Melanie Unmasked

by Michele Bardsley

  An ache settled in her chest. All this time, she believed she was part of a family. The Brotherhood hadn’t cared about her past: she’d been abandoned as a child and as she’d grown into her teens, she’d learned to trade whatever she had -- even her own body -- for food and shelter. By the time she’d reached her twenties, she’d learned plenty of harsh lessons about life and people, and yet, she had never given up the idea of a life shared with an equal partner. She had believed that somewhere, there was a man with whom she could laugh and love, and have babies with. In the end, no matter what she had done to prove her worth to Caplan and to the Brotherhood, she had been abandoned, abused… and broken all over again.

  I give up! Take me, wizard. You’re the only one who wants me, right? Here I am, you bastard. Go on. Take me!

  Tears slid down her cheeks. Gennie stayed that way, weeping and staring at the moon, until an exhausted sleep claimed her.

  “Must be some book,” said a male voice. The accent was odd. His voice lilted like an Irishman’s, but had a softness to it that was almost French.

  Melanie looked up and met the amused gaze of a man standing near her table. His eyes were the most amazing blue-green. He held a paper cup, his long fingers wrapping around the cardboard sleeve. A silver ring with an unusual gem gleamed on his left hand. Was that a wedding ring? Wrong hand, idiot. Her face went hot. Why did she care? This guy probably thought she was a librarian or something.

  “It’s called Wizard’s Heart. It’s out of print now, but you might find a copy at the library.” She couldn’t stop staring at his eyes. “Um… I’m not a librarian.”

  “Ah. So we begin to know each other by saying what we are not? Then I am not a librarian, either.” He smiled… the kind of smile she’d seen Venus get a hundred times from flirting men.

  Begin to know each other? Oh, God. Was he flirting? Melanie slammed her book shut and threw it into her purse. She rose on shaky legs. She was unprepared for his interest and rather shocked that he’d noticed her at all. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

  “Do you?” He tilted his head. His blond hair was worn longer than was currently fashionable, but he pulled off the look. His clothes were casual, but expensive. He obviously liked True Religion because he was wearing their straight-edged jeans and a black T-shirt with a white devil pointing his pitchfork at a red heart. She recognized the clothing brand because one of Venus’s many former boyfriends only wore True Religion. The guy was also wearing a pair of Prada crocs, which had to cost at least a grand. Jeez. Why was she surprised? Most people who ventured into this area were wealthy. You had to have serious moola in order to afford most of the shops on this street.

  “Perhaps I could buy you another coffee?” His question sounded bemused. She realized then that she’d been gawking at him. And he seemed to enjoy her interest. Weirdo.

  Her face went hot again and she shook her head. “I have to meet my sister. Sorry.”

  He stepped in front of her and his unusual eyes studied her face. His lips quirked into a half-smile. “Do you believe in fate?”

  “Wow. You should really cancel your subscription to Pick-Up Lines for the Lame and Desperate.” She strode around him.

  He followed her.

  She whirled around, caught between flattered and annoyed, and asked, “What’s your name?”

  “Nic Chival.”

  “Thanks,” she said, “I just needed to know what to put on the restraining order.”

  He laughed. “Ah. I do not wish to be restrained… not from you. Let us say that if by chance we meet again, you will not only talk to me -- and give me your name -- you will dance with me, too.”

  Mel stared at him. He was good-looking, but one taco short of a combo platter. Too bad, really. “So, if I ever meet you again, I have to talk to you, tell you my name, and dance with you?”

  “Yes,” he said. His gaze dipped to her mouth. “And you have to kiss me.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  He didn’t seem offended by her accusation. His smile widened. “I believe in fate. I believe that I will see you again. If you do not, then what do you lose by agreeing?”

  “Fine,” said Mel. “I agree.” But only because she wanted to leave. To get away from him. It wasn’t so much that he was putting out a creepy-guy vibe; it was more that his interest made her uncomfortable. No man had taken that much notice of her, much less pursued her in… well, ever.

