“I’ll be right there. I forgot my wallet.” She didn’t face her fear as she hobbled back into the lounge. She spread her arms out to hold onto both walls of the staircase as she willed herself up to her floor. Rushing into the bathroom, she splashed water onto her face, adjusting her sweater beneath her coat. She could do this. He couldn’t take her life. He needed her.
Laney marched back outside, refusing to let Jonas ruin her time with Missy. She was in control. What power did he have?
She sighed. A large amount—if she trusted the savage butterflies in her stomach. Without glancing at Jonas, Laney opened the door and sat in the back seat without a word.
Missy reached over and ruffled Jonas’s hair. “Laney, this is Jonas. Jonas—Laney.”
“Hi.” Jonas reached his hand across the threshold, a seemingly infinite fissure between them.
Laney drew her arms tighter into her jacket and tried to avoid eye contact with Missy. “Let’s just go. I need to get back to study for a test.”
“Geez… look who’s Miss Grumpy Pants today.” Missy gripped Jonas’s bicep, running her fingers down his arm. “I apologize for my roommate. She’s not normally this rude.” She started the engine, glared at Laney through the rearview mirror, and screeched out of the lot.
The ride to the mall was painstakingly silent with a known extrovert in the car. Missy blasted the radio—probably to avoid the obvious elephant. Laney stared out the window realizing that the only time she had a conversation with Jonas, he was either tying her up or had a knife to her throat. They weren’t exactly on friendly terms.
At the mall, he followed the girls in through the entrance but wandered around outside the stores as they hunted for a dress. Missy tried on dress after dress, wishing to find the perfect one.
“What do you think about this one? Laney? Laney!” Missy opened the curtain of the dressing room in a red strapless dress. Sequins trailed down the bodice, accenting her curves.
It was fantastic, just like the first twenty she tried on. The truth was, Laney found it difficult to focus. While Missy was in the dressing room, she stood by the door as a guard, wondering when he might show up. Her roommate came out in yet another dress.
“I love it. I think you should go with that one.”
“You’re so distracted tonight. What’s your problem with Jonas?” Missy had her hands on her hips, ready to defend her man.
“I don’t have a problem.” Laney helped Missy unzip the back of the dress. “You two look amazing together.”
Missy smiled and went back in to continue the fashion show. Laney took that moment to wander the store to find her own dress. She wasn’t that picky because she didn’t want Nick getting the wrong idea. They were going as friends, and to keep Missy safe. Operation Spider would start at the dance and continue when they infiltrated the hideout of the Golden Recluse to rescue the Gate Keeper. On Saturday night, she’d enter her book, ready to bring William back.
Laney found a pale blue dress with spaghetti straps and held it up to her shoulders in front of a full-length mirror. The color highlighted her auburn hair and blue eyes. As she lowered the dress, Jonas appeared behind her like an unwanted ghost, the grin from the car spreading across his lips.
“Very flattering.” He moved into her personal space, directly behind her ear. “I have to admit, I was a little surprised to hear you had a date to the dance. Surprised, but pleased.”
Laney stepped closer to the mirror, but Jonas mimicked her movement.
“Don’t ever think you can get away from me.” His breath was on her neck.
Though his breath didn’t reek of alcohol like it had all last school year, she still shuddered. She wasn’t going to show her deep-seated dread. “Leave Missy out of this.”
Jonas laughed. “Are you ready to finish our story?”
“I did finish it.” She gripped her purse, then spun around to face her adversary. He was so close; she stepped backwards right into the mirror. Escape was not an option at this point.
“Yes, but you’ve moved on to a sequel. When you began the next story, you didn’t realize you provided an open door for me. You only thought about William Clarke and saving him. In the process, you also saved me.” Jonas didn’t back away, his body almost touching hers. “Maybe you believe you can control me or possibly tame me.” He let out a low laugh. “Not anymore. Your little hobby has grown legs of its own and will lead to your demise.”
