Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS) (11 page)

Sparkle picked up Ganymede and hurried to the window. She shut off the lights so they could see outside better. Kayla followed her to the window.

From what they could see past Nirvana, boats and helicopters were headed toward where Kayla and Thorn had seen the boat disappear.

Ganymede turned to look at Kayla from gleaming amber eyes.
“What do you know about this?”

“I was up at the top of the Ferris wheel when I spotted the lights from the ship. I could just make out its shape in the darkness.” Kayla hesitated, but then went on to describe what else she’d seen. “Right before it seemed to disappear, something massive rose up from the water. It looked as big as a small island. Then both the ship and the . . . thing vanished.”

Sparkle and Ganymede looked at each other, and Kayla had the feeling they were having their own private conversation. Then Sparkle smiled at Kayla.

“You must be tired. Why don’t you call it a night? You’ll need to be rested for tomorrow.”

Kayla recognized a dismissal when she heard it. She didn’t waste any time hurrying to her room. But even after climbing into bed, her mind wouldn’t settle.

She tried to focus on how she would spy without being obvious. Thorn didn’t seem to think of her as a threat. His mistake. As long as he didn’t ban her from his pier, she could get information for Sparkle. And if he did ban her, well, she could whip up a better disguise than his.

What about the ship? Kayla couldn’t wrap her mind around that mystery. And she didn’t want to even think about the lives lost if it had gone down.
You know it sank because you saw it disappear.

Then there was Thorn. When she finally managed to fall asleep, it was the memory of his taste, his scent, his feel that she carried with her.

* * *

Thorn left Grim debriefing his security team while he walked on the beach. The darkness and the rhythmic swish of the waves calmed him, allowed him to separate his tangled thoughts.

Kayla. She was Sparkle’s tool. He should despise her, should make sure she never set foot in Nirvana again. But he didn’t, and he wouldn’t. Because she’d tugged at something that hadn’t felt pull in many years. Maybe he’d allow her to yank whatever it was into the light, dust it off, and see what developed. Dangerous? Yes. But living as a human for centuries had never been safe. He smiled.

His smile faded, though, as he thought about other developments. Thorn was ready to admit that Sparkle and Ganymede hadn’t been responsible for the muggers and the explosive device. Then who? He’d better find out before they leveled Nirvana. In the meantime, he’d talk to Grim about some preventive measures.

Finally, he thought about the ship. What the hell had happened out there? It had been real, because even now he could see Coast Guard boats and helicopters heading toward where the ship had disappeared. Something else to worry about, but not right now.

Just as he was about to turn around and head back to his pier, he saw her. A woman sat cross-legged on the beach watching the boats and helicopters. She had long dark hair that shone sleek and damp in the dim light from the street. Not much in the way of clothes, just something short that clung wetly to her. A net lay across her legs.

Strange. And right now Thorn was suspicious of any new weirdness that came even close to Nirvana. He approached her.

Thorn wasn’t prepared for what happened next. She turned her head, saw him, and stood in one lithe motion. Without hesitation, she flung her net at him.

For a moment he stood riveted. What the hell . . . ? The net expanded and expanded until it hung above him, ready to drop and imprison him. No way. An ordinary net couldn’t do that. He didn’t take time to worry about the whys. His vampire reflexes kicked in and he moved. He knew he’d be just a blur to her as he escaped the falling net.

Thorn curled his lip, exposing his fangs. “Who are you?
What
are you?” He kept a wary eye on the net.

It was once more an ordinary net hanging from her fingers. But ordinary would never apply to
her
. Thorn sucked in the breath he no longer needed. She was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, and over the centuries he’d seen a lot. That short little something she wore ended at the tops of her thighs, and her legs went on forever. Her feet were bare, and she watched him from large dark eyes.

Her spectacular beauty wasn’t what was giving him a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding moment, though. She was tall, like
tall
. He was over six feet, and if he were standing facing her, he’d probably be at eye level with her stomach. It was a humbling moment.

Then she smiled, and he forgot about her height. It was slow, sensual, and filled with sly intent.

“Vampire.” She offered him a sexy pout. “I wanted you to be human. I love human males.” She drew the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip to indicate how much she
really
loved human males.

