by Nina Bangs
At least Sparkle wasn’t going to say anything to Ganymede. She had her reasons. For one thing, she was still pissed at the cat. And she was probably hoping to get another shot at working her personal magic with Ivy and him. Someone needed to tell her the game was over and she’d lost.
He turned his attention from the window to where Ivy lay sleeping. When Sparkle had told him that Zane would be watching Ivy from midnight until two, he exploded. So he was here now, torturing himself, and still seeing Sparkle’s satisfied smirk in his mind.
What would Ivy do? Leave? Not smart. Tirron wouldn’t stay in Faery, and when he emerged he’d be looking for revenge. If she did run, Murmur would make sure someone kept watch over her and Kellen. Not him, because she’d never want to see him again. He’d cancel the visit from the faery he’d asked to teach Kellen. Ivy wouldn’t allow any of the fae within a mile of her brother now.
The knock on Murmur’s door interrupted his brooding. He reached with his senses. Two people—Klepoth and… Kellen? Hell. With a muttered curse, he got to his feet and strode to the door. He yanked it open, stepped into the hallway, and closed the door softly behind him.
He glared at Kellen. “Your sister will lock you in your room forever if she finds out you were here with him.” He nodded at Klepoth. “Luckily for you, she’s sleeping. Where’s Ganymede? He was supposed to stay with you.”
Kellen’s expression turned stubborn. “I’m not doing anything wrong.” He glanced away. “Ganymede fell asleep with his face in the popcorn bowl.”
The cat could forget about a career as a bodyguard. Murmur glared at Klepoth. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Klepoth’s grin turned to a scowl. “Who bit you in the ass? Kellen and I were just playing a few video games, talking about stuff, and…” For the first time the other demon seemed hesitant. “I was wondering what my chances were of getting into high school.”
“What?” Murmur couldn’t have been more surprised if Klepoth had said he wanted to sing with the heavenly choir. “You’re ten freaking thousand years old.” May as well make sure Kellen knew who he was dealing with. “Why would you want to go to high school?”
Klepoth looked away, but not before Murmur saw anger and embarrassment in his eyes. Klepoth didn’t answer. He just shrugged.
“I think it’s a great idea.” Kellen jumped to Klepoth’s defense. “We could start school together here. It’s easier being the new guy if there’s someone with you. Klepoth is staying at the hotel for a while, so we could hang after school.” He shrugged. “You know, do things.”
Murmur might be slow sometimes, but he finally got it. Klepoth didn’t have a friend, had probably never had one. Like Murmur, he was beginning to want more than what his existence supplied. Kellen was his chance to fit in somewhere.
Murmur wanted to laugh at the image of Klepoth trying to blend in with the local teens, but he couldn’t. It hit too close to home.
“It might work.” Murmur put on his serious face. “If you need an adult with you when you register, let me know.”
Klepoth looked offended. “Hey, I don’t look that young.”
Kellen laughed. “Yeah, you do.”
Ivy would introduce Murmur to true hellfire and brimstone when she found out he’d approved her brother’s friendship with the demon of illusions. After the last demonstration of Klepoth’s power, he wasn’t on her favorite-people list. But did it really matter? She couldn’t hate Murmur more than she already did. Besides, he’d keep a close eye on Klepoth.
Kellen was immediately enthusiastic. “Great. Klepoth can help me find out if I have any powers.” He glanced at the demon. “Can you do that?”
“Sure. No problem.”
“Is that all?” Murmur wanted them to leave so he could concentrate on his bad temper, bad attitude, and his general crappy feeling of having lost something important.
“No, I wanted to speak to you.” Klepoth raked his fingers through his spiked hair.
A rare nervous gesture from him. Murmur raised one brow, but didn’t say anything.
“The answer is yes.” He met Murmur’s gaze. “You know, what we were talking about. I’m in.”
“The answer is no.” The door swung open behind Murmur, revealing Ivy doing a creditable imitation of a pissed off demoness. “Kellen, you will not go off with Klepoth. Do you know what he is?”
