“Then don’t cry,” he said sweetly, and the fireworks cracked over his words, echoing off the horizon. But the noise faded into the background when his lips touched mine, flooding back as he broke away with a cool wash of air and looked over his shoulder.
“May I?” a gentle voice asked, and a tall stranger stepped into view. His soft brown hair caught the light as it fell over his eyes, and though his face was hidden behind a black mask, he was instantly recognizable.
David?
30
Mike kissed my cheek and took a step backward, giving the last dance of the evening away to this guy he’d never met. He didn’t even ask if I knew him.
My heart raced, breath quickening. But it all stopped. All the hope, all the excitement just trickled away when his cold touch met mine with no familiarity.
It wasn’t him. It wasn’t David.
The stranger swept my hips toward him, his green eyes locked to mine. “Moonlight Sonata,” he said in a smooth, gentle voice, gesturing toward the piano. “Your favorite piece.”
“One of.” I squinted against the dark, trying to see him better beneath the mask. “Do I know you?”
He shook his head once and said nothing more.
The song’s harmonies set the pace to his stride, while the elegance in his stance seemed to be adopted from another era: one hand gently resting under my shoulder blade, the other extending our arms out widely. He seemed ill-placed, not of this time, which was unnerving.
Immediately, the curiosity and fear subsided for a sweeping wave of romance, my mind slipping in to a dream-like state. A state I’d only felt once before, when I first tried to kiss David.
I looked up at the guy, his smile showing only by the dimple beside the curve of his lip, and a strange sensation saturated the air: a feeling like energy closing me in, making this dance a secret from the rest of the world.
From the sideline, Mike stood watching with his arms folded, whispering to Alana and Ryan every few seconds. I wondered if he could see us; if he could see the way this stranger held me; if he found it odd that he pulled me so close, like he’d held me there a thousand times before. All the laws of nature said he could, but I felt invisible.
“Can you feel that?” I asked.
He turned his head an inch and looked down at me, his mysterious eyes dark and foreboding. “I’m the one doing it.”
I looked at Mike again—having a thumb war with Spencer—and my heart hurried a little. I wanted him to come over here, tap this guy on the shoulder and ask for me back.
“Our dance is not yet complete, my lady.” He squeezed my hand gently, tightening his hold on my back. “It would be incredibly rude to leave a man in the middle of the dance floor. You wouldn’t want to be rude, would you?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be,” I said softly, and something inside me screamed, wriggling about, warning me to move away. But I stayed in his arms, smiling his smile as we passed each dancer, softly nodding my head in greeting. It felt unnatural.
When the music ended, he stopped and clapped gently. “Thank you, my lady.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, but made no haste to move away from him. I stood, staring up at him like a stuffed animal, and with clarity returning outside the circle of his arms, a name suddenly came to mind. “Jason?”
“Très bien, mademoiselle.” He stood taller, his lip creasing in one corner, leaving the smile to come only from behind his eyes, the way David’s did when he read my mind.
“You look so much like him.”
Jason exhaled and offered his arm. “Walk with me?”
“Where to?”
“Just to the balcony,” he said, curling my hand into the crook of his elbow.
We passed right by Mike and my friends, who didn’t even look up as this stranger led me away from the dance floor.
“It’s a beautiful night, wouldn’t you agree?”
“A perfect night.” I leaned on the marble railing, watching the other dancers in the final act.
“Perfect for one’s last,” he said softly.
“Last?”
Self-amusement slathered Jason’s expression. “I meant that if this were your last night, it would be a grand way to spend it.”
“Yeah.” I looked down at the dance floor again. “I guess so.”
“Do you know why I’ve come?”
I shook my head. “Are you here because of David?”
“In ways.” His eyes focused on something distant, while the same malignant smile as before settled onto his dark-pink lips, sending shivers down my spine. Bad shivers.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“In pain, I suspect.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Jason turned and leaned on the ledge, his back to the crowd below. “I mean you hurt him. Badly. I would imagine he’s wallowing in self-pity, at this time.”
“What would you know about it?”
“I know you gave him your heart, then denied him your future.”
“That’s none of your business,” I snapped, turning to walk away.
His hand lashed out and caught my arm, spinning me into his chest with a breathtaking jolt. “On the contrary, my dear, it is.”
“And what makes it your business?” I wedged the heel of my palm into his chest. “Let go of me.”
When a few curious glances flicked our way, Jason placed his hand firmly on my lower back and forced my arms into position. “Dance with me.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll make you.” He held me tighter, spinning us around like we were just two masked teens in love. I tried to fight him, but he was strong. He didn’t look that strong, but his hold was unyielding.
As each person passed us, my eyes searched theirs, pleading for help. But it was like they didn’t notice me here at all. When it became clear that help was not coming, I moved my attention back to the eerie vampire, trying to figure out what he wanted from me.
“Let’s just say,” he answered my thought, his simpering eyes shrinking behind that black mask, “I’m not here for pleasure.”