Thorn was glad he wasn’t a human male. “I’ll ask again. Who and what are you?”

She ignored his question. “You’re breathtaking. That makes up for not being human.” She seemed to be turning over something in her mind.

He didn’t like the speculative gleam in her eyes. “Glad to hear it. Why were you sitting on the beach?” Thorn decided that maybe he was a dumbshit for sticking around asking questions when he should be running. Because there was something about this woman that chilled him, a hard thing to do to a vampire.

But Thorn was used to thinking like a human. Calmly, he pulled out his cell phone and called Grim. “I’ve got a situation on the beach.” He put the phone away.

She watched him from hooded eyes. “You called for help.”

“Yes.”

“A vampire should be too proud to admit he needs others.”

Thorn sensed that where this woman was concerned, a proud vampire would be a dead one. He showed her his own smile, one he hoped chilled
her
just a little. “I’ve found that humans are survivors exactly because they understand the power of a pack. Now, before my friends arrive, what were you doing on the beach?”

She didn’t seem nervous about the impending arrival of his “friends,” and that made
him
nervous.

She turned her head to gaze out at the waves. “I was waiting for my daughters. We were looking forward to a few hours of hunting.”

Daughters? “And now?”

She shrugged. “We don’t hunt in a crowd.” She strolled toward the water. “Some other night perhaps. Besides, my husband’s hunting has been fruitful.” Glancing back over her shoulder, she stared at him. “I won’t forget you.” Then she was gone, lost in the waves and the night.

Grim arrived along with Kel just as she disappeared. Thorn briefly told them what had happened.

Grim frowned. “There’s something about your description—a very tall woman with a net . . . I can’t remember right now, but I will.”

Kel looked longingly at the water. “Maybe I should take horse form and follow her.”

“Not a bad idea.” Thorn balanced the kelpie’s safety against learning more about the woman. “Be careful. I didn’t sense a shifter. She’s something else.”

Kel nodded. A momentary blur and he became the black horse. He galloped into the surf and then was lost in the waves.

Thorn and Grim walked back to the pier.

“We have two distinct problems here.” Thorn allowed a momentary thought of Kayla to intrude.
All right, so make that three.
“Sparkle and someone else who wants me gone from Galveston. And I’d bet the ‘someone else’ is out there.” He nodded toward the Gulf.

Grim shook his head. “Protecting the pier from an attack might be tough then. We hang over the water. We’re vulnerable.”

Thorn noticed that Grim didn’t feel the need to ask if he was packing to leave Galveston Island. His security chief knew him well enough to understand that running wouldn’t be an option.

Once back at the pier, Thorn paced restlessly until Kel returned. The kelpie swept his wet hair from his face and fell into step beside Thorn.

“There’s some serious shit going on out there.” Kel thrummed with excitement. “The ship definitely went down. It’s resting on the bottom.”

“Did you see the woman?” Who would want to sink a ship?

The kelpie shook his head. “But I saw other stuff. There were no bodies.”

“What?” Of course there were bodies.

“None. I checked. Only the ship.” Kel lowered his voice. “There’s something else on the bottom of the Gulf, some sort of clear domed building.” He paused for a moment. “I don’t think humans would see it. I felt strong magic.”

Thorn just stared at Kel. “You’re sure?”

Kel looked offended. “What? You think I could make that up?”

Thorn shook his head. “We have to figure out what’s going on.” Whatever it was, he wouldn’t allow it to interfere with his plans for Sparkle.

“So what do you have cooked up for the castle?” Kel didn’t try to hide his love of evil and chaos.

Thorn smiled. Kel was exactly the kind of employee he needed. “I think one of our lovely witches will pay a visit to the Castle of Dark Dreams tomorrow night.”

Kel nodded, satisfied. “I should go someday. A horse in a castle can do lots of damage.” He smiled. “And get rid of lots of guests.”

Thorn watched him walk away. He stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do next.

Without warning, an explosion rocked the pier. No,
not
the pier. It came from somewhere in or near the castle.

Kayla.

Thorn didn’t stop to think of consequences as he raced toward the Castle of Dark Dreams.

