The soft strum of a waltz lured me to the doors, but it was Blair’s hand on my back that made me cross the threshold into devastating beauty.
The room was painted in red and gold light, as the socialites of the Supernatural society gathered on the eve of our departure. Couples twirled around us under the colored lights, and the smell of citrus and mint permeated the room. My skin flushed under the intense heat, and the air tasted like sweat and lies. So many people were here, far more than I’d expected.
It was the perfect place to be forgotten, just another mask in the crowd.
I left my sister mingling near the door and made my way to the bar. Blair trailed me, a huntress in her own right as she eyed our bartender.
“What will it be for you, ladies?” the young man asked. His eyes glowed gold, and this time I knew why.
“Bone dry martini,” Blair purred.
I vaguely wondered where Alec was, but it was none of my business to bring him up here.
“Double gin and tonic,” I ordered, leaning back against the counter while I waited for my drink.
“Make that two,” another woman said.
I turned sharply to look at Johanna, and, man, she’d really outdone herself. Modest and classy, she wore a long-sleeved dress of pure gold, and a mask of a dragon.
“I didn’t peg you as a gin and tonic kind of girl,” I said softly.
She chuckled quietly as the bartender slid my drink across. I winked at him, and downed it in one shot.
“Or I you a girl who drinks to block out the voices,” she murmured.
I shot her the finger as she sipped hers daintily.
“Sometimes, you have to become a monster to defeat one,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed, piercing my nonchalance. She opened her mouth as if she had something to say, when someone coughed to announce their arrival. She gave me a sly smile then disappeared among the crowd faster than should’ve been possible.
“May I have this dance?” Aaron asked, his voice huskier than usual.
I glanced over at the male who’d planted himself between me and Blair. Little traitor was preoccupied with the bartender and didn’t even notice.
“No,” I said stiffly, eyeing his well-fitting tux and...raven mask. A small gasp escaped my lips. Traitors indeed.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his gaze traveling down before meeting mine.
He was burning up, I realized, though I didn’t know how. Something inside him was on fire when he looked at me, and this wasn’t the first time.
“Quite.”
I walked away, but only made it three steps before my feet refused to move. Lucas and Anastasia were wrapped like lovers in the tango of their lives. Her dress was like midnight, and his mask was a snowy white owl. I didn’t cringe when he held her tighter. I didn’t wince when he swept her away. And when the song came to a close, I didn’t look away when he saw me over her shoulder. Even under this light, I could read the sudden tension in his jaw.
I wasn’t jealous that he was dancing with another woman. I was livid that he’d chosen that woman. The woman who’d thrown me in a cage with a nine-headed beast not even twelve hours ago. The woman who’d watched his brother’s leg almost get blown off, and hadn’t cared. The woman who held my leash, because he’d done a shoddy job of wiping his sister’s memory, and I was the one who’d gone down for it—and for the stupidity of trusting him in the first place.
I think I might’ve taken a step toward them, but only one, before the next song began, and I found myself being swept away to the sound of “Masquerade.”
“You can thank me later,” Aaron whispered as he spun me around.
I glanced up into his deep-set eyes, so much closer when I wore heels. We were only inches apart now, and despite my earlier performance with the Hydra, he looked completely at ease being this close to me. Not afraid in the slightest.
“I can thank you never,” I muttered. The insult died on my lips the moment he brought me closer. His body exuded warmth, a heat more familiar than my own sisters’, even though I’d only felt it once.
“Now where’s the fun in that, little signasti?” he said softly.
I laughed in his face. “I like heartbreaker better.” I smirked. Heartbreaker was the name I’d earned boxing last year. Man, that seemed so long ago now.
The music grew louder as the servers chimed in with, “Masquerade!”
The chandelier shook, just a little.
“I don’t plan on letting you break my heart,” Aaron said sharply, glancing up to see what I was looking at.
We spun faster and faster, dancing the same way we fought—like two halves of the same whole. I never would’ve thought him a dancer, but then again, most said the same of me.
“I’d have to have your heart to break it, now wouldn’t I?” I said slowly. The words were a dare, a whisper lost in the thundering room. Another gin and tonic was calling my name, but this dance had saved me from what Anastasia would see as humiliation and so I would stay—but only one dance.
“Masquerade!”
I could’ve sworn the ground shook a little, as Aaron gripped my hand tighter.
“I know what you’re getting at. Lucas was a damn fool to go after you, though, when he knew what you meant to me,” Aaron said.
My heart stopped.
Literally stopped in my chest.
“What?” I asked. Demanded.
Aaron blew out a breath, making the air taste like rain. It would’ve been dizzying if I hadn’t been rattled by the one piece of information everyone had alluded to, but I’d somehow never seen.
“You didn’t realize…did you?” he asked slowly, almost pained. Something dark crossed his features, too quickly for me to read.
