Sam’s big, warm hand landed on the back of my neck to rub.
“Where’d you get this?” I asked Kimber when I could speak.
“Mrs. Britt.”
“You don’t take French.”
Kimber rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to take French to go. It’s a school-sponsored trip, Mrs. Britt is just in charge of it.”
Sam and I glanced at each other then back down at the flyer. The words seemed to jump right off the page:
Trip to Italy
Explore Rome and its surrounding areas
Learn about other cultures – see stunning architecture and works of art by the most famous artists in history.
“This is a school trip?” I asked Kimber.
“Yep. Isn’t it cool?”
“Yeah, it is.” This could be our way to get to the scroll to Rome.
I’d say it’s our only chance, Sam said.
We’d been trying to brainstorm ways to get the scroll to Rome ever since our meeting with Airis. This was perfect.
“I’ve already filled out the consent forms, and my dad has already signed the check. All I have to do is pack.”
“When is the trip?” I asked. Kimber named off the dates. It was the exact same dates of that camp my mother was trying to send me off to. “How much?” I asked. Kimber gave me an odd sort of look. Her aura flared all different hues. I tried to ignore it.
“Are you interested in going?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.” Then, “It might be nice to get away for a while.”
Kimber’s eyes softened, and she nodded. Likely, she was thinking of the issues with my mother. “It’s fifteen hundred dollars.”
I sputtered. “Fifteen hundred!”
Cole whistled between his teeth.
“I doubt my job at the ice cream shop will pay that much,” I muttered, knowing for sure that I would never be able to come up with that much money…Sam either.
“Maybe your Gran would help you out,” Kimber suggested.
“Maybe.” But even if she would I couldn’t leave Sam behind.
“Go talk to Mrs. Britt. Get the permission forms. It would be so cool if you could come,” Kimber said.
“Maybe I should come too,” Cole said, grabbing up the flyer to look at it again.
“Really?” Kimber asked, a smile taking over her face. “We should all go!”
I faked my enthusiasm. I did want to go. Not for shopping and fun like Kimber, but for reasons that she would never understand.
“Just turn the forms in,” I pleaded with Sam. He was being very stubborn.
“I don’t want to turn them in until we know if you can go or not.”
Right after lunch Sam and I went to see Mrs. Britt. There were still spots open for the trip and when I voiced my concern over the price she told us that there were scholarships for three students. The school would pay for them to go. There was one left. I immediately offered up Sam’s name. Being that he was emancipated and worked so many jobs, Mrs. Britt helped to fill out the scholarship form and told us he would definitely be accepted.
Sam was not happy with me. In fact, I thought he might explode. So I took the permission forms from her and promised to turn them in as soon as possible. As soon as we were down the hall, Sam yanked me into a supply closet.
“What were you thinking?” he whisper-yelled at me.
“That there was one scholarship left, and you needed it!” I matched his whisper-yell with my own.
“We have no idea if you’re going to be able to go.”
I sighed. “Even if I can’t, you have to. It’s our only way to get the scroll to Rome.”
“I will not go without you,” he said through gritted teeth.
“We made a promise, Sam.”
“You made a promise,” he growled.
He was right. I was the one who told Airis I would do this. This was my responsibility. I should be the one to go. Sam grabbed me by the shoulders and leaned down close to my ear. His breath was warm and tickled my ear.
“I don’t like when you’re that quiet. I didn’t mean to yell at you, honey. It makes my skin crawl to think of leaving you here while I go to another country.”
I shivered. The scent of him was surrounding me and his shaggy hair brushed against my cheek. “Uh-huh.”
He pulled back, just slightly, his lips pulling into a knowing smile. “Are you listening?”
I nodded.
He kissed me. I buried my hands in his hair and pulled him even closer. His tongue was the perfect combination of rough and sweet. My stomach fluttered.
After he pulled back I rested my forehead on his chest to catch my breath. Soon, reality came rushing back. It’s not definite that I can’t go. I’ll convince my mother to sign the papers. Yours are already filled out. You don’t need a parent’s signature, you have the scholarship. Just turn in the forms. I’ll turn mine in soon.
You’re going to convince your mother to let you go? Especially during those two weeks? Sam was doubtful. So was I, but I didn’t have a choice. There was no other option. Our lives and the lives of everyone on that Treasure Map depended on it. I would trick her if I had to.
Chapter Thirty-One
Heven
Of course it was rainy and chilly on the day Sam and I were supposed to fix up his new place. But I refused to wait another day. He had already moved most his stuff in yesterday, but we hadn’t fixed it up yet because school sucked up most of the day and then he had to work.
I was sitting on the front porch of Gran’s, under cover from the falling rain. My hands were tucked in the front pocket of my blue hoodie and wrapped around the bronze tube that held the scroll. I heard the deep rumble of the truck’s engine before I saw it and my heart picked up.
