Forever Wicked (Castle of Dark Dreams)

by Nina Bangs

  Tears slid down her cheeks as her body tightened, rushing towards that moment, the one that lasted only a heartbeat but would echo forever. She knew that deep inside where truths hid. She rose to meet him, pounding harder, urging him deeper.

  “We could have this. Forever.” His whispered words came between rasping breaths.

  “Nothing lasts forever.” One of her truths she’d yanked kicking and screaming into the light.

  “You’d be surprised.”

  His laughter followed her up the dizzying elevator ride to the top floor. Almost there, almost—

  Yes! The elevator spit her out at the top. Not. Quite. There. Frantically, she looked for a window. Got it. Emily flung open the window and crouched on the sill. Wind whipped her hair. She glanced down. The cars on the streets below were mere ants. Didn’t matter. They had no place in her world. She could fly. Dammit, she could fly!

  She met his thrust one last time and then flung herself into the wind. Emily wasn’t surprised to find him beside her. She shouted her triumph. “We’ll fly together!”

  She hung there for a moment that lasted an eternity. Spasm after spasm shook her. And when they finally faded, she screamed her happiness all the way down…

  Emily kept her eyes closed, savoring the last delicious tremors. Finally, she opened her eyes to see the man who had taken her on that amazing flight.

  Lucas rose slowly, his gaze heavy with completion and an emotion she wanted to believe. His glance swept over her naked body one more time, making promises she intended to hold him to.

  He paused, suddenly alert. “The boss is done with his meeting. Get dressed.”

  How did he even know that? Reality slapped her in the face. She was in the boss’s office. Naked. Oh. My. God. She didn’t wait for him to help her stand. Once on her feet, she fumbled with her clothes. When she finally glanced up, he was already dressed, looking as perfect as he had before they made love. And he’d had the presence of mind to return the chair to its place behind the desk.

  He skimmed his fingers along her jaw, his gaze soft, and for the first time, vulnerable. “We’ll find your castle. I’ll meet you on the other side. Don’t keep me waiting.” He paused before leaving. “I love you, Emily.” He closed the door softly behind him.

  She absolutely wouldn’t keep him waiting. First, she’d type up her letter of resignation. No two weeks. What did protocol have to do with what she felt? Emily refused to acknowledge she was now officially an Impulsive. As she headed for the door, something poked at the back of her mind? The other side? Of what? She didn’t get a chance to explore that thought before the door swung open and the boss walked in.

  Startled, he stared at her. She frantically searched for a plausible reason to be in his office. “I was just—”

  He recovered quickly and laughed. “Don’t try to make excuses. I know why you’re here.”

  “You do?” Damn. Maybe she wouldn’t need a letter after all.

  “I’ve seen how interested you are in my chair. Bet you thought the big guy was out of his office so you could take a closer look at it. Maybe even sit in it. Am I right?”

  “Why would I—?”

  He searched her face and finally nodded. “You’re new here, so maybe you don’t know the chair’s history. It once belonged to Lucas Delaney.”

  Lucas? The name rocked her. She gulped and stepped back. No. It couldn’t be. But… He’d never told her the name of the chair’s owner. The consequences rained down on her. Too bad she couldn’t cover her head. She blinked back sudden tears.

  The boss didn’t seem to notice. “Delaney was a bit of an outlaw. Rich, powerful, and mysterious. He kept himself to himself. Lots of rumors about the roads he walked. Don’t think for a minute they were true, though. Way too strange. Anyway, when he died, his estate was sold. I got this chair. A bargain.” The boss laughed. “Seller said it was haunted. Some people will believe anything. I sit in it every day and nothing.” He glanced at his desk. “Got to get back to work now.”

  “Get back to work. Sure.” She followed his gaze to the desk. No flowers. No surprise. Nothing had been real. Then why had it felt so…amazing? Emily was numb. She sleep-walked back to her own desk. Once there she just sat. I’ll meet you outside. Outside where? His crypt?

