Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Harleen didn’t remember falling asleep, but she felt her eyes flutter softly, as though she currently woke up from some sort of slumber. What was the last thing she remembered, exactly? Andrew, she remembered Andrew standing outside her window. But what did he want with her? He wanted to take her away somewhere. It was almost romantic, actually. Harleen began to remember the scene that played out from the previous night – the fact that Andrew had thrown pebbles at her window was enough to make her heart warm at the thought. It had always been a romantic dream that a guy would do that; Rosco never did. He always slept and probably wouldn’t know what a pebble was compared to a rock or even a stone.
Harleen frowned at her scathing thoughts. She never thought like this. She knew Rosco wasn’t romantic, and she had accepted that. But there were times when she wished he was, especially when someone like Andrew did something like that.
Her body started taking into consideration the fact that she might not be in her own bedroom. In fact, the bed – the room – she was in was ridiculously unfamiliar. It resembled that of a hotel suite; the bed was a California king, the room was wide with white walls and matching carpet, there was a vanity table complete with a mirror across from the bed and against the wall while a walk-in closet stood adjacent to the right side of her bed. A large squared-shape window with the curtains drawn was on the wall next to her.
Did she stay at a hotel room with Andrew? Setting aside the fact that it looked expensive and again, quite romantic, as well as the fact that Andrew was currently nowhere to be found, Harleen had no idea where she was, and that truly scared her. Andrew didn’t seem to be the type of person to use the date-rape drug on her… A thought snapped into her mind and she glanced down. All of her clothing that she had worn before was still on her body. Okay… And, from where she was sitting, her pelvis didn’t hurt. It didn’t feel like she had been raped, but if she had been drugged, it might not hurt. Harleen didn’t know and didn’t want to claim that she did.
Instead, she tried to focus her thoughts on what had happened. Okay, she had already been over the part where Andrew had gotten her attention, and then she remembered climbing down and meeting him in the front yard. After that, they spoke to each other. Oddly enough, Harleen couldn’t quite recall just what it was that had been exchanged between the two, but she remembered the look Andrew had given her. His dark hazel eyes had sculpted her face, darkening as he asked her if she wanted to ditch Newport with him. It smoldered – that’s what it was. Those eyes of his were dangerous.
And she had said yes. What in the world would make her say yes? She had a boyfriend! Harleen had a boyfriend and her boyfriend’s name was Rosco. She wasn’t the type of girl who went gallivanting around with boys, however chiseled they might be and however smoldering their eyes were. But for some strange reason, she had said yes; she had agreed to join him on an adventure, and now here she was, stranded somewhere she wasn’t familiar with, alone.
She wondered where the hell Andrew went. If they had had sex, she would clock him. And then she’d get Rosco to beat the shit out of him. And then she’d call the cops.
But what if he didn’t rape you? a voice asked, causing Harleen’s entire body to tense. What if he didn’t drug you and you consented to have sex with him but you just don’t remember?
Was that even possible? Okay, and even if there was a chance something like that had happened, it wasn’t likely Harleen would end up back in the clothes she had worn previously.
Suddenly, Harleen heard the door handle turn, and everything inside of her froze. She sucked in a breath and watched as the door opened… and a girl, no more than sixteen walked inside. Harleen released her breath, but still eyed the girl curiously.
“Oh,” the girl said with surprise, once she saw that Harleen was awake. “I wasn’t sure if you were up or not, ma’am. Would you like me to get you something to drink? Coffee, or maybe you prefer tea?”
“Um, no,” Harleen said, shaking her head. Didn’t maids usually knock before entering a room? And wasn’t it a little early for a maid to be cleaning the room? And did maids even offer guests drinks? Where had Andrew taken her? “No, no thank you.” She knew the next question she was going to ask would be embarrassing, but Harleen didn’t care. She needed to know where she was, especially if she wasn’t in Newport Beach anymore. “Um, I need to ask you something though.” The maid – girl – who hired sixteen year olds to clean up hotel rooms anyways? Wasn’t that illegal? – perked her brow, indicating that Harleen should continue. “Yes, well, I don’t seem to remember where I am, and any help you could give me would be… helpful.” Lame, Harleen. Very, very lame.
The maid smiled and even giggled a bit. “He said you might not remember,” she murmured to herself, but Harleen immediately caught what the young girl had said.
“Andrew?” she questioned. “Has Andrew talked to you? Where is he anyways?”
“Andrew?” the maid asked, arching a brow. “Oh, I know who you mean. Yes, Andrew is one of his many names.” She gave Harleen what she hoped friendly smile. “I am Amber, Your Majesty.” Harleen furrowed her brow at the odd title the girl gave her, but before she could question it, Amber continued. “This is going to take a lot out of you, Your Majesty. And you probably won’t believe me, but it is imperative that you do. You are in Hell. Andrew is the ruler here, the King. And in a manner of moments, he will be your husband.”
