The Devil's Masquerade: The Remedy

by Jennifer Loren

  “You should go. It’s not safe for you here, right now,” I say, cradling his face. I watch him carefully as he dresses and prepares to leave. “Nick?” I say just before he moves back out the window. “I love you.” He doesn’t say it back, but the moment the words leave my mouth, I hear his heart beat again. I immediately shower after he leaves, wiping any precious scent of him off my body and keeping his presence here a secret. My body is still trembling by the time I reach my bed. I am so restless that I have to get up and pace before finally stopping in front of the window and noticing a shadowy figure looking up at me from the distant street.

  “You are still up? I thought you were long asleep by now. Are you okay?” Ryan asks. I look over at him and smile but return my focus back to the shadowy figure that watches me so intently. Ryan moves across the room and hugs me from behind, kissing the back of my head trying to comfort me as he believes I need right now. “Everything is going to work out Kayla. I promise you. You know Eli and I will do everything we can to get Nick back home.”

  “I have every faith that you will, Ryan,” I say, looking down at my husband as he disappears into the rainy night.

  Chapter 17

  Nick

  I start towards my car but run back to her window, look up, and wait until she steps in front of the glass and smiles down at me. I don’t know why I’m having so much trouble leaving this place. I don’t know why I desire this woman so much. She’s so maddening, frustrating, and yet, I can’t take my eyes off of her. The rain drenches my body, but the sight of her warms me within. There has to be a reason. There has to be something drawing me to her. There is no reason I can see that I should defy my grandfather this way and still keep her alive. I should kill her, but the moment I see a man step behind her and touch her, breathe against her, a new rage consumes me, and something inside me wants to kill like I’ve never felt before.

  I return back to the restaurant as it is closing up, and even though I brought a long coat, my head and part of my body is still drenched. Umbrella next time Nick! How am I going to play this off? I walk up to Ro and Delin as Ro is telling him about the time he had to sneak out of a house he broke into through the roof.

  I sit down, and Delin looks me over with concern. “You are not well?” he asks. Oh, that will work. I begin to go with my apparent feverish look and move stiffly and slowly.

  “You don’t look too good Nick,” Ro says.

  “I don’t feel so good actually,” I say weakly. “I am tired, and I would like to go home now.”

  Luckily, Ro realizes my plan and helps me pull it off. He drives me home and helps me up into bed. Unfortunately, Delin worries about my illness, and as soon as we get back home, he immediately reports to Grandfather that I am sick.

  When I hear people coming down the hall, I begin cringing as if I am in pain as Ro throws some water on me. “What the hell are you doing?” I snap at him.

  “Just look sick, feverishly sick,” he whispers back to me.

  I curse him under my breath as I bury myself deep into my bed before Grandfather rushes in to my room. “Nicholas? What is wrong? Delin said you became sick at the restaurant.” Ro starts to open his mouth but instead motions to me like a girl, and luckily, I understand what he is trying to tell me.

  “Ria showed up at the restaurant, upset and beat up pretty badly. She tried to talk me into helping her kill Kayla. I told her no because I know how you feel about me being around that woman. And I guess she didn’t take it well. She must have slipped something into my drink, some kind of poison I guess. I went to the bar to flirt with some woman and became sick soon after. I can’t think of anything else that could have happened. I barely ate, and I didn’t drink heavily,” I say with a groan. Grandfather looks towards Delin who nods back in agreement.

  “That woman is an absolute disaster. No more of her, Nicholas. I promise. We will find you another match.” He looks me over closely, “You worry me. You do not look well at all. Are you sure I do not need to call for a doctor?”

  “No, I am fine. I only need a little sleep, and then I will be as good as new,” I say, trying to reassure him.

  “While I have your attention, I want to address the issue of that woman, Kayla. I should not have dismissed you and your loyalty to me. I know you are more than capable of handling yourself; however, this woman is someone I have desired to deal with for some time, and I am going to have to insist on you letting me be selfish and take this one on myself, for my own pleasure.” He seems to want to stop there in his confession, but I want more from him, and he knows it. “She hates us because I had her husband killed. He was a warrior that was set on taking power back for … Rein.”

  “I thought Rein and our family were in agreement to stay peaceful towards each other,” I ask him with more interest.

  “Outwardly, we are, but it doesn’t stop him from hiring others and making side agreements to support our demise. Kayla’s husband was one of those people. He came in here to attack us and nearly killed you and Galena all at the same time. I had to fight him on my own to save you both. It was a terrible battle.”

  “Is he why I can’t remember much?” He nods. “What was his name?”

  “That doesn’t matter now, Ma Joie. All that matters now is that you are safe, and Galena is safe. All that is left is to take care of this woman, which I promise, I am handling as we speak.”

  “She doesn’t seem that harmful to me,” I say.

  “She is out for blood, Nicholas. She is a highly skilled temptress who will do everything she can to lure you into her bed. Once you are there, she will suffocate you in your sleep. She will do and say whatever she can to lure you to her. I can’t express to you enough how badly you need to stay away from her. For your own good, Nicholas, forget about her and let me handle it,” he says, laying his hand on my shoulder before exiting my room.