Kellen looked sullen. “He’s the demon who creates illusions.” He took a deep breath. “And he’s my friend.”
Something moved in Klepoth’s eyes, an expression Murmur had never seen there before. Murmur found it tough to believe, but the other demon looked touched.
Ivy was clearly horrified. “You’ll make new friends at school. You don’t need—”
Klepoth interrupted her. “He does need me. I can keep him safe.”
“Whoa, wait. I don’t need anyone to keep me safe.”
Like all human young, Kellen thought he was indestructible. Murmur could tell him that he was not, especially if the Sidhe came calling.
Klepoth smiled. “You do right now, but I’ll teach you to defend yourself.”
Kellen looked mollified.
Ivy did not.
But she didn’t get a chance to voice her anger, because Kellen finally got a good look at her. “What the hell happened to you?” His shock quickly turned to anger. “Who hit you?”
Ivy hesitated. Murmur understood her reluctance to tell Kellen the truth. She wouldn’t want to scare her brother. But Murmur had a little more belief in Kellen’s ability to cope with the facts.
“Tirron hit your sister. She found out something that he wanted to keep secret. He thought hurting her would scare her into compliance.” He glanced at her. “It didn’t.”
Kellen had already pushed to his sister’s side to get a closer look, a closer look that only seemed to make him madder. “If I had powers, I’d make sure he never hit another woman.” He clenched his hands into fists. “What was his secret?”
The moment of truth. Ivy would either tell him or she would lie. The Sidhe couldn’t lie, but he didn’t think she had enough of their blood to stop her from making something up.
Ivy bit her lip and avoided her brother’s gaze.
“Tell me, Sis. I’m not a little kid anymore. I need to know.” His voice broke. “Please.”
She nodded and met his gaze. Then she told him.
Everything. Murmur would have liked her to have been just a little less truthful.
When she’d finished, Kellen didn’t say anything for a moment. Klepoth looked surprised. Murmur knew it took a lot to put that expression on the other demon’s face. But a visit from the Sluagh Sidhe had accomplished it. He wondered if Klepoth would bail on Kellen now. For that matter, he’d probably consider Murmur toxic too, an enemy of the faery host and his master.
Kellen finally found his voice. He stared at Murmur. “You sent your death music after him. Will it wait for him outside of Faery?”
“No. Once he escapes into Faery, the music will dissipate.”
He nodded. “So Tirron can just wait until the music is gone and come after us again?”
“Yes.”
Kellen grasped facts quickly. “We have to stay here, Sis. We have some protection in the castle.”
Ivy suddenly looked exhausted. Murmur reached out to steady her. She tried to push him away, but he refused to be pushed. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her steady.
“You should be in bed.”
She ignored his advice. “Kellen, when the faery host reaches here, things will be dangerous. Things are dangerous now. I can’t protect you against any of these people.” She looked up at Murmur. “I don’t know who to trust.”
“I do.” Kellen looked sure of himself. “I trust Klepoth, Murmur, and Asima.”
Uh-oh. Murmur thought that last name was trouble.
Kellen met Murmur’s gaze. “And I like Asima. She was kind to me, and”—his glance slid away—“she’s lonely. She doesn’t hav
e any friends. Guess that makes her the same as a lot of us.”
Murmur hated that Kellen was about to make him into the villain.
“I won’t let you do this to her.” Kellen took a moment to think about what he wanted to say. “She wants to be needed. I bet if you asked for her help and treated her with respect, she’d try to help you.”
Call him cynical, but Murmur didn’t see Asima, the queen of what’s-in-it-for-me doing anything out of the goodness of her tiny, feline heart.
“I’m going to warn her.” His stare dared Murmur to stop him.
Ivy stilled, her eyes suddenly shadowed by fear.
Fear? She was afraid of him? She thought he’d haul out his drum solo and beat her little brother into the floor with it?
