s playing an angle?”

  She reached up to skim her fingers over his jaw. “Ever the cynic, Mede. Not everyone has an angle.”

  He kept his mouth shut, but he could’ve mentioned that during their years together they’d always had an ulterior motive for everything they did. Ganymede nodded and left her to ease Amaya back into human form. Good luck with that. The fox was really ticked off. Couldn’t say he blamed her.

  Ganymede left a grumpy Holgarth with a list of things to be carted to the dungeon for their prisoner’s comfort. Then he headed up to Mistral’s room. He knocked. No answer. He knocked harder. Still no answer.

  “Open up. I know you’re in there.” Ganymede wasn’t sure of that, but it seemed like a good guess.

  “Go away. I’m busy.”

  Ganymede’s temper was close to the edge. “Get unbusy. I’m in the mood to kick down some doors.” He counted to ten in his mind. On eight Mistral flung open the door.

  “What the hell do you want?”

  Ganymede strode past him into the room. “Thanks for inviting me in. Have any snacks?”

  “Get out.” Mistral’s voice threatened all kinds of ass kicking if Ganymede didn’t leave.

  Bring it on, shithead. Ganymede wandered over to the chair nearest the arrow slit that passed for a window. He dropped onto it. “Packing?” Mistral’s suitcase was open on the bed. It was half filled.

  Mistral took a deep breath before closing the door quietly. Then he pulled out the desk chair and sat. “I’m done with this crap. I finally decided to settle down, even found a pink house by the ocean to live in.” He stared past Ganymede. “Now I’m in the middle of a freaking war.”

  “You seemed okay with that when we left Jersey.”

  Mistral shook his head. “Yeah, but not now.”

  “Amaya?”

  He met Ganymede’s gaze. “I’ve been the enemy a few times in my existence. Spent time in small, confined places. Amaya doesn’t deserve that. She never signed up to fight for Bourne or the troublemakers. She’s not one of us.”

  Ganymede leaned forward. “From what I heard in the greenhouse, I didn’t think you’d be in her corner.” This was getting interesting.

  Mistral raked his fingers through his hair. “She wasn’t so bad. She made me laugh.”

  Ganymede didn’t want to feel sympathy for him, but it was tough not to. “Hey, if you stick around I’ll make sure you can visit her. She’ll need to see a friendly face.”

  “You’d do that?” Mistral sounded wary.

  “Sure.” Bourne wouldn’t think that was a great idea, but Ganymede would just make sure he wasn’t around when it happened. Then something occurred to him. What if these two got to really like each other? Sparkle was determined to tear them apart in the end. Something about that thought didn’t work for him anymore.

  Ganymede took a guarded peek into his hear
t. He didn’t like what stared back at him. Insert drum roll here. He wasn’t ever going to regain his glory days because he’d changed. He didn’t think, didn’t feel the same way now. Was it natural evolution or Zendig’s power weakening? Guess it didn’t matter.

  Ganymede decided that he’d do what he could to give Mistral and Amaya a chance. If they fell in love, he’d run interference with Sparkle. Was that being a traitor to her? Probably. But he’d fight that battle when the time came.

  He shoved the thought of what that confrontation might do to their relationship to the back of his mind. “So, do you really think Sparkle might be your sister?”

  Startled at the sudden change of subject, Mistral paused before answering. “Yes, I do. We came from the same portal at the same moment. That has to mean something.”

  Ganymede nodded. “Makes sense. But don’t you want to know for sure?”

  Mistral frowned. “Your point is?”

  “You can stay and help us get rid of Zendig. Then we can find out if we have families still alive. There won’t be anyone to stop us. I don’t know about you, but I want to know. Sparkle wants to know, too.”

  “Yeah, I’d like that. You’re lucky. You remember.”

  “Not a lot.” Mistral leaned back, and Ganymede chalked up a win. He was going to stay. “So unpack. We can go down and—”

  The door swung open and Bourne strode into the room. “Good. I found you together.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “We have some things to discuss.”

