“I will,” she assured him before sucking on the inside of her cheek. She just needed to put her plan in motion.
Two days went by, and Keirah’s mind ached from all the thinking without the solutions. Noir didn’t nag her, something she was grateful for. Instead, he would pace up and down the room like a proud lion confined to a cage. He could escape any earthly imprisonment, but not Purgatory. He was wilting here, she could tell. The way his shoulders curved forward, the disappearance of the maniacal glint in his eyes. The way they had sex was more about release than inflicting either pleasure or pain.
She had to get them out of here.
On the third day, the couple got an unexpected visitor. Seph stood there in a pale pink dress that went to the floor, exposing her shoulders and emphasizing her waist. She still wore her glasses, her blonde hair still pulled up in its usual ponytail. For whatever reason, she couldn’t bring herself to look at Keirah, and for some inexplicable reason, that bugged Keirah. Really bugged her. It wasn’t like their current predicament was Seph’s fault. Keirah turned around. Keirah was the one who looked back. Seph lived here. It wasn’t as though she was going anywhere anytime soon. She was in love with Hades, after all. And whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was in love with her too. Hades was lucky she was willing to put up with being stationary, too. Seph couldn’t leave, was unable to see the world. In a way, he took her for granted, knowing she would always be around.
Her thoughts drifted off, and without realizing it, her lips curved up into a grin. She had come up with a plan.
When they reached the Throne Room, they found Hades sitting erect, looking down at them with his cold, midnight blue eyes.
“You’re here,” he began as they entered, not bothering to wait for them to get into position, “because you need to learn the ways of Purgatory. You’ll be here for an indeterminate amount of time, and it’s important you understand what we expect from you, and also, what you can expect here.” He paused as he watched Seph step off to the side, ensuring Keirah and Noir had an unimpeded view of Hades. Keirah kept the goddess in her peripheral, her arms hanging loosely by her sides. “You will not be leaving anytime soon. You will follow our rules. You will follow our customs. If not, you will be punished in a way that would hurt you the most.”
“And that would be?” Noir asked, skeptical.
“Separation. I decided you may remain here, Miss Shepherd, because your presence will insure Noir’s cooperation.”
The word was simple, yet caused Keirah’s heart to constrict. She reacted before she thought. No one would separate them. Not again. Not ever. She immediately grabbed Seph so the goddess’s back was against her chest, and pressed a knife–one of Noir’s actually, that Keirah kept on her person at all times–against her throat. Immediately, Hades’s hand shot up and his guards froze.
“She is immortal,” he pointed out to Keirah. His voice was steady, like a stream, but there was a slight tremor, a ripple, that permeated his tone. And those midnight blue eyes, once so guarded, gave him away.
“She can still die.” Her voice, unlike his, was calm. She felt Noir still behind her, could feel his gold eyes on her frame and it gave her even more confidence.
“She’d just get sent back here.”
Did he really think she was a fool?
“Her soul would, certainly,” Keirah allowed. “But she wouldn’t be the same. You couldn’t touch her again. Ever.”
His eyes narrowed and his lips twitched as though he was snarling. “We had a deal.” It was getting more and more difficult for him to maintain his composure. “It’s not my fault, and it’s certainly not Seph’s fault, that you couldn’t keep your end of it. You knew what you were getting into. Now, you must suffer the consequences.”
Keirah shrugged. “Maybe that’s how things are supposed to work,” she said, “but I don’t play that way.”
“Where did ah where did this Keirah come from?” Noir said from behind her. He smacked his lips and a pleasurable shiver slid down her spine. “Maybe I should, uh, well, disappear more often.”
Keirah felt her heart race and her blood burn with adrenaline. No wonder crime was so prevalent: being bad felt so good. She could feel Seph’s pulse thrum under her skin; in this instant, Keirah was God. She had Seph’s life in her hands.
“You will let us go,” she stated, keeping her eyes locked with Hades.
“I will not–”
Keirah dug the knife into Seph’s throat so she drew blood. The goddess gasped. She wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice Seph if she had to.
“You will.” The two simply stared at each other. The moment was tight, claustrophobic even. Keirah wasn’t worried. She knew he would give in.
Then –
His lip twitched.
And that was how she knew she had him.
“Get. Out.”
Her smirk broke out into a full-fledged smile. She had done it. They were free.
Finally.
37
Andie woke up in the hospital twenty-four hours later with a searing headache and a sore body. She winced, having trouble keeping her eyes open due to the fact that the light was definitely not helping her headache. She pursed her dry lips together, suddenly craving water more than anything else. She must not have heard the murmurs surrounding her bedside because it wasn’t until she caught sight of Melinda’s dark curls did she realize that she wasn’t alone. Of course, such a realization startled the her causing her body to tense, which didn’t do anything to assist the ache that consumed her everywhere.
“Hey,” a familiar voice said from her bedside. Andie turned and her whole face brightened when she came in contact with her mother. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay,” Andie croaked, her throat incredibly dry. Her words caused her guests–Melinda and Carey–all to roll their eyes. Leave it to Andie to say she was okay when it was so clear that she was not. The young woman furrowed her brow as gently as she could, trying to take in her surroundings, but not able to do so fully. “What happened?”
