Sparkle tried not to smile. Mede’s expression said she had cast him into the lowest circle of Hell by making him stand around in the Neiman Marcus shoe department while she tried on her fifteenth pair of heels. Of course, she had already chosen the shoes she intended to buy, but she wanted to test his commitment to saying he was sorry. She’d bet he was regretting his offer right about now.

“What do you think?” She stood to parade the newest pair in front of him.

“Love the red soles. Red is sexy.”

Sparkle silently filled in his “Please let it end” part.

Ky stood beside Mede looking bored. “Why are you doing this?” The prince didn’t lower his voice.

“I promised her I’d help pick out new shoes.”

She was just able to catch Mede’s mumbled, “In a moment of flaming insanity.”

Sparkle moved a little closer so she could hear clearly.

Ky cast Mede a sly glance. “Why don’t I make this store and everything in it disappear? Then I’ll think us home. I can do that, you know.”

She winced. Sparkle was rethinking her decision to bring Blue, Jill, and Ky with them. Luckily, the harried saleswoman was in the back searching for more shoes to drag out. This conversation didn’t need an audience. Mede looked tempted. Time to interfere. “Stop right there, Ky. You may be royalty in your own world, but you don’t get to make those kinds of decisions in this family.” Family? Wrong word choice. Dysfunctional nightmare was more like it. “You can’t just get rid of everything you don’t like.”

“Why not?” Ky looked puzzled.

This is where Mede would usually step in to list all the ways he could kick princely butt. Sparkle even paused. Waiting. Nothing. He was going to allow her to handle this? Was Mede truly that sorry?

Ky looked impatient. Better make this good. She wouldn’t wield her power on someone this young, but there were other ways to make him back down. Intimidation was the name of the game. And Sparkle had honed her intimidation skills on men a lot tougher than this young prince.

Sparkle stood tall in her Louboutins. Shoes like this made her feel in control, invincible. She smiled her iciest smile. “Oh, Ky, you have no idea. If I decided I didn’t want this store to disappear—which I don’t, because high-end stores of this quality are rarely within easy driving distance—my power would leave you nothing more than a puddle of goo. Take heart, though. I wouldn’t step in your remains because it would totally ruin these fabulous shoes.” She threw back her head and laughed, the awesomely evil cackle she saved for special occasions. She struck the pose that had proved demoralizing for many an enemy through the centuries—shoulders straight, hip cocked, and hand on hip. “I bet you’re the only one in your world with so much power. Right?”

He shrugged even as he looked a little uncertain. “Only my father is more powerful. That is why I had to escape my planet with Momo and Tuna. He would have destroyed me for trying to save them. The priests have a little power, but the ordinary people have none.”

Sparkle didn’t comment about his dad, although she mentally elevated the king to child-killing monster status. She didn’t have to fake her sympathetic expression. “It’s understandable then that you wouldn’t know much about dealing with a world where so many have amazing talents.” She pointed at Mede. “Right here you have Ganymede who’s great at multi-tasking. He could squash you at the same time he ate popcorn while watching The Avengers for the fifth time. There’re a lot more I could name. Don’t forget Blue and Jill.” She glanced past him. “Here they are now.” The girls had gone off to look at clothes while Sparkle bought her shoes.

Ky sneered. “Their powers are nothing compared to mine.”

Clueless child. “Not less than yours, merely different. Besides, you need to understand pack mentality—the many are more powerful than the one.”

He looked blank.

Obviously, no one had ever ganged up on his arrogant, princely self. “Ask a wolf.” She sighed. “The point I’m trying to make is that some of those very skilled people might not want the same things you do. And you just might not be strong enough to beat them if they joined forces.”

There was a long moment while Ky thought about that possibility. Then he nodded. “Perhaps.” His gaze burned her. “Perhaps not. But I will not make this place disappear since you don’t desire it.”

Blue and Jill had reached them in time to hear Ky disparage their powers. Jill’s expression said there was a nightmare with his name on it headed his way.

