Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS) (13 page)

Sparkle giggled and slapped at Ganymede. “You’re jealous. I like that.” She scratched the top of the cat’s head. “I’ll tell you about him someday. Not now, though. When I’m sober.” Her laughter died. “It’s a sad story. I hate sad stories.” A tear wound a path over her cheek. She swiped it away.

Awkward. Kayla wanted out of there. Now. But she needed something first. “Do you know a cop who isn’t afraid to write up citations for . . . minor things?” Very minor.

Ganymede answered.
“No, but I can grab one, do some mental hacking, and make a few subliminal suggestions. How’ll that work for you?”

“Fine.” Not really. But she had no choice if she wanted to show Sparkle results. “Will he go back to normal when I’m finished with him?” This could be a deal breaker.

“Sure. No problem.”
The cat eyed her dessert.
“You going to eat that pie?”

Kayla shook her head and pushed the plate over to him.

“Thanks.”
He stood on his hind legs again and buried his face in the pie.
“Too bad it isn’t cherry. With ice cream. Don’t know how you eat pie without it.”
He raised his head long enough to burp.
“Oh, and it might take a few days to get that cop to you.”

Kayla took that as a dismissal. “Loved the dinner. I have to get back to work now. I’ll report in the morning.”

She didn’t go directly to Nirvana. Kayla had something to do first. She went up to her room, sat on her bed, and turned on her laptop. Then she did a search for obscure Texas laws.

When she had what she needed, Kayla changed into a top that plunged a little lower and clung a little closer. Tonight wasn’t really cool, so she wouldn’t need a jacket. Before leaving, she upgraded her makeup to night-glamour status and worked some life into her hair with a brush and dryer.

She wasn’t a hypocrite. This makeup wasn’t to please Sparkle. Kayla wanted to look good for Thorn, and his sexy witch brigade was tough competition.

Kayla admitted that Thorn drew her in a way she didn’t understand, might not be ready for. Sure, other men had attracted her. She’d lusted after some of them, but not this fast, not this powerfully. She wasn’t about to analyze her feelings. She’d better jump-start her self-control, though, because a vampire could never fit into her future plans.
Why not?
See, when she started asking questions like that, Kayla knew she was in trouble.

She almost made it out of the castle alone. Almost.

“Kayla! Wait for me.”

Sighing, Kayla turned. Cinn, the woman Thorn had rescued last night, hurried toward her. She held a plant, and it was only as she drew closer that Kayla realized it was the same plant Cinn had saved from the fire.

Cinn smiled as she joined Kayla. “I’m your designated destroyer for the night.”

“Is the plant your secret weapon?” Kayla returned Cinn’s smile. Hey, she was a huge improvement over Holgarth.

A fire engine roared past followed closely by two police cars. Cinn waited until the sirens faded before answering. “No. Vince just wants to visit Thorn. I’m your weapon.” She frowned as she stared in the direction the fire engine had gone. “Have you noticed how many times police cars and fire trucks have gone past today?”

Kayla shrugged. She hadn’t spent enough time in Galveston to know how often fires or other emergencies cropped up. “I was in Nirvana most of the day. The noise from the park drowns out other sounds.”

Once again she had to stand in line. Once again security-guy did his thing with the scanner. He
didn’t
scan Cinn. What was that about? Holgarth was the one who’d messed up the bumper cars. Conclusion? This was done to annoy the hell out of her alone.

Cinn didn’t say anything else until they were inside the park. Kayla couldn’t help searching for Thorn. She didn’t see him.

“The tanker that went down is big news. No survivors. No bodies. No reason for it to sink. And two shrimp boats disappeared today. Same thing. No distress signals, no survivors, and no bodies recovered.” Cinn stopped talking for a moment. She looked around. “Wow, can you believe the crowd here? Sparkle’s going ballistic.”

She’s also hitting the wine.
“What’re the authorities doing?” Kayla silently cursed the mob. How would she ever find Thorn among all these people?

Cinn shrugged. “They’ve told boaters to stay out of the water until they have some answers. Boaters won’t like it. They’ll just go somewhere else. Lots of bad luck to go around.” She shook her head. “Sparkle will be able to open the castle tomorrow, but the last few days are bound to hurt business.” She cast a quick glance Kayla’s way. “I don’t think Thorn had anything to do with the explosion and fire.” She didn’t mention the Great Stink.