  Nic Chival made an odd little bow. “Until we meet again.”

  Melanie fled. She practically ran into Madam Periwinkle’s Erotic Delights, ducking away from the door. She stared out the edge of the front window and watched Nic saunter by. He looked so good, so confident. And he’d wanted… her?

  “Hello there, sugar.”

  “Aaaaaah!” Mel slapped a hand against her chest. Her heart pounded furiously. “You scared the hell out of me!”

  “Don’t know why I should. I was standing right here when you barreled inside. You got an Amway salesman after you?”

  “Worse,” said Mel. “A man who believes in fate.”

  The woman laughed.

  Mel took in the curvaceous woman who towered over her -- in part due to the four-inch black stilettos. She wore black stockings, a purple mini skirt, and a black bustier, which barely contained her generous breasts. Her violet hair was cut straight and designed to curve underneath her chin. She had the most gorgeous milky skin and her eyes were nearly as violet as her hair. She smelled like lavender… and something else, something Mel couldn’t put a name to. It was almost like walking into a kitchen and smelling chocolate chip cookies baking -- only the oven was empty.

  “Madam Periwinkle, I presume?”

  “The one and only. I’ll get the mask wrapped up for you.”

  Mel’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know I wanted the mask?”

  “I’m a fairy whose job it is to know the hearts of men and women. Then I grant your greatest desire.”

  “What?”

  The woman laughed again. “You should see the look on your face. No, honey, I saw you looking at it earlier. Unless you were really eyeing one of those vibrators?”

  “Uh… no,” said Mel. “Just the mask. It’s for my sister.”

  “Sorry, toots. The Mask of Aphrodite is for you. Your sister will have to find her own.” Madam Periwinkle sashayed to the window and plucked the gold mask from its stand.

  “I don’t think you get to decide whom my purchase is for,” said Mel.

  “Oh, I don’t decide at all. The gift does.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Madam Periwinkle put tissue paper on the counter and laid the mask in the middle. She looked up. “Which part don’t you understand?”

  Mel’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t think I’ve understood a damned thing that’s happened in the last ten minutes.”

  “You ever heard of lampyridae?”

  “Is it a boy band?”

  Madam Periwinkle grinned. “It’s a family in the beetle order Coleoptera. You probably know them as fireflies or lightning bugs.”

  “Maybe you should’ve started with the more obvious terms.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s not nearly as much fun,” said the woman. “Anyway, fireflies use bioluminescence to attract mates. They flit around and show their glowing abdomens to each other.”

  “Fascinating.”

  “It truly is. Anyway, I’m sure some fireflies don’t have the right kind of blinkety-blink. Maybe they got too much or too little luminescence. But they keep flying and glowing.” Madam Periwinkle put the wrapped mask into a box. Then she looked at Mel. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “You have your own glow, honey. And you shouldn’t try to hide it when someone notices.” She placed the box into a purple bag. “That’s a hundred and ninety-three dollars and forty-nine cents.”

  “Sheesh. Is it real gold?”

  “No,” said the woman as she took Mel’s c
redit card. “Then it would be expensive.”

  Mel signed the receipt and took the bag. She felt rather flummoxed by the whole transaction.

  “Just remember, the mask is yours. You’re the one who must wear it.”

  Okay, crazy lady. Mel smiled and nodded, then hurried out of the store. She decided it was time to go home and relax before something really weird happened to her.

  * * *

  Melanie felt better after soaking in a hot bath and putting on her silk pajamas. The purple bag sat on the end of her bed. She sat down and pulled out the box, then took off its lid. Then, not really understanding her own need to see it again, she unfolded the tissue paper and looked at the Mask of Aphrodite.

  It was beautiful. She traced the scrollwork around its edges. Then she did something really impulsive. She went to the bathroom and put it on.

  The mask fit perfectly. She looked in the mirror and saw a mysterious woman, a woman with confidence. She was sexy, this lady in the mask. And oh how Mel really wanted to be… someone else.

