The Dark Paradise Trilogy Box Set

by Heather C. Myers

  “How’d you rest?”

  “Well, actually.” For whatever reason, Reese felt herself blush. Was this what people discussed after having sex for the first time? Well, she had had sex for the first time that night; Ollo, on the other hand, was much more experienced, so she thought it was safe to take her cues from him. “You?”

  “Why are you blushing?” he asked with a gentle smile as he gazed up at her from his position on the bed. She felt so beautiful when he looked at her that way.

  Reese shrugged her shoulder, feeling awkward. “I don’t know,” she admitted.

  “Do you regret what happened last night?” His face, for once, was vulnerable and his murky eyes were big and patient. As strong and as arrogant as Ollo projected himself to be, he was still worried about her feelings. Which was just silly, since he should already know how she felt about him. That hadn’t changed.

  Before she could reply, a distinctively familiar and uncharacteristically strong voice filled the apartment. “Ahem, ahem!” it called with an obvious tone, as though it knew both Ollo and Reese were indisposed. “Ahem, ahem! I know fate has changed from this point forward, but a lot has transpired in the past twenty-four hours that we need to discuss!”

  Reese rolled her eyes and blushed even more furiously than she had been before while Ollo started chuckling under his breath.

  “We’ll be out in a moment!” he barked, his voice still laced with slumber. When his eyes fell back on Reese, his entire demeanor softened. “You know he’ll have no problem coming into the room if we don’t hurry.”

  “We should probably get dressed,” she agreed, not quite sure if she should keep a blanket wrapped around her body or if she should bare it all as she looked for an outfit.

  Before she made her decision, Ollo handed her his t-shirt and a pair of shorts. “There’s no reason to hide, darl,” he told her. “You’re beautiful.” He gave her a cheeky grin. “I’ve already seen all of you anyway.”

  Her blush turned excessive but she laughed anyways. Ollo was the only person who could make her feel both nervous and comfortable at the same time.

  When the two emerged from the bedroom,wearing wrinkled clothes and scraggily hair, they found Henry sitting at the small table, his fingers running against the surface of it. It was the only sign of his impatience. That, and Reese noticed a slight dip in his brows. He looked… troubled, an attribute very unlike Henry.

  “What’s wrong?” Reese asked, striding over to Henry without giving much thought to it. If something was troubling Henry, something was terribly wrong. It didn’t have to do with what happened between her and Ollo last night, did it?

  “Oh good, you’re both up.” He shot them a dry smile, but Reese paid his snarkiness no mind; she held her breath, waiting for Henry to go on and tell them what they needed to know.

  Luckily, it didn’t take him long.

  “Yesterday, I had a very interesting meeting with Miss Shepherd,” he said, and then quickly amended, “Keirah Shepherd. She wanted information on the whereabouts of Noir.”

  “He died for her, didn’t he?” Ollo asked, crossing his arms over his chest so his biceps popped. “As an Excom, dying here on earth would get him sent straight to Purgatory.”

  “She wanted information on how to get him back.”

  “Is that even possible?” Reese asked.

  “Yes, in exchange for her soul.”

  “She gave up her soul just for information on how to get an Excom back into her life?” Reese asked, completely flabbergasted.

  “Actually, no.” Henry’s black eyes turned blacker, and for the first time, Reese was genuinely afraid of him. “She took something important to me, and refused to give it back until I gave her the information.”

  Ollo and Reese both dropped their jaws.

  “And did you?” Ollo asked, after recovering.

  “Not yet,” Henry said, “but I have no other choice.”

  Piper. It had to be Piper. Nothing else mattered to Ollo as much.

  “What does this mean?” Reese asked.

  “It means a human being,a regular, insignificant human being,is affecting the outcome of this war in her own way,” Henry said in a slow, controlled tone. “The war before painted opponents as black and white, like a chessboard. You knew who your enemy was. Now.” He shook his head, pausing, looking for the right words. It was another uncharacteristic task for Henry. “Now we have a wildcard on our hands.”