“So what horror are you going to unleash on Thorn?” Kayla didn’t want to talk about Thorn’s possible guilt.

“I share a part of Airmid, the goddess of healing plants. I’ve inherited some of her power. But in me, the power took a sharp left turn. I grow sentient plants.”

Kayla nodded.
Not believing that for even a second.
“Uh-huh.”

Cinn looked away. “I lost a lot of them last night. But Thorn saved Vince, and some of my plants were in the castle, so I’m trying to take care of the ones that survived.”

Kayla didn’t roll her eyes. Cinn was sincerely devastated, and if believing her plants could think made her happy, more power to her.

“There’s Thorn.” Cinn waved at him.

Kayla noted that the other woman had avoided answering her question.

Thorn looked their way and then headed over. Kayla was getting used to the breathless sensation whenever she saw him. He was night—darkness, mystery, and danger. And here she’d thought she was so pragmatic. Not after that last thought. “Darkness, mystery, and danger” was romance-novel speak. She didn’t read romance novels.

Kayla put on her lawyer face and then smiled at him. It was tough to maintain when he stood so close, looked so good, and smiled back. His smile had definite orgasmic qualities.

Cinn seemed oblivious to the power of smiles. “I’m so grateful for what you did last night. And so is Vince. He wants to spend some time with you.”

He looked surprised for a moment but then recovered. “Sure. I’d be honored.” Pause. “For how long?”

Kayla almost laughed. She didn’t need any magical power to read his thoughts. They went sort of like, “What the hell am I going to do with this plant?”

For a moment, Cinn looked as though she was listening to something. Finally she nodded. “He says as long as it takes.” She shrugged. “Sometimes Vince can be cryptic.” She held the plant out to him.

Thorn took the plant. He held it gingerly. “If you don’t mind waiting here for a few minutes while I put him in my apartment, I can officially show you around.” His expression said he didn’t want to take
them
to his apartment.

Kayla understood. If they knew where he lived, it would make him vulnerable. “We’ll be here.”

“Speak for yourself.” Cinn stared at the roller coaster. “I want to look around and sample a few rides.” She threw Kayla a pointed stare. “You stay here. I’ll see you back at the castle.”

Kayla couldn’t read that stare. She hesitated. On the one hand, she should be cheering Cinn on, hoping the plant lady would smother the pier in a tangle of supersized vines. But on the other hand, she wanted to stay close to Cinn to make sure she didn’t go too far, destroy too much. Talk about conflicted loyalties. Dad would say she owed loyalty to the one who paid her. She wasn’t sure how much she believed Dad anymore.

And while she was trying to decide, Cinn walked away. Kayla looked back at Thorn. How to handle the moment? She offered him a weak smile. “Well, guess I’ll just hang around until you get back.” What if he’d only made his offer for Cinn’s sake? What if he really didn’t want to show Kayla anything except the exit gate?

He bit his lip, and even that looked sexy. She gave herself a mental slap. This had to stop. He was the enemy. But it was getting harder and harder to remember that. She waited patiently while he made up his mind about what he wanted to say.

Finally, he smiled. “Walk to my apartment with me.”

Kayla blinked. Not what she’d expected. Unfortunately, when someone caught her by surprise, she tended to blurt out whatever she was thinking. “If I were you, I wouldn’t invite me to my apartment.”

He laughed. A real laugh with no hidden agendas. “Then I guess I’m lucky you aren’t me.” Thorn reached out and clasped her hand. “Let’s go.”

She allowed her hand to stay in his. Bare skin against bare skin did weird things to her heartbeat. It hopped, skipped, stalled, and then sped up to warp speed. Her heart couldn’t make up its mind. But she could. Kayla loved touching him.

He stopped in front of a familiar building. It was the same one she’d visited with Holgarth that morning, the one with the off-limits sign.

“I have a home on the island, but I use this most of the time.” He dropped her hand to unlock the door.

She mourned its loss. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll make an easy target here?”

He stood aside to allow her to go in first. She briefly balanced the possibility that this might be a trap against her overwhelming curiosity. Curiosity won. She stepped into the room.