9

At least Thorn had proof that he’d internalized his humanity, because the vampire he’d been four or five centuries ago wouldn’t have done something this dumb. He would have coldly weighed the rewards versus consequences of running into the castle to save a woman. No contest. He’d have left Kayla to her fate. Who cared about the life of one human?

Well, this version of him cared. That was the scary part. He knew
what
he was risking. It was the
why
that confused him. Hell, he’d only known Kayla for two nights, but still he ran.

He cursed whoever was responsible for this. Thorn should be the only one preying on the Castle of Dark Dreams. At least the person who’d planted the explosives at the base of his Ferris wheel was an equal opportunity bastard. Evidently someone wanted both Sparkle and him out of Galveston.

Thorn’s burst of speed took him away from Nirvana and over the wall surrounding Sparkle’s park in a nanosecond. Any humans watching him would simply think he’d disappeared. He really hoped no one had noticed.

Once inside the park, he paused to stare at the castle. There was smoke, but none billowing from doors or windows, so the explosion had been outside. Thorn could hear alarms going off in the building along with the shouts of employees guiding people out the lobby doors. They’d be busy making sure guests were safe. No one would notice him.

Thorn calmed down a little. What were the chances that Kayla had been outside? He followed the smoke to the back of the castle with its walled-in courtyard. The blast hadn’t been too powerful because there didn’t seem to be much damage. It had only blown out the wall at one end. He walked around the outside until he reached the opposite side of the courtyard.

The smoke streaming over the wall was smothering. Good thing he didn’t need to breathe to survive. The explosion must’ve set fire to everything in the courtyard. Strange, though, because Thorn could swear there wasn’t enough flammable stuff there to fuel a fire this size.

He closed his eyes, reaching with his senses, searching for Kayla. Relieved, he realized she wasn’t there. Thorn opened his eyes. Unfortunately, someone else was.

He could hear gasping coughs from the other side of the wall. Damn. The wind was blowing in Thorn’s direction, so that meant the blaze would be closing in on the trapped person. No one would be able to mount a rescue before it was too late. Except him.

No time to think. His leap took him to the walkway atop the wall. He looked down. A woman lay on the ground near what looked like a small greenhouse. He lifted his gaze and cursed. The fire was licking at the greenhouse’s far end. With the wind driving the flames, it would take only a few minutes for the fire to reach the woman.

He jumped from the top of the wall and landed running. The smoke burned his eyes and the heat threatened to suck every bit of moisture from his body. Fear battered at him, dragging up images of how fast he’d ignite, how hot he’d burn. Because no matter how long he pretended to be human, in the end he was still vampire, and vampires made excellent kindling.

Thorn had reached the woman before he realized what she was trying to do. Crawling? She was trying to drag herself back to the greenhouse. With a muttered comment about the human capacity for stupidity, he scooped her into his arms.

She stared up at him from glazed and reddened eyes. Her coughs threatened to tear her apart. Finally she managed to croak a few words. “Vince. In greenhouse.”

He froze. “Someone’s still in there?” Crap. Trying to leap to the top of the wall holding two people would test his strength, but it was doable.

“Plant. Just inside door.”

Had he just heard right? “You want me to save a freaking
plant
? Lady, you’re crazy.”

“Please.” She struggled weakly. “Let me down. I’ll get him.” Her words ended in a paroxysm of coughing.

He tightened his grip on her. “We don’t have time to—”

She stared at him from eyes too dry to tear, but he didn’t need tears to read their expression—horror, fear, sorrow. He sensed the emotions weren’t for her.

He closed his eyes for a moment. Thorn couldn’t believe he was going to do it, but he was. Opening his eyes, he set her down and raced for the greenhouse door. The hell with acting human. He ripped the door from its hinges.

Smoke and heat formed a living wall as he tried to shield his face. He peered inside. He blinked. No, he wasn’t seeing this. A bunch of potted plants sat on a table close to the door. One of the pots, with some sort of vine in it, was wobbling back and forth on the table. It was the only rocking pot he could see—Thorn leaned closer—and the vine was waving in the air, reaching out to him. He rubbed his burning eyes. Didn’t change anything.

If he were sane, he’d say no way was a plant trying to knock itself off that table. And he’d heard of a clinging vine, but this was ridiculous. Thorn decided the plant fit right in with the new kind of crazy his world had become.