  12

  By the time Keirah got home from her meeting, it was dark. The majority of the lights were off because she didn’t want people to inquire whether or not she was home, if anyone was with her, or invest any time in their lives trying to decipher hers. The truth of the matter was she lived isolated, by herself, with no nearby neighbors. Her only visitor was a mailman who brought her coupons she would immediately throw away after receiving them.

  It was easy for her to maneuver through the mansion, even with the absence of light. She unlocked the door,only having two keys made it all the more convenient to find the right key and fit it in the slot, walked down the hallway over to the grand staircase and walked up the twenty-seven steps. Normally, she would have made a left and headed down another hallway, past the stock pictures still hanging in their simple black frames, past what was supposed to be a game room, a living room, a second kitchen, and a grand bathroom, all the way to the master bedroom she shared with Noir.

  Instead, she looked to her right, where the darkness seemed almost overwhelming, dominating over the east hallway. Unlike its usual makeup, however, there was a sliver of light peaking under the doorway of the first room on the right.

  Piper.

  The subtle reminder that she wasn’t alone anymore made her feel more complete, as though she wasn’t as isolated as she had been before. Even seeing Andie again hadn’t made her feel this way.

  It was probably why her feet started leading her in that direction, rather than her bedroom. She knew if Noir were here, he would chastise her for her sentimentality. She wasn’t supposed to be compassionate; she wasn’t supposed to see her victims as humans, or else that would completely defeat the purpose of holding them captive until they gave her what she wanted.

  But something in her craved attention, and she didn’t stop to think that perhaps it wasn’t the wisest of choices to socialize with her captive. She took a key worn around her neck and unlocked the door. There was Piper, tied to the bed, exactly as Keirah had left her.

  Her honey-brown eyes got wide, and she looked genuinely afraid of Keirah. Noir would have been proud.

  “Do you need to use the restroom?” Keirah asked.

  Piper nodded slowly, cautiously. The handkerchief wrapped around her mouth used as a gag trembled a bit.

  Keirah went over to the queen-sized bed where Piper was sprawled out, each arm and leg tied to the dark oak bannister, and deftly began to remove each one of her bindings. Noir had taught her how to tie rope, and it was something she practiced during the long, lonely nights. Now it looked like the time had paid off.

  “I have to go with you,” Keirah told her once Piper was freed. “You understand.” When the blonde tried to stand, she nearly collapsed due to how sore her muscles were. “I would tell you not to try anything, but I don’t think I’m going to have a problem with you.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Even Piper’s voice was weak as she struggled to lower her yoga pants down and sit on the toilet bowl. Keirah had chosen a room with an attached bathroom for a reason.

  Keirah sighed, shifting her brown eyes away from Piper as Piper began to go to the bathroom. “For love.” The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she realized she hadn’t shared her intention with anyone but Andie, and look at how that had turned out. Still, Keirah had felt so much better getting everything off her chest, even if she did sound crazy. And maybe Piper would understand.

  “Are you being forced to do this?” Piper asked as she flushed the toilet. She slowly walked over to
the sink to wash her hands.

  “No,” Keirah said, surprising even herself at how honest she was being. “No, I’m choosing to do this out of my own freewill.”

  “Why?” Piper demanded. She turned to throw a furious look over at Keirah after drying her hands with an ivory washcloth. “I know your sister. We had the same PE my freshman year. Why would you go out of your way to hurt me?”

  “There are worse things I could do to you than tie you up to the bed and take pictures of you,” Keirah said, her tone dark. “Can I be frank with you? I don’t give a shit about you or your life. You are a means to an end. I will kill you if I have to.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she knew she meant them. And the way Piper’s face paled, Keirah knew she believed her as well.

  The doorbell rang, interrupting their conversation. She paused, a small smile sliding across her face and her dark eyes glimmered. She turned her head back to Piper, whose big brown eyes widened again, and she was paralyzed like a deer in headlights.