  I hide in my room for the rest of the night, pacing and cursing my thoughts and feelings. I loved watching her move. I loved touching her. I loved being inside of her, and most of all, I love feeling her warm lips pressed against mine. I didn’t want to let go of her … if I thought I could have been able to, I would have tied her up and brought her home with me or taken her somewhere where I could keep her just for me … just for me and no one else. I finally crawl into my bed and try to forget her, but my deep sleep dives into a dream that confuses me even more:

  “I was a stupid kid, Kayla. Yes, I wanted to fuck her, but I didn’t love her.”

  “Shut up! I hate you! I wish you were dead!” she screams at me.

  I take hold of her tense arms. “You hate me?” She nods assuredly. “Then, kill me.” I take out my knife and hand it to her. “Here, take it. Kill me if that’s what you want.” She takes it, and I hold out my arms so she has clear access to my heart. She comes at me but not with anger, so I stop her. “Not like that, Princess. That was too light. If you want to kill someone, you have to go at them with all the hate you have inside. Now, try again.” We battle back and forth until I finally give her all that she needs to come at me and kill me. “Try again.”

  “No, Nick,” she says, trembling.

  “Try again. Come at me and mean it!” I yell at her.

  “I don’t want to,” she whimpers.

  “Come on, right here!” I say, smacking the area over my heart. She steps back, and I take hold of her face to force her to look at me. “What’s wrong? You hate me, remember? Stick it in my heart, Kayla. Teach me a lesson. You said yourself that I’m going to kill you. You might as well get me first. Do it! Do it, Kayla!”

  I twist in my bed, picturing it all so perfectly that I can almost feel her, taste her. The craving for her intensifies, and I have to force myself awake to break free of her. I’m almost afraid to close my eyes again. At the same time, my erection is anxious to go back to dreaming of her.

  I spend all night dreaming odd and indiscernible things until she steps in again. The woman haunts me throughout the night. The images of her are so real
, so powerful that, when I awake, I almost believe that they were real … very real. I can’t imagine what she did to me, but there has to be a cure. The only person that can tell me what that cure is, however, is her.

  The next morning, I can barely think of anything other than the time I spent with Kayla last night. Ro has to remind me to snap out of it several times before I see my grandfather. Before my grandfather has a chance to say anything to me, Galena catches site of me first and looks me over with a curious expression. I simply shake my head, and she leaves me alone.

  “What are your plans for today, Nicholas?” Grandfather asks me.

  “The usual, nothing terribly exciting today,” I say, trying to hide my deepest feelings from him.

  He looks at me with suspicion when Galena speaks up and begins discussing things that distract him from me. I just want to crawl into bed and dream of her next to me. Ro kicks my chair, and I jump up with wide eyes. “I do need you to take care of something for me Nicholas, if you don’t mind?” Grandfather says to me.

  “Of course, whatever you need me to do,” I say with my thoughts still miles away.

  “There is a man who has stolen from me, and I believe he needs to be dealt with. I cannot have anyone stealing from me and getting away with it, so I would appreciate if you would go down to the seventh dock and find the man in charge of processing the incoming shipments,” Grandfather says.

  “I will have it done before the end of the day,” I reply with respect, making my grandfather happy.

  I have no trouble finding the man Grandfather told me about. It’s not as if he was in hiding, but I wonder why he would think he could get away with stealing from my grandfather. He seems to be unassuming, and he doesn’t have much of anything. Even his car is humble. His mannerisms are not bold and direct but feeble and nervous. I wonder if Grandfather has made a mistake. Surely it cannot be this man that stole from him, it must be another. I call Grandfather and tell him he must have the wrong man; he must’ve given me the wrong name. There is no way that this man would steal anything and certainly not from us. Our conversation escalates until I am told to wait for him to arrive, and when he does, he comes in with a force that puts fear into everyone within eyesight. He calls me to him and has the man I was supposed to have killed already brought out in front of me. My grandfather speaks of traitors and backstabbers and though he is talking to the man in front of him, I begin to feel as if he is talking to me. “This man has stolen from me,” Grandfather announces. I say nothing as the man holds his head up high and awaits his fate with pride.

  “You can kill me, but you will not destroy my soul,” the man says. I glance in Ro’s direction who cannot even look at the man.

  I meet the man’s eyes and see nothing of what has been said about him, so why is he here? Before I can ask, Ward strikes the man down with a single assault of his blade, and the man’s life leaves him within an instant. I look down at my feet before I can look back up again to my grandfather

  “Do not ever question me Nicholas. When I tell you something is true, then it is true, and you do as I ask. Do you understand?” I nod and perform my next task without question. I kill for him without question. Ro’s typical vibrant self is beginning to become lost and sluggish, and I am not feeling that wonderful myself. I need to get away, and I want to see her. No matter the amount of days that go by, I am unable to completely wipe Kayla from my thoughts. All I want is to see her again, but I have to fight my urges and do as I am told.