“Didn’t realize that he’s known for a year? Or didn’t realize he’s lied to me for a year?” I paused, looking every which way for Lucas—so I could ask him myself, and then kill him when he told me the truth. “I assumed he’d found out when the rest of them did. In the bathroom. I never— Why did you never say anything? Why didn’t he? I’m going to murder him. I swear to Nyx, to the gods, to whoever the fuck is up there that I will string him up and—” I was speaking low, but my voice was rising with every second until Aaron silenced me with a finger pressed against my lips.
“Masquerade!” was thundering, causing the doors to shake and the room shudder.
“I wanted to earn your affection, but you’d made your choice before I ever got the chance. Part of you recognized me when you opened up as the year went on—your soul did, anyway—but you thought it was him.” He paused, and I thought back to the summer, to Lucas telling me that I was the one who’d let him in. I was the reason he could read my mind. I hadn’t believed him, and now I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him with anything.
“When the summer came…you agonized over him, over feelings you couldn’t understand. Insatiable urges you thought were more. But you didn’t realize until you came back that it was never him. And even then, you didn’t see it. You’re just so fucking stubborn—”
“Do you hear that?” I asked, interrupting him.
Aaron said nothing as we stopped in the middle of the dance floor. My feet were no longer willing to move, as I grappled with the truth of his words.
That lying sack of shit had known for the last year that I was bonded—as in life bonded to Aaron—and never said anything. He’d made me feel guilty for not telling him about my father, and the secrets I’d kept. I’d fucking lost my freedom because of him—and had still been willing to try to forgive him up until he’d slapped me. But this? This was how he’d repaid me?
By lying to me about something that had nothing to do with him and everything to do with me.
I was going to kill him.
The room rumbled, and at that moment I spotted Anastasia, entirely alone on the far side of the room. She was smiling, the most cunning and wicked of smiles.
“Masquerade!”
Lucas was nowhere to be found as
the double doors burst open.
Eyes, red and black, surrounded us instantly—and then the first scream came.
The Vampires were here.
Chapter 94
Utter silence was followed by a bloodcurdling scream, as I pulled one of the daggers from my hair and went to track down the rest of my team.
“We need to get out of here!” Aaron yelled, his back to me, as one of the Made lunged for him. The red-eyed Vamp snarled, but Aaron wasn’t deterred. I let them battle it out as I searched for Alexandra and Blair.
The column of fire that erupted toward the back of the room gave me a good idea where to start looking, and I took off in that direction. The red and gold lights suddenly seemed dizzying, even sickening, as my heart thudded in my chest.
Where is she? Where is she? Where is she?
By the time I saw Alexandra, she was already facing off, one against three, but holding her own as she lit each of them on fire from the inside. The smell of rotted, burning flesh was stomach churning, but I couldn’t afford to get sick. I slashed each of their necks, spraying both Alexandra and me in blood, as heads rolled.
“I had it, you know?” She pursed her lips, not seeing the dark-eyed Vamp behind her who moved to snack on her neck and suddenly found himself thrown into a wall. Alexandra spun around as a dagger went zinging through the air and nailed him to the wall by his neck. Black blood dribbled down, and I wasted no time beheading another of the undead.
Throughout the room, fights were picking up, as members of the Council tried to defend themselves, sometimes killing other Supernaturals in the process. I didn’t know where the hell Anastasia had gone, but she was behind this somehow. Some way.
Why would she want us to train for a war, only to leave us blind when the war came knocking? Something wasn’t adding up here, but I could figure it out after I killed her, or got everyone and ran. Whichever came first.
“We need to find Blair and get out of here!” I yelled to Alexandra, who was already facing another Vamp. The smell of blood and death called to me like the sweetest of lullabies, and I closed my eyes.
I was one with the world.
One with the universe.
One with matter.
And I was going to gorge myself on the snapping of bones and the feel of blood between my fingers before the night was over. The killing gene flipped on, the world slowed down, and I went to work.
Tomorrow, I would remember the next few faces I killed, and the ones after that, but then I started to forget as the battle drum beat inside my chest, compelling me to march. To slaughter.
Using only the daggers in my hair and my ability, I alternated between dismembering and beheading, while Alexandra baked them to ash. We were fighting our way across the room, when a low cackle brought me to a grinding halt.
“Anastasia,” I breathed.
She was watching me like a bug she was going to crush. The condescension and certainty were staggering, but I lunged nonetheless. She danced out of my way, but I brought my boot up in a roundhouse kick to the chest, sending her flying into the bar. Her back bent unnaturally as the stone top cracked in half. Plumes of dust and wood chips went everywhere, stinging my eyes as I stared her down. My muscles ached from my earlier fight with the Hydra, but now wasn’t the time for weakness.
“You knew they were coming. You told me this was all to stop a war. Why bother if you planned on giving them our heads on a silver platter?” I spat, mentally reaching out and dragging her across the shattered glass and through pools of blood. She kneeled before me, blood leaking from her bottom lip, but whatever other wounds she’d sustained were already healed.
I reeled back to punch her, when she gave another gurgle of laughter and said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
She raised her hand and pointed a single finger at the stage, where spotlights snapped on, illuminating a terrifying sight. Lily. Bound and gagged like a piece of meat.
The person forcing her into submission?