  “Come on,” Keirah said, grabbing Piper’s upper arm and leading her out of the bathroom. “Your Prince Charming is here to rescue you.”

  “What?”

  Keirah kept her mouth shut, still tucked into that smile. She was happy. In the first time since Noir had mysteriously vanished, she was happy. The smile on her face was genuine; it even felt unfamiliar, but she didn’t care. She was going to get the information she so desperately needed. Soon, she would be one step closer to getting Noir back. How could she not at the very least smile because of that?

  “Go sit on the couch,” she instructed Piper, pushing her towards the living room. “And don’t even think about doing anything stupid, Piper.”

  Piper said nothing, but before Keirah even opened the door, she waited until her captive followed her instructions. Piper wasn’t a fighter, Keirah realized, which meant she was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. She listened and followed orders, trying to keep her ear out for information and her body from physical harm. She knew what she was doing, even if it didn’t appear that way, and as such, Keirah couldn’t help but respect her more than she originally intended.

  Once she was certain Piper was secure, she turned to the front door and looked through the peephole. Her smile only widened when she saw Henry standing on her doorstep. He looked completely at ease, completely nonchalant, but Keirah knew he was going crazy on the inside. He was tapping his toes, his telltale weakness.

  She all but threw open the door and took the smile off of her face. She didn’t want to appear too eager.

  “Henry,” Keirah said, stepping out of the doorframe. “Please, come in.”

  He shot her a look, and if looks could kill, she would be dead.

  “Where is she?” he seethed through gritted teeth, his eyes scouring the room for any trace of Piper.

  “Henry?”

  Piper’s voice wafted through the entranceway, and it wasn’t long before she came barreling through until she was in Henry’s arms. Keirah raised her brow; the couple looked odd, as in how did that guy get that girl?, but she knew she was the last person to judge. Andie had practically asked her the same question.

  “Are you hurt?” Henry asked her in a surprisingly tender voice. “Did she hurt you?”

  “No, no, I’m fine.”

  Henry nodded and then pushed Piper behind him as a way to protect her. He was back to hating Keirah, judging by the narrowed eyes and tight lips.

  “You better be sure you want this information, missy, because you have crossed a line,” he said, his voice strained. “This is not a little romantic fantasy you’ve concocted in your head; this is real life. Your precious Noir? He’s a demon. A demon so evil, so vile, that Hell doesn’t even want him. Somehow, you’ve fallen in love with him and he has feelings for you. He took a bullet for you. Do you know where angels and demons go when they die on earth? They go to Purgatory. That’s where your precious Noir is, missy. Purgatory.”

  “How do I get there?” Keirah asked. She would deal with the information Henry was feeding her later. Noir was a demon. Noir was evil. It didn’t matter. All she cared about was getting him back, and then she’d deal with his humanity later.

  “Burr’s office,” he said. “Go alone. Go to the painting,the one with the red and yellow sunset. Pull it off the wall. There is a door behind it. Type in the code 1-8-8-6. I’m only going to tell you that once, so you better have remembered it. Go through the door. That will get you where you need to go.”

  Keirah snorted. Why was she not surprised? Burr gave her the run-around when all he had to give her was another code and tell her where to type it in.

  She didn’t hear the door close, didn’t care. She had him. She was so close.

  13

  “So what’ve you been doing in your life?” Andie asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she regarded her friend with an even stare. It was the next night, and Jack had yet to return home from work. Andie didn’t want to think about what could be keeping him. She knew that he could be genuinely stuck there due to other people who didn’t have the name Vanessa, and wanted to reserve judgment until he told her himself. To get her mind off of the multiple possibilities, Andie decided to head out to the stables and hang out with Gabe for a bit. “Are you still a bad kid?”

  “Bad kid?!” Gabe said, feigning surprise as he threw his hand over his chest. “What, exactly, is that supposed to mean, Candy Andie?”

  “I hate that nickname,” Andie told her friend, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a glare. “It makes me sound so… fat.”

