Wicked Whispers by Nina Bangs

She didn’t have much trouble staying ahead of the shambling ogre because it was busy doing a rhythmic bob and shuffle as it worked its way toward her. She pounded on his door while she tried to suck in enough breath to talk when he answered. Not that he’d need her to explain what was happening. The ogre attempted a graceful leap. Epic fail. The whole castle shook as it landed.
    Murmur flung open the door. “What the hell is… ?” He spotted the ogre. “Not possible. Not this fast. Give me a freaking break.” He moved to her side. “I will never have another friend.”
    Ivy didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. “Do something.”
    Murmur paused to study the dancing ogre. “Not bad form. For an ogre. He at least has a sense of rhythm.”
    “Do. Something. Now.” Her voice rose to a screech. She couldn’t control it.
    “Consider it done.” He took a step toward the ogre, and his voice fell into a hypnotic cadence. “Hear no more, yearn no more, dance no more. Return from whence you came.”
    Suddenly, the hall was empty. Silence filled the space where the ogre had stood.
    “Where’d he go?” Not that she cared. All that mattered was that he’d disappeared.
    “I sent him home.” He stepped back into his room, then paused to stare at her. “Interesting. You saw past his glamour.” His expression hardened. “You won’t tell anyone what you just saw. If you attempt to tattle, the words will freeze in your mouth.”
    She narrowed her eyes and glared. “Is that a threat? Because I intend to go right to Sparkle and tell her…” Nothing. She couldn’t finish the sentence. Ivy tried rearranging the words in her mind, but she couldn’t push them past her lips.
    “You did this.” State the obvious, why don’t you? She wanted to hurl every curse she’d ever heard at his manipulative head—he’d crept into her mind and taken away her free will—but she couldn’t concentrate because what sounded like some sort of Gregorian chant was playing over the words she wanted to scream at him.
    “It could be worse. I could’ve taken the memory from you completely.” His frown said he was wondering why he hadn’t.
    Fury, panic, and terror jockeyed for position as she numbly turned from his door. She didn’t even glance back when she heard it shut. How did he think he could keep this secret? Like everyone hadn’t felt the castle shake?
    Then she remembered the Siamese cat. What was it about cats and this castle? A quick glance assured her it was gone. She closed her eyes for a moment and rubbed her forehead. Maybe there’d never been a cat. Maybe this whole thing was one giant hallucination.
    Ivy made it back to her room without encountering any more creatures. She sighed her relief as she closed her door and locked it. Then she turned around.
    The Siamese cat lay on her bed, its tail twitching and its collar gleaming. “You took long enough to get back. You can order lunch from room service for both of us.”
    Ivy blinked. “Room service?”
    The cat’s sigh was a cool shiver in her mind. “Perhaps you’ve noticed my lack of opposable thumbs? And hotel minions rarely respond to meows, even imperious ones. So you’ll have to order.”
    It said a lot about how Ivy’s day had gone so far that she didn’t even question the cat’s presence. She ordered a sandwich and salad that she probably wouldn’t be able to choke down, and then she glanced at the cat. “What do you want?”
    “A tender lamb chop and a bowl of milk would be nice.”
    Ivy repeated the order and hung up. She sat down on the chair farthest away from the cat. “Okay, who are you? What are you?” Her body felt heavy with fatigue, pulled down by a vague sadness. She’d really needed this job to work. “And are you real?”
    “Of course I’m real. I don’t think you’re a stupid woman, so don’t act like one. Now, since Sparkle allowed her hatred of me to get in the way of common sense—because I was absolutely the