Forever Wicked (Castle of Dark Dreams)

by Nina Bangs

  Sparkle sank onto the couch beside Amaya. The kitsune didn’t seem to notice. Her gaze never left Mistral. Sparkle recognized that expression of sexual longing and a barely contained need to leap on Mistral, rip the clothes from his body, and take him right in the middle of the green area rug.

  Mistral squeezed in on the other side of Amaya. He put his arm around her waist then pulled her close. Mede remained standing. He paced.

  “Any of these plants lethal?” Mede gave a large cactus a wide berth as he circled the room.

  Mistral didn’t answer. He and Amaya were in the middle of an intense, drugged kiss.

  Sparkle provided the info. “No. The ones in this room are sentient but friendly. The schefflera in the corner is a gossip, though. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want Dacian and Cinn to know.” How in the world was she going to break the tie she’d used to bind Mistral and Amaya without shattering their hearts as well? A broken-hearted Mistral wouldn’t be much help fighting Zendig. She’d never faced this problem before. The whole point of being the troublemaker in charge of sexual chaos was to leave her chosen pair emotional wrecks.

  Sparkle waited until they came up for air. “Amaya, did Mistral ever tell you about his bad habits?”

  Mistral sent her a warning glance. “I don’t have any.”

  She widened her eyes and tried to look innocent. Never an easy thing to do. “What about those snorting sounds you make when you sleep?”

  Both Amaya and Mede gave her angry stares that shouted, “When did you see him sleeping?”

  Sparkle quickly made things clear. “There was that time I saw you passed out drunk on the tavern floor. Oh, and don’t forget when you got so wasted you fell face first into the soup at that duchess’s birthday party. I had to revive you when someone finally noticed and fished you out. You did lots of snorting when they dragged you up to bed. Then there was—”

  “Shut. Up.” Mistral was starting to smoke a little.

  Sparkle sent Amaya a sly glance. “He’s an awful drunk. Of course, he’s probably hidden that little bit of info from you. Too soon in the relationship, I guess.” She shrugged. “Has he talked about his love of spiders? No?” Sparkle sighed. “He had this unfortunate thing for Arachne—before Athena turned her into a spider, of course—and ever since, he’s had an unhealthy attachment to the creatures. So sad to see someone still searching for his lost love.” She examined the toes of her heels for dust. “Check your bed each night before you climb in.”

  Mistral spoke to Amaya. “Why don’t you get us something to drink while I talk with my sister, sweetheart?”

  Amaya looked suspicious but rose to do as he asked. No one said anything until she had left the room. Then Mistral turned his glare on Sparkle.

  “Not too subtle, sis.”

  “Hmm? Subtle about what? I was only trying to point out that you have faults just like everyone else. The poor girl has to feel inferior in your larger-than-life shadow. I was just trying to…humanize you.” Sparkle felt proud of her explanation. It almost made sense.

  Mistral narrowed his eyes. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s not for the reason you’ve given. I just don’t understand why.”

  Sparkle studied her nails, her go-to habit when she was trying to think fast. She needed a distraction. “There’re things you need to know about your bushy-tailed little girlfriend. Where should I start?”

  Mistral held up his hand. “Whoa. Let’s not go there, sis.”

  Mede finally settled on the floor next to a leafy vine. The vine did a sneaky slide toward him. He stared it down. The vine subsided. Then Mede looked at Sparkle. His wink told her he knew what she was trying to do and that he’d help. “Living with a kitsune can be tough, shifter. She’s a fox first and a human second. And the older she gets the more tails she’ll grow. Up to nine, I’ve heard. You’ll climb into bed one night and a bunch of fluffy fox tails will swallow you whole. Not a sexy beginning to an evening.”

  Mistral ignored him. He focused on Sparkle. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “What’s the game, Sparkle? First you use your power to chain me to Amaya, and now you’re trying to undo it.”

  Sparkle hoped her expression didn’t show her shock. “If you knew what I was doing, why did you allow it to happen?”

  Mistral leaned back and studied her from beneath lowered lids. “Because I like Amaya. Pretending that you had me hooked made it easy for me to be with her.”