Klepoth understood the gauntlet Kellen had thrown down in front of Murmur, and its consequences. He shoved his new friend away from Mumur. “Let’s get back to your room before Ganymede wakes up. He’ll be pissed if he finds out we sneaked off.”
Kellen nodded and reluctantly followed the other demon toward the stairs.
Instinct screamed that Murmur couldn’t allow Kellen to blab to Asima. She’d make life miserable for all of them, and Bain’s plans would be shot to hell. Murmur would have to find someone else to trade, and Ivy would hate and fear him even more for doing it.
Kellen paused at the top of the stairs.
Now. Erase his memory of everything. Erase her memory of everything. Problem solved. He was a demon. That’s what demons did. Do it, do it, do it.
He felt her hand on his arm. No words, just her touch.
He turned away from Kellen and helped Ivy back into his room.
Probably the dumbest move of his entire existence.
14
Ivy stopped just inside the door. She was shaking. The way she was feeling, no way could she climb back into his bed.
He’d almost done it. He’d been ready to erase their memories. She’d seen the intention in his eyes. It would’ve been so easy for him. No more pesky complications. But he hadn’t. She’d touched his arm, and then… he’d allowed Kellen and her to keep their memories, their very damaging memories.
Ivy wanted to believe he’d changed his mind because she touched him. But that would be assigning emotions to him that he might not be feeling. He confused her.
She couldn’t concentrate around him, couldn’t deal with her tangled feelings. And she needed to be clearheaded for Kellen. “I’m going back to my room for the rest of the night.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Look, I can go to Bain’s room. You don’t have to leave.”
“Yes, I do.” How to make him understand? “Even if you leave, your scent is here, everything I look at reminds me of you. I need to be alone. I have to think.”
She felt his need to argue; instead he nodded. “Fine. The clothes you were wearing had blood on them, so Sparkle left fresh ones for you.” He walked to his closet and pulled out jeans and a top.
Ivy felt his gaze on her as she slipped into his bathroom and changed out of her nightgown. She put on her sandals and emerged from the bathroom to find him on his cell phone. He put it away as she approached.
“Sparkle will spend the rest of the night with you.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need anyone watching me.”
“Cinn said that you did, and she knows best. Sparkle stays, or I stay.” His expression said he knew which she’d choose.
And he was right. She didn’t answer him, merely headed for the door.
He followed her. “I’ll take you to your room.”
She knew that wasn’t negotiable, so she didn’t waste energy arguing. Ivy said nothing as they walked to the elevator.
Her memories were too fresh, and she shuddered as the elevator doors opened. But she still felt too weak to take the stairs. She glanced at the car’s ceiling. “It’s fixed. That was fast.”
“It helps to have a wizard and a sorcerer on the payroll.”
Once inside the car, her muscles knotted, and her heart thudded loud enough to embarrass her. Tirron’s not here. He can’t hurt you. Too bad her mind couldn’t convince the rest of her body not to go into fight-or-flight mode.
This time, Murmur was the one to touch her. He took her hand and held it in his warm grasp. “He’s not here. He’ll never be here again. I promise.”
She wanted to yank her hand away from him. That’s what she should do. She didn’t. “Do you keep your promises?”
His lips tipped up in that breathtaking smile. “To you? Always.”
“You lied to me.” There. She’d said it. And it certainly had needed saying.
His smile faded. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you all the details.”
“Lying by omission is still lying. Why?” She hadn’t known how important that one word was until she realized she was holding her breath.
She exhaled and tried to relax. After all, there wasn’t that much riding on his answer. They’d made love once. Big deal. It wasn’t as though they had a relationship. He wasn’t that important. And you are such a liar.
He remained silent until they were standing outside her door. “I knew I wasn’t going to allow Bain to trade you to the faery host, so I didn’t think it would hurt if you never found out about that part of Bain’s plan.”
“And?”
He looked away. “I didn’t want you to leave.”
“Why?” There was that word again.