Laney gathered her courage again. She forced her eyes upward to glare into his. They were blue. She never looked him in the eyes before. “This doesn’t have to end with one of us losing.” She swallowed but kept her eyes glued on his. “You have a lot of redeeming qualities. Though you want revenge for your brother, there’s a reason you’re so passionate. You love as much as you hate. Your loyalty to your country, your family, is unparalleled. I want good things to happen for you.”
Jonas stepped back slightly. His eyes shifted as he calculated the validity of Delaney’s words. She was a Weaver, not to be trusted, according to the redhead who called herself the Wanderer. Delaney made him a revenge-hungry alcoholic. She could destroy everything he held close with the swipe of her pen. Beyond that, she believed he killed her best friend, so why would she do anything for him?
“Jonas?” Missy bounced over from the dressing room hiding some dress behind her back. She latched her arm around his elbow. “I’m glad to see the two of you are getting along… finally.”
She pulled him away from Delaney. “Now, head outside while I buy my dress.”
Delaney kept looking over her shoulder as she followed Missy to the register, possibly checking to see if he followed. Promises meant nothing to him. Especially promises from a Weaver. The redhead told him about Weavers who betrayed Watchers. Betrayal ran in their blood.
The crisp air cleared his head. He paced the sidewalk outside the mall. This was where he belonged. His world was out here, in his woods. Not in the artificial air created by this world. He wanted to be back with his family—soon. He didn’t have time to gain Delaney’s trust. The two girls exited the shop arm-in-arm. The blonde swinging her bag to the holiday music blaring from the outdoor speakers, while the brunette kept her weary eyes set on him. Jonas knew what he had to do. He’d use forcible measures to make Delaney bend to his will the night of this stupid dance.
Chapter 13
A melancholy tune woke William early the next morning. His eyelids opened to the Wanderer playing a fiddle by the hearth. She was a beautiful woman, but from the rumors whispered in dark places; her heart was that of a demon.
She rested the fiddle by her feet and smiled. “Good morning, William. I trust you slept well.” She poured a steaming brown liquid out of a silver kettle and brought it to him. The woman produced a large knife, which she used to remove his bindings.
His stomach growled, so he sat up to take a sip of the coffee.
“I will make you a quail egg or two once you answer the questions I have for you.” Her lips were unnaturally red, like her fingernails, like a fluorescent shade of blood. Her electric eyes pierced through his soul.
William shuddered. “What use am I to you, woman?” He asked, though he knew exactly what she wanted.
“You are but a simple soldier, but it’s where your allegiance lies that is of interest to me, and I don’t mean in this silly war.” The Wanderer lifted a chair and set it in front of him. “Why are you so loyal to that Weaver of yours?”
He set down his coffee on a nearby table, taken aback by the question. William knew the answer from the first time he saw Laney in the schoolyard in Lexington. He’d called her Anne back then. When they sat together at the bonfire at Madison last school year, his heart in her hands, he professed a love that went beyond the constrictions of space and time. The depths of his soul and his love for Laney belonged to him, not to be displayed in front of this demon woman.
“Is there a reason I should not be loyal to her?”
The corners of the Wanderer’s
lips produced a grin he couldn’t trust. She swept her red hair behind her shoulder, revealing multiple necklace chains around her neck. “My given name is Savannah Cross, but few are privy to that fact.” She left her chair, crossed the room, and lifted a small mirror off the wooden table. Gazing into the glass, she lifted her chin and turned her head back and forth. “In my world. I was a sought-after catch. Suitors knocked down my door from the moment I turned sixteen, and I had the privilege of refusing every last one of them. My eyes and heart were set on one man.”
Now with the Wanderer on the other side of the room, William moved to the chair. “Was your world a book world?”
“The world I called my own is not so different from here.” She set down the mirror and stared out the window. “I lived in a small village on the banks of a river, a trade town—simple people of simple means. But I wanted more and went after more.”
