Forever Wicked (Castle of Dark Dreams)

by Nina Bangs

  Sparkle asked, “Does Zendig have someone at each place to meet them?”

  Holgarth took off his hat to smooth down his hair. “Yes. And before you ask, they have marginally human forms.”

  “Can they pass for human?” Ganymede pictured panic in the streets.

  The wizard shrugged. “Taller than average, extreme musculature, overlarge eyes, long arms that give them a simian look. I suppose they might pass if the humans that see them are very drunk.” He placed his hat carefully back onto his head. “Those are the ones we’ve seen. Others coming through might be different.” Holgarth didn’t wait for him to comment before turning away. “I’ve been gone too long. Who knows what horrors might be happening with the fantasies. Without my guiding hand, they’re probably descending into chaos.” Robe flapping, he hurried back toward the castle.

  Ganymede watched him go. “Great. Just great.” He hoped Zendig would make some attempt to hide his army. “It will take a while for them to gather at whatever meeting spot Zendig has chosen. Wish we knew what human form he’s taken.”

  Sparkle didn’t bother to slip her shoes back on as she started walking toward the castle. “Once I’ve cleared out the Castle tomorrow, the troublemakers you’ve already gathered can move in. Then we need to finalize our battle plans.”

  Ganymede walked beside her. How had this become such a huge freaking deal? His original plan had called for him to meet Zendig alone with maybe a few of the kids to back him up. Now his simple plan had a cast of thousands.

  Sparkle took his hand. “And so it begins.”

  27

  “In the beginning, I could only mess with people’s dreams and memories when they were close to me, like in the Castle or close to it. When they left the area, I lost them forever. Now, once I’ve latched onto someone, they’re mine no matter how far away they go. Isn’t that awesome?” Jill sat beside Sparkle at the banquet table in the great hall. She looked expectantly at Sparkle.

  Far be it for Sparkle to disappoint her. She gave Jill what she wanted. “Wow, that’s incredible. How did you discover this?” Would the day never end? She had spent the entire morning and afternoon apologizing to cranky guests as she ushered them out the door. Her business might not survive the bad press. Grim-faced troublemakers who would pay zero for their rooms were moving in, making themselves comfortable, and waiting for the apocalypse. And what was with the women? Bad hair, no makeup, no nail color, and disastrous shoe choices. Had no one explained to them that they could be powerful troublemakers and still look gorgeous?

  On the other side of Sparkle, Jerry made a rude noise. “Big deal. I can do loads of stuff, but no one asks me about it.” He shrugged. “So I keep it to myself.”

  Jill leaned forward so she could see past Sparkle. “That’s because you’re so arrogant and egotistical no one wants to get you started about how great you are. You’d go on for hours.”

  Jerry glared at her.

  Sparkle sighed. It would be so easy to send Jill and Jerry on their way. But guilt tugged at her. No one was paying attention to them in the rush to prepare for Zendig’s attack. They were newborns in this world, and the older troublemakers didn’t give them much respect. So while the adults talked battle strategies, she’d spend some time with the kids. She glanced at Jerry’s expression. Sparkle thought anyone would be stupid to disrespect him.

  Jill turned her attention back to Sparkle. “Anyway, a husband and wife from California were here. They saw the whole thing when the assassin fell from the wall and what happened after that. I know you said to erase their memories of the event completely, but I didn’t. I just made them think it was another realistic rehearsal for the fantasies.” She glanced away.

  Sparkle knew a guilty expression when she saw one. Jill should look shamefaced. She’d deliberately ignored an order. Sparkle narrowed her eyes. But Jill continued before she could express exactly how totally ticked off she was.

  “I did it as an experiment. How will I know the extent of my powers if I don’t test them? When they left the castle, I followed those memories all the way back to their home in San Francisco. Then I took them away.” She paused to gauge how mad Sparkle was.

  “How’d you know the memories were really gone?” Jerry checked out a new young troublemaker who was carrying her bags into the hotel.

  Jill followed his gaze. She frowned. “I got their number from the office, and I called them. I pretended I was doing a medical survey on how long people retain memories. I asked if they’d traveled recently. When they said yes, I asked them to tell me everything they remembered about their trip. They told me a bunch of stuff about the Castle, but neither one mentioned that memory.”