“You were important to me even then.” His expression said he’d explained as much as he intended. “I’ll give you your space, Ivy. But I hope you won’t decide to leave the castle until the danger from the faery host and Tirron are past. Even if you don’t trust me to protect you, you can depend on Ganymede and Sparkle to make sure you and Kellen stay safe.”
Without waiting for her response, he walked away.
“I trust you to protect me.” She whispered her words to a man who was no longer there.
She did trust him to keep her safe. But she didn’t know if that trust extended to other parts of her life.
Ivy was about to go into her room when she thought of her brother. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Klepoth… Okay, honest? She didn’t trust him. Walking to the next door, she rapped softly.
The door swung open and… no one.
“Yo, cat level. Down here.”
She dropped her gaze to Ganymede. “Good to see your nap time is over. Did Kellen get back?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I was tired. I worked all day and then had to play bodyguard. A cat needs his naps. Your brother and the demon took advantage of my exhaustion.”
“Work. Right.” Ivy couldn’t help her snarky attitude. She wasn’t tuned in to her kind and gentle side right now. “So is my brother okay?”
“He’s tucked into bed all safe.” Ganymede stared at her. “Wow, you look like shit.”
“That’s what Sparkle said.” She’d need some heavy duty concealer tomorrow.
At the sound of Sparkle’s name, his ears pricked. “Was she with that freaking faery?”
“No, and she’s right next door for the rest of the night. By herself. She’s keeping an eye on me. Not that I need anyone.”
His eyes gleamed. “By herself? Maybe I’ll visit for a few minutes later on.” His tail whipped back and forth. “Do you think she’d mind?”
“She’d mind a lot less if you came armed with an apology for heaving Braeden out of the castle.” Ivy didn’t know why she was trying to help the cat when all she wanted to do was to fall into bed.
Ganymede seemed to consider this. “Yeah, you might be right. Besides, even if she’s still pissed, she won’t do anything noisy that could wake you up.”
Ivy nodded and walked back to her room. Once inside, she reached for the light switch. She squeaked her alarm as someone grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t turn on the lights.” Sparkle’s voice.
Ivy gulped for air. “Don’t ever do that again.”
Sparkle
didn’t comment on the threat. “I’ll lead you to your bed. Undress and slip into your nightgown. Don’t turn on the lights.”
“What’s this all about?” She was almost too tired to care.
“I’m working on a surprise for you. It’ll be ready in the morning.”
“Great.” Not really. She’d had enough surprises lately to last a lifetime. All she wanted now was sleep. Slipping into bed, she started to drift off immediately. Please, no dreams. Because they’d probably all revolve around a green-eyed demon who’d become way too important to her.
Murmur headed for Asima’s room. Sparkle had whined about giving up a room to her, but if she hadn’t, Asima would simply have made herself at home in some guest’s room. Not good for business.
He allowed a melody to weave through his mind, something dark and solemn to fit his mood. If Ivy decided to leave, he wouldn’t stop her. But he’d damn well make sure she was safe.
Make sure she knows how you feel about her too. She was better off without that little piece of information. Besides, he wasn’t even certain what he could say to her. I think I’m falling in love with you, but I’m not too sure because I’ve never loved anyone before. He didn’t think that would win any devotion points for him.
The music in his head gained strength and power. It was now a call to battle. He stopped in front of Asima’s door. This was going to be bloody. But he needed to tell her before Kellen blurted out everything first. At least he could attempt damage control, try to put a positive spin on it. And if he thought hard enough, he’d find one.
To soften Asima up a little, he chose a musical piece from her playlist and allowed it to fill the space around him. Then he knocked.
The door swung open. No one was there. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Asima sat in the middle of her bed.
“I hope this is important, demon. I spent an exhilarating evening with Braeden, and now I need my rest.” She leaped from the bed, padded over to one of the chairs, and jumped onto it. She sat again, curling her tail around her elegant body. She studied him from her slightly tilted blue eyes.