“We saw your pictures in the newspaper Andie,” Melinda answered, but before the brunette could go on, Andie snapped her eyes in her direction.
“Oh Melinda!” Andie said, her eyes pooling with concern. “I never made it to the party! What happened? Did you get strippers? I am so sorry.”
“Andie,” Melinda said flatly. “Shut up.” She smiled brightly, reassuringly. “None of this is your fault, you know. And to answer your question; No, I didn’t get strippers. Like I would get strippers without you. You are one of my bridesmaids. I can’t get strippers without you, so you’re just going to have to get better so I can get strippers.” Her brown eyes sparkled, letting Andie know she was teasing a bit.
“How are you, though, Andie?” Carey asked, her blue eyes seeping into Andie’s. “When we saw those pictures, we didn’t… We weren’t sure what to think. You looked so…”
“Dead,” Melinda said, the usual deadpan laced in her tone temporarily disabled, at least for now.
“So then what happened?” Andie asked, trying desperately to remember what had happened to her. She only remembered Jack as the Black Wing, cold, blue eyes, and a loud bang. Then, she stabbed Burr through the heart with an arrow. Then, nothing. Beyond that, the best thing she could do was guess, and right now, Andie was in no mood to do so.
“Black Wing,” Carey explained with an admiring smile.
Before Carey could finish, a nurse entered, thoroughly reading a clipboard that no doubt had Andie’s medical portfolio clipped to it. When she looked up, she cleared her throat, catching everyone’s attention. “All right,” she announced in a stern but understanding voice. “Miss Shepherd has indeed woken up and that is absolutely an excellent sign, but there is still a couple of tests I need to run on her now that she is up, so I must ask you all to leave until I call you back in.”
It took a few minutes, but sooner rather than later, all of Andie’s friends disappeared out the door, promis
ing they would be just outside if she needed them. But that wasn’t what was bothering her, exactly.
Where was Jack?
“What tests do you need to run on me?” Andie asked, trying to shake the worried feeling off of her chest. Did something happen to him after she fell unconscious? Was he okay?
“Oh,” the nurse said, brushing off the serious connotations of the question with a wave of her hand. “I don’t. I just thought you would like some time alone to digest everything.”
Andie snuggled back into her bed, contemplating what the nurse had said. She ignored the woman as the nurse changed her IV and checked her vitals, preferring to try and remember what had happened. Not with her, exactly, but what had happened to Jack that caused him not to be there with her at present. If she needed anyone at the moment, it was undoubtedly him. Nobody else would understand what she had been through. Nobody else would get it.
“Excuse me,” Andie called after she swallowed a couple of times in order to moisten her throat. It didn’t do very good. “May I have a glass of water?”
“Of course,” the nurse said, and went to the sink where a jug of ice water was currently resting. Quickly and skillfully, the nurse poured her patient a glass of the cold liquid into a white paper cup and handed it to her.
When Andie’s fingers securely coiled around the cup, she downed the contents of it before smiling, completely refreshed. “Thank you,” she murmured. She furrowed her brow slightly, tilting her head to the side. Maybe the nurse would know where Jack is. Maybe he had called the hospital and had left a message for Andie, assuring her that he would be there soon… If he wasn’t in some other wing of the hospital, recovering himself. “Um… may I ask you a question?” Andie quickly asked, noticing that the nurse was nearly out the door.
The nurse paused and turned, looking at Andie expectantly. “Yes,” the nurse said, nodding once.
“Do you happen to know where my boyfriend is?” she asked. Even as the words slipped out of her mouth, she knew how ridiculous they sounded. But it didn’t matter. She needed to know where Jack was, to know that he was all right.
Surprisingly, the nurse didn’t answer. Instead, she smiled, and then pointed to a pocket of the room Andie couldn’t quite see from her position. There sat Jack, in an obviously uncomfortable position. He had a couple of scrapes and scratches on his face, but nothing too serious. His eyes were closed and his shoulders were hunched due to the angle of the chair, but he was there, sleeping. He had been there the whole time. He hadn’t left her, and he wasn’t hurt. He was okay.
And even now, he was the most beautiful thing to wake up to.
Andie turned back to the nurse, in order to thank her for her help, but the nurse had already disappeared.
Finally, Andie and Jack were alone. The only problem was that he was asleep.
She smirked at that. That could be fixed.
Once she saw Jack, it didn’t necessarily matter to Andie that she probably should have been staying in her bed, relaxing her mind and resting her muscles. But seeing Jack sitting there, so adorably cute, she couldn’t resist at least attempting to get out of her bed in order to walk over to him and bury herself in his warm embrace. It was tricky, to say the least, and took more out of her than she had realized, but she pushed herself on, throwing her legs over the bed and forcing herself into a standing position. Even completely able-bodied, Andie had never been the most graceful person to walk the planet, but because she was already woozy and the fact that her muscles were currently screaming at her in rage, she had to grab the bed in order to steady herself. When she felt comfortable enough, she turned and started heading in Jack’s direction.