“Well,” I said, sounding amazingly calm, while the pulse between my collarbones seemed to shoot out through my spine, filling me with a sudden urge to run. I cast my eyes to the dance floor, but Mike was gone. “If it’s not pleasure, it must be business. What business do you have here?”
“The concluding of an age-old quarrel among brothers. One you so, unfortunately, have found yourself a part of.”
“What quarrel? And what do you mean that I’m a part of it?”
Jason’s head moved a fraction of an inch, the green in his eyes occupying the corners. “Someone is looking for you.”
I followed his sideways gaze to see Mike running through the crowd—panicked, touching the shoulders of various individuals—obviously desperate to find me.
Look up, Mike, look up.
“I’ll kill him, Ara. If he comes for you, he will die.”
“Why?” I gasped.
“It’s nothing personal, really.” He cocked his head, taking me in with a creepy leer. “Then again, perhaps it is.”
I stared at him in confusion as he laughed. “What have I ever done to you?”
“Nothing. I’m just going to hurt you to hurt my brother.”
My mouth fell open with a huff. “Don’t you dare touch me!”
“Oh, I’m going to do worse than touch you.”
“No!” I sunk my knees down and slipped free from his hold, but he grabbed my arm before I found my feet to run, and forcibly walked us toward the dark chamber gardens. “Let me go, Jason,” I ordered, “I’ll scream.”
He just smiled wickedly, keeping his eyes on our destination. “You won’t scream. Because I’ll kill them. All of them. I will drink down every last life in this miserable gathering, and I will save you until the end, make you watch as I tear apart your friends and eviscerate your replacement lover.”
“You can’t do that.” I tugged hard aga
inst him. “Your society has laws!”
“And I have planned this meticulously, so that I act within the limits of those laws,” he advised, revealing the true depths of his cunning. “So come quietly, or I will honor my threat.”
“No.” I drove my thumb between his hand and my arm, trying to unwind his fingers, but they tightened, his nails digging in. “Let me go!”
He just smiled malignantly to himself, lip curving up on one side.
As we neared the step, my darting gaze of desperation flicked around the balcony, passing over the smiles of distracted couples. But no one was familiar. No one knew me. No one knew I was being kidnapped. And not one of the faces was David. He was supposed to be here. He was supposed to come. The last dance on the hour of midnight. That was the deal.
The haunting piano ceased below us, and the gentle clicking of applause filled the air as Jason pulled me along, attempting discretion and, to my amazement, achieving it.
We stopped by the stairs, waiting as a few flushed couples emerged from the darkness, straightening their clothes. Jason smiled at them knowingly, drawing me in to conceal his tight grip within the closeness of our bodies. It made my skin crawl to feel the fabric of his suit against my arm, but when I tried to push my hips away from his, he hooked his foot around my ankle.
“If you bring attention to yourself, young lady, I will dig my fingertip into your flesh and cut your bone in half.”
“And then I’ll scream, and everyone will know there’s something wrong.”
“Go ahead,” he said. “I’ll just kill them all. But you will still have a severed bone.”
I stopped struggling, taking shallow breaths to suppress the deep urge to fight, and when I looked at my hand against the lapels of Jason’s jacket, my ruby ring standing out like midnight blood, Mike’s face—the way he smiled when I accepted his proposal—came to mind. All those things that seemed lost right now filled my heart with regret. I wanted Mike to come, wanted him to save me. And a part of me didn’t care about anyone else in the room; a part of me just wanted to scream out while I still had the chance. But if I even indulged in the idea, I’d be risking Mike’s life too.
“Mike can’t help you now, anyway. He’s only human.”
David could help me. I…
“David will not help you, either. He’s not coming back for you.” Jason’s eyes flooded with amusement as he looked down at the cold liquid running from my nose and eyes, trickling past my quivering lip. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
I shut my eyes tight, flooding with regret.
“It’s quite the poetic ending, really: you despised him, shunned him because you could not become the beast he is. Yet, in dying, your beautiful face and body will be marred beyond recognition, crafting you, essentially, into an eternal beast.”
“What are you…?” A rush of panic became a steel band around my lungs. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Just have a little fun with your body before I kill you.”
“No!” The fright left my lips in an uncontrolled wail, but several other cries came from nearby and drowned out my own. Couples parted, nearly toppling over the railing as a bulk figure burst through them on the stairs.
Jason slowly turned his head, gaze meeting Mike’s for a split second, as a lifetime of comprehension passed the invisible barrier between them.
Mike’s face paled with realization. Then, he started running.
I wriggled in Jason’s arms, torn between reality and the paranormal. I couldn’t let my world touch Mike’s—couldn’t let him die for me, no matter how badly I wanted to be saved. If I broke free and landed safely in his arms, it would only be for his last breath.
“Jason!” I gasped in a low voice. “Run!”
“As you wish.”
In that moment, as he reached down and swept me off the ground, Mike knew. I closed my eyes and prayed as the darkness closed me in, seeing Mike’s face, seeing all hope slip for that one heartbeat when he knew, to his core, that he would never see me again.