Moments later Sam was jumping down from the truck and running through the rain to meet me. He was laughing and his eyes were warm and the color of honey. He shook his head and drops of rainwater sprinkled around us. His blond hair was wet, making it a darker color than usual and framing his eyes and beautiful face in a wild, playful manner.
“Hey, beautiful.” He grabbed me up and smacked a big, wet kiss on me.
I laughed and went for another.
“You’re supposed to be all girly and grossed out that I got you wet.”
“I will never push you away. Even when you stink like wet dog.” I laughed.
He made a few barking sounds and lunged, pulling me closer. He leaned in to kiss me but at the last second his tongue shot out and he licked me across the lips. I squealed and stumbled backward, knocking over a box that was behind me.
“What’s that?” Sam asked, his eyes still twinkling with mischief.
I began putting the spilled items back into the box. “Just some stuff for your new place.”
“Heven,” he said exasperated. “That’s a huge box.”
“I didn’t buy all of it. Gran let me go through the stuff in the attic and take a few things.”
He seemed skeptical.
“Look.” I pointed to an item not in a box. “This microwave is way better and newer than the one in your place now. I don’t think that thing even works.”
He laughed. “It doesn’t even have buttons.” He wound his fingers through mine. “You’re so good to me.”
“I’m glad you think so. Now, haul this stuff to the truck.” I smiled sweetly at him and batted my eyes.
He crammed everything into the cab so it wouldn’t get wet and only stopped once when he saw the cans of paint. I batted my eyes again and patted his butt. He grinned and shook his head. When the truck was loaded, he came back with a crooked grin and the next thing I knew, I was thrown over his shoulder and deposited in the truck right next to him. To my intense delight I had to sit extra close to him on the way to his place because of all the stuff.
When we arrived at his place, Logan opened the door and stuck his head out. I waved up to him and he waved back. The rain had stopped, but the dark clouds still hung low, threatening to open b
ack up at any moment. Sam got out and loaded his arms full of boxes and trudged up the stairs and into the apartment. Filled with excitement, I got out on his side and went around the hood to the passenger side and reached in to grab the two cans of paint. When I pulled back out I gasped noticing a big black crow that had perched itself on the side of the truck. It was creepy with flat, beady eyes and it opened its large pointy beak to let out a loud squawking sound. I jumped back and dropped the thingy that opened up the cans. With a muttered curse and a glare in the direction of the bird I bent to retrieve it. When I straightened the bird was gone. In its place sat a man.
He was naked.
He had longer hair than I have and it was full of knots and leaves.
His toes, which were propped against the side of the truck, were unnaturally curved and looked like claws.
What was most disturbing was his aura. It was white. I knew for certain that it was not pure. White was the worst color an aura could be.
I shrieked again this time letting go of the paint cans, and they rolled out onto the street. That bird just changed into a man? CRAP. Was that even possible? Sam could change, so why couldn’t others? Double Crap. And why was he looking at me with contempt and anticipation? I watched him warily, unsure what to say and do.
“Give me the map,” the man hissed.
“I – I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I lied, trying not to glance in the direction of the front seat where the scroll lay unprotected.
He cocked his head and stared at me. His eyes flashed red. “Liar.” His voice was scratchy and high pitched, just like I would imagine a bird’s might be if it could talk.
“No, really.” I looked up toward the apartment wondering what this thing would do if I screamed. I pushed my hand through my hair and looked back at the man. “I don’t have whatever it is you want.”
I backed up a step, and he hopped down from his seat. Without a word he opened his mouth and this weird sort of yellowish-brown mist rolled out. It swirled around me making it hard to breathe. I coughed and tried to run but my movements were slow and sloppy. “Sam,” I called, but it echoed around me, the weird mist was trapping in my sounds, not letting them out. Sam.
The mist grew thicker and thicker, making it hard to see. My vision started clouding, and I knew I had only seconds before I passed out. But then there was a hand reaching through the mist and wrapping around my arm and pulling me free. I gagged and coughed as fresh air filled my lungs. Through watering eyes I looked for the bird-man, wondering what he would do next.
Sam appeared through the mist, grabbed my face and forced me to look up at him. “What happened?”
“There’s someone there,” I said, pointing in the direction where the naked bird-man had sat, my voice hoarse from the weird mist.
Sam shoved me behind him and turned. The bird-man stepped through the mist he had just released – seemingly unaffected by its power – and grinned. “Give it to me,” he hissed. As he spoke more mist floated out of his lips and reached for us. Sam was about to jump forward, but Logan shot out from the side and slammed his fist into the man’s chest and the bird-man disintegrated before our eyes.
“What the hell was that thing?” Sam asked as we all stared at the spot he had been standing in.
