The Black Masquerade

by Andrea Pearson

  I gave him a half smile. “I’m a dancer, not a wrestler.”

  He nodded. “I know. You’re very graceful. But it’s too different from the style of fighting we’re doing.”

  “Can’t we learn one of the more dance-like martial arts? If you don’t know one, I can find someone else. There’s got to be someone who can work with my skills.”

  Abel scowled. “No. I’m training you. I’ll look around and find something that’ll work for the future.” He took a breath and released it. “I’m not trying to be possessive . . . even though I definitely feel that. But we need to keep this between the two of us, especially after what happened with Conor. You have no idea if someone is really on your side.”

  He had a point. I hadn’t even realized Conor was dangerous.

  I was finding myself more and more disappointed with how the Shade Amulet was working. If things continued as they were, it would be a miracle for me not to be destroyed by these hounds, and soon. Especially if they all ganged up on me at once.

  I resolved to practice and work hard, to master as many different fighting styles as possible, because I wasn’t about to let some dogs destroy me. It was time to face that childhood fear.

  Abel surprised me by taking me into his arms. He brushed the hair out of my face, gazing down into my eyes. “Lizzie . . . I wanted to tell you first. About my past. But . . . every time I opened my mouth to say something, I lost the nerve.”

  I looked away, not wanting to have this conversation now, if ever.

  “Please, please give me a chance, Lizzie. I’m not an evil person. I’m not a monster.”

  I nodded. Even if I wasn’t ready to believe that, I didn’t want let on to him how I felt. I needed time to think.

  He sighed, relaxing, and tightened his arms around me in a bear hug. “We’ll get this figured out.”

  Abel gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before releasing me and pulling the door open for me to leave.

  Okay. Confession, affection, dismissal. Got it. I waved goodbye, hopped in my car, and drove home. I was seriously ready for some me time.

  Chapter 27

  Chief and Alice arrived right on time. I opened the door for them, grateful to have people I was comfortable with as my guests.

  “How are you doing?” Alice asked immediately, putting her arms around me.

  “A little tender in places—especially the back of my head—but alive.”

  “And that’s what matters,” Chief said. He held a salad, and I motioned for him to put it on the table.

  “We’ll be eating in the living room again. Someday, I’ll have a big enough table, but not yet.”

  Alice chuckled. “You’ll need a bigger place to get a bigger table.”

  I smiled with her. It was an ongoing joke between the three of us. They’d tried to convince me to move closer to them—a house that was almost twice the size of mine was for sale there—but I had no need for more space. This place was perfect for me. Besides, I could always build into the attic if I started hurting for room.

  We sat down to eat, and naturally, conversation turned to the supernatural.

  “Have you seen any sign of vampires recently?” Chief asked.

  “Abel and I found their hive. But no—there haven’t been attacks or recent murders.”

  He asked about our trip to Alpine, and I filled him in.

  “I plan to go to the hospital to talk to the ‘man’ they found in the canyon,” I said. “After the ball is over—so, sometime next week.”

  “Take someone with you,” Chief said. “It doesn’t have to be me, but I’d prefer you not go alone.”

  I nodded. “It’ll probably be Abel. He’s been around vampires before.”

  “So, you’re really sure the man is a vampire?” Alice asked.

  “Yes, positive. Apparently, he’s got a lot of burns all over him and hates the sun. And from what Cole was telling me today, he’s not recovering the way they feel he should.”

  Chief snickered. “Have they tried giving him blood orally?”

  I laughed. “Probably not. I don’t think that’s an FDA-approved method to nurse someone back to life.”

  “I don’t mean to change the topic,” Alice said, “but how’s your family doing?”

  I sighed. “They’re good. I miss them, they miss me. I haven’t been down to see them since Christmas.”

  Alice gasped.

  I knew her surprise was feigned, but I still rushed to defend myself. “I’ve been really busy, as you know. They could come up here to see me, but they haven’t.”

  “Maybe they feel like they need an official invitation,” she said. “You could ask them to come up for Thanksgiving.”

  That wasn’t a bad idea, and I said so. “I’ll have you help me figure out how to appeal to my mother’s emotional side later. For now, I’m going to churn the plan over and get through this week.”

  “Are you ready for the masquerade?” Chief asked, setting his now-empty plate aside.

  “Nearly. Abel and I will be finishing things off tomorrow.”

  “Oh, speaking of which,” Alice said, “we got an official invite, honey.”

  Chief frowned. “What ever for? We were already planning on coming.”

  “Maybe they wanted to be sure we knew just how invited we were.”

  I laughed with them. “I wasn’t aware you and the governor knew each other.”

  “We don’t,” Alice said. “He’s trying to get our vote.”

  I smiled. I loved these two so much. They were my family away from family.

  Once we’d finished dinner and dessert and they’d left, Sia and I settled in to watching the last half of Jurassic World. I’d started it a couple of weeks earlier, the night the amulet had come. It was nice to finally finish something.

  Chapter 28

  I met Abel after an early lunch Saturday morning. I produced his temporary badge—Chief had dropped it off when he’d come for dinner. It would allow Abel to carry weapons into the event without someone batting an eye. My own badge already granted me that ability, and I would bring my usual CZ, along with several of the things Abel and I had practiced with the day before.