An icy chill and the rush of speed beneath my feet ended suddenly, making the blood hurt my head. I opened my eyes again to kaleidoscope shadows of leaves on my hands and dress, as the last dregs of light from the clock tower filtered down through them. Jason spun me at the shoulders and pointed past the border of the forest to the top of the stairs.
“Look at him,” he whispered, his lips to my ear. “I want you to suffer as you witness his suffering.”
Mike grasped the railing and leaned into the night, searching the darkness as my name echoed, his voice breaking beneath the panic.
“He won’t give up, you know,” I said.
“Then he’ll die.”
I looked back at Jason and, seeing the seriousness in his eyes, slowly looked upon my Zorro one last time. Mike’s hands flew into his hair, gripping tightly as he sunk down onto the step.
“That’s quite a warrior you have there,” Jason said. “Perhaps I should oblige him to a duel?”
“You came here for me. You leave him out of this,” I warned, clenching my fists.
Jason watched again for a second as Emily landed beside Mike, her head whipping up a moment later to search the gardens before she took off up the stairs, running.
Mike looked up at the sky and then reached into his pocket, his phone lighting his face a second later.
“My dad. He’s calling my dad.”
“No,” Jason said. “He’s calling the police.”
The severity of the situation hit me then. I drew a shaky breath, the frosty pine-scented wind grazing my throat. “You won’t get away with this.”
“That was never the plan.”
And that made this so much scarier. My shoulders slowly inched toward my jaw. “I don’t want you to hurt me.”
“Of course you don’t,” he said, amused. “It wouldn’t be any fun if you did.”
“Fun? This is fun for you?”
He turned to me, slowly spreading his fingers over his mask to draw it away, revealing a face that made me want to cry. “To a degree.”
“You’re sick, Jason.” I looked away from the eyes of my David, offensive on this vile man.
“I’m not the sick one. Your beloved vampire ex is.”
“David?” I scoffed. “At least he would never take an innocent life for revenge.”
Jason’s sudden burst of laughter was revoltingly boyish and sincere; a different kind of laugh to his brother’s. “Oh, that’s right. You think he’s kind and compassionate.”
“I don’t think. I know.”
He spun around about a foot away and bowed with humor, crossing his hands over his stomach theatrically. “My dear, young lady, you have been kept in the dark, haven’t you?”
“Not as far as I’m concerned.” I wedged my hands onto my hips.
“As far as you’re concerned?” He stood tall again, walking toward me. “As far as you are concerned, my sweet girl, he is a vile, disgusting vampire who kills people with his teeth; not good enough for you to love eternally. Is it any wonder he might have done something terrible in his past that, perhaps, hurt another?”
“Like what?”
“Like killing the girl I was in love with!” Jason’s cold breath infected the side of my face as he sprung up suddenly in front of me, whispering his next words into my skin. “And I intend to repay him the favor.”
I jerked away, shoving him. “Go ahead, Jason. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I wiped my stiff upper lip, rolling my shoulders back. “I’m tired of this. In fact, since you obviously want to taint his honor with your little story about how evil David is, why not break into a bad-guy monologue?” I challenged. “Maybe you can get stuck in it just long enough for me to escape.”
Jason’s hand moved swiftly, and every muscle in my throat seized up, the blood filling my head above the cage of his fingers. “Do not speak to me with su
ch contempt, you haughty little bitch.” He thrust his arm downward, slamming me to the floor.
I coughed out, clenching the grass in a small fist as I tried to catch my breath, half-suffocating under the rattling of my heart.
The predator towered over me, ready for his next move.
“Just leave me alone.” I sniffled, rolling onto my knees and tearing the mask from my face.
“Leave you alone?” He knelt beside me and snatched the mask. “Why would I go and do a thing like that? Especially now you’re crying again.”
“What’s that got to do with it?” I asked, dabbing a finger under my lashes.
“She cried. She begged him to stop.” He turned my jaw until it faced him. I wouldn’t look into his eyes, though. “You, my dear, have only reached phase one of your torture.”
“Then what’s phase two?” I asked through my teeth, scrunching the grass tightly. “If you’re going to kill me, I’d rather not drag this out playing guessing games.”
“Oh, but my lovely girl, games are half the fun. They’re what will climax the ending when I show him the way I hurt you,” he said in a kind voice, like he was talking to a child. “Finally, he will get to see how it feels to watch someone he loves die at the hands of someone he’s trusted his whole life.”
“You saw him kill the girl you loved?” My whisper came out ragged, my throat raw.
“I did—in his memories.” He seemed to choke, visibly struck by the recollection. “You cannot fathom the disgusting things he did to her, Ara. You cannot comprehend what she suffered in those last moments.”
“So you’re going to be the one to make me understand?” I said sarcastically.
“I don’t need you to understand. I need him to understand.” Jason thumbed a tear away from my chin. “But first, let me make you see.”
When his hand came up fast I cowered, shielding my cheek, but he shoved my wrist away, gripping both sides of my face to pull me closer.
“What’re you doing?” I screeched, nose to nose with this man who meant to hurt me.
“Blessing you with the gift of insight.” He squeezed my face tighter as I fought him. “Sit still.”
Dark Secrets Box Set Page 59