  Sparkle figured she needed to word this just right. If she went with her gut and shot the kid down, then Jill might back off all experimentation. This had to be a measured response. She hated measured responses. “You do realize what you did was dangerous for everyone here? If those people had shared their memory with the wrong person, we could have been exposed. We never do anything like what you did. It’s too chancy.”

  Jill nodded as she hung her head. “Sorry.”

  Sparkle figured she wasn’t too sorry. But at least she might pause before doing something rash again. “I think you can help in the kitchen for the rest of the week. They need extra hands now that our human staff has left.”

  Jill scowled. “Do I have to?”

  Sparkle pretended to consider the question. Jill didn’t have a domestic bone in her body. She hated cooking and cleaning up. A perfect punishment. “Yes.”

  “I’ll help you.”

  Jerry looked as though he’d surprised himself with his offer. Sparkle tried not to smile. Men—clueless but loveable.

  “Sure. If you want to.” Jill blushed.

  Teens were so obvious. She watched them leave just as Eric’s wife, Donna, joined her. Sparkle noted that at least vampires knew how to dress. Donna understood the power of a sexy red top.

  “I have info.” She sat in Jill’s vacated seat. “I’m getting more and more calls from listeners about sightings of strange creatures. The callers are people who live close to the energy vortices we’ve already identified as entry points for Zendig’s fighters. The sightings always happen at night, and by morning there’s no sign of them. I asked everyone to send me photos if they could get them. I wasn’t expecting much because most people would be sleeping when the sightings happened. But then I woke up to this a short while ago.” She pulled her tablet from her purse and showed her two photos. “They’re not clear because of the low light, but maybe Ganymede’s dad knows what they are.”

  “Estan checked out of the hotel with the other two spies. He’ll contact Mede when he feels it’s safe.” Clear or not, the photos showed nightmare beasts. Nothing that she’d ever seen on Earth, and she’d seen her share of terrifying beings. She looked up from the photos in time to spot Jerry and Jill leaving the great hall headed toward the restaurant. Maybe there was someone else who could help. “Come with me.”

  She led Donna in pursuit of Jerry. Sparkle had to push her way through the mobs in the lobby, some coming some going. She ignored people clamoring for her attention. When a large woman with appalling taste in everything almost knocked Sparkle on her butt, she thought vengeful thoughts. The ancient Egyptians believed an orgasm was the key to eternal life. Oh, the temptation. She could rip away those keys from every one of these annoying humans with just a thought. No more orgasms. Ever.

  Sparkle caught up with Jerry right before he trailed Jill through the now-empty restaurant and into the kitchen. “Wait up for a minute.” When he walked over to join them, Sparkle introduced him to Donna. “Jerry, this is Eric’s wife, Donna. She—”

  “You’re Donna Till Dawn. You have that cool late-night radio show where all these weird people call in with stuff about alien invasions and shadow people.” Hero worship shone in Jerry’s eyes. “I stay up to listen to you. I wish you were on more than three nights a week, though.” He pause
d to breathe. “And you’re a vampire.”

  His expression said that being a vampire raised her coolness factor by ten. Color Sparkle amazed. Who would’ve thought anything other than himself could impress Jerry. Of course, Donna’s long blond hair and general gorgeousness didn’t hurt either. Hormones drove teenage boys no matter which planet they called home.

  Donna laughed. “It’s great to meet you, Jerry. I’m glad you enjoy the show. I’ve been away visiting some affiliates, but now I’ll be back broadcasting from the Castle. You’ll have to sit in on the show some night when you’re free.”

  Sparkle jumped into Jerry’s moment of speechlessness. “Jerry, Donna’s listeners have reported seeing some of Zendig’s army.” Donna handed him the tablet. “You’re the only one of us who has a complete memory of our home planet.” Our home planet. Jeez, saying that out loud sounded crazy. “The photos aren’t clear, but do you recognize either of these?”