Jack wasn’t fully expecting to be woken up quite yet, and by Andie no less, but he wasn’t complaining. Somehow, Andie had managed to leave her bed and ended up in his lap.
“You’re okay,” he murmured tiredly, his jade green eyes dulled with sleep. However, it was quite clear just how happy he was to see her all right and conscious.
“I’m not sure okay is the right word,” Andie corrected softly, “but I’m awake and moving, though I probably shouldn’t be.”
Jack wrapped his arms securely around Andie’s lower back, wary to make sure not to apply too much pressure lest he hurt her more than she already was. “No, you shouldn’t be moving,” Jack agreed, cocking his head to the side. Suddenly, his face contorted into something that resembled regret. “Andie, I am so sorry. For everything. I had no idea that something like this could ever happen to you, and I feel like it’s all my fault.”
“Well, it’s not,” Andie told him firmly. “And I’m all right, and so are you, and that’s all that matters. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.” She smiled at him. “Just so you know.”
Jack smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You know,” he said quietly, as though he wasn’t sure he should be mentioning this, but decided to anyway, “people actually think that I did this to you because, apparently, I’m an angry person.” He tried to shrug nonchalantly, but couldn’t make the effort due to the fact that people could actually think he would harm what was most precious to him.
“Yeah, well,” Andie said, lowering her voice an octave. She leaned forward so her lips gently caressed his ear. “It’s your anger that turns me on.”
That caused Jack to chuckle and smile genuinely. His grip on Andie tightened, and he buried his head into her shoulder, thanking God that she was back and that she was okay.
“Goodness, Miss Shepherd!” a familiar voice exclaimed. It would appear the nurse had forgotten something and returned for it at that moment. “Get into bed! You should be resting! I know the two of you are young, but really! Can’t you keep your hands off of each other for two seconds?”
Andie chuckled as she slipped out of Jack’s grasp in order to walk back to the bed.
Jack watched her, completely enamored with her.
No, he thought in response to the nurse’s inquiries. Not if I can help it.
38
Reese couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the blood rushing through her body. It was oddly soothing and helped regulate her heartbeat. However, every nerve in her body was heightened. If someone touched her, she would shatter. From the rearview mirror, she saw her bow and arrow, and that calmed her down a bit. Her fingers twitched, as though they were ready to hold it in her hand again. It made her feel safe. Strong. In control.
Ever since her family died, she felt as though she had control over nothing. So why fight life, why live life, when going with the flow was so much easier? She didn’t have to be responsible for her choices or where her life was headed or what type of person she was going to be. How could she stress about that when she was alone now? Why would she actively try and feel all that life had to offer her when she wasn’t ready to feel at all?
And then Ollo saved her. Gave her a reason to live. Gave her a reason to want to live. He refused to give up on her and pushed her to be the type of girl who did not want to continue sitting around moping for an indeterminate amount of time. He frustrated her to the point where she wanted to rip her skin off to get him out from underneath it. But he made her a better person. He made her be the person she wanted to be.
And now some bitch had him to get to her? Absolutely not. Not on her watch. Ollo never gave up on her and she refused to do the same. She would do whatever it took to get him back in her arms. To get him safe.
When she pulled into her old gated community, her heart stopped beating for just a second. Of course Daphne would be here. To what was left of her house. Daphne had burned it down with Reese’s mother, father, and brother still inside. She had murdered Reese’s family, and now had Ollo here.
The man at the gate–a new employee Reese didn’t recognize–barely looked up from sports pages of The Onyx Tribune. If she had still lived here, she would have been annoyed. As it was, his carelessness actually worked in her favor. Unlike her mother who had lied professionally, Reese had always been bad
at it.
When she pulled up to the remains of her house, she couldn’t move from her seat. Not right away. She hadn’t been back since she first discovered the wreckage. Reese didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t this: the community was already building over it. The old place was already forgotten, a new one being constructed to take its place. Who would remember her family had lived there, had died there? Who would care?
She felt her blood boil at the sight, even though she knew the community had no choice but to move on. Couldn’t they leave a marker though, some kind of indicator that a good family had lived and died there? It was too soon.
It was too soon.
Reese took a deep breath and counted to ten. She wasn’t here to check on the community and how they were handling the death of her family. She came for Ollo. And a part of her, she realized, came for vengeance. She needed to focus.
“Daphne,” she called as she emerged from the car. She kept her bow in her right hand as she slid her sack of arrows across her torso. “I’m here.” She didn’t particularly care one way or the other if she was seen or heard. She needed to finish this and then she’d be done.
The neighborhood was still as a grave and just as tense. Reese didn’t feel the weight of it anymore. Blood was flowing through her now. If Daphne thought luring her here, to this place, would throw her off her game, she had another thing coming. She was ready to fight. She was ready to finally end this.
The sky was black as pitch, but the stars provided just enough light to cast shadows. Reese saw it as though it was daytime. It was like everything she had been training for, everything she had been working towards was leading up to this very moment. She could feel it in her very bones.
The Dark Paradise Trilogy Box Set Page 87
