need to wear a disguise at the Castle of Dark Dreams had secrets.
And he was one mystery she wouldn’t mind solving.
4
Thorn paused to reclaim his clothes once he reached the great hall. He didn’t bother pulling up his hood again. Sparkle hadn’t recognized him. Guess he wasn’t a memorable kind of guy if she’d forgotten him after a mere thousand years.
He smiled. For the first time, Thorn admitted exactly how forgettable he must have seemed to someone like Sparkle. He’d been a twenty-three-year-old savage who thought he was a mighty Viking. She had probably laughed her ass off behind his back.
He stopped smiling. So she’d dumped him. No big deal, right? Okay, so it
had
been a big deal then. But that’s not what had fueled his need for revenge for so many centuries. It was what had come after.
That
he couldn’t forget.
Thorn had prepared himself for the bitterness and hate he’d feel when he faced her again. Sure, there had been plenty of that. And he’d handled it. But he hadn’t expected someone else to compete for his attention.
Katnip. His grin returned. He’d wanted to laugh out loud at her expression when Sparkle called her by that name. In fact, everything about his beautiful succubus made him feel like smiling. Not the reaction Thorn had expected when he’d descended into the dungeon. Katnip, with her long gold-kissed brown hair and her way-too-serious gray eyes, had captured his interest.
Not a good thing. He had to stay focused on making Nirvana a success and driving Sparkle’s theme park out of business. No distractions allowed.
Thorn glanced at his watch. The next fantasy was scheduled to begin in five minutes and would last a half hour. During that time, he’d be busy. He strode out of the great hall and into the hotel lobby right next to it. He was opting for the elevator rather than the stairs.
On the way up he went over the layout of the castle in his mind. Timing would be everything. He’d start with the towers and work his way down.
Twenty minutes later, Thorn was almost ready to head down to the ground floor. He stood in a shadowed corner, about to stick one of his few remaining transparent wafers on the wall. The size of an eraser head, the wafers were almost undetectable.
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and two people emerged. Crap. He palmed the wafer and pulled out his cell phone. He held it to his ear and didn’t glance at the man and woman walking toward him.
Thorn was busy thinking about where he’d stick the last three wafers once he reached the ground floor when he
felt
them. The man and woman weren’t human. He glanced up and smiled as they went past before pretending to speak into his phone.
Except for both being so thin he wanted to feed them, they looked human. But there was something
off
about the two. Not vampire, not demon, not fae, not anything he recognized.
They had human features, but there was a strangeness about the male’s unblinking stare, the female’s sinuous movements that were definitely
not
human. Shutting his eyes, he reached for their scent. The sea. Unusual. He opened his eyes. Whatever they were had nothing to do with him.
He waited a few seconds until he heard the sound of a door closing before glancing down the hall to make sure they were gone. Then he finished attaching the wafer to the wall. Before walking away, he stripped off the clear plastic covering that protected the potent mixture beneath. A half hour of exposure to air and interesting things would happen.
Thorn was glad that he’d had the foresight to forge strong friendships with humans in the science community. They might not have the power of a nonhuman, but in many cases they compensated by being smarter. He owed Dr. Clancy for this amazing gem.
When Thorn had finished sticking all of his little gifts to the castle walls, he left through the great hall door and waited in the courtyard. He probably should have just gone home, but what was the fun in that? He
And he was one mystery she wouldn’t mind solving.
4
Thorn paused to reclaim his clothes once he reached the great hall. He didn’t bother pulling up his hood again. Sparkle hadn’t recognized him. Guess he wasn’t a memorable kind of guy if she’d forgotten him after a mere thousand years.
He smiled. For the first time, Thorn admitted exactly how forgettable he must have seemed to someone like Sparkle. He’d been a twenty-three-year-old savage who thought he was a mighty Viking. She had probably laughed her ass off behind his back.
He stopped smiling. So she’d dumped him. No big deal, right? Okay, so it
had
been a big deal then. But that’s not what had fueled his need for revenge for so many centuries. It was what had come after.
That
he couldn’t forget.
Thorn had prepared himself for the bitterness and hate he’d feel when he faced her again. Sure, there had been plenty of that. And he’d handled it. But he hadn’t expected someone else to compete for his attention.
Katnip. His grin returned. He’d wanted to laugh out loud at her expression when Sparkle called her by that name. In fact, everything about his beautiful succubus made him feel like smiling. Not the reaction Thorn had expected when he’d descended into the dungeon. Katnip, with her long gold-kissed brown hair and her way-too-serious gray eyes, had captured his interest.
Not a good thing. He had to stay focused on making Nirvana a success and driving Sparkle’s theme park out of business. No distractions allowed.
Thorn glanced at his watch. The next fantasy was scheduled to begin in five minutes and would last a half hour. During that time, he’d be busy. He strode out of the great hall and into the hotel lobby right next to it. He was opting for the elevator rather than the stairs.
On the way up he went over the layout of the castle in his mind. Timing would be everything. He’d start with the towers and work his way down.
Twenty minutes later, Thorn was almost ready to head down to the ground floor. He stood in a shadowed corner, about to stick one of his few remaining transparent wafers on the wall. The size of an eraser head, the wafers were almost undetectable.
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and two people emerged. Crap. He palmed the wafer and pulled out his cell phone. He held it to his ear and didn’t glance at the man and woman walking toward him.
Thorn was busy thinking about where he’d stick the last three wafers once he reached the ground floor when he
felt
them. The man and woman weren’t human. He glanced up and smiled as they went past before pretending to speak into his phone.
Except for both being so thin he wanted to feed them, they looked human. But there was something
off
about the two. Not vampire, not demon, not fae, not anything he recognized.
They had human features, but there was a strangeness about the male’s unblinking stare, the female’s sinuous movements that were definitely
not
human. Shutting his eyes, he reached for their scent. The sea. Unusual. He opened his eyes. Whatever they were had nothing to do with him.
He waited a few seconds until he heard the sound of a door closing before glancing down the hall to make sure they were gone. Then he finished attaching the wafer to the wall. Before walking away, he stripped off the clear plastic covering that protected the potent mixture beneath. A half hour of exposure to air and interesting things would happen.
Thorn was glad that he’d had the foresight to forge strong friendships with humans in the science community. They might not have the power of a nonhuman, but in many cases they compensated by being smarter. He owed Dr. Clancy for this amazing gem.
When Thorn had finished sticking all of his little gifts to the castle walls, he left through the great hall door and waited in the courtyard. He probably should have just gone home, but what was the fun in that? He
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