The Wanderer sauntered in William’s direction. The hem of her dress swished against the top of her black boots. “You realize I can be extremely persuasive, and if I choose, I can even turn your heart away from your Weaver.”
A sudden burst of anger burned within William. It took everything within him to keep from jumping up and grabbing her around the throat. “Using some kind of black magic, I’m sure.”
“Using the feminine persuasion that has toppled men greater than you.” She ran her finger along his chin and to his lips.
He stumbled out of his chair and away from her toxic touch. “Get on with your story. Who was this unfortunate fellow you set your heart on?” William wiped his mouth with his sleeve, still feeling the tingle from her fingernail.
The Wanderer’s eyes flashed but there was something else behind them. It almost appeared to be regret. Her blood-red fingernails reached for the clasp of one of the multiple chains around her neck. She released the chain from her fingers, and it fell like an iron snake coiling into her palm. An emerald pendant flashed in her hand on top of the chain.
William’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re a Watcher?”
“I was a Watcher.” She ran her nail along the emerald.
“What happened?” William stepped forward from his safe spot on the other side of the room. A pendant identical to the one missing around his neck lay in the woman’s hand. He just needed to…
“I know what you are thinking, but this trinket is useless to you or to anyone. Silas holds your pendant for safekeeping.” She ensnared her necklace with her fingers and deposited it into her bodice. “Delaney needs to come to your rescue for my plan to work.”
He’d let the Red Coats take over Lexington before he’d allow the witch’s plan to materialize. This woman wouldn’t lay one hand on Laney if he had anything to do with it. He gripped the wooden chair beneath him and hurled it at one of the windows. The glass shattered on impact, leaving a minefield of shards between him and freedom.
The Wanderer dashed to the fireplace as William made for the window. Halfway out, he felt a searing pain pierce his back and he fell to the floor.
This couldn’t go on much longer. The distance from Friday to Saturday night seemed like an eternity. And to think this woman once loved a Weaver. At three different times, Laney marched to her closet to grab her coat, only to return to her bed to check on William in her journal.
She had to know exactly where Jonas was when she freed Brian. Tonight, his whereabouts remained a mystery. Missy went out with Morgan to some party, so he wasn’t with her. Laney touched her back, imagining the pain that raged through William’s body. She cringed.
To pass the time, she contemplated sending in someone else to rescue him, but her last attempt at meddling left him in the hands of the Wanderer. No matter what she did, the will of the characters in her book were stronger than her own.
Saturday night, girls flitted here and there around Starr Hall. The biggest night of the year meant hours of prep time in front of a mirror. Missy wore her blonde hair down in lazy curls—her red dress covered by a black shrug and her legs accentuated by her heels. Laney consented to letting Missy style her hair and apply minimal make-up. The pale blue dress was perfect for a girl going to Manor Hill with a guy on the lacrosse team—a guy who wrote her love songs. Guilt filled her as she stuffed practical clothes, a flashlight, matches, and a stack of crackers into her backpack. The staples she’d need for eighteenth-century Massachusetts.
Nick arrived around seven, wearing a black suit coat, jeans, and his chucks. Typical Nick. He handed a bouquet of lilacs to her. “I found out they’re your favorite flower but very difficult to buy this time of year. A specialty floral shop in Boston carries them for a price.”
Laney inhaled the fragrance before leaning over and giving Nick a kiss on the cheek. “They’re perfect.”
He blushed, glancing down at the backpack by Laney’s feet. “This is our night. You told me you’re going after Manor Hill.”
She reached out to take his hand. “It has to be tonight. But I promise we’ll have fun before I go anywhere.”
Snowflakes fell at a steady pace, creating a glistening sheen on the pavement. The forecast called for six to eight inches, which had Laney on edge. She’d be dropped off in Rockport later tonight under the cover that Grady was meeting her there, but the Mustang’s two-wheel-drive didn’t handle the ice much better than a two-year-old’s first time on ice skates.
At the dance, Laney’s head was dizzy with anticipation. The promise she made to Nick to just enjoy herself seemed helplessly out of reach, but she forced a smile onto her face as he took her hand.