I shook my head and looked at Logan. He was watching me. “How did you know how to kill that thing?”
“Yeah, bro. That was awesome.” Sam said proudly and Logan beamed.
“There’s this game that I play on the internet… there’s a guy on there like him. It’s how you destroy him. Figured it was worth a shot.”
“A video game?” I echoed.
Sam laughed. “The World Wide Web saves the day.”
Logan shrugged again and went to pick up the paint cans lying in the street. He took them without another word up to the apartment.
Sam waited until he had disappeared inside the apartment then looked down at me. “What the hell was that thing?”
Whatever that thing was…it’s only the beginning.
Sam gave me a little shake. “What did it want, Heven?”
I went to the truck and pulled out the bronze cylinder. Sam’s jaw tightened and with a curse he hauled me into his side. So are those the kinds of things that are going to be coming after you now? I got rid of one stalker for her to be replaced with God knows what.
My eyes fastened to the spot where that bird-man had been. How many more were out there like him? How many more were worse? I shuddered and forced my gaze away, looking up toward the apartment. Logan was watching us through the window.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Sam and I understood exactly what we had promised to do.
The Hope
“She wasn’t supposed to be involved,” he said wearily.
“She has a greater destiny than what you wanted for her.”
“Airis,” he warned.
“She has shown great strength and courage.”
“She’s a child. You gave her something that both worlds are fighting for. How do you expect her to survive?”
“She has protection.”
He let out a hard laugh. “Are you kidding? He’s a child too. And he was created by the enemy.”
“He might be twisted by sin, but he was created by God, and he loves her. Even you can see that. We both know that a love that powerful can slay evil.”
He sighed, knowing that he’d lost his fight. “I hope you’re right, because more evil is coming.”
“Negativity does not belong here; all will be well. You’ll see.”
He didn’t look convinced.
I smiled. “After all, she has the best protector she could have, someone with a heart from God, but abilities the enemies from Hell have. Who better to get the job done?”
Heven
The night had long since turned dark. Outside my window, night life sang a mellow song and helped to soothe some of my nerves. I stared a long time at the reflection in the mirror. Who was this girl? Long ago I thought I knew. How naïve I had been. My attack changed the way I looked and the way I felt. I realized that everything I thought I understood about myself wasn’t really who I was. I made peace with that with the girl in the mirror.
But I wasn’t her anymore.
I wasn’t either of those girls anymore. I guess you could say that I was a hybrid of them, certain parts all smooshed together. And there were new parts, too.
I gathered my heavy mass of hair up and secured it high on my head. “Who am I?” I wondered out loud. The next few months would test me; there would be others who would try to break me – to kill me. My hand went to my wrist to check the clasp on my bracelet, even though I knew that it was fine. I didn’t know why I was chosen, but it felt right.
Silently, Sam appeared behind me. We stared at each other through the mirror without speaking. I was reminded of the last time we did this when I’d kept half my face from the reflection. I remembered thinking how utterly gorgeous he was and how we just didn’t fit. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
He was still beyond gorgeous, far more beautiful than I thought myself to be. But this time as we stared in the mirror…we fit. I was becoming the girl that deserved him. That knowledge gave me strength and courage to face the danger I knew was coming.
“You need to stop leaving your window open at night. It isn’t safe.” Sam’s voice was deep and low. His eyes were the color of dark honey.
“I didn’t think you’d come tonight.”
His eyes darkened. “All the more reason to lock the window.”
“But you did come.” I turned away from our reflections and lifted my face.
“I may have a new apartment, but my home is with you.” He didn’t touch me. He didn’t have to. His words were the softest caress he could give.
“Come to bed,” I beckoned, walking toward it.
I felt his strong hands on my shoulders as he turned me. “Everything’s going to be fine,” he murmured, his face drawing close to mine.
This was the new me.
Cambria Hebert grew up in a small town in rural Maryland. She is married to a United States Marine and has lived in South Carolina, Pennsylvania and her current state of North Carolina. She is the mother of two young children with big personalities, is in love with Starbucks (give the girl a latte!) and she is obsessed with werewolves. Cambria also has an irrational fear of chickens (Ewww! Gross) and she loves to read and review books. Her favorite book genre is YA paranormal, and she can be found stalking that section at her local Barnes and Nobles (which happens to be her favorite place ever!).
Masquerade is her first published novel, but she has many more books waiting to be published and devoured by her fans, including the sequel to Masquerade.
Cambria also co-hosts a live, internet blog radio talk show, JournalJabber, (www.blogtalkradio.com/journaljabber) where she dishes about books, publishing and everything in between: hair in a can, toilet snakes, chicken phobias, etc..
You can find Cambria on Facebook, Goodreads (she is a moderator of the Creative Reviews group).
You can also drop by her website www.cambriahebert.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Masquerade Page 36