  19

  Mistral didn’t give Ganymede a chance to speak first. “If I stay, you have to free Amaya.”

  Ganymede winced. Not the best way to handle the Big Boss. Demands didn’t work with Bourne. Ganymede waited for the lightning strike.

  Expressionless, Bourne stared at Mistral. The silence dragged on long enough for Mistral to look a little tense. Ganymede relaxed. If the Big Boss intended to rain down death and destruction, he would have already done it. No long pauses to consider things.

  “Here’s what I’ll do. You can have a supervised visit with Amaya once a day.” Bourne shrugged. “It’s my best offer.”

  Ganymede was impressed. Bourne wasn’t into negotiating. “I’d take it, Mistral.” He could feel the other troublemaker’s frustration.

  “Fine. Once a day.” He looked at Ganymede. “I’ll be outside the dungeon at six tonight.”

  “Sure.” Ganymede wasn’t looking forward to sitting around listening to Mistral and Amaya curse the Big Boss and bemoan their fates, but he’d do it this once.

  “Now that that’s settled, let’s get down to my plan. I want to make sure everything is clear.”

  “We don’t get any say in this?” Ganymede had to ask. Bourne would expect it.

  Bourne shrugged. “I’m open to suggestions.”

  Mistral snorted.

  Bourne didn’t even look at him. “You already have the big picture. Zendig always had a huge ego. It’s his weakness. Say things to puncture his pride or threaten his rule on Effix, and his anger might cancel his common sense. If he gets mad enough and believes the only way to kill me is by coming here in person, he’ll abandon the caution of millennia.

  Mistral yawned. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve already told us that. What if he doesn’t take the bait?”

  “I’ll improvise.”

  “Because that always works so well.” Mistral was in full sarcasm mode. “So assuming he falls for it, what then?”

  “Then I’ll destroy him. I’ll have the details worked out by the time he gets here.”

  Bourne’s cold eyes gave away nothing. Still… Ganymede sensed something behind that flat stare, something that spoke of all kinds of emotions. Well, he had some emotions, too. Right now, he was building up some resentment against their fearless leader. Not only had Bourne hijacked his idea, but he sounded as though he planned to kill Zendig himself. Were the rest of them just supposed to stand around and be freaking cheerleaders? He took a deep breath. Calm down.

  “Have you chosen Team Bourne yet?” Ganymede figured he’d be on it. Bourne had never gotten the memo about him not being a team player.

  “Of course. Zendig’s people already know you’re the enemy, Ganymede. They’ll assume Sparkle is against them because of her association with you. I’m adding Eric and Brynn to your team. They’re not troublemakers, so Zendig’s spies won’t have much information about them.”

  Ganymede noticed Mistral’s relieved expression. Just wait, shifter, your turn will come. It came sooner than expected.

  Mistral’s only warning was Bourne’s speculative glance. “I still need someone to pretend to be me inside that cage.”

  Well, that didn’t take long. Ganymede figured this was the real reason for Bourne’s visit.

  Mistral didn’t even blink. “Wouldn’t work. I can become anything, but not a specific anything. I can be a rock, but not a particular rock.” He met Bourne’s gaze and held it.

  Bourne nodded. “Guess I’m stuck being me. Not my first choice. Anyway, I’ll email photos of Zendig’s three spies who are presently enjoying the Castle’s hospitality in suite 214. We’ll have cameras on them at all times. I’ll tell you where to congregate so they can overhear you.”

  “No prepared script?” Ganymede didn’t care if Bourne liked his snark or not.

  “Make it up as you go along. You’re good at that. Just be sure it’s something that’ll infuriate Zendig.” Bourne stood then stretched. “Pass the information on to Sparkle. I didn’t have a chance to speak with her.”

  For the first time, Ganymede noticed how tired Bourne looked. He was so used to thinking of the Big Boss as indestructible that it was tough to realize exhaustion could drag him down just like the rest of them. “Maybe you should go get some sleep.”

  Bourne straightened. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not a god. You still need to eat and sleep. A few hours of down time won’t make or break your plan.”