  Jerry paled. He nodded. “Zendig sent exploratory expeditions to some worlds that didn’t have any life forms with our intelligence. These creatures come from those worlds. I’ve heard they’re deadly, but not very smart. Zendig has an inner core of followers completely loyal to him. They’re thought manipulators. Primitive minds would be simple to control. My guess is they’ll send these creatures in as the first wave to soften us up. The next wave will probably be his most powerful forces. Finally, Zendig will show up. He’ll hope we’re worn out by then.”

  Sparkle looked at him with new respect. He hadn’t taken long to work that out. “Do you know what those creatures do?”

  Jerry shrugged. “I’ve only seen their pictures. Zendig has been pretty tight-lipped about them. No details have leaked.”

  “I appreciate the info. You can go help Jill now.” He looked as though he’d rather stay here to talk but left without arguing. She turned back to Donna. “Thanks for the help. We need everything we can get, because right now we’re flying blind. Shoot me the photos.”

  After Sparkle got the name of the store where Donna had bought her top, she went in search of Mede. She found him in the conference room with a group of the fighters who would be defending the castle. She frowned. Ky, Blue, and Orion were among them. Mede wasn’t ignoring the kids after all. He must intend to use them. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  Mede glanced up as she entered. He grinned. And she forgot about everyone else in the room. The curve of his lips when he smiled at her. The heat in his gaze when he looked at her. They were only for her. If she ever found him giving them to another woman, she’d tear the witch’s hair out in huge unsightly clumps. Sparkle took a deep breath. Relax. She smiled back.

  He pointed to the chair next to him. “We were just talking strategy.”

  She sat. “Go on. Don’t let me stop you.” The presence of the three teens still bothered her. They shouldn’t be part of Mede’s battle plan. “Oh, before you go back to what you were discussing, let me show you something.” She pulled out her phone. Good, Donna had already sent the pictures. Sparkle passed the phone around while she told them what Jerry had said.

  Mede tapped his finger on the table as he thought. “Jerry and Jill should be here.”

  Okay, now was the time to address her concern. “They’re just kids.” She stared down Ky, Orion, and Blue. “Sorry, but you are. You shouldn’t be part of what’s coming. If the worst happens and we lose, you’re our future. Besides, we’re used to battle situations.” Left unsaid was that they were untried and untaught. Ky’s injury while trying to protect Tuna and Momo was a case in point. Sparkle ignored their sullen glares.

  “If we don’t win this fight, there won’t be a future for them anyway.” Mede leaned forward. “Zendig wouldn’t leave any of his ‘creations’ alive to rise up and smack him in the face someday.”

  Sparkle narrowed her eyes. “We’ll talk about this later.” She knew it sounded like a threat. She didn’t care.

  Mede ignored her comment. Instead he turned back to his meeting. At the end of it, Sparkle had come to a conclusion. Troublemakers weren’t meant to be molded into a fighting unit. They didn’t have a team mentality. Each one would do his or her own thing, and the rest of the players be damned.

  Sparkle caught Blue on her way out. “You told everyone you could call beasts from a bunch of different worlds to the fight, but you weren’t sure how much control you’d have over a large group of them in a battle situation. Doesn’t that sort of bother you?”

  Blue didn’t even hesitate. “Nope. I won’t need perfect control. I’ll just point them in the right direction and let them mow down the enemy. Then I’ll send them back.”

  “Sounds simple. What could possibly go wrong?”

  “You got it.” Blue hurried away to catch Ky and Orion.

  Sparkle had wasted her sarcasm. She had a mental picture of Godzilla and King Kong kicking butt as they crossed the causeway on their march toward Houston. Meanwhile, Jaws would be picking off boaters as he glided into Galveston Bay on his way upstream. Mede needed to get some kind of control over everyone.

  “I’m ready for a relaxing night, just the two of us.” Mede joined Sparkle.

  This was her chance. “We need to talk about the kids.”

  “Not now.”

  “Why not?” She wouldn’t allow him to put her off. “This is a great time.”

  “Believe me, it’s not.” He’d reached their door. Instead of getting out his key, he simply walked in.

  “Wait. The door was unlocked?” Had one of them forgotten to lock it when they left? What about a break-in? “Someone could be in there waiting for us.” Not that Mede wouldn’t fry their butts.

  “Oh, someone is waiting.” He kept walking.

