Revelations: The Black Chalice (Revelations Series Book 1)

by Lauretta Hignett

  “Good for them!” Clover sang. “They were seriously disturbed.”

  “They were,” I said. “Mickey will be relieved. I think he was worried that he was going to have to shoot one of them.”

  Clover gave me a squeeze. “Are you feeling better, hon?”

  “I was,” I replied. “Until you reminded me that I was furious at Hannah.”

  “You’re not furious at Hannah,” Dale piped up. “You just hate her. You’re furious at Alex Sorensen for going with her.”

  “Shut up, Dale,” I sang, grinding my teeth.

  “I’m going to keep saying it until you admit that you like him.”

  “Of course I like him. He saved my life.”

  “I mean you like-like him.”

  “Dale, go gently,” Clover chided him.

  “Yes, Dale, be gentle with me.”

  “Only remind her that she likes-likes him every ten minutes or so.”

  “Clover. Shut it.”

  “Farrah would tell you to face your fears.” She grinned in my face.

  “Yes, she would. But she’d be far less annoying about it,” I muttered. “Anyway, can we change the subject?”

  “We can!” Clover said brightly. “Eve, what were you talking to Nathaniel about? I saw you guys having a heart-to-heart.”

  Dale gasped and smacked me on the shoulder. “Hands off my man, you hussy!”

  “Okay guys, quit it,” I said furiously, pushing open the gate to the bar with a hard shove. “We’re not talking about me anymore. And we are not talking about Alexander Sorensen or Nathaniel Armanduccio for the rest of the night. Not one more word!”

  “Uh, Eve? That’s going to be a bit difficult.” Clover grinned at me.

  I glared back. “Why?”

  She pointed toward the far corner of the staff bar. “Because they’re both sitting over there.”

  I looked. The first thing I saw was Alex. As usual, he seemed to take up the whole of my vision. He sat at the far table of the staff bar, the lush, green jungle brushing up behind him. His posture seemed relaxed, his arms loose, one of his big hands curled around a glass of whisky.

  He was staring right at me.

  “I don’t think we’re going to be able to ignore them,” Dale stage-whispered.

  My vision expanded slowly, and I saw Nate sitting in the chair beside Alex. He, too, was watching me expectantly.

  “Well,” Dale sighed, trying to sound reluctant. “I guess we better go over and say hi.”

  “No, you idiot, let Eve go by herself!” Clover hissed.

  “She might need some help!”

  “She’ll be fine!”

  “Someone needs to keep Nate occupied while she talks to Alex,” Dale said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Sweetheart, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  “I don’t care. I’m going to take my kicks where I can get them.”

  “Okay, whatever.” Clover shrugged, turned to me, and gave me a quick hug. “Just relax, honey. You don’t have to do anything. Just breathe, and try and enjoy yourself.” She patted my butt, pushing me forward. “Go on.”

  I was suddenly excruciatingly tired, and a little bit sad. I didn’t want to go over to Alex. I didn’t particularly want to hear what he had to say. But my feet seemed to work independently of my head, and I found myself trudging slowly toward their table, with Dale scooting along, quivering in excitement, beside me.

  Alex watched me coming. His blue eyes never left my face. His expression was inscrutable.

  Before either myself or Dale could say anything, Nate got to his feet and waved at Dale. “Hi, guys! I’ve been trying to talk Alex into having a game of ping-pong, but he doesn’t want me to humiliate him.” He flashed us a beautiful, serene smile that was totally at odds with his frat-boy words. “Dale, do you want to play with me?”

  There was a loaded silence.

  “YesIwanttoplaywithyou,” Dale blurted out. Suddenly, he looked horrified. “Um, yeah, I mean I would like you to humiliate me.” He cringed. “Play me! I want you to play me. In… in ping-pong, I mean.”

  Nate just smiled and nodded back toward the bar, where the table was set up. “Okay, let’s go!”