  “You were only pretending? Why didn’t it work?” That was the big question. She was the queen of sexual chaos. Her power always worked. Always.

  “You’re my sister. Your power doesn’t work on a blood relative.”

  “I’m not your—”

  Mistral made a rude noise. “You are, and this proves it.” He glanced at Mede. “Am I right?”

  Mede ran his fingers through his hair. He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I once knew twin troublemakers. I mean, you had to accept they were related because they were mirror images of each other. One was an ugly-maker. She could take a gorgeous woman and turn her into a hag without blinking. She tried it on her twin once and it didn’t work.”

  Sparkle stood to pace. “That doesn’t mean anything. If we’re made from pure energy, we don’t have to look like our families. Maybe they were good friends and wanted to look alike. Or maybe Zendig ordered them to take the same image. That doesn’t mean they were related.” She didn’t know why she was fighting this so hard. So what if Mistral was really her brother? Because if he’s your brother, it brings your life before this one closer, makes it real. Sparkle didn’t know if she was ready to accept all the ramifications of that—family, a home somewhere other than Earth, a previous life that might distance her from Mede. Fear? Maybe. Probably.

  She took a deep breath. “Well, if you’re not completely insane with lust then maybe you’ll consider coming back to the Castle.”

  “Why would I want to do that?” Mistral wore his stubborn face.

  Sparkle looked at Mede. “Tell him what happened.”

  Mede summed up the attack and Bourne’s loss in a few brief sentences. “We’re going on with the plan to draw Zendig here, and we’ll need everyone with power we can get. It hurts to say it, but you’re the most powerful shifter on the planet. You could make the difference.”

  Mede scowled. Sparkle knew how much he’d hated to admit that.

  Mistral didn’t get a chance to reply because just then Amaya rushed into the room. Tears coursed down her cheeks, and she sobbed as she stumbled toward Mistral. She gripped a pitcher of tea. Sparkle didn’t think the pitcher was in too stable hands.

  “I heard everything. Chained to me? You bastards!”

  Uh-oh. Sparkle glanced at Mede. He nodded.

  “Guess we’ll run along now.” Mede stood. He grabbed Sparkle’s hand then backed toward the door, pulling her with him. “Think about what we said, Mistral.”

  “Cowards.” Mistral started to rise.

  Too late. Amaya covered the last few feet to where he sat and then dumped the pitcher of tea over him. He sputtered as he grabbed her wrist before she could bring the empty pitcher down on his dripping head.

  “Calm down, sweetheart. It’s not what you think.”

  Amaya wasn’t buying that. “It’s exactly what I think.” She kicked him in the shins as he straightened. “You like me? Sort of how you like sushi until you get bored and run out for a burger?”

  Mede started to open the front door. He paused. Then he sighed. “He’ll never help us if we abandon him.”

  Ugh. Sparkle did not want to do this, but Mede was right. She turned and led him back to where Amaya had just sprouted a furry tail from beneath her short dress while Mistral tried to hold her off. By the time Mede reached Amaya, she had all her tails and was just finishing her transformation.

  Mede grabbed one of her tails to pull her off Mistral. She turned and bit him. Sparkle held her breath. In an earlier time, he would’ve destroyed Amaya. Now, he just cursed and shifted his
hold to one where she couldn’t reach him with her teeth.

  Mede put his mouth close to one twitching ear. “If you don’t want to lose one of your precious tails, calm down.”

  The threat against her tails was magic. Amaya stopped struggling.

  “Smart kitsune. Now listen.” Mede made sure the fox was looking straight at Mistral, who was cursing quietly as he tried to wipe tea from his face with a napkin. “See him? He just allowed you to dump tea over his head and kick him. And you’re still breathing. Know what usually happens to someone who does that? I remember once the two of us were hanging in a pub…”

  A lie. Sparkle knew the two of them never spent more than a few minutes together if they could help it.

  “…when this guy insulted Mistral. Picture this: a polar bear appeared right in the middle of the floor. Upright, it stood more than ten feet tall. The bear took one swipe at the guy with its massive paw and”—Mede shrugged—“no head.”