  For a few minutes she fought to concentrate on her work. Forget Lucas. Forget quitting. It didn’t work. She remembered his eyes, not the eyes of a phantom. Emily had seen truth in them when he said he’d loved her. He’d asked her to make a leap of faith. She looked down at her desk and imagined endless years sitting here doing the same thing day after day after day. Then she’d retire with her memories of…

  Emily took out her notepad, ripped off a sheet of paper, and wrote I QUIT on it. Then she stood, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door. Maybe she’d take this leap of faith only to discover she’d jumped off a freaking cliff. But she wouldn’t retire from a boring job in about forty years with nothing to remember.

  She didn’t bother with the elevator. Racing down the stairs, she swore to always wear red shoes, and she’d paint her nails red. Maybe she’d dye her hair red too. When she reached the ground floor, she ran to the revolving door, pushed her way out and…

  Emily opened her eyes. No, not Emily. Sparkle Stardust. She took a moment to orient herself. In bed. Holding Lucas’s, no Mede’s, hand. She turned her head. Lucas’s face with amber eyes instead of blue. She smiled. “I love you.”

  He leaned over to kiss her. “Always.”

  28

  Ganymede wanted to hit the repeat button for last night’s fantasy and lose himself again in Sparkle’s eyes, in her body, but most of all in her words. I love you. Why hadn’t they said them to each other more often? He shrugged off the question. Didn’t matter. He’d make up for lost time. Now was their moment, and he wouldn’t allow Zendig to mess with it.

  He took a deep breath, preparing himself for another day of trying to mold a cohesive force from the riot of troublemakers doing their own things so fucking brilliantly but refusing to work together. Too many giant egos in one place.

  He watched Holgarth wend his way across the crowded great hall floor. Just what he needed, a whiny, sarcastic wizard. Ganymede narrowed his eyes. Who was that with him? Tall guy about six five, dark with hard eyes, sharp features, and a bald head. A troublemaker. Not someone he knew. The man had a face you didn’t forget.

  Holgarth stopped in front of Ganymede. The unknown troublemaker met his gaze. He didn’t smile. The wizard raised one brow, Holgarth’s expression for wildly excited.

  “This is Brigadier General Nazari. He’s here to help with our army.” The wizard sneered. “I use the term ‘army’ loosely.” He didn’t hang around.

  Ganymede watched Holgarth hurry away before turning his attention to the general. He studied Nazari. Not in uniform. Jeans, sandals, and a sleeveless T-shirt. Carried himself like military, though. Those eyes—banked power with a touch of cruelty. Excellent. “Happy to meet you, General.”

  The sudden need to destroy those idiots out in the courtyard who wouldn’t put aside their arrogance long enough to train together sucked the air from Ganymede’s lungs. Damn. “What the hell did you just do?”

  Nazari smiled, not a reassuring smile. “Sorry. My power slipped. It does that when I’m in the presence of another predator.”

  Ganymede accepted the excuse but decided the brigadier general would bear watching. “Are you here in an official capacity?” He didn’t think so, not in that outfit.

  “Retired from the United States Army. People begin to notice if you don’t age after a few decades.” He speared Ganymede with an unblinking stare. “I’m here to help. From what I saw coming in, you need someone to whip a bunch of idiots into a fighting unit.”

  It was Ganymede’s turn to smile. “You have no idea.” Probably he should wait to ask, but he had to know. “What’s your power?”

  Darkness gathered around Nazari, roiling and spitting out flashes of lightning. The genera
l’s smile became something to scare small children. The sudden scent of blood and terror made Ganymede want to…rend, to search out every one of his enemies and tear them into easily chewed strips. The rumble of distant thunder was a fitting backdrop. Everyone in the hall froze.

  Ganymede shook off the feeling. This was getting old. “Cut the theatrics. Just answer my question.”

  Nazari chuckled. “The Egyptians worshipped me as the god Petbe. I’m the cosmic troublemaker in charge of vengeance.” The lightning crackled. The thunder boomed. “And considering what I’ve been told this Zendig did to us, I have a shitload of revenge to unloose on his sorry ass.”

  Ganymede figured he could put up with Nazari’s sound and light show as long as he delivered what he advertised. “Welcome to the Castle of Dark Dreams. You’re the guy I need to motivate our troops.”

  “I’ll have them in shape by tomorrow.”

  Good luck with that.