  Dale seemed to have forgotten how to walk properly. I was treated to the sight of him jerking away like a robot, holding his hands up to his chest like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. They drifted away through the strange, misty haze that often appeared during a humid night.

  It was still very dark. Dawn was an hour or so away. The night seemed closer than usual, and warmer, like a velvety cloak that covered every surface.

  Alex’s distant-thunder voice rumbled me out of my reverie. “Are you okay?”

  Reluctantly, I turned around to face him. I still couldn’t read his expression. I thought about what he asked. Was I okay? I wasn’t sure.

  One of his eyebrows quirked up ever so slightly, as he waited for me to speak. When it became clear that I wasn’t going to, he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there today. When that guy appeared.”

  “You don’t have to be around to save me every time,” I said, too sharply. “I understand you were busy.”

  He frowned. “I wasn’t busy. But… I thought…”

  “What? And you don’t have to worry. Nate got him.” I gave him what I hoped was a genuine smile. “I hope you enjoyed your date.”

  He looked startled. “Enjoyed? Eve, I wasn’t on a date.”

  “You had dinner with Hannah. I was there when she invited you, remember? And I know that you accepted her invitation because four of the wait staff were gossiping about you and her as they went back into the kitchen.” My cheeks flushed as I realized that I sounded like I was checking up on him.

  But he was shaking his head. “No, Eve. I thought… I thought you would want me to...” He looked bewildered.

  “Why would I want you to have dinner with Hannah? She’s awful!”

  “I know she is! I can see her, remember? That girl has got enough negative energy stored up to keep her in hell for all eternity.”

  I was confused. “So why would you go on a date with her?”

  Alex furrowed his brow. “I thought you wanted to keep your job? It seemed like it was important to you. And I could sense that she would give you trouble if I didn’t go with her.”

  “Wait, I’m confused. You went with her… because of me?”

  Alex stared at me like I was an idiot. I was certainly starting to feel like one. “Yes,” he said simply. “I spent the whole night trying to persuade her to leave you alone. I don’t think it did any good. She’s probably one of the most self-absorbed people I’ve ever met. I very nearly resorted to compelling her, but… somehow, I wasn’t sure if you would want me to do that.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. He was right though—compelling her to be a nice person felt like cheating. She should learn to be nice without being brainwashed into doing it.

  I felt so foolish. I’d spent the night nursing my hurt feelings for no good reason. He’d gone with her not because he wanted to, but for me, to try and get her off my back.

  My cheeks grew warm. Alex smiled. “You thought I liked her? I’m insulted.”

  “Well, she is very pretty.”

  “On the outside, maybe,” he shrugged. “But her insides, which I can see just as clearly, are like a festering garbage chute.”

  I stifled a smile. But just then, Alex beamed at me happily, and I couldn’t hold it back. Suddenly, I was grinning like an idiot right back at him, feeling a glorious warmth spread from my chest, down through my body, all the way to the tips of my toes and the ends of my fingers.

  I wanted to stay this way forever.

  If this was what it was like to have a crush, I’d happily take it, a million times over.

  “There you are!” Hannah Savage’s faux-sex-kitten voice cut through everything, shattering my happy little bubble to pieces. “I wondered where you’d gone to. Di
d you get lost?”

  Of course, she wasn’t talking to me. She was speaking directly to Alex. She strode in from behind me, ignoring me completely, and draped herself into the chair next to Alex, managing to shift it closer to his seat at the same time. She was still in her slinky red cocktail dress; it hugged all her curves and cascaded beautifully down her sharp edges. Everyone here knew how awful she was, but I could still see how many men were staring at her in admiration.

  I guessed Alex was lucky, being able to see with his eyes how rotten she was. To be fair, the boys around here knew exactly how rotten she was, but the startling sensuality of her appearance seemed to wipe all that out. It was maddening.

  She leaned toward Alex, putting her elbows together on the table so her cleavage would pop out. I heard a couple of whistles from behind me. She was creating a stir, but she ignored everyone except Alex. “I’m about to go and watch the sunrise over the ridge,” she purred. “Come with me.”