  Amaya stared at Mistral from wide foxy eyes.

  “Yeah, the shifter’s a scary guy. You don’t have anything to fear, though, because he likes you. A lot. And he doesn’t say that to anyone. Now, he might not have told you what Sparkle was doing, but make no mistake, he wanted to be with you.” Mede glanced at Sparkle. “You take it from here.”

  Thanks a bunch, Mede. Sparkle edged closer to Amaya. Not near enough to have a close encounter with her sharp teeth, though. “Mistral is a great guy.” Sparkle ignored her brother’s smirk. “He’ll help you through this. He’ll—”

  Without warning, Amaya returned to human form. She wiggled from Mede’s grip and then swung at Sparkle. “Bitch.”

  Sparkle ducked. She straightened just in time to shove Amaya down on the couch. “Do that one more time, sister, and I’ll kick your furry butt into the Gulf.”

  Mistral dropped onto the couch then wrapped his arms around Amaya to hold her down. “I wouldn’t mess with Sparkle. She isn’t wearing those pointed shoes for nothing. Try to listen to her for a moment.”

  Mede leaned close to Sparkle. “Better cut back on the peach ice cream you’ve been sneaking from my carton. You were a little slow there.”

  Sparkle narrowed her eyes at him. Then she turned her attention back to Amaya. “You can handle this any way you want, fox lady. Stay here and enjoy your time with Mistral.”

  Amaya bared her teeth. “Sure, but what happens when he gets bored with me, and I’m still…?” She paused to sniff and blink tears away. “Can’t you get rid of whatever the hell you did to me?”

  Sparkle looked away. “I don’t know how to do that. But when you’re ready, I’ll help you through it. Withdrawal from Mistral will be hard, but maybe I can find another interest to distract you.” She mentally went through her list of hot, unattached guys.

  Mistral skimmed the side of Amaya’s face with his fingers. “She won’t need a distraction. And I won’t get bored.”

  Sparkle knew she looked skeptical. “Great. So I guess we don’t have a problem.” She turned to Mede. “Ready to go?” She didn’t want to be here when Amaya remembered how mad she was at Mistral.

  Mede made one last pitch to Mistral. “If things get too tough, come back to the Castle.” He grinned. “Maybe a life and death battle with Zendig will work off some tension.”

  Mede might be smiling, but Sparkle knew he was dead serious. Still, she didn’t expect to see Mistral or Amaya darkening their door anytime soon. “We have stuff to do at the Castle.” She took Mede’s hand as they left the room. “Well, that was an epic fail.”

  She allowed her mind to wander on the drive back. “You know, I’ve never tried out my power on you. I wonder what would happen.”

  “Nothing.” He kept his gaze on the road.

  “Nothing?” She felt a little insulted. “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because no power you threw at me would make me want you more, could drive me crazier for you than I already am.” Finally he looked at her.

  And there it was. What she had longed to see—a deep hunger for something more than bodies coupling in the dark, a need that traced all the way back to the first time they locked gazes on that beach so long ago. She closed her eyes on her soul-deep relief.

  She didn’t speak for the rest of the short drive. Right now she was riding high on a euphoric cloud. Nothing could bring her down—not the fact that she’d blown it with Mistral and Amaya, not the shadow of Zendig, and not worry about Bourne. For this moment, she allowed herself to be happy.

  That lighter-than-air feeling lasted until they entered the great hall. She glanced toward the stairs just in time to see three familiar faces getting ready to leave. They were fresh in her mind because she’d seen them only hours ago on her phone. Sparkle pulled Mede to a stop. “Wait. Look. Over there.”

  “What?” He didn’t drag his attention from where Holgarth was busy intimidating a couple waiting to take part in the first fantasy. “You know, the wizard needs some people skills. One day someone is going to haul off and—”

  Sparkle jabbed him with her elbow. “Quick. Look before they leave. Those are Zendig’s spies.”

  “Huh?” His gaze swept past them. “Where?”

