The Invitation

by Sanderson, Scarlett

  She bitch-slapped her inner voice into silence and said, “Say that again.”

  “I’m not human.”

  Evie did the only thing that would keep her sane—she laughed. He sat up and fumbled in the pocket of his discarded breeches. Curious, she watched as he drew out a small glass ornament.

  “Watch.” He held it between his thumb and forefinger before raising it to the glow of the fire. Light reflected off the orb, projecting a kaleidoscope of colors onto the hearth. It wasn’t glass. More like crystal or diamond.

  Mist swirled inside the orb. It was beautiful. Magical. Just like its owner.

  She saw complete focus on Gabriel’s face. Complete conviction, obvious by the grim set of his jaw. His eyes became opaque and misted like the inside of the orb.

  Oh my god. Dread filled her. Gooseflesh dimpled her skin.

  He gently gripped her chin and raised the orb into her line of sight. “Watch, Evie.”

  It began to glow. The mist swirled and danced. It came alive.

  She took a sharp breath and wanted to draw back from the figures that appeared like holograms inside the orb. She couldn’t move. She was mesmerized by the crystal.

  Her breath hitched as a fairytale scene played out before her. In the whirling mist she saw a medieval-style castle. People laughed and played. There was a spectacular waterfall, lush greenery. It was paradise.

  It shifted, blended into an opulent throne room similar to the one in Gabriel’s mansion. He sat on a gilded throne surrounded by courtiers. Each jostled for favor, each brought plush gifts. Gabriel seemed distracted, sad even. It looked like a scene from one of her books.

  How was he doing this?

  She tried to trace the scene. As she reached, the image disappeared and the orb darkened. She snatched her hand back and raised an eyebrow. “Neat trick.” Her steady voice didn’t betray her trembling nerves.

  Tilting his head to the side, Gabriel lowered the crystal and raked his hair. “You think this is merely a trick?”

  “What else could it be?” she asked. She dared not acknowledge the truth beating at the back of her mind.

  Gabriel sighed. He looked weary. His skin was sallow and tired—even the embers of firelight didn’t illuminate his color. His shoulders stooped. He was still naked. “This is a doorway to another world. My world. The world in which I live. The world you have dreamed about.”

  Hysteria crept in. “You’re nuts.”

  He rose to his feet and padded over to one of the sideboards. As he bent over and his ass cheeks tightened, Evie suppressed a moan. Her clit pulsed. Moisture coated her already soaked nether lips. Her body ripened for sex. He might be crazy but he still drove her insane with need.

  Gabriel took out a dagger from a display case.

  Her ardor died as if someone had thrown a bucket of freezing water over her. Panic bubbled. She tasted bile in the back of her throat. Was he going to murder her for not believing him? Was he some mass-murdering psycho?

  “Gabriel…”

  As he moved forward, she scooted back along the floor. She grabbed her clothes and held them against her chest. She needed to run, get back to the crowd of people. Surely he wouldn’t do anything in front of all those guests.

  She climbed to her knees. Before she could get up and run for the door, he knelt down. The fire crackled and cast an eerie glow over the blade. She edged back again.

  She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She couldn’t explain how she knew. It was completely irrational, especially since he was kneeling on the floor before her holding a very sharp knife. “Gabriel, what are you doing?”

  He lifted the dagger and placed the tip over his heart. It puckered the skin, making an indent in the flesh. He forced her fingers around the hilt, securing them with his own. He glared at her.

  A tiny bead of blood ran down his chest as the pressure pierced him.

  She blinked back tears and shook her head. “No. Gabriel. No. Please don’t do this.”

  “I need you to understand.” His grip tightened around hers and he plunged the dagger into his heart.

  “No!” she screamed with desperation.

  She fought with every ounce of strength she had and managed to free her hand. Any minute now his blood would gush onto her.

  As she stumbled back, she gulped in gasps of air. She couldn’t breathe. Terror constricted her airways. She couldn’t think straight. Why would he do this? They’d only just found each other. Why was this happening? Tears slipped down her cheeks.