Harleen pressed her lips together in order to conceal a smile that was threatening to slide on her face. There was absolutely no way that that was possible, but this poor girl really did think that it was so. Well, Harleen didn’t want to offend the girl, especially if it turned out that this was one big dream. It probably was a dream anyways. How could it not be a dream? She was probably still at home, no doubt slumped over her desk, a half-written essay on The Grapes of Wrath on her laptop.
“I am going to have to dress you, Your Highness,” Amber said, glancing over at a grandfather clock tucked in a corner of the room. Harleen frowned; she hadn’t noticed that before now.
“Please,” Harleen began, holding up a hand. “I would prefer it if you didn’t address me as Your Highness or Your Majesty or anything like that. Just call me Harleen. Please.”
Amber furrowed her brow together, unsure if Harleen was giving her some sort of test. “All right, Your,” she began, but then cut herself off. “Harleen. All right Harleen.”
Harleen smiled and then nodded her head. If this was a dream – which it probably was – she had no qualms with staying here for a while. It was better than being at home with Edgar, trying to get some work done. And really, it wasn’t all that much of a stretch for her to dream that Andrew was, in fact, the devil.
“So, what is it that you need me to do?” Harleen asked, arching a brow as she returned her eyes to the young girl before her.
“I don’t need you to do anything, Harleen,” Amber explained, the word still foreign on her tongue. “I am here to take care of you while you’re here. But, as of right now, I need to start preparing you for your wedding. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to draw you a bath and we’ll start from there. Is that all right with you?”
“Hey, if you need to do it, I’m not going to get in the way with your job,” Harleen told her. She glanced around as though she was looking for something. “Wher
e is it though? The restroom?”
Amber led her to a wall before placing her palm flat on the surface of it. Harleen heard a small ‘click’ and a layer of the wall pop up. With wide eyes, she watched as Amber took hold of the handle and pulled it out before waving her hand at Harleen, gesturing as gracefully as she could that she should go first.
Harleen was still surprised as she walked through the door, but her eyes popped when she looked at the actual bathroom. Everything was clean and made of marble. There was a porcelain bathtub, a platinum showerhead, two sinks, a cabinet filled with towels. Harleen had originally thought her bathroom at her new house was amazing, but this was… incredible.
“Harleen?” Amber said when she noticed that Harleen looked around the room. She gestured at the bathtub. “It should be filled in a minute.”
Harleen still couldn’t believe it. No doubt Freud would have a field day with this; she dreamt that she was about to marry some guy she had met a month ago even though she had had a long-term boyfriend.
Oh, and the guy she was supposed to marry also happened to be the devil.
Chapter 2
It was only when Harleen stepped out of the tub after Amber had insisted that she wash and condition her hair while Harleen washed her body did Harleen finally wonder why her dream was so vivid and her senses were so sharp. Could it possibly be that she was awake? That she was supposed to be married to a guy she thought was just some random guy her uncle knew… Wait a minute. Wait a gosh darn minute. All of the money. The new house. The fact that Edgar hung out with Andrew. The fact that Andrew always hung around.
“Oh my God,” Harleen said as she stared at herself in the mirror. Currently sitting down in front of her vanity mirror, she was only in white lingerie as Amber blew her hair dry. “Is this actually real?” The idea was preposterous, but then again, so was Edgar making enough money in two weeks in order to move from some shitty apartment in Costa Mesa to some mansion in Dover Shores. “Am I actually here? Is this actually Hell?!”
“Um, yes,” Amber said, tilting her head up and turning off the hair dryer. “I thought I had already explained that to you, ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am,” Harleen said automatically, shaking her head as she stared at herself. Could she really have been so stupid? “But I mean, I didn’t expect this to be true. I thought this was a dream.” Her eyes widened and she straightened, turning her torso so she could look at Amber dead on. “I need to go home, do you understand me? I can’t marry Andrew. I don’t even like Andrew. I didn’t even do anything wrong! I’m not supposed to be in Hell. Hell, I’m not even dead. Oh my God, did he kill me? If the devil kills me, does that mean I automatically go to Hell?”
Amber giggled at how flustered Harleen seemed to be. “The devil – er, Andrew, as you refer to him – didn’t kill you,” she explained with a patience Harleen had yet to learn. “Andrew claimed you. But he couldn’t take you away from wherever you’re from without your consent. He may be the devil, but he can’t tamper with freewill. Didn’t he say anything to you of where you might be going?”
Harleen closed her eyes when she felt Amber start to fiddle with her hair. She tried to remember if Andrew had told her his plans. “Oh my God,” she said, but this time it came out in the form of a groan. “Yes, yes he told me he was going to claim me, that we were going to Hell, but I thought he was kidding. That’s what he always says. That I’m his, that he’s going to…” Harleen’s face dropped as she realized now what that all meant, and she placed her face in her hands, despite the fact that Amber was still doing her hair. “How could I have been so stupid?” she mumbled into her hands.