  Chapter 18

  Elijah

  We attempted to steal some of Savage’s territory and scare him, but that didn’t work out very well at all. We got two minutes into a so-called battle and were quickly taken over by hundreds more men than we had with us. Thankfully, there were so few of us and so damn many of them that they confused themselves, running into each other searching for us. We were all able to drop to our knees and crawl out between their legs and escape. That was fun, terribly disturbing, and a massive failure. But that’s fine because that was only supposed to be a distraction while others tried to sneak into their office building and steal the masquerade’s invite list from their main computer system. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. Our men were never able to get into the building because they locked it down and didn’t allow anyone inside due to a terrorist practice drill they happened to be having at the very time we were trying to break in. We did all this feeling like we couldn’t fail, and I am pretty sure Savage is laughing at us right now.

  When we arrive back at the Jayzon estate, none of us even want to look at each other.

  “Well that was awful,” Terrence says, still missing one of his shoes that fell off when a guy stepped on it as we were desperately crawling our way to safety.

  “I told you it wouldn’t work,” Amery says and then laughs when we all glare at him. “Oh come on. You guys have to lighten up. We tried, and now we know what won’t work. In time we will be laughing about this. I mean, you have to admit, it’s funny.” He starts laughing hard. “I mean, we all ran in there and then Eli screamed, ‘Everybody down! We are taking this shit over.’ And then …” he doubles over laughing. “And then, twenty guys jump out at you with machine guns. Another twenty come out over here, and then there, and then over there. So, what do we do? We drop to our knees and crawl out without a shot being fired. That is an amazing accomplishment I must say.”

  “You forgot Eli yelling, ‘April Fools! Just kidding guys,’ with his hands up in the air,” Ryan laughs with the others following after him.

  “Oh yes, fun times,” I say with little humor. The only thing I want right now is a drink. The moment I put my glass to my lips, I gaze down to the end and see Cat staring at me with her arms crossed.

  “Don’t you think that is inappropriate right now?” Cat asks me.

  “No. I think it is completely appropriate right now. Here, let me get you one.” She immediately huffs in my face. “Is that a no? You should try it; it might make you less annoying. Although, me drinking should help that, too.”

  “I don’t like you,” she says.

  “Good.” I smile happily. “Not caring for you much either, Short Stuff.”

  “I’m not short,” she yells up at me.

  “Okay.” I laugh before turning up my glass and taking a drink. Out of nowhere and for no good reason, the bitch punches me with a deep thrust into my side. “Fuck! What is your problem?” I yell, nearly spitting out my drink.

  “You, and your casual disrespectful attitude about everything. We have endured a setback, but don’t give up and drink. Let’s work together and come up with another idea. Let’s keep hitting them hard and show them what we can do.” She continues her nauseating cheerleading attitude. “Alright? Come on. I know you don’t have much ability, but I am sure you could be of some use. You might be an ignoble human being but …” I’m a what? She must notice my confusion, “An ignoble person, unworthy or lowly. You’re basically a peasant compared to the rest of us.”

  “Oh, I am? Wow. Thank you, but last I checked, I am not damned to hell like some supposed demon royals. So maybe you’re the ignoble one, Short Stuff,” I say, pointing out everyone to her.

  “I am not short! Ignoble! Now, you listen to me. You are going to sit down over here, and you are going to help the rest of us figure out our next move,” she says, waving her finger in my face.

  I look back at everyone else. Even Amery hides his laugh behind his hand. The longer she goes on, the more annoying she gets. She finally turns her back to me and tries to gather everyone together. I take the time to make myself another drink. Just before I get the drink to my lips, she pulls it from my hand. “You know I hate that. You cannot take a man’s drink away from him. That is not proper, unless you want to be a bitch.”

  “I am not a bitch. I am, however, a woman who is tired of dealing with an overgrown child!”

  “You’re a woman? When did that happen?” I say, angering her even more and giving me the opportunity to take my d
rink back and down it before she has anything else to say.

  “You better watch what you say to me.” I roll my eyes away from her and sigh. “AWRGH!” she screams suddenly. “You are the most annoying man I have ever met!”

  “Oh good! Then, I am returning the favor,” I snap back.

  “You know I could really punish you.”

  “You’re not doing that now?” I ask her.

  “No, I could make your life way worse. I could turn you into a disgusting toad with warts,” she threatens with a sincere look.

  I laugh, “You are going to do what? You can’t do that.” I look at her a little harder as she sets back on her heels with a hardened expression. “Can you?” I shake my head with a smile. “No, you can’t do that. She can’t do that, can she?” I ask Amery, and all he can do is shrug. “What? Yes? No?” I look back at her wide smile. “No? No you can’t do that. Can you do that?” She ignores my questions and walks off with a superior attitude. I don’t like her at all. I set the liquor aside, go sit with the rest, and begrudgingly participate.