  Someone like Gennie Mardell in Wizard’s Heart. Gennie had a scarred face, too, and a far worse past, and yet, she was strong and courageous. She’d rescued a cursed wizard.

  “If only I was more like you, Gennie,” she whispered to her image. “Hmph. If only I was you.”

  Feeling silly, she took off the mask and returned it to the box. She didn’t like that the strange Madam Periwinkle was right, but Mel knew she wasn’t going to give the mask to Venus. Maybe she’d hang it on the wall.

  Mel still had a couple of hours before she was supposed to meet Venus for dinner. She fixed herself a cup of chamomile tea and then settled onto the couch with Wizard’s Heart.

  “Awake, anonvie.”

  Gennie’s eyes fluttered open. Awareness came slowly. She felt so wonderful, so at peace. Rising to a sitting position, she saw that she was still on the altar, but now she was robed in a diaphanous white gown and, more important, she was unfettered. The sun shone brightly, but it wasn’t hot. The surrounding garden with its wild vines and full blooms seemed full of life and of beauty.

  I’m dreaming.

  Gennie knew someone was dreaming with her. She sensed a presence nearby, and that presence wanted her to find… him. You’re the wizard.

  “Do not be afraid.” The voice was a man’s -- deep, but gentle. “Find me in the castle. Find me, anonvie, and I will give you great pleasure.”

  “I don’t need a tumble. I don’t even want to be here.”

  “The magic of the chains say differently.”

  In the dream, she was not bound to the altar. She scooted off the slab and jumped off the dais. “Where will I go? This is a dream. I’m still chained up in the real world. A sacrifice for you.”

  “A very delectable one.”

  Gennie stared at the pathway that led to the castle, which even in this dream was a formidable structure. Her gaze skittered toward the Barrens. What waited for her there? Nothing. No one. She turned toward the imposing building. “A girl told me it used to disappear.”

  “My father bespelled it so that people couldn’t find him. Back then, it was a pile of junk and rock, hardly a home at all. My mother helped him make another one and they made it permanent.”

  “It’s very big.”

  “Yes.” He paused. “Have you changed your mind, Gennie Mardell?”

  “I’m not promising anything. But it wouldn’t hurt to peek inside.” She walked on the winding path, her gaze flitting from the wonderful flowers and tall trees to the great gray stones of the castle. “You know my name. What’s yours?”

  “Honor.”

  “Your name is Honor? And is that your disposition, too?”

  “It was once.”

  She felt his anger and his sorrow. Empathy welled, but she pushed it back. She didn’t know if he deserved her pity. “And if I find you, what am I supposed to do?”

  “Let me make love to you.”

  She shivered at the raw seduction in his tone. What had he been like before his curse? In one hundred years, he had surely made love to many women. No doubt he had all kinds of experience and skill. Caplan had those qualities, too, but he lacked the emotion. She had mistaken his calculation for affection. She would not give this wizard the same opportunity. Then why are you trying to find him?

  When Gennie arrived at the huge wooden doors, the left one opened. She stared into the dank interior, hesitating. Sucking in a breath, she entered.

  Chapter Four

  Mel blinked, feeling strange. She looked down into her tea cup and saw the liquid trembling.

  Her hand was shaking. What the hell?

  Without meaning to, she let the cup go and it tumbled to the floor, the golden liquid spilling across the carpet. Her gaze fell on the book. The words were getting larger and larger. They shot off the pages, stretching, glittering. One by one, they wrapped around her.

  She fell into the inky blackness. Alice falling down the rabbit hole. All she could see, feel, was darkness. This doesn’t make any sense. What’s happening to me?

  Mel closed her eyes.

  After a while, she realized she had landed somewhere. No. She’d probably fallen asleep and then just had a weird dream. But when she opened her eyes, she wasn’t safely tucked onto her own couch clutching her favorite novel.