  Gabriel reached for the dagger and she squealed.

  “Don’t! For god’s sake, don’t take it out. We need to get you to the hospital.”

  Instead of agreeing with her, he shook his head. He continued to watch her in his calm manner. No pain or fear clouded his features.

  Frantic emotions whirled through her. Why wasn’t he in pain? Why wasn’t he bleeding? Maybe the blade had plugged the flow.

  Gabriel didn’t heed her warning. He pulled the blade from his heart.

  “No.”

  The sucking sound of wet flesh made nausea churn her stomach. She heaved and waited for the thick gush of arterial blood.

  It didn’t come. Apart from a few droplets, he did not bleed.

  Amazing. Impossible.

  She watched as the wound healed. The skin miraculously knitted back together.

  Evie wasn’t one of those women who swooned or fainted at the sight of something out of the ordinary but she was damn sure this was a fainting moment. She felt giddy and lightheaded. Hot and cold at the same time.

  She swallowed back the bile and blinked. She’d be okay if the world stopped spinning.

  He did not bleed.

  Not human.

  Memories of Gabriel flashed through her mind. Christmas upon Christmas, he looked the same. He didn’t age, apart from a few crinkles around his eyes. How had she not realized? How did the world not notice?

  “I am the Shadow king. I rule the realm between Heaven and Hell and I have wandered this earth for centuries waiting for you.”

  His words sucker-punched her in the gut. She’d always thought there was something otherworldly about the way he moved.

  No, it couldn’t be true. He was delusional. Maybe she’d been hit over the head and this was all a weird, fucked-up dream. Maybe he’d drugged her. It couldn’t be real.

  Everything you can imagine is real.

  “Oh god.” She scrubbed her hands over her face.

  He hadn’t aged in twenty years. He was rarely seen except for at the annual Christmas ball. He didn’t bleed.

  She rubbed her chest. “How is this possible? You…you felt so real. You were inside me. I felt you inside me.” She reached out to touch him and stopped herself.

  A raging headache increased the pressure in her temples as she tried to come to terms with his revelation.

  You knew. You’ve always known.

  Had she? Of course she’d known. She’d dreamed about it, wrote novels about a golden court in purgatory overseen by a handsome king searching for his mate.

  He stroked her shoulder and desire cut through the fear. Even terrified, her body reacted, demanding attention. She craved him.

  “I can take corporeal form on one night of the year. On this night I am allowed to search for my consort, for the one woman who completes me. I have searched for many long years, Evie. You are the other half of my soul.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Your soul sings to mine.” He smoothed a stray tendril of her hair and her nipples beaded. “Your body knows my touch. Search your heart, Evie. We are destined.”

  She wanted to lean into him and feel his heat. She wanted to feel his presence surround her, engulf her. But uncertainty fired her nerve endings. She was sick to her stomach. How could she be a consort? She wasn’t born into his society. She didn’t know how to act around American socialites, let alone a magical court.

  The weight of his revelation weighed on her.

  She gathered he
r scattered clothes. “I need some space.”

  Hurt burned in his eyes, sending shards of pain through her heart.

  How was she supposed to react when the man of her dreams told her he was a ghost?

  The steely silence lengthened as she dressed. Aware that he watched her every move, a little embarrassed, she turned her back to him and tried to salvage some modesty.

  When she finished dressing, Evie faced him. He stood rigid as stone. “Gabriel…”

  “You have until midnight, Evelyn Ward.” His curt, dismissive tone brought tears to her eyes.

  She nodded and left the library. She closed the door behind her and leaned back against the solid wood. Pain whipped around her heart, turned her insides to mush. Usually, after spying on Gabriel, she’d spend Christmas Eve listening to carols, drinking mulled wine and sitting by a crackling fire.

  Tonight she was faced with the most important decision of her life.