That’s when he heard the voice in his head. It was only a small voice, but its message was clear.
“Help me.”
Okay, he was officially shutting down his imagination.

“I hope you’re Vince.” He grabbed the pot and almost fell out of the greenhouse. The fire was too close. He staggered to his feet and made it back to the woman.

She raised her hands toward the plant Thorn held. “Thank—”

“We don’t have time for talk. Here.” He shoved the plant into her hands. “Hold on to it.” Then he scooped her up and leaped at the wall.

He landed on the walkway. Thorn could hear people shouting, drawing closer through the smoky haze.

“Where’s Cinn? I can’t find her.” Male voice. Frantic.

“Not the greenhouse. Please, not there.” Sparkle. Scared?

Thorn had a moment to think about that. The Sparkle he knew wouldn’t allow anything as minor as a human in danger to bother her. Had she mellowed over the years? He didn’t like that image of Sparkle. He wanted to hold on to
his
image of a cruel, cold bitch.

Without warning, a drenching rain fell. Within seconds, Thorn and the woman were soaked. Through the downpour, he could see the rain was falling only on the courtyard. The fire burned on.

“It’s not working, Mede.” Sparkle sounded frantic.

“The fire resists my magic. Someone used dark arts here.” Holgarth’s voice was tight with worry. “Look. It’s still burning even though everything flammable must be gone.”

Holgarth would be wondering if his son was involved. For just a moment, Thorn felt sympathy for him.

Then Thorn concentrated on his own safety. He didn’t want to land right in front of them. Sparkle and friends would be pissed. Thorn didn’t fool himself about who they’d blame for the fire. He’d have a much easier time escaping if he ran along the wall and jumped down somewhere else.

He heard sirens in the distance. Too far away. They wouldn’t get here in time to distract Sparkle and the others.

In the end, though, Thorn didn’t burn any brain cells making his decision.
He
might not have to breathe, but the woman did. And there wasn’t much spare oxygen up here. To hell with Sparkle and everyone else at the Castle of Dark Dreams. He leaped just as four people and a cat emerged from the smoke.

They all froze. Thorn stood with the woman in his arms looking at Kayla. Sparkle, Holgarth, and the man in white from Thorn’s succubus fantasy stared blankly at him. Ganymede pinned his ears back and growled.

The fantasy vampire slayer recovered first. “Cinn!” He ran to Thorn and lifted the woman from his arms.

Racking coughs and all, she still clutched the plant.

The guy was a vampire. Not a Mackenzie. Wrong eye color. And he loved the woman. Couldn’t miss that emotion. The man’s feelings were overflowing and collecting in sticky puddles around him. Thorn moved back so he wouldn’t be contaminated. Jeez, he hoped he never got like that.

“Who’re
you
?” Holgarth was using his bombastic wizard voice.

Thorn only glanced at Holgarth because that’s not where the real danger lay. “Just someone who happened to hear her coughing on the other side of this wall and figured she needed help.”

“
Your eyes
. You’re Thorn Mackenzie.” Sparkle’s shock seemed mixed with something else. “
You
did this.” Fury overrode her shock and whatever that something else had been.

“If I was responsible, why would I bother sticking around to get caught?”

He chanced a quick look at Kayla. Horror filled her eyes along with a glimmer of accusation. That hurt. He tried to push the unreasonable emotion away. Of course she’d suspect him. He was the evil owner of Nirvana.

“I’ve tried to stay cool, vampire. But when you burn up my backyard, scare the shit out of my guests, and put the people I care about in danger, you’ve gone too far.”

Ganymede’s voice in his head was a mixture of hisses, growls, and assorted muttered threats, all of which ended with Thorn being dead.

Now
here
was the real danger. Thorn speared the cat with a hard stare. “I didn’t do this.” He glanced at Sparkle. “Your spy probably told you that someone planted an explosive at the foot of my Ferris wheel. My security team found it before it detonated.”

He thought naming Kayla a spy would embarrass her. It didn’t. Her gaze hardened.

“He’s right.” She looked at Sparkle. “Remember? I mentioned it in my report.” Kayla didn’t glance back at him.

Thorn couldn’t decide if her attitude made him sad or glad. Hell, he’d only been here because he was afraid for her. She’d never know that, though.