  Nazari’s special effects faded. “I’ll go to my room to unpack and then we’ll begin. How many fighters do we have?”

  “About a hundred troublemakers and a handful of other nonhumans.” Not a comforting number considering what they would be facing. “That said, I don’t think Zendig will be bringing his people here in the thousands. Not only does he have to send them all through the portals—buck naked with no weapons—but he has to get them here without tipping off humans to his presence. He won’t want to battle on two fronts. Besides, he thinks Conall and his followers have captured Bourne and eliminated his defenders. Zendig won’t expect any real resistance.”

  Nazari, or was it Petbe, nodded. “I can deal with those numbers. Tell our fighters I want them all in the courtyard at exactly noon.” He gave a brief salute and then walked away.

  Everyone watched him leave. Ganymede’s mood lightened. One burden lifted. Now he just had to… He stopped to watch Sparkle walking toward him. For once, he didn’t feel a twinge of jealousy as men turned to follow her path. She loved him.

  She reached Ganymede, then cocked her head to study him. “You look happy.”

  He reached out to smooth a few strands of red hair from her face. “You’re here.” Ganymede searched for something more romantic to say. “Love the green dress. It…” Shows off your long legs, and your tight behind, and your perfect breasts. “Suits you.” Love had stifled his creativity.

  Sparkle frowned. “That’s a letdown. I was going for sexy. Obviously it falls a little short.”

  Ganymede didn’t have a chance to right his sinking ship before she changed the subject.

  “Did you get your dad’s text?”

  He patted his pocket. “Damn. Left my phone on the kitchen counter.” He could destroy planets, but he couldn’t remember to keep his crappy phone with him.

  Sparkle gave him that look, the one that said only prehistoric doofuses forgot their phones. “He said all of Zendig’s army is on Earth and gathered in one spot. They’re coming. He’ll let us know as soon as he has a location.” She frowned. “I’ve been watching the news. How’re they doing all this with no reported sightings?”

  “Beats me. They’re moving faster than I expected, though. I thought it would take at least a week before they could pull everyone together from all the portals.” For a moment, he allowed her scent to distract him—something sensual and delicious. It drove him crazy. Too bad it didn’t come in an ice-cream flavor. He forced his attention back to Zendig. “A retired general joined us just before you showed up. He’s going to start working with the troops at noon. I hope Zendig gives us at least a few days.”

  Sparkle perked up. “A troublemaker?”

  “Vengeance.”

  “Perfect. I think…”

  Shouting from out in the courtyard interrupted them. Ganymede cursed, then headed outside. Sparkle trailed behind him. He flung open the door to find two troublemakers hurling insults at each other, not to mention their powers. The air smelled like an open sewer right after a sauerkraut convention. And mosquitos swarmed around them. The other troublemakers in the courtyard almost trampled Ganymede in their rush to escape.

  Ganymede lost it. He wasted half of his freaking day stomping out fires. His “army” spent more time fighting with each other than they did worrying about the coming battle. Sparkle put her hand on his arm, but it was too late to rein him in. With an angry shout, he shot his version of the finger at them, sweeping the two idiots into the air. He shook them like a dog with a favorite toy. “Zendig is headed our way, and you two jerks are acting like this? Whichever one of you is responsible for that disgusting stench, get rid of it. The same with the mosquitoes.” He dropped them to the ground where they sprawled still glaring at each other. But at least the smell and bugs were gone.

  “Do we have a problem here?” The general had arrived. “I could hear them in my room. Disturbances like this bother me.”

  Ganymede waved a hand at Sparkle. “General, this is Sparkle Stardust. She owns the Castle. Sparkle, meet Brigadier General Nazari.” Then he turned his attention back to his two victims.

  Sparkle had to shout over Mede’s ranting. “We’re so glad to have you here, General.” And she was. Mede might be able to destroy planets, but he didn’t have a knack for organizing men.

  “Please, call me Kadar.” He smiled and bowed.

  Wow. Sparkle was impressed. The smile transformed him. The harsh lines of his mouth relaxed into craggy good humor. “The troops are getting restless, Kadar. And Mede has a lot to think about right now. He doesn’t have the patience for them.”