  Magical realms were real. The things she wrote about had always seemed so lifelike, it scared her. At times she’d thought herself crazy. As a child her parents had taken her to a psychologist. They were worried she was delusional.

  All her vivid dreams were reality. It made sense now.

  Moments like this never happened to her. Defining moments. When in the blink of an eye you had to decide whether or not to take a leap of faith into the unknown.

  Oh god. How could she make that decision? It was fantastical. Downright absurd. She couldn’t even decide what to have for dinner most days.

  What was his world like? Would she be able to see her family and friends? Was it a harsh place? What if Gabriel was wrong? What if they weren’t compatible? Would she be stuck there in this Shadow realm?

  Air. She needed some air. To clear her head.

  She hurried back to the throne room and pushed through the laughing crowds. She spied a set of partially open French doors and bolted toward them, thankful for an escape route.

  Once outside she ran down the steps, moving farther away from the house. The crisp night air felt good against her heated skin. The noise from the ball faded and she was left with the pounding in her head.

  Gabriel Longthorn was King of Shadows. An immortal searching for a consort. Her.

  “Fuck.” She bent forward and put her head between her thighs. She wasn’t going to throw up. She needed to think.

  She’d always been different. Apart, as if she didn’t really belong. As though something was missing. Part of the reason she’d become a writer was to connect with the world. The only time she’d truly felt at peace was with Gabriel buried inside her. All the doubts had stopped. She had come alive.

  King of Shadows. It sounded horrifying yet the place he’d shown her shone vivid and bright. Full of life and love. A paradise beyond the veil. A place she would be queen.

  There was only one drawback—to be queen, to be with the man she’d loved all her life, she had to give up everything she’d ever known. Her family, friends, writing.

  “He’d never ask you to give up the things you love. He’s far too stubborn for that.” Lucian stepped out of the shadow of a tree. He pointed to a stone bench, asking silent permission if he could sit.

  “Sure.” She sat next to him. Her indecision and fears must have been etched all over her face.

  “I’m a guard. It’s my job to protect Gabriel any way I can.”

  Of course. His job made sense now. Before she’d thought him a normal bodyguard but now that she knew about the Shadow world, Lucian’s role took on deeper meaning.

  She drank in his features. Like Gabriel he had otherworldly beauty. Was he immortal too? Probably.

  “I have until midnight to decide whether I want to be with him in the…Shadow world.” She tucked strands of hair behind her ear. “What happens if I say no?” She couldn’t believe she was even asking the question. When the words left her lips, pain twisted in her gut. She caught the tragic look Lucian tried to hide. She steeled her spine for the worst. “The truth please, Lucian.”

  “If you do not agree to be queen, Gabriel loses his only chance at happiness. Without you he is doomed to walk between worlds as a shade, never knowing love. His soul will wither and die and the King of Shadows as we know him will be no more.”

  Tears ran down her cheeks as she thought of Gabriel ceasing to exist.

  It broke her heart.

  She inhaled, tried to steady her nerves. “Well, that puts the pressure on.”

  Lucian flashed her a sympathetic look.

  “Why tonight? Why can’t I have some time to get used to things? Why is it all so rushed?” She was desperate to know the answer.

  “Because this is his last chance. He’s waited for centuries. Every year part of him dies as he searches. Unless you complete him tonight, his soul will have died by next year.”

  “I thought being immortal protected you from death.”

  “Nothing is safe from death. Everything ends in some form. He loves you, Evie. He has done for years.” His green-eyed gaze pierced her soul, willing her to accept his king. “The first time he saw you as an adult, it lit a fire inside him that I had not seen for centuries. You gave him hope.” He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Do not forsake him, Evie. Give love a chance.”

  “Thank you for that startling revelation, Lucian.” Gabriel’s tone cut like a knife. Fury rolled off him in waves. Power sizzled, sending sparks of electricity dancing across her skin.

  The King of Shadows was pissed and she’d never been more attracted to him.

  As if fearing Gabriel’s wild mood, Lucian stood, moved away and bowed low. “I meant no disrespect, my lord.”