  She made an impatient sound. “You haven’t checked them out on your phone yet, have you?”

  “No. I—”

  Sparkle pointed. “There.”

  She watched him follow her gaze. Then she watched him freeze. The color drained from his face. “What?” Something in his stare scared her.

  “See the one in the blue, short sleeve shirt?” His voice was flat.

  “Sure. He looks a little like Will Smith.”

  Mede didn’t react to her comment. He remained still beside her.

  “What’s the matter?” Something was wrong.

  He started walking toward the men. Sparkle grabbed his hand to try to stop him. “What’re you doing? We can’t just walk up to them. We’re supposed to pretend not to know—”

  Mede yanked his hand from her grasp and kept walking. She ran to keep up with his long strides. The three men had turned away and were climbing the stairs.

  Sparkle slipped in front of Mede. She placed her palm flat against his chest and shoved. “Whoa! What do you think you’re doing? Are you crazy?”

  Mede finally stopped. He met her gaze. Sparkle wasn’t sure what she saw in his eyes, but it disturbed her. “Talk to me, Mede.”

  He looked past her to where the men had disappeared. “The Will Smith lookalike is my father.”

  24

  Sparkle dropped her hand. She stared wide-eyed at him. “Father?” She turned to glance at where the three men had disappeared up the stairs. “How did you recognize him after so many years?”

  Ganymede walked around her to stride after the men. Grim determination drove him. “A flashback. The moment I saw his face, there it was, wham—a memory of him smiling and saying something as he tossed a ball to me. I had a few ball skills in my energy form. Anyway, I knew him. Not his name—I still don’t remember it—but that he was my father.”

  Sparkle hurried to stand in front of him again. “You’re the oldest of us, so whatever Zendig did to block your memories must be breaking down. I guess that means the rest of us will get ours back eventually.”

  Some emotion he couldn’t identify colored her words. Ganymede frowned. He didn’t have time to figure that out now.

  “But that doesn’t mean you can go crazy.”

  Ganymede forgot about whatever he’d heard in her voice. If he chose to lose it, no one could stop him. He ground his teeth and resisted the urge to move her aside. Nothing good ever came from lifting Sparkle out of the way. “He’s my fucking father, Sparkle.” He took a deep breath. “I have to talk to him, find out why he’s working for that bastard.”

  “No. Absolutely not.” She grabbed his arm as he started to once more head for the stairs. “You’ll ruin everything. Your father and the other two can’t know we’re on to them for our plan to work.”

  “To hell
with the plan.” He shouted for emphasis.

  “Keep your voice down.” She kept pace with him.

  Ganymede didn’t stop walking. She set her heels to try to stop him. He just dragged her along.

  “People are starting to notice.”

  He didn’t care. Emotion flooded him. His father, a family standing behind the blank curtain of his beginnings. Let the whole Castle stare.

  “Holgarth has noticed. He’s heading this way.”

  “Crap.” Ganymede stopped walking. A few reasoning brain cells kicked in. Holgarth would call for reinforcements as soon as Sparkle told him what was happening. They’d hassle him, guaranteeing he wouldn’t get any alone time with his father until things calmed down.

  “I’ll make a deal.” Sparkle sounded out of breath. “I’ll lie for you if you promise to put off confronting your dad until he’s alone in his room. Oh, and I want to be with you so things don’t get out of hand.”

  Ganymede weighed his options. One: keep dragging Sparkle across the floor until Holgarth reached them. Result: big freaking scene. Two: ramp up his power and flatten the wizard. Result: big freaking scene. Three: agree to Sparkle’s terms.

  He nodded. “Get rid of Holgarth. Then we check on my father. We’ll wait until he’s alone.” Ganymede hated caving, but he didn’t see an alternative. Besides, if he were thinking straight, he’d agree with her.

  Holgarth reached them with robe flying and pointed hat slipping to the side of his head. Weird, because Ganymede had always figured his pointed head kept the hat in place.

  “Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but you’re not alone.” The wizard swept his arm out to indicate all the fantasy players. “We have paying customers wondering if your strange behavior is threatening. They might even ask for their money back.”