  Kadar nodded. He moved up beside Mede. “Why don’t you take care of what needs taking care of while I sort out these two.” He walked toward the two troublemakers who noticed him for the first time. “Now, boys, we’re going to have a little talk about discipline and working together.”

  Mede didn’t wait to see what would happen next. He returned to the great hall. As soon as Sparkle was inside, he slammed the door shut and strode toward the hotel lobby. “I didn’t want all this. I wanted to face Zendig alone. When did it become complicated?”

  “Be happy so many are willing to stand with you. I have good feelings about Kadar.”

  “Who?”

  “Our general.” She followed him through the door connecting the great hall to the lobby.

  “He didn’t tell me his first name.” He rubbed his hand across his face. “Now all I have to worry about is how to draw Zendig and his army into the Castle so that every human on the island doesn’t witness my fighting him.”

  Sparkle didn’t try to hide her anger. “Get this through your thick head, this isn’t your fight. This is the fight of every troublemaker that Zendig victimized. I know Bourne’s disappearance and Amaya’s refusal to help ruined your plans, but we’ll come up with a new one.”

  “Better come up with it fast then, because I bet Zendig won’t take long to get here. I hope Dad gets back to us with a location soon.”

  She noted his slight hesitation before the word “Dad,” and she wondered if it would ever flow naturally for him. “Zendig could be anywhere.”

  “Great. So he could be turning onto Sea Wall Boulevard even as we speak.”

  Sparkle tried to clear her mind by concentrating on the tap, taps of her heels on the lobby’s tile floor as she headed for the bank of elevators. Angry taps. Mede battered at her on one side while everyone else bombarded her with questions about the Castle, about canceled reservations, about meals, about every crappy little detail.

  She couldn’t take it any longer. Last night’s fantasy had raised her up, but today had brought her down to reality with a giant whoosh of deflated dreams. Sparkle stopped and turned to face him. “Does it matter when he comes? Will we really be ready for him? Ever?” She threw her arms in the air. “We need more people, more power. And we’re flying blind. No one knows much of anything about what he’s bringing down on our heads. Whatever it is will definitely ruin my awesome hair.” She didn’t voice her deeper fear: that once this was over he’d
pack and disappear into the future to run his time travel business. Without her.

  Mede dropped onto a nearby chair. “Dad will try to get more info to us. But I don’t want him to put himself in danger.” He shook his head. “How did I go from someone who didn’t give a damn about anyone to worrying about the whole freaking world?”

  You’re becoming more human. The thought wasn’t new, but lately it was getting more air time. She didn’t sit. Her nerves were thrumming away until she didn’t know why she wasn’t vibrating. “We need Mistral and Amaya. Then we could go with your original idea of the cage.” She paced. “I’ll pay them another visit. My so-called brother is a hardheaded idiot but—”

  Someone coughed. Startled, she turned to find the hardheaded idiot standing behind her, Amaya by his side.

  “I’m sure if he showed up here it would be to say he’d reconsidered and realized the fate of all troublemakers hung in the balance, so he was going to help defeat Zendig.” Sparkle hoped her smile didn’t look as forced as it felt. Please, please don’t let him say he’s on his way out of Galveston.

  Sparkle was prepared for Mistral’s anger but not for the hurt she saw in his eyes. She glanced away even as she admitted he disturbed her, had always disturbed her with his claims.

  It was Amaya who spoke first. Anger filled her voice.

  “He talked me into coming here to offer my help along with his. Not for all troublemakers, for you. Because he thinks you’re his sister. Personally, I find that hard to believe.”

  Sparkle could almost see her tails twitching. She met Mistral’s stare. “I’m sorry. What changed your mind?” Dumb, dumb. Don’t give him a chance to rethink his decision.

  He glanced away. “What Amaya said. You’re family, even if you don’t care to claim me.”

  Silence settled around them, pushing away the sounds of the hotel lobby, cocooning them, suffocating Sparkle with her secrets and old anger. No one was going to ride to her rescue, this was all on her. She reached deep, to the place inside that held truths she’d rather not revisit right now, not when she needed Mistral’s help. But Sparkle pulled them into the light anyway. Time to share even if sharing tore open ancient wounds.