  The foyer was huge and smelled musty. Dust coated everything; cobwebs hung from every corner. To the left, she saw a narrow hallway. In front of her was a large door. To the right was a long, grand staircase. If she walked another ten feet, she could go around the staircase and down a bigger, longer hall than the one on the left.

  This place seemed familiar, though she couldn’t pinpoint when she’d ever been here. It was not the type of place she’d forget.

  And then she knew.

  The wizard’s castle.

  “Melanie?”

  His voice. Calling for her, not Gennie. How was it possible? I’m soooooooooo dreaming. Or she’d gone stark, raving mad. Or she was in a chocolate-induced coma. But she knew this book. Knew this world. And this time, she’d be the heroine. She would save the wizard.

  “Where are you?” Her timid voice echoed throughout the chamber. Anxiety curled in her belly. This was the part when Gennie thought that facing a cursed wizard was better than trekking through the Barrens alone without clothing or water.

  “Go up the stairs.” His voice was liquid warmth, drawing her up the huge staircase. The burnished wood felt smooth and cold under her bare feet. “End of the hall. Open the door… but only if you want me.”

  Melanie quickened her pace. She was curious about the wizard. Was he handsome? Would he want her even though her face was scarred and she was used goods? Her heart turned over in her chest and she hesitated. Her steps faltered just a few feet from the door.

  What if he didn’t want her?

  “Change your mind?” His question held disappointment.

  “You might change yours.” She walked forward and stopped again. “I am not beautiful.”

  “Beauty is a lie,” he said. “If you do not want me, then say so. Do not hide behind doubts given to you by others. Listen only to your heart.”

  “Are you sure that’s the organ I should listen to?” She chuckled as she reached the door and clenched the big brass handle. “I don’t believe I’m being led to your tender embrace because I wish for love.”

  She felt his censure and flinched. Her harsh words were more for herself than for him. Honesty -- that was the key here. She wouldn’t pretend to be what this wizard wanted so that he might give what she needed. If she was meant to perish on that dais, then she’d be damned if she went to her death a coward and liar.

  “I seek the means to end my curse. What do you seek?”

  Melanie gripped the handle. Some part of her wanted love, but she had stopped seeking it. She desired acceptance. Oh, to be the very heart of someone. To be their joy and sorrow. To know that she was meant for him and him for her. Such a stupid dream. Women l
ike her didn’t get soulmates.

  “Melanie.”

  “What I want, I can’t have,” she said, pushing open the door.

  Her vision barely penetrated the darkness. She got the feeling that the room was large and filled with big, blocky furniture. Thanks to the low fire lit in the fireplace, she could make out the nearest object: a huge four-poster bed. Ignoring that symbol of her sacrifice, she walked to the stone fireplace and stared at the flames.

  “What is this place?” she asked.

  “My bedroom.” His voice emitted from the four-poster bed. “You’ve made your choice. There is no going back.”

  Mel turned and faced the bed, examining the red velvet curtains covering it. She couldn’t see the man inside. “Will you show yourself to me?”

  “No. You must never try to see me, not until the night of the wizard’s moon. You will see my true form and only then will we know if you’ve broken my curse.”

  “And if I am the one who has that power?”

  For a long moment, he said nothing. Finally, he offered, “All will be revealed when the time comes.”

  Melanie already knew that Gennie would break the curse. But she wanted to follow the script. She sauntered to the bed and grabbed the curtain. The fire whooshed and went out instantly. The room was cast into total darkness. Heart pounding, she parted the curtain and kneeled on the bed. “Are you there?”

  “Yes.”

  She couldn’t see a damned thing. He sounded as though he was on the other side of the large bed. Nervous, she dawdled there, leaving one foot on the floor. “What should I do now?”

  “Lay down,” he said. “Close your eyes. And enjoy how I torment your lovely body.”

  She crawled toward the headboard. Her hands came in contact with a plump pillow. She lay flat on her back and put her head on the pillow. Movement came from her right side.

  “I would like to put a mask on you. It will only cover your eyes.”

  Mel closed her eyes and allowed him to slip on the soft velvet mask.