“Oh, ma’am,” Amber said with a soft smile. Upon realizing her mistake, she cleared her throat. “Harleen, I mean Harleen. Many a women are charmed by Andrew. It’s no surprise that you are also one of them.”
“I don’t want to be one of them!” Harleen exclaimed, dropping her hands, her face red. “I want to be different. I don’t want to be like every other girl who is in love with him.”
“Well, you’re not,” Amber pointed out, looking in the mirror, locking eyes with Harleen. “You’re the only one who’s getting married to him, which, I must say, is enraging the women who fawn over him.”
“I don’t care,” Harleen said, her voice flat. “Wait, but why am I even here? I’m not dead and I don’t remember proclaiming that I was going to sell my soul for anything. I work my ass off for my good grades, thank you very much.”
“No,” Amber agreed with a hidden smile. “No, you’re not dead. But you will live forever here, looking the way you do, just like Andrew will look the way he does for all eternity. And the reason you are here, Harleen, though I am uncertain that I should be the one to tell you this, is because of a man named Edgar – your uncle, I believe. He proclaimed that he would sell his soul for an infinite amount of wealth. But Andrew did not want Edgar’s soul. He wanted yours.”
“So you’re saying that my uncle sold me out to the devil?” Harleen asked, her voice getting shrill with each word. “You’re saying people can actually do that? I am barely eighteen years old! How is it possible that Edgar can do that?”
Amber shrugged. “You shouldn’t be asking me,” she said. “I only know that it’s possible.” She stood now, admiring the way Harleen’s hair looked. “Now, we should get your face done before slipping on the dress. The wedding starts in a few hours…”
Harleen was in such a state of shock that she didn’t hear Amber, and allowed the young girl to lead her to wherever. She didn’t care; she wasn’t even paying attention.
--
Once Harleen was fully dressed in her wedding attire, she followed Amber as the maid led her out her bedroom door, her insides churning. Harleen knew that women usually got a bit nervous right before they were about to walk down the aisle, but she figured this was a tad different. Her butterflies were boulders, whacking into every orifice of her stomach. Her heart tried to make a new home in her throat, and her head slipped into unconsciousness, and wouldn’t have failed had it not been for the boulders and the practical heart attack. Harleen thought that if she was still on earth, she would be having a heart attack.
Amber led Harleen down the winding staircase, but instead of taking her out the front door of the castle, she led her down the main hallway and in front of two glass doors. Harleen could see the backyard… and instead of fire and pain and suffering, she saw bright green grass, lush trees surrounding the area, and a crowd of people sitting on either side of the aisle in white lawn chairs. They were either dressed in red and black, and sometimes both, looking very nice, very pleasant. As she continued to look around, she saw many attractive women, all looking somewhat miserable because Andrew was getting married.
“Red and black,” Amber whispered from beside her. Harleen must have been so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice before how Amber was dressed. Her curly, auburn hair was straightened and flowed down her back beautifully. She was dressed in a form-fitting dress; it was high-necked but bare backed, with long sleeves. The only place the dress wasn’t tight was at the waist, where it flared out around her. Two slits went up both sides of her legs, and she wore black stilettos. She looked… Wow.
“The colors are a sign of good luck,” she explained. “It means they wish you and Andrew a happy marriage.”
“Why are some of the women wearing blue?” Harleen asked, craning her neck to get a better look at said women.
“They’re jealous,” Amber stated in a dismissive tone. “They want Andrew all to themselves. It’s also a very offensive color to wear, mocking you, in essence.”
Harleen frowned at the thought. “I don’t like them,” she said, her voice quiet.
“No one does,” the young woman told me. “They’re Andrew’s… oh, how should I say it?... leftovers.”
Harleen’s eyes narrowed. Okay, so she didn’t want to marry this guy, but still; did he really invite his whores to their wedding? Was he that m
uch of a jerk?! Yes, she knew he was the devil for crying out loud, but she was still surprised at the audacity of their presence.
“Don’t worry,” Amber said, mistaking Harleen’s anger for jealousy. “If Andrew is anything, he’s loyal.”
The statement caught her off-guard and she glanced back down the aisle. A couple of men were in black suits. She still couldn’t see Andrew. Amber followed her gaze.
“They can’t see us, you know,” Amber said under her breath. “Cool thing. These windows are comparative to the interrogation rooms on Earth. They can’t see us but we can see them.” She paused. “Are you ready? They’re about to start the music.”
There was music in hell?
No, to Amber’s question.
“Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
As the door glided open, Harleen’s heart started to race. Again. She could hear her heart over the music, it was that loud. The people began stood, and everyone looked at the young woman. She was suddenly self-conscious. Harleen tried to look for something to stare at, to help keep the thread of sanity she had left. She could feel herself tearing up, but she would not cry in front of these people, least of all him. Amber reached out and squeezed Harleen’s hand, causing her worries to flutter away temporarily. Then, Amber began to walk down the red aisle.
Dancing With the Devil (The Devil #2) Page 1