  She didn’t have a clue what was going on, but she followed him in. Then she stopped. Eric sat on the couch. He waved.

  “Hey, guys. You’re late.”

  “Eric?” She looked at the vampire and then turned to Mede. “What’s this about?”

  “I owe you a fantasy. Eric’s here to help me deliver on that.” He smiled. “But if you’d rather talk about the kids…” He held up his hands.

  “A fantasy?” Now she remembered. She’d wanted one with a hot boss and sexy secretary theme. “Really?” Eric had done fantasies for others in the Castle, but not for her. For just a moment, she thought about putting it off until afterwards. What if there isn’t an afterwards? No, she wanted this. Now. “The kids can wait.” She met Mede’s gaze, allowed all her love and need to shine in her eyes. “Bring on the fantasy.”

  Eric rose. “Great. Let’s go into your bedroom so you can lay down. May as well be comfortable.”

  Sparkle stretched out on top of the comforter beside Mede. She tried to relax. Hah, good luck with that. She now understood the stiff-as-a-board saying. Tension thrummed through her, shortening her breath and making her heart pound so loudly she was sure Mede and Eric both heard it.

  “Everyone ready?” Eric glanced at Sparkle. He smiled. “Come on, you can’t be nervous, Sparkle. You’re the queen of sex and sin. You’ve told me that often enough.”

  She glared at him. This was different.

  “Here’s what will happen. You’ll close your eyes on this reality, and when you open them again you’ll be someone else. You won’t remember this reality, you’ll be totally immersed in your new life. Impossible things might happen, but you’ll accept them as perfectly believable. It’ll be amazing. I don’t do bad fantasies.”

  Now she understood her panic. No memory of who she was, no past, nothing to hold on to. It was too close to real life, to what Zendig had taken from her. In this instance, Eric was playing Zendig’s part. She forced herself to slow her breathing, concentrated on emptying her mind, welcoming what was to come. This wasn’t anything like what Zendig did. This would be short, sweet, and then over. She closed her eyes with the feel of Mede’s warm hand holding hers and his whispered, “We’ll make this epic, sexy lady,” in her mind.

  One last thought. She
would absolutely remember who she was.

  “Happy birthday, Emily.”

  Startled, she opened her eyes. Damn, still seated in front of her crappy computer at her crappy desk at her crappy job. Guess she’d used up all her “crappies” for the day in one crappy sentence. She steeled herself to show no emotion as she looked up. “Please don’t sneak up on me like that, Mr. Carlson. I might delete something important.” Emily couldn’t help the twitch of her lips that threatened to become a smile. The boss didn’t like to see his employees “fraternizing” with each other. Jerk. Then she relaxed. The boss wasn’t here right now.

  Her boss made lots of noise—snorting, shouting, and stomping—wherever he went. A water buffalo was quieter. He would never catch her daydreaming or fraternizing.

  Lucas was a completely different animal. Stealthy. He had a predator’s stalk, sort of a pad, pad, pad, POUNCE! You never heard him coming until he suddenly appeared in front of you. She grew weak whenever she thought about his pounces.

  Lucas placed a vase of roses on her desk. “Happy Birthday, Emily.”

  “Oh.” Speechless. Hundreds of things she could say whirled in her mind. She plucked out one at random. “Thank you, Lucas. They’re gorgeous. They’d look amazing in my castle.”

  “Castle?” The corner of his mouth lifted in the beginning of a smile.

  Emily wanted to bang her head on her desk. Lame, lamer, lamest. Where had the blasted castle come from? “Umm, I always dreamed of living in a castle.”

  “I can’t get your castle just yet, but maybe this will hold you over. Then he handed her a small box. “Don’t worry about the boss. He’s in the conference room hooting and hollering at the sales force for at least the next hour.” He watched as she fumbled with the ribbon.

  She tore away the paper and lifted the lid. Emily sucked in her breath then exhaled on a long happy sigh. “It’s gorgeous.” Nestled in the box was a necklace. The thin gold chain bore one word worked in delicate gold letters—WICKED. She looked up and smiled through tears. Jeez, she hated getting all emotional like this. But after all, it was from Lucas. Special. “Still trying to turn me to the dark side?”