  It wasn’t even an invitation; it was an order. Alex’s beautiful smile had disappeared, and his eyes were glazed. He turned to her sharply, glaring at her. But then he looked back toward me, a question in his eyes.

  I knew exactly what the question was. I nodded.

  He turned back to Hannah. “No way in hell.”

  She reeled back. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. There’s no way I want to join you to watch the sunrise,” he said, the chiseled lines of his jaw tensed. “I’ve just wasted the last five hours of my life in your company because I thought I might be able to persuade you to be a bit more of a nicer person. That was obviously a lost cause, right from the start.”

  “How… how dare you?” Hannah spluttered, outraged. “I’ve been a gracious host to you! I’ve done nothing but be nice to you!”

  “Miss Savage,” Alex replied in a low tone. “You have done nothing but suck up to me with the hope of achieving some personal validation. I’ve had to listen to you talk about yourself all night. I’ve watched you walk all over every single one of the employees here. You are rude, distasteful, entitled, spoiled, selfish, and vain.”

  “I am not!” Hannah screeched. “I was trying to show you a good time! I needed to make sure everything was perfect!”

  “You yelled at that waitress in the caves for a good five minutes, in my presence, all because she didn’t bring your salad undressed,” he replied in a bored tone. “Which you never asked for in the first place.”

  “So what? I have high expectations,” Hannah sneered, curling her lip. “And you’re a fool if you don’t. That’s what make us elite.”

  “No, that’s what makes you a spoiled bitch.”

  Alex’s retort caught me by surprise, and I laughed out loud. It drew Hannah’s attention, and she turned and gave me a death stare. “What are you doing here, loser?”

  “It’s the staff bar, honey,” I replied sweetly. “I’m supposed to be here. You’re not.”

  She glared back at Alex. “I suppose this is what you’re into, is it?” she spat out, nodding her head toward me. “You prefer the help? Stupid gutter trash like little Miss Eve Horne?” She was spitting venom like a cobra. “Easier to use up and throw away, huh?”

  Suddenly, Alex reared back from her, and his mouth dropped wide open. His gaze swung toward me, confused. “Horne? Your last name is Horne?”

  Hannah laughed. It was a shrill, bitter sound. “Yes, but you’re barking up the wrong tree there, darling. Horne by name, not-horny by nature. You’d have more luck hooking up with a lockbox. Stupid prude,” she sniffed haughtily. She reached out and took hold of Alex’s glass of whiskey and downed it in one gulp.

  But Alex didn’t seem to care, or even notice that Hannah was still there. He was focused on me, his eyes burning into my face—confusion, horror, and fear all reflected in his expression. I didn’t understand why Alex suddenly looking at me like I was a ghost.

  Or something much worse.

  “Horne,” he murmured, shaking his head slowly. “Oh, God.”

  I felt ice in the pit of my stomach. “What is it? Alex, I don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “Yeah, Alex,” Hannah drawled, curling herself up in her chair. “You’re being weird.”

  Whatever was causing his world to collapse, Hannah’s careless bitchiness snapped him right out of it. He stood up abruptly. “Hannah, go back to your suite. Stay there forever, for all I care. I have no interest in you, nor will I ever have any interest in you.”

  “I’ll have you thrown out of this resort first thing in the morning,” she sneered at his back.

  Suddenly I couldn't see her anymore, because Alex was standing right in front of me. He was so close. I shivered, even though I was far from cold.

  He looked down at me, his jaw tense again. “Come with me,” he whispered. He held out his hand.

  I took it, my heart in my mouth, and he led me away.

  As soon as we were out of the gate, I tugged on his arm. “Alex? Will you please tell me what is going on?”

  He glanced back at me but didn’t slow down and kept striding toward his bungalow. “I need to ask you a couple of personal questions. I’m sorry, but they’re archaic and rude.”

  “You’re starting to scare me.”