  Bourne turned for the door. “I said I’m fine.” He left, closing the door behind him.

  “Stubborn idiot.” Ganymede turned to Mistral. “Did you lie to him?”

  “Absolutely.” Mistral met his gaze. “You think I’m crazy? Why would I sit in a cage waiting for the daddy of us all to end me?”

  “You know, it’s not always about you. I could understand Amaya not wanting to help. She’s not a troublemaker. But you’re one of us. Zendig took away your choices. You can’t tell me you don’t want payback. Stand with us.” If Zendig showed up with a large enough force, they’d need every troublemaker to fight him.

  Mistral laughed. “Please don’t play the loyalty card. I take care of me. And fighting Zendig doesn’t sound like a winning strategy for continued health and happiness.”

  Loyalty? Togetherness? Was that what Ganymede was preaching? He was in free fall off the troublemaker bandwagon. No time to worry about that now, though. Ganymede rose to wander over to the two plants resting near the canopied bed. He smiled.

  “What?” Mistral got up and came to stand beside him.

  “Nothing.” At least nothing that Sparkle would want him sharing with Mistral. Jessica and Sweetie Pie were from the Castle’s greenhouse of mutant wonders. They fed on sexual energy. He leaned closer. “Looking a little droopy there, ladies.” Sparkle must have a lot of faith in her plans for Mistral and Amaya to stick them here.

  Mistral eyed the two plants. “Those aren’t from your greenhouse, are they?”

  Ganymede turned to leave. “Who knows? You’ll have to ask Sparkle. But just in case, I’d keep fingers and toes clear of them.”

  He left Mistral warily circling the two plants. Serves you right, you selfish bastard. Someone who wouldn’t stand with his fellow troublemakers deserved to worry about losing body parts. Closing the door behind him, Ganymede went in search of Sparkle.

  He used the winding stone steps down to the great hall instead of the elevator that would drop him off in the hotel lobby. It gave him a few minutes to think about what he
could say to drive Zendig crazy.

  When he reached the great hall, he paused to glance around. Guests and visitors wandered the room. His gaze lingered on the massive table resting on the dais in front of the fireplace. His thoughts returned to Sparkle. Naked. On that table. Yes, they’d definitely have to finish what they’d started all those centuries ago on a different table. But how to make it happen?

  Ganymede’s attention shifted to a hooded figure wearing gloves headed toward the stairs leading down to the vampire level that also housed the dungeon. Ah, fortune smiled on him for a change. No one but a vampire would be wearing so many layers during a summer day in Galveston. He picked up his pace until he strode beside Eric.

  “Not headed home?” He followed the vampire down the narrow stairs that ended in darkness. Great atmosphere. Sparkle kept it cool and damp down here. Ganymede could almost taste the foreboding. By the time fantasy customers reached the dungeon, they were ready to believe every tale of horror Sparkle fed them about the place.

  “I figured we’d have to meet later to make plans. No use for me to drive home in the sun when I’ll just have to turn around and head back again. Bourne said I could crash in one of the vampire rooms down here until sunset.”

  “Makes sense. I’m headed to the dungeon to fill Sparkle in on Bourne’s idea.” Not that Ganymede was certain Zendig would believe the cage story. But then Bourne knew him better than Ganymede did. “Hey, I have a favor to ask.”

  “Sure.” Eric unlocked the door across from the dungeon. “Come in. Make it fast because I’m having trouble staying awake right now.”

  Ganymede stepped into the room behind Eric. He paused while the vampire turned on the lights. A courtesy to Ganymede because Eric sure didn’t need them. No windows, but the place looked just like the other guest rooms—stone walls, canopied bed, and furniture in keeping with the ancient feel of the Castle. He sat on the nearest chair. “This won’t take long.”

  After listening to Ganymede outline his idea for a fantasy involving a table and lots of hot lovemaking, Eric shook his head. “You don’t need me for that one. It’s pretty straightforward. Big table, naked, sex. I have an idea, though. Sparkle told me a while ago about a fantasy she’d always wanted to live. Want to give it a try?”