Now all Sparkle had to do was dump all the shoes she’d bought onto Mede and then buy clothes for the girls and Ky. Afterwards they’d hunt up the hairdresser Bourne had…

Out of the corner of her eye, Sparkle caught the hungry gaze of a customer locked on Mede. A woman, somewhere in her twenties—long hair, bad cut, cheap shoes, ordinary face, big boobs… The boobs would carry the day for most men.

Sparkle couldn’t blame the woman for stopping to stare, though. Men like him didn’t walk the streets of towns like this. Come to think of it, men like Mede didn’t even exist in large numbers. He was an endangered species.

Mede had noticed the woman’s unblinking stare. Sparkle watched him smile, a brief lifting of those sensual lips, and then he looked away. This was her chance to give him an insight into how he’d made her feel with all his Viking nonsense. She pasted on her jealous-bitch expression and then went to war.

Sparkle closed in on Mede. She leaned close. “I saw you wink at that woman.”

“What?”

“Do you know her?” Did she sound suspicious enough?

“I didn’t wink at her.” He glanced at the woman again. “Why would I know her?”

Sparkle tried for her you’re-not-fooling-me expression. “Oh, come on, I know your smiles. The one you gave her said it was great seeing an old friend again. So, what kind of ‘old friend’ was she?”

Mede met her gaze, and for a moment he seemed confused. Then he laughed. The jerk.

“You’re jealous?” His grin widened. “I’m right. You’re jealous of that woman.” He looked pleased.

She wanted to take off her shoes and beat on his head with the heels. Sparkle should’ve realized he’d react this way. He got a rush from her jealousy. Men. She was so furious she couldn’t even look at him. A glance showed her the woman had gone. Well, maybe he’d stop smiling when she laid the jealous-witch act on him a few more times.

Sparkle turned to the teens. They hadn’t noticed the exchange. “I’ll pay for our shoes,”—she’d helped the girls and Ky choose their shoes earlier—“then we can head over to the clothes department.” She stopped Ky with his mouth open to complain. “Yes, that means you, too. You can’t run around in a long black robe, and you can’t expect Orion to keep loaning you clothes. So we’ll get you a few things.”

Mede didn’t attempt to muffle his groan. “Haven’t I suffered enough?”

“Not even close.” She paid for the shoes and then led her reluctant entourage on to more shopping.

They’d been in this freaking store for years, right? Ganymede swore that a longboat filled with Vikings could sail into Cape May, and those damn Vikings could troop to his door toting a shitload of flowers for Sparkle. He’d just smile, wave them in, and then point them toward her room.

Sparkle had bought enough clothes and shoes to boost the store’s profit margin into the stratosphere. Ky was making mumbled threats of store-destruction again, and…the woman was back. Sparkle saw her at the same time Ganymede did.

This was getting weird. The woman didn’t even pretend to shop. She just stood there staring at him. From the corner of his eye, Ganymede could see Sparkle descending on him. No time to drop all the packages and run.

“Are you sure you don’t know that woman?” Sparkle arrowed a glare toward that woman.

“Never saw her before.” The truth. But Ganymede still managed to feel guilty. Because the woman had a hard stare that was personal enough to claim an acquaintance with him. Had he known her in years past?

“Well, I think she’s coming on to you. Are you sure you’re not sending out any welcoming signals?” She widened her eyes. “You are, aren’t you? Maybe you’re doing some mental messaging.”

That made Ganymede mad. Sparkle’s accusations were crazy and… Wait. This wasn’t like Sparkle. She didn’t do jealous. This was like…him. Things fell into place. She was trying to teach him a lesson, show him how he made her feel. His first instinct was to yell, “Gotcha.” He stopped himself.

Sparkle had accused him lots of times of having the sensitivity of a rock. Fair enough. He rarely stopped to consider people’s feelings. But today belonged to Sparkle. Teaching him a lesson would make her feel good. So as a gift to her, he’d humble himself and act as though her jealousy was getting to him. She’d never guess he was anything less than sincere, because hey, he wasn’t a sensitive kind of guy.