  Gabriel took Lucian’s place on the bench. “Leave us.”

  Evie let out a breath. Thankfully he didn’t take his mood out on his subjects. It was good to know he wasn’t a cruel master.

  She understood now why he was he was king. It wasn’t his tone—his commanding presence dominated the atmosphere around him. You couldn’t help but look at him, obey him. It made her want to fall to her knees and serve him. Potent stuff.

  Lucian vanished and Evie wondered how that was possible.

  She resisted the urge to laugh. Of all the things to wonder about, she chose that one. Tonight was a night for incredible things—why should a guard disappearing into thin air unsettle her? If she chose Gabriel this would be her world soon.

  “I will not force you into a decision, Evie. Free will is important to me. It must be yours and yours alone.”

  “Could you force me?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I have the power to bind your will to mine. If I command you, you will have no choice but to obey.”

  “How will you bind me to you?”

  “Through sex. When you are most vulnerable. There are other ways, more violent ways, but I prefer never to use them.”

  His words sent shivers of pleasure down her spine. Her nipples peaked and every molecule in her body screamed for him to show her the other methods. Would he bind her? Flog her? She’d never been into BDSM but he made her want to try anything and everything.

  His nostrils flared. “Please don’t tempt me, Evie. Not now.”

  The conviction behind his words slammed into her. Sexual tension sizzled between them. She swallowed. Her skin ached for him, for his fingertips sliding across her curves. To strip naked and have his hot skin molded against hers, to feel the muscles bunch and twist as he pushed his cock inside her, filling her.

  She tried to focus on something else. The moonlight played on the dark tendrils of hair that curled at the nape of his neck. She became fascinated with the way the black-blue colors of his hair shifted and moved in the watery light.

  “Evie.” Her name sounded strangled and raw. He growled and fisted her hair, drawing her closer. Her hormones spiked and she was sure he could smell the musky cream that soaked her panties. “I need you to focus. If I kiss you now, you’ll choose me. You’ll always wonder if I bade you do it.” He nuzzled her neck, nipped her ear. “Focus. T
hink. Choose.”

  He released her. She scrubbed a hand over her face, blinked, swallowed, relaxed.

  She wasn’t doomed into a forced existence. She had a choice. A real choice. A limited one but still a choice. There were so many questions racing through her mind. She didn’t have long to decide. Gabriel’s life depended on her.

  “It’s so surreal. One minute I’m writing about these things. Imagining them—” She tapped a finger against her temple. “In here. Now I’m living them.”

  He moved to touch her then stopped and folded his hands in his lap as if unwilling to influence her further. “Have you ever wondered where those ideas came from? You’ve always known there was something more than this realm.”

  Again her thoughts came into focus with startling clarity. The things she wrote about in her books, they were all real. “Vampires. Do they really exist?”

  Gabriel’s rich laughter pierced the night and she blushed. Okay, maybe everything wasn’t real.

  “The last vampire I heard of was in Brazil. Avoiding the IRS, I believe.”

  It was Evie’s turn to laugh. Who knew vampires had to deal with everyday things like the IRS? “Damn taxmen. Such bloodsuckers.”

  “Touché.”

  “Do you have to pay taxes? According to the media you’re a rich socialite. How is all that possible?” She’d never really thought about it until now. How did he become one of the richest men in America?

  “I pay my taxes like a good citizen.”

  “But you’re a ghost.”

  “To throw this party every year, I have to maintain an air of normality. Pure illusion. Although you see my true face, I project a glamor that makes it look like I age to everyone else. I’m always traveling on ‘business’ so I’m rarely seen. I’m a recluse and I’m rich. I dabble in the stock market. We do have technology in the Shadow world.”

  She shook her head. “Bizarre. You also have a family?”

  “Members of the court who act as family. All illusion.”

  The mighty Longthorns—all smoke and mirrors. She brushed his cheek. “Sounds lonely.”

  He let out a deep sigh. “You have no idea.”