  Gabe gave her a look of disbelief and motioned his hand at Andie’s body. “Right,” he said doubtfully, “because you’re such a tubby.”

  “Oh, fuck you,” Andie replied, flipping him off. “I still cannot believe you guys dared me to eat all of my Halloween candy in one night. Do you know how sick I got?”

  Gabe chuckled, taking a step towards Andie. “I can’t believe you actually ate the candy,” he told her.

  “You haven’t answered my question, Gabe,” Andie told him as a smile touched her face. “How have you been doing?”

  “I’m really good,” he told her genuinely. “Well, I’m sure Reese told you we didn’t get off on the right foot, but I’m kicking ass on the varsity soccer team. You know, I don’t think it’s fair that just because you have more than enough units to graduate early, you don’t have to attend class anymore. I’m the DA’s son, and I still have to go.”

  “Yeah, well,” she teased. “So, since Reese won’t give you the time of day, any women I should be aware of, or have you changed teams? Or are you playing for both?”

  “Oh ha ha,” Gabe said dryly. “I am single and ready to mingle! Hey… if your Jack Phillip guy has one of his infamous parties, you had better invite me, okay? I wanna meet all of those models and actresses Jack chose to give up in order to have you. If you ask me, I think he came up with the short end of the stick.”

  Andie glared at him and smacked him in the shoulder. “Oh shut up,” she growled, tilting her head to the side so her blonde hair pooled down her shoulder. “Like you don’t go to your share of parties… You are Lucas Burr’s son, after all.”

  “How did you get with this guy anyway, And?” Gabe asked seriously before pushing his thick-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. “He’s like… Jack Phillip, billionaire, playboy, GQ’s Best Dressed, and AskMen.com’s Most Influential Man, blah, blah, blah. How’d you two even meet? I mean, what did he see in you?” His hazel eyes sparkled in amusement, indicating that he was teasing her.

  “Truth be told,” a soft-spoken voice said, coming up from behind Andie, “the first thing Andie ever told me was that I was an asshole. And then she slapped me across the face.”

  Andie glanced up and literally beamed when she saw her boyfriend standing there. Jack met her gaze with his own, his lips curling up with genuine happiness at seeing her, and curled an arm around her waist before turning back to the man befor
e him, giving Gabe a cool stare. Jack hadn’t forgotten that Gabe’s father tried to pass the Vigilante Registration Act, and he wondered why Andie would choose to hire him. He did trust her, however, and, for the time being, wouldn’t question her.

  As Jack studied the eighteen year old, he noticed that the he wasn’t as good looking as Jack was, which made the vain part of himself sigh in relief. But he knew Andie, and he knew that while looks were important, it wasn’t at the very top of her list when looking for a potential mate. “So… this is the new stable boy?” he asked, looking over at Andie as he pushed his brows up.

  Andie had known Jack for a while, and knew when he was jealous. It was all in the diction he used when speaking to whoever he felt was a potential threat. She gave him a warning look, but it didn’t appear that Jack had seen it. “Yes,” she finally told him. “This is Gabriel Burr. We had a class together in high school, and I thought it was interesting that a DA’s son wanted to work with horses.”

  “Just call me Gabe,” Gabe told Jack, sticking out his hand. Jack took it and shook it, his eyes saying everything he couldn’t.

  “Gabe,” Jack said, trying the word out. “Well, you know how we met,” Jack said, indicating himself and Andie. “How did you two meet? You know, Gabe, she hasn’t mentioned you to me.”

  Andie cleared her throat rather obviously. Jack glanced down at Andie before gently patting her back with his hand. However, he turned his gaze back to Gabe, waiting expectantly.

  “We were both in life sciences together,” Gabe explained. “I’m kind of shy until you get to know me, and every day, Andie would say hi to me. Since then, we got really close.” He tapped the tip of his chin with his fingertip.

  “Well, I just wanted to meet you and steal my girlfriend away. Dinner is almost ready.” Jack glanced down at Andie before shaking his head.