Lucas.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Time flashed by, as I searched for an explanation, some reason for why he’d done this. But deep down, I wandered back over the past month, and, slowly, painfully, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
“Kneel if you want her to live,” Anastasia said, but I didn’t move an inch.
I didn’t hit her again, though, as I stared up at Lily, who was half unconscious on the stage. Lucas grabbed her shoulder roughly and fisted his hand in her hair as he tilted her head to the side.
Someone had bitten her.
Not once in my sixteen years had I ever been so consumed by an emotion that I couldn’t react. I was furious but I couldn’t scream. I didn’t know how to look away. All I knew was that the power was rising again, and this time, what I’d done to the Hydra would look tame. I was going to burn the world down, because a Vampire had defiled my sister in the most disgusting of ways.
Anastasia moved when I was frozen. A couple of Vampires jumped onto the stage and held Lily’s arms, as if readying to bite. Or kill.
“Do. Not. Touch. Her. Unless you want to be wiped off the face of this planet like the dirt on my shoes.” My voice was magnified by the loose grasp I had on my rage. Power crackled over my skin, making my hairs stand on end.
“You threaten me? The Head of the Supernatural Council? A Member of the Court?” she demanded, letting her own voice carry. The massacre was still going on, judging by the screams, but I didn’t care who lived and who died in this fight, as long as I protected me and mine.
Instead of answering her with pretty words, I pulled the last dagger from my hair, freeing my braid, as I aimed for the spot between her eyes. So fast that even the Vampires who jumped forward to stop me couldn’t protect her. But it seemed the Head of the Council could protect herself, and by the ease with which she caught the dagger, I was in some deep, deep shit.
“Why must you always be so predictable, Selena?” She gave an exasperated sigh, tossing the dagger in the air to catch it by its point. “First I send the demons for you, but you live and kill my darling Fernando. Then I send the Born after you, thinking you won’t fight at the cost of your friend’s life, since that’s where it seemed to go wrong with the demons. And now?” She didn’t smile or laugh as she twirled the dagger in her hands before throwing it straight between my eyes.
My powers were exhausted, from both the Hydra and the fight. My body too tired to try to catch it by the blade. The only option left was to move.
I flung myself to the side, spinning on my heel, but the dagger skimmed my ear and took a chunk of my braid instead. I didn’t hear the weapon land, but the swish of my hair hitting the floor was enough to make me look down and see that most of the braid was gone.
“You’re fast, girl, I’ll give you that. But you’re not the smartest.” She went on, buying me time to find a way out of this, as her minions approached. Lucas was shifting back and forth uncomfortably, and while I wanted nothing more than to kill him with my bare hands, I didn’t have the strength to take them all out. I didn’t have the control not too obliterate Lily as well. Anastasia could thank the Hydra for that…but then again, maybe that was the whole point of my little demonstration. Not to kill me, but exhaust me.
“I’ve suspected you were behind the demons. What I couldn’t figure out, though, was why. Why bother sending your pets after me in the first place if I’m so insignificant?” I asked, lying through my teeth, but deciding to kill two birds with one stone. If there was one thing I knew about Anastasia, it was that her pride was her downfall. She wanted to lord over me how much better she was, how much smarter, and I needed time to reach out to the others. To find a way to save my sister.
“Stay put. We’re coming.” The voice was distinctly feminine, and carried Johanna’s essence. I didn’t understand how, but frankly I didn’t care, as long as Lily got out.
“You are insignificant, and I’ve made
sure you stay that way,” she purred, not quite buying into the lie as I’d hoped she would. I still couldn’t piece together why she’d chosen to target me, or how I was a threat to her.
Unless, like most things in my life, it was my fault for simply existing.
“What about him? What’s he got to do with all of this?” I asked, thrusting my chin at the dark-eyed stranger who held my sister hostage. I’d only just noticed that his eyes were black instead of green. At least they finally reflected his true nature.
“It’s quite simple, really. You bought the story that he’d failed to do something he’d said he would, and I was punishing you for it. I was worried you wouldn’t, that you would see what had really happened, that the Made had brought me your message. You bought his incompetence all too easily, though.” She clicked her tongue, stepping into the spotlight, and dragging a long fingernail down my sister’s cheek.
“I knew it would eat at you, that you’d gone down for what you viewed as his failure. You’re predictable that way. You cut him out of your mind that very first night, and planted the seed that let me take him, like a crop ready for harvest. You fostered the jealousy and hatred all on your own, so when I came to claim his mind for my own, there was nothing to stop him, to protect him, from my gift—because you’d relinquished your control. His mind was ripe for the taking… I told him what I planned to do to you, and the poor boy had no chance, really.” She switched to running her fingers through his hair, and Lucas didn’t flinch.
“He was blind, because he loved you—and so he gave away his soul to save you. Little did he know that I couldn’t kill you myself if I wanted to. But now that I have him…he’ll destroy you for me.” She started cackling wildly, uncontrollably.
When Anastasia raked her nail sharply across my sister’s cheek and brought the blood to her lips, my gin and tonic fought to come back up. I had to say something. To get her attention back, to buy more time for the others.
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