Free Wicked Memories (CASTLE OF DARK DREAMS) by Nina Bangs Page B

must be tired, Kayla.”
    Kayla recognized a dismissal when she heard it. “Right. See you in the morning.” She stood and headed for the door.
    “Yo, spy lady.”
    Kayla stopped to glance back at Ganymede.
    “You might want to do some snooping around the castle in the morning.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the crappy smell that drove everyone out of the castle wasn’t a plumbing problem. It was sabotage. Probably payback for the refreshment stand I blew up. The war is on.”
    Kayla experienced sudden insight. “I bet that puts you in your happy place, doesn’t it?”
    Ganymede narrowed his amber eyes and twitched his tail.
“You have no idea.”

5
    Thorn figured he’d exhausted a thousand years of curses in every language he’d ever known. Tonight had pretty much sucked.
Except for meeting Kayla.
But she’d probably be gone from Galveston by morning, so he couldn’t even put her in his plus column. He slammed the door in disappointment’s face. Nowhere for that relationship to go anyway.
    How much would she tell Sparkle before she left? If Sparkle found out that her recent dungeon guest had been wearing a wig and colored contacts, and that said guest had been in the castle right around the time of the Great Stink, it wouldn’t take her long to follow the clues. She probably already knew her plumbing was fine and had figured out the attack came from him. But he didn’t want her attaching a face to that attack just yet.
    He slipped back into Nirvana. Grim had turned off all but a few lights, so no one saw him return. He found Grim standing by the carousel.
    His security chief grinned. “Seemed to be lots of excitement going on across the street. Looked like someone stepped on their anthill the way everyone was running out of there.”
    Thorn forced a smile. “The modern world is soft. A few bad smells and they bail. They should’ve been around when no one washed for six months at a time. A few whiffs standing in a crowd on a hot day would toughen them up fast.”
    Grim nodded. “So what went wrong? You’re smiling, but I don’t sense a lot of happy thoughts.”
    “Two big guys stopped me on the way back here.” Thorn had already decided not to mention Kayla. He quickly told a shortened version of what had happened. “Something’s not right. The two I saw in the hotel smelled of the sea. Had to be shifters. And the two who wanted to rearrange my face started their change as soon as they got far enough into the Gulf.” Too bad Kayla had seen that. “There aren’t a lot of shifters who choose to leave the sea, and now I trip over four in one night. Who’re they working for? Why try to drive me from Galveston?”
    “Sparkle?” Grim shrugged. “Seems a logical choice.”
    “Could be. I don’t think Sparkle recognized me, but she could’ve just sent them out to find someone who worked at Nirvana. And they chose me.” He stared at the carousel. “But it still doesn’t feel right. Ganymede’s not subtle. He’s a blow-everything-up kind of guy. At least that’s what my research showed. I can’t see him bothering with muggings and threats.”
    “At least we’ll have security now.” Grim sounded . . . grim.
    Thorn glanced around. “So where’s your team?”
    Grim’s frown turned to a smile. “You’re looking at it.”
    “The carousel’s going to protect Nirvana?” Thorn didn’t know what he’d expected, but this wasn’t it.
    Grim reached back and flipped a switch. The carousel began to turn. No music, so at least Grim had spared him that.
    “Look carefully.” Grim’s voice was tight with anticipation.
    Thorn narrowed his eyes. Seemed normal to him, a bunch of horses mixed in with other creatures big enough for people to ride. Then his eyes widened. “Stop.”
    The carousel slowed as Thorn moved toward a big black horse. He stared. “There’s seaweed tangled in its mane.” He reached out to touch the seaweed and to smooth his fingers over the mane. “It’s wet.” He knew