Last November, the castle on the ocean fascinated Laney because of its historical significance and pure-white, twinkle-light beauty. The trees lining the drive lit their way again, but the magic was missing. William lived and breathed in the book stowed safely in the backpack on the floor between her legs, but at this moment, she longed to just hold his hand. She glanced at Nick, and he gripped her hand a little tighter.
“I didn’t get to come to this last year.” His eyes glowed in the wonderland outside the car window. “It’s amazing.”
Laney drifted off into her dream world again, keeping her hand in his. Tonight, they’d spend two hours at the dance before they borrowed Missy’s car. Nick’s job was to drive Laney to Rockport and drop her off at the Golden Recluse headquarters. If everything went well, even if Jonas noticed they were missing, he wouldn’t have a car to go after them.
At the top of the hill, Missy stopped to let them off at the door. A long, red carpet ran down the stairs and up to the entrance of the castle. A thin layer of snow blanketed their walkway, so Nick took Laney’s arm to ensure she didn’t slip. An older man in coattails stood in the foyer, offering his arm for their coats. Music drifted in from the grand hall.
“Have I told you that you’re gorgeous tonight?” Nick tried to drape his hand around Laney’s shoulder, but she dodged him by grabbing the pen for the guestbook.
She wrote both of their names and the date. Flipping back in the book, she searched for the date of last year’s Manor Hill. Laney found her name. Below it was William’s flowery script. She ran her finger over the page and had the overwhelming need to be with him again.
Nick ignored her gesture and went to greet another member of the lacrosse team at the entrance of the grand hall. Behind them, Missy and Jonas entered. His eyes immediately set on Laney, but Missy grabbed his hand and pulled him away. Throwing her coat to the doorman, she dragged him into the ballroom.
“Don’t let him bother you.” Nick came back and put a hand on her arm. “I’m here, and you know I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’m not worried about me.” She led Nick to the ballroom. “He won’t hesitate to hurt Missy, or you. I’ve seen and know who this man is because I created him.”
“Do you think he can change?” Nick stopped Laney and shifted to the wall in the dark shadows of the entryway. “He’s part of you, like it or not. You said that William used his own free will. Couldn’t the same thing hap
pen with Jonas?”
“He killed Jason. I made him revengeful. I made him an alcoholic. I made him a person full of hate.” She lowered her voice as another couple passed them. “How can he ever come back from that?”
“Because I know you. You’re not about those things.” Nick took his glasses off and put them in his pocket. “I treated you like dirt earlier this year, basically accusing you of causing Jason’s suicide. But you forgave me.”
“Well, you’re kind of awesome.” Her face flamed as she gave him a playful shove on the shoulder. Thank God it was dark.
“That’s just it. You’re awesome, too. If Jonas has just a little bit of you in him, well, he can change.” He gave a lopsided grin. “And you know how I feel about you; maybe I could learn to care about him.”
“That’s just twisted.” Laney pushed off the wall, ready to end the conversation.
He caught up to her and slid his hand back into hers. “I’d rather be twisted with you than normal by myself.”
“That’s just bad, Nick. It sounds like you have a new song lyric.” Laney weaved through the crowd to an empty table near the windows. Snow accumulated on the pane as she tapped her fork quietly on the side of her glass.
The food from the buffet was delicious and exotic. Keeping with the theme, Laney had Cornish hen and piled the remainder of her plate up high with food, knowing this might be her last good meal for a while.
Nick held up his Pepsi. “A toast to friendship, and the unknown.”
“That’s an interesting toast.” Laney placed her napkin on her plate. She lifted her glass and clinked it with his.
When she’d finished every last crumb on her plate, Nick gathered their dishes and was off to find a trashcan. Laney surveyed the dance floor, trying to get a glimpse of her foe.
“I have a toast.” Jonas leaned against the wall behind her, holding his flask. She’d thought he’d given that up.
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