Not much to see—a bed, a couch, a few chairs, a small kitchenette, and a door she assumed led to a bathroom. No homey touches. No pictures of the grandchildren propped up on his nightstand. No framed Vampire of the Year awards hanging on the wall. “This is . . .”

“Sterile, cold, and empty. I know. It reminds me of my past. I’ll have to warm it up when I have time.” He followed her inside. “Have a seat.”

His comment saddened her, but she wasn’t here to offer decorating pointers. She opted for a chair. Safe. “Looks as though business is booming.”
Brilliant, Stanley. The queen of obvious strikes again.

Thorn shrugged as he carefully set Vince on his nightstand. “I give great value.”

Kayla’s mind took that phrase in a totally different direction. Bad mind. “I heard visitors raving about the rides. I’ll have to try a few new ones tonight.”
Okay, Mackenzie, your turn to add to the meaningless chatter
.

He dropped into a chair opposite her. “This is probably the safest place I could be. I have round-the-clock security, and this apartment was built to stand up to a supernatural attack.” He leaned back in his chair. “Of course, if I invite the enemy inside, then all bets are off.
Are
you my enemy, Kayla?”

She frowned. Hadn’t she already answered that question yesterday? But things can change a lot in a few hours. Her head assured her he was, but the rest of her wasn’t so sure. “We’re still on opposing sides.” Was that ambiguous enough?

He nodded as though she’d answered his question. “Zane told me about his father. We’re lucky that Bygul managed to distract the wizard or else he would’ve done more damage.” Thorn looked thoughtful. “Why are they sending people with you, Kayla? First Holgarth and now Cinn.”

She opened her mouth to defend Cinn, but he waved her words away.

“Cinn is here to booby-trap my business in her own special way. I can’t wait to find out what that is. But I have people watching her, so hopefully it won’t be catastrophic.” He waited a few beats while he studied her. “Why aren’t you the one doing the heavy lifting? Isn’t that what Sparkle hired you for?”

She wanted to deny what he was saying, shove his words back at him, but she could only look away. Kayla would never work for her father again. She’d tell him that as soon as she got home. “I don’t do ‘heavy lifting.’ I just check to make sure you’re not breaking the law.”

“Right.”

He didn’t believe her. No use trying to convince him. Better to put him on the defensive. “What exactly do you want from Sparkle?”
What history do you share?

“Suffering.”

She winced. The one word held a lifetime of rage and need for revenge. It hurt her to think of what could have caused that much hate. “You haven’t tried to kill her. Yet.”

He leaned forward, bringing all that intensity and disturbing emotion closer to her. She barely resisted the urge to lean back.

“I
can’t
kill her. She’s immortal, and the king of cosmic chaos has her back.”

He smiled, a mere baring of his fangs. “But suffering doesn’t have to end in death to be effective. I speak from personal experience. The suffering doesn’t even have to be physical. She loves that damn park, so I intend to ruin it.”

His emotions battered her. She wanted to leave, to run back to the relative safety of the castle, but pride kept her seated. And something else. She wanted to
know
. “What did she do to you?”

Thorn leaned back and glanced away from her. “It doesn’t matter.”

It did, to her. But she was smart enough to know it was time to stop pushing. “Sparkle recognized you last night, so I suppose she understands what this is all about.”

“Did she tell Ganymede anything?” He tensed.

“No.”

“Good.” His expression turned calculating. “Work for me, Kayla. I’ll pay more than Sparkle, and my benefits package can’t be beat.”

He lowered his gaze, and his long dark lashes hid anything his eyes might reveal.

Kayla dropped her own gaze to consider his “benefits package.” Yes, definitely worth thinking about. She wanted to dismiss his offer. She already had a job. But something . . .

Suddenly, everything was so simple. Of course she’d work for Thorn. Why would she stay with Sparkle? She wanted to be here at Nirvana with him forever. Kayla opened her mouth to tell him that.

She never got the words out. As quickly as the thought had come, it was gone. Kayla frowned. Why had she even for a moment considered his offer? It didn’t make sense. She looked up to find him staring at her.

“I’m sorry.” Thorn looked furious, but his anger seemed aimed at himself.

“Why?”

She didn’t get a chance to say anything else, because in a blur of motion he was kneeling beside her. His inhuman speed took her breath away. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t his speed. It seemed that the closer he was, the more breathless she became.