“What were you doing here?”
Ganymede sounded as though he wanted an excuse to toast Thorn.

Thorn shrugged. “I heard the explosion. Saw the smoke. I thought someone might need help.” He met Ganymede’s gaze. “Guess not.” He looked pointedly at the woman still in the vampire’s arms. “Better get her away from here. I hear smoke inhalation is a bitch.”

As one, they all moved away from the wall. The vampire holding the woman walked around the castle and they followed him. He stopped a short distance from where the guests milled restlessly in front of the lobby doors. Thorn could see the fire trucks being waved through the park’s entrance. Made sense. The trucks could reach the courtyard more easily that way.

Thorn watched the vampire gently lay the woman on the ground. He stroked her hair and held her hand. She still didn’t put the plant down.

“Shouldn’t you get her some oxygen?” Thorn was thankful that at least her coughing had calmed.

The woman looked at Thorn. “I’ll be fine.” Her voice was raspy. “I’m not as human as you think. I’m feeling better already.” She smiled at him. “I’m Cinn, and this is my husband, Dacian.” She squeezed the vampire’s hand. “I’ll never forget that you put yourself in danger to save Vince.” Her face crumpled as she looked up at Dacian. “The others. They’re gone.” She turned her head away to hide her tears.

Thorn didn’t know where to look. He wasn’t good with the gratitude of others or women’s tears. So this was a double dose of discomfort. He said the first thing that came into his mind to end the moment. “What’s so special about Vince?” Who named a plant? And had he really seen the vine reaching for him?

Dacian answered for his wife. “Cinn is a demigoddess. She grows sentient plants.” He looked at Sparkle. “Can I take her back into the castle? She needs to rest . . . and mourn.”

Sparkle never took her gaze from Thorn. “Go in through the food delivery door. The police will stop you if you try to use the main entrance.”

Thorn watched Dacian pick up Cinn again and leave before he looked back at the others.

Holgarth made a frustrated sound. “I suppose I’m the most qualified to speak with the authorities. The firefighters won’t know that as the magic dies, so will the flames. I have the people skills to make them believe they truly did put out the fire. I’ll praise them for their efforts and all will be well in our public relations world. And of course there will be the police.” He sighed. “They’ll want to conduct an investigation.” He looked weary at the thought of answering all those pesky questions.

Thorn watched the collective eye-rolling with the first bit of humor he’d felt since entering Live the Fantasy. At least Ganymede waited until the wizard had left before offering any snark.

“People skills? I’ve known trolls with more people skills.”
Ganymede sat down, wrapped his tail around himself, and studied Thorn from unblinking amber eyes.
“You want us to believe you’re not responsible for this explosion and fire?”

Kayla spoke up. “I don’t think he is. Someone obviously set explosives at both places. I think you have a mutual enemy.” She didn’t look at Thorn.

Ganymede wasn’t about to be sidetracked.
“What about that god-awful stench?”

Thorn met his stare. “What about my exploding refreshment stand?”

Ganymede decided to abandon that particular discussion.
“You’re trying to ruin us. You fired the first shot by building your crappy park right across the street. People like a great
view. You killed the view.”
Ganymede paused.
“The word ‘killed’ just reminded me of what I want to do to you.”

Thorn tensed. He didn’t want to drag out his power of persuasion again—he still wasn’t comfortable that he’d had to use it on Eric, Klepoth, and Zane—but he wouldn’t win a straight-up battle with Ganymede. And he’d decided that maybe life still had some unexplored opportunities for him. He glanced at Kayla and then away. Not now. He’d think about her later.

Sparkle finally spoke. “Do I know you?”

He widened his eyes. Damn. No disguise. But even without one, he hadn’t thought she’d remember. “No.” Thorn hoped his shock didn’t show. “We’ve never met.” If you were going to lie, do it with conviction.

But Sparkle wasn’t finished. “Why do you want to ruin my park?”

Thorn had no answer for that. He watched her with what he hoped was a blank expression.

He saw the exact moment when she recognized him. It was in the sudden flare of her eyes, the sharp intake of breath.

Crap. He wasn’t ready for this confrontation. Thorn would choose the time and place. This wasn’t it.