  We spent all afternoon designing our costumes further and finding places to hide all of the weapons. Just as we are finishing up, my phone rang. It was a call from a number I didn’t recognize, which wasn’t unusual.

  “Lizzie Ashton?”

  “Yes?”

  “Oh, thank heavens. This is Sergeant Hansen from Kearns. We need you to come as soon as you possibly can. We’ve got an active hostage situation. Multiple gunmen, several casualties already, and that number will rise given how many people they’re holding. We’re struggling to understand the demands of these dirt bags and haven’t come to a resolution.”

  I jumped to my feet, setting my gown aside. “What’s the address?”

  “I’ll text it to you. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. I’m on my way.”

  I hung up and glanced apologetically at Abel. “Sorry. Gotta go. Getting called on a job. Active shooter.”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time. “The ball starts in forty-five minutes. You don’t want to be late. Especially if something is going to be happening there.”

  “I know.” It would take at least thirty minutes to get from Abel’s warehouse in Lindon to Kearns—forty, if I went the speed limit. “I’ll do my best. Just hold down the fort until I get there.”

  “Are you serious? You know I can’t do that. What if hounds are there?” Abel put a hand on my arm. “Your first priority is this masquerade. You told Chief you’d be there. Sometimes other things have to fall to the side to keep our commitments. Even when innocent lives are involved.”

  I hesitated for a split second. “I’ll only be half an hour late, forty-five minutes tops.”

  “You can’t promise that. If this is an active shooter situation, it could take all night.”

  I pulled my keys from
my purse and said, “I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

  He released me, an expression of hesitation on his face. He obviously didn’t believe I’d make it to the ball. But what else was I supposed to do? Kearns was a rough city. It wasn’t rough like Detroit or Chicago, and it wasn’t always on the list of top-ten most dangerous cities in Utah, but still, I’d been called out there several times in the past three years. And I couldn’t just leave innocent people in an active shooter situation. I’d simply have to go as fast as I could.

  I ran outside, hopped in my car, and put my flashing light on my roof, making sure it was plugged in. I still hadn’t had Chief install a siren. That needed to get done.

  On the way to Kearns, I got a call from Nicole. I almost didn’t answer, but decided that since I was stuck driving and didn’t have anything else to do, a conversation with her would keep me distracted. I answered, switching to the car’s sounds system so I could keep both hands on the wheel.

  “Hey, I forgot to tell you the other day,” Nicole said. “Austin and I got an invite to the black masquerade in Utah tonight.”

  I tilted my head. “You did? Why?”

  “Something about honoring us for what we did for the country. It felt kind of random, especially since neither of us has ever talked to your governor.”

  “Yeah, totally random. It’s been several years—why honor you now and not earlier?” I didn’t mention I hadn’t been officially invited. I didn’t want to make Nicole feel bad.

  “Who knows. Obviously, I can’t go. I’d just rather not deal with traveling at all right now, just in case. I know nothing will happen, I’m only halfway through my pregnancy, but I’d still feel safer staying at home as much as possible.”

  I nodded. “I’d rather you be safe too.”

  We ended the call, and I focused on driving again, gripping the steering wheel. It kind of hurt that Nicole and Austin had been invited as honored guests and I hadn’t. I mean, I knew it was petty, but I’d given quite a bit to the state of Utah over the past three years. Nicole had served the country, it was true, but I’d been serving this state. Shouldn’t they have officially invited me as well?

  I tried to push the feelings of envy away, not sure why it was bothering me so much. I didn’t normally get jealous, especially when it came to Nicole.

  Five minutes later, and when I was only fifteen minutes from Kearns, my phone rang again. I rolled my eyes, flipping it over to see who was calling. Oh! Eleanora. This, I’d definitely take.

  “Lizzie, be careful,” Eleanora said after I answered. “I have reason to believe something is wrong with your amulet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve done some research. Found one of my old friends who knew of the amulet and what it is supposed to do. Let’s just say it’s either lost power over the years, or it’s not functioning correctly.”

  I gripped the wheel tighter. “What sorts of things should I be able to do with it?”

  I heard the sound of paper shuffling. “First off, it doesn’t have to recharge. It should be able to help you grasp and snuff out fire regardless of how frequently it has been done.”

  “Great,” I groaned. “What else?”

  “As it gets to know you and your powers, you should be able to reach people from greater distances.”

  “I knew it!” My instincts hadn’t been off. But this wasn’t good. Something was wrong with the amulet—there had to be.

  “Not only that, but it should enhance your natural abilities. You’re a dancer, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  From the moment I could walk, my mom had put me in dancing lessons. I hadn’t stopped taking them until I’d gone to college, and as a result, I’d gotten quite good—good enough to compete nationally. It wasn’t my passion, though, and as soon as I could, I’d stopped doing it.

  “The amulet should expound on those abilities hugely. You should practically fly around your enemies because of how light you are on your feet, staying several steps ahead of them.”

  It obviously wasn’t doing that. Otherwise, fighting with Abel today and yesterday would’ve been much easier.