  He gave a short bark of laughter. “I haven’t even started yet.” He led me up the path toward his bungalow, There was a whoosh of air, and suddenly Nate was beside us.

  “We have a lead?”

  Alex nodded grimly. “A suspicion. And I really hope I’m not right.”

  They hustled me inside. Alex led me to the couch while Nate headed to the small kitchen and switched on the kettle.

  “All right, I’m sorry about this, Eve, but I really need to you to answer a couple of questions.”

  “Okay,” I was still bewildered. “I think you probably know everything about me already though…”

  Alex seemed to cringe slightly, but then he gathered himself and looked me dead in the eye. “Are you still a virgin?”

  That was not what I was expecting. “Excuse me? How dare you?”

  His eyes were sad and desperate. “I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business. But if you are, then all this trouble might just make some sense.”

  I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t understand why he would need to know this, but he seemed so scared.

  Just like I was. And as soon as I considered his questions, I was plunged back into the terror of my memories. My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

  He took my hands in his big ones and kneeled in front of me. “Eve, I’m so sorry about this. I know that throughout your teens, you have been attacked several times. Have any of your attackers managed to rape you?”

  My pulse beat faster and harder as each one of the attacks ripped through my mind. Each one was different, but the same somehow. Each time, the person who attacked me seemed like they just wanted to kill me. They were all violent.

  It didn’t always start out that way. My father had gotten drunk and lost control. The foster kid, the group home leader… my first boyfriend. They’d all lost control. The man who had attacked me in the parking lot of my old job didn’t seem like he ever had any control. All of them wanted to crush me, grope me, touch me in places I never wanted to be touched again.

  But I fought them all off.

  The last two attacks—here, at Revelations—had been different. Those men appeared to act like murder was more their intent.

  But the others…

  Finally, I took a shallow, painful breath.

  “I fought them off,” I said in a whisper.

  Alex held my hands, motionless, and waited.

  “The last man who attacked me,” I swallowed roughly. “It was only a year ago. The one I didn’t tell you about… when I was working at that motel. He saw me leaving work one day and he followed me to the car park and forced himself on me. I tried to fight, but he was so strong. He had a knife, and he kept it held on my throat. He had my pants down, he was going to rape me. Just
before it happened, I had this... feeling, this overwhelming compulsion, to do anything I possibly could to prevent this. Even die. So I pushed my neck into his blade, and it nicked one of my arteries. My blood shot into his eyes, blinding him, and I wriggled away. I held my hands to my neck, spurting blood, and ran back to the motel.” I squeezed my eyes shut and let myself feel the relief of having escaped him.

  But rage soon followed, and I opened my eyes and glared at Alex. “Yes, I’m still a virgin,” I snapped. “Not that virginity means anything. It doesn’t have a special symbolism. It’s an archaic concept, used to shame and control women.” My voice broke, and I felt hot tears spring to my eyes. “And it doesn’t mean I’m pure, because I can tell you right now that I am irrevocably and unquestionably damaged.” I stared at Alex hard, hating him for all this, hating him for reminding me how different I was. Of how many scars I had.

  But he had shut his eyes, his features hard like granite, as if he couldn’t bear my pain. I watched him, and my heart softened as I saw a tiny, silver teardrop in the corner of his eye.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, Eve. Oh, God. Why didn’t we see this before? It’s all so obvious!”

  Nate appeared behind Alex and placed a hand on his shoulder gently. “What is it?”

  Alex opened his eyes and stared into mine. “She’s the Black Chalice.”

  Nate was visibly shaken. “No. She can’t be! It’s not the right time. And this place is not on the ley-line from the prophecy…”

  Alex stood and faced him. “The one the scholars identified as being from the prophecy was the most obvious. But there were four other ley-lines that fit the description. One of them runs directly through Indonesia and down through exactly this spot,” he said, pointing forcefully at the ground.

  “But the Sanctum Domeni haven’t targeted any girls of this generation!”

  “That we know of.”