Show time. “Tone it down, babe. Everyone’s staring. Embarrassed here.” Ganymede never felt embarrassed. He hoped Sparkle didn’t remember that. “I’m innocent. Repeating myself in case you didn’t hear me the first time: I don’t know her, I’ve never seen her before in my life, and I didn’t wink at her or give her any kind of a dumb smile.” He wasn’t sure how to look embarrassed, but he tried.

She offered him a disbelieving humph before herding the three teens out of the store. But Ganymede hadn’t missed the gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. He trailed them the length of the mall until they reached the hair salon. He’d rather gouge out his eyes than go inside, but he reminded himself that for the duration of Sparkle’s day he would channel his inner sensitivity. All three specks of it. Hidden in a dark corner of his mind. Surrounded by an impenetrable wall of committed guyness.

The woman who met them was Hydra—dynamite name. Bourne recommended her. A troublemaker. She’d cleared her schedule for Sparkle. That’s all Bourne had said. She was beautiful. Smooth caramel skin and shining black hair. But then, most troublemaker women were incredible looking. At least Zendig had gotten that right.

Hydra smiled at them. “I’m thrilled to see you. It was tough rescheduling, but it was so worth it to meet new troublemakers.” She led them to a back room away from the workstations. “We’ll have some privacy here. So, I’m Hydra. Who’re you? Bourne didn’t say.”

Going with the theme of the day, Ganymede allowed Sparkle to introduce them. Hydra seemed most interested in Sparkle. She shooed Blue, Jill, and Ky out to their chairs in the salon. Then she waved Ganymede and Sparkle to seats and settled down for a short chat.

“Bourne said you were the troublemaker in charge of sexual chaos.” She beamed at Sparkle. “That is incredibly cool.”

Ganymede was a little disgruntled. She didn’t seem impressed that he was the main chaos maker. He could lay waste to a planet. He leaned forward. “Bourne didn’t mention your talent.”

She didn’t look away from Sparkle. “I control beauty.”

Okay, it was over. Ganymede could almost see the bonding happening.

Sparkle clapped. “Wonderful. Tell me all.”

He looked longingly at the door.

Hydra’s smile widened. “When women leave my salon, they’re gorgeous. But as the weeks pass, all of their beauty fades along with their hair color. It’s marvelous. They come rushing in screaming, ‘Make me beautiful again.’ And of course I do. Unless they’ve ticked me off. In which case, they turn into crones as soon as they leave the salon. It’s delicious to watch. Now, tell me about yourself.”

That was it. He was outta here. “I’m going for a walk.” He didn’t think they noticed as he left.

He got no further than where the teens sat. Ky clutched the arms of his chair as he scanned the room searching for ninja hairdressers. Ganymede wanted to laugh at him. Here was a kid who had all kinds of power, but a woman with a pair of scissors turned him into a rabbit. Leave. So he’s a little scared. So what? Sighing, Ganymede took a nearby chair. Guys had to stick together. He glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “Tell me more about your planet.”

Ky looked startled, then nodded. “Sure.”

For the next hour, Ganymede listened as Ky told him about life in his world: how his father controlled everyone with an iron fist, the way his younger brother never stepped out of line, Ky’s memories of his dead mother, and his love for Momo and Tuna. Ganymede tried to deny his sense of accomplishment when Ky visibly relaxed. Even when Hydra showed up with her torture instruments, the kid only got all wide-eyed once when she clipped a little too close to his pointed ears. Other than that, he handled it like a champ.

Hydra frowned at Ky. “I still think you should’ve allowed me to tone down your hair a little.”

Ky wore his stubborn face. “I like it the way it is. I saw others with blue and purple streaks in their hair, so I’ll keep mine yellow.”

Ganymede was proud of his boy. His boy? Whoa, couldn’t get too attached to any of them. They were a means to an end. Namely, Zendig’s end. But somehow, his thought lacked conviction. Thankfully, Sparkle was ready to leave. She led everyone towards the door. Ganymede couldn’t wait to climb behind the wheel and head home.