  Eleanora sighed. “That’s not it, though. You should be able to see ghosts and communicate with them. You would ask the amulet to lead you to the nearest shade who is a guardian of Koven, and that shade would help you find a local path to Mount Koven.”

  I shook my head. This was getting worse and worse. “What do I do?”

  Chapter 29

  “I suggest you go back to the person who gave it to you. And as fast as you can. Now, if possible. You can’t be facing hounds with an amulet that won’t protect you.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t go now. I’ve got that ball tonight.”

  “Oh, I got an invite to that. I decided not to go.”

  Of course they would honor her. That made sense.

  “I’m about to arrive at a job right now. I’ve got to hang up so I can get this finished as soon as possible. I’ll be late for the ball as it is.”

  Eleanora hesitated. “You got called out on a job?”

  I nodded, even though I knew she couldn’t see it. “Yes. Like I said, I’ll do it as fast as possible.”

  Eleanora tsked. “It might be legit. It probably is. Treat it that way. But Lizzie, is there a chance the hounds know the amulet isn’t working?”

  I pulled to a stop at a red light, my heart pounding in my chest as I thought over what Eleanora was insinuating. I was only a couple of streets away from my destination.

  Oh, gosh. My date with Conor. Of course he’d wonder why the amulet didn’t tell me who he was. The date had probably been a test to see how close he could get to me without me knowing what he really was.

  “Yes. There is.”

  “Be careful, very careful. Your job is to protect innocent people—I understand your need to make sure you do everything you can for others. But you need to protect yourself first and foremost. If the situation doesn’t look right, if things don’t add up, do not get out of your car.”

  “Okay. I won’t. I promise.”

  “I’ll be praying for you and contacting my sources. Be careful.”

  I agreed to do so, and we ended the conversation.

  The light turned green, and I put my foot on the gas. The closer I got, the worse I felt about the situation. I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination, but the streetlights in this part of town seemed to be dimmer than usual.

  “Stop freaking yourself out,” I whispered.

  My GPS took me down the next right and informed me that my destination would be five hundred feet ahead of me. Naturally, a dead end.

  The area I’d been directed to was in an industrial part of town. No one was on the streets, and it didn’t look like somewhere innocent people would be found, unless the perps had brought them there.

  And what’s more, there weren’t any police cars or officers. If this was an active hostage situation, where were the cops?

  I felt a moment of hope when I realized this could be the rendezvous point where I was to meet Sergeant Sampson and get a rundown on what was happening. But no one was there to meet me.

  Double-checking that my windows were all rolled up and my doors locked, I slowly drove down the road. My instincts were screaming that something was off. And as I drove, I realized what it was.

  Nicole been invited to the ball. Chief and Eleanora had been invited to the ball. But the only invitation I’d received had been through Chief. And that was because he’d been worried that the governor would become a target for something.

  Everyone I’d told about the hounds had been invited to the ball. But I hadn’t been invited.

  I was heading into a trap.

  The GPS told me to stop, and I did, right in the middle the road. No one was around, and no other car had passed for several minutes. Not since the stoplight. I kept my hands on the wheel, thinking, trying to control my panic. But was I over-thinking? Worrying too much? Paranoid?

 
No. I shook my head. Something was off. I knew it.

  I was about to put the car in reverse when I saw something in the shadows by the warehouse in front of me. It was a dog—big, gray. It turned and looked at me. Snarled. I could see its teeth in the moonlight.

  I had to get out of there.

  Before I had the chance to pop the gear into reverse, though, something slammed into my window. The glass cracked. I screamed and dropped my foot on the gas, barreling forward into the parking lot where I’d just seen the hound.

  Something hit the window again. The crack spread, splintering off into hundreds of little lines. The glass wouldn’t hold much longer. I put the car in reverse, pounded on the gas, and ran over several hounds who’d apparently been chasing after my car. In my fear, I hadn’t noticed.

  “Crap, crap, crap,” I said, spinning the wheel until the car was facing the direction I’d come from.

  Something hit my window again, and the glass shattered, spraying me with shards. I couldn’t believe this person’s perfect aim.

  I yanked the car into drive and pushed the gas again, ignoring as dogs and people—tons of them—started pouring onto the street. I aimed my car at as many of them as I could, plowing them over. Dogs and humans alike jumped, scrambled, trying to get out of the way. I struck more of them than I could count. Finally, I raced away, leaving at least fifty injured or dead hounds behind.

  I didn’t have the chance to relax, though. Someone reached through the window and grabbed me by the hair, trying to rip me out of the seat. Thank goodness I was wearing a seatbelt! I stomped on the brakes as hard as I could, yanking the steering wheel to the right, feeling as my right wheels left the asphalt momentarily. The person released my hair and spun off the top of the car, slamming into the ground. I pounded my foot onto the gas pedal, driving over the man.

  I didn’t know how he got on top of the car without me noticing, but he’d knocked off my flashing light in the process. I could hear it dragging on the road as I sped east through Kearns.

  “Stupid thing,” I muttered, yanking the plug out of the cigarette charger and tossing it out the window. Then I called Abel.