But before she reached it, the door swung open and Ganymede’s stalker woman stepped into the salon. Uh-oh. This was beyond coincidence.

Sparkle never broke stride until she was in the woman’s face. “Do you have a problem, sister?” She glanced back at Ganymede. “In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s taken.”

He allowed himself a moment of triumph.

Sparkle wasn’t pretending jealousy now. She was in full attack mode. Some of Hydra’s clients behind him gasped. The kids whispered to each other as they crowded around him.

The woman didn’t hide her contempt. “You’re nothing. You don’t deserve one with his power.” She smiled. “It’s really too bad I’m not here to kill you. He should know a female with real talent before he dies.” The woman’s smug expression left no doubt who that female was.

Sparkle’s eyes widened and then narrowed to outraged slits. “Witch.” Then she began to levitate. As she rose above the floor, her hair swirled around her in a silent wind.

Behind him, Ganymede could hear screams and the sounds of people running. Hydra called to everyone. “Don’t panic. Out the back door.” A few doors slammed and the footsteps died away.

The teens remained with him. Ky thrummed with excitement. “I can—”

“No.” Ganymede never took his attention from Sparkle. “All of you, out of here.” Sparkle’s eyes began to glow.

“Why? We want to help.” Blue didn’t move. Neither did the other two.

He didn’t have time for this crap. Sparkle had begun to hum. Ganymede turned to the teens. He gathered his power and then pushed. It flung them across the salon and through the open door into the back room. The door slammed shut. He willed it to stay closed until further notice. One problem solved, at least for a few minutes.

The woman sneered as she looked up at the hovering Sparkle. “You’re not strong enough to stop me. Stay out of my way, and you might live. You’re not the one I’m after.”

Whoa! Talk about bad info. Let the carnage begin. He almost felt sorry for the woman.

Sparkle’s hum grew louder, her glowing eyes now had flickering flames behind the amber. As soon as Ganymede recognized the melody to the Doors’ “Light My Fire,” he grabbed a tissue, tore it apart, and stuffed as much as he could into his ears. He hoped it would be enough.

He saw the moment Sparkle’s humming caught the woman. Her eyes widened then grew fixed. Her expression turned hungry. He knew from watching Sparkle do her thing over the centuries that the woman had forgotten all about killing anyone. With a frenzied scream, she launched herself at…the nearest salon chair? Ganymede grinned. Go, Sparkle.

The woman came down on the chair in a kneeling position. The force of her landing set it spinning in a dizzying circle. She moaned as she stroked the leather, murmuring her undying love for its sleek lines and sexy arms. Jeez, this was sort of embarrassing. Ganymede glanced away. Just in time to see…

He cursed. This wasn’t happening. An army of animals materialized at the salon entrance. Their clamor to be let in blended into one roar as they clawed at the glass door. Blue. She’d sent out her call from inside the room. Ganymede opened his mouth to shout at her to cut it out. But at that moment, the salon door swung open and the animals poured in. His last thought before chaos descended was that portals weren’t the only things Blue could open.

Ganymede got a blurred impression of dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, and a bunch of pigeons sweeping past him headed for the door to the room where Blue was cooking up her own brand of mayhem. One squirrel must’ve been directionally challenged because it veered off to race up Sparkle’s leg. Her concentration broke, she screamed, and the woman in the salon chair froze. She blinked.

“What the hell am I doing here?” The woman turned her attention to Ganymede. “Now there’s something to get hot about.” She still didn’t remember her original intention as she scrambled from the chair then flung herself onto him.

Ganymede was so busy with the animals that he didn’t brace himself for her attack. They went down in a tangle of arms and legs. She’d ripped his shirt open and unbuckled his belt before he could shove her away.

Enough was enough. He’d grabbed her hand an inch from his zipper and was ready to fling her away when Sparkle took a hand in things. Literally. The queen of all things sensual grabbed the woman’s hair, yanked her head back, and punched her in the face. Okay, that would work, too.

Ganymede rolled away from the woman just as Sparkle delivered a lethal kick that whooshed past his head with inches to spare. She was aiming at her enemy, but sometimes when Sparkle got really pissed she lost accuracy. He scrambled to his feet and met the interested stare of a big hairy dog. It lay panting happily at him. On the other side of the salon, a white cat had claimed the woman’s sexy chair. The cat sat washing one paw, looking bored with the whole thing. Ganymede would kill Blue.

He took a moment to monitor the battle. Sparkle was winning. Expected. The woman seemed to have a little power, but not nearly enough to stop a ticked off Sparkle Stardust. Ganymede glanced toward the door. He had to stop this before anyone else showed up.

Too late. A man raced toward the salon. Ganymede doubted he was coming for a cut and color. Time to get rid of half the problem. He focused his will. The woman disappeared, just as the man burst into the salon shouting.

“No! Don’t. Zendig said not to—” He slid to a stop, his eyes wide. “Where did she go?” He scanned the room, pausing to take note of the animals before turning back to Ganymede. “What did you do with her?”

Behind him, he could hear Sparkle grumbling because he’d taken her chew toy away from her. He also heard muffled booming sounds coming from the back room. He didn’t think Ky would have the strength to power through the seal he’d put on that door. Ganymede stayed focused on the man.

“You can stop looking. I’ve given her a life sentence on another planet. It’s big and empty except for lots of hungry wildlife. Want to join her?” At least she wouldn’t be alone. Ganymede had sent one other person to this particular world. The woman could team up with him, and they could work at surviving the predators together.

The man paled. “No. I was trying to stop her. Zendig warned us not to engage you guys. Besides, I’m on your side.”

Sparkle stepped to Ganymede’s side. She ignored him in favor of the stranger. “Explain what this attack was about.”

The man’s gaze skittered between Ganymede and Sparkle. Ganymede felt a moment of sympathy. The guy didn’t act like a fighter. Average looking—short brown hair, ordinary features, and wearing a business suit. He’d never survive the two of them.

The man scraped his hand through his hair as he glanced away. Probably searching for the words that would save his skin. Ganymede gave him credit for at least realizing he was in over his head. His partner had learned that lesson too late.

“You know who Zendig is?” The man waited until Ganymede and Sparkle nodded. “He rules Effix. And he doesn’t like anyone messing with his plans. He has spies here who report back to him. Some of them watch the portals when new troublemakers come through. They tally how many don’t survive. They told Zendig about how you took a few of the new ones away. We were supposed to follow you to see what you were doing with them. Then he wanted us to watch to see if you contacted the Big Boss. Zendig didn’t want you killed as long as you might lead us to him.” He swallowed hard. “Kival, the woman you sent away, was too eager to end you. She paid the price.”

Sparkle put her hand on Ganymede’s arm, a show of solidarity he appreciated.

She asked, “What does Zendig want on Earth?”

Bourne had already told them, but Ganymede always liked to verify information from another source. Okay, so he trusted Bourne. Most of the time.

“Zendig’s obsessed with having total control over everyone. The one person to ever defy him and live is the one you call the Big Boss. Our people venerated him as the most powerful of us all. Zendig can’t live with that. Finding and killing your Big Boss has become his life’s goal. He won’t come in person because he’d have to abandon his energy form, so he’s sent his spies. So far, none of us have ever found the Big Boss.” He paused. “And lived.”

Ganymede noticed the man used “venerated” suggesting the veneration was in the past. He wondered. Too bad he didn’t have time to pursue the idea. “You say you’re on our side, but still you came to spy for him.”

“He’s threatened our families if we don’t agree to come.” Anger and bitterness lived in every word.

His words rang true. Ganymede relaxed a little. “And you are?”

“Bexal.” He took a deep breath. “Your Big Boss knew me once. I need to speak with him. There are things he should know.” Bexal met Ganymede’s gaze. “Can you arrange a meeting?”