Black as Midnight

by Mary Martel

  I didn't turn back to watch them, but felt them as they moved toward the other side of the room. I lifted the corner of the comforter and felt them leave the room. They'd not questioned me, but had instead gone to their bathroom. Together.

  I knew outsiders would see it as weird that they showered together, but it had never bothered me before and didn't now. They just seemed like they worked so much like a unit that to separate them for any reason was a crying shame.

  I laid down underneath the white comforter with my back against the wall. I sat there comfortably while I looked through all of my unread text messages and missed phone calls.

  I responded to a lot of them, but I did not return phone calls. It was turning out that I was one of those ridiculous people who didn't enjoy phone calls unless I absolutely had to endure them. I much preferred texts. Unless, of course, you were Quinton or Rain. Or... maybe even Marcus. But definitely not Adrian.

  I read over his constant stream of text messages, with an ugly feeling filling me more and more with each one I'd read.

  He'd given me an actual date and time for his stupid dinner and I'd responded that my coven would be there, but I sent him nothing else and I didn't respond to the immediate text he'd sent me back in response.

  We had two days to prepare ourselves for the unfortunate event. Part of me wished it was tomorrow so we could just get it out of the way and done with. Another part of me wished for it to be six months from now and even then, I didn't think we would still be prepared for it.

  I sighed as I put my cell phone away. I snuggled under the blanket and closed my eyes. I ended up drifting off to sleep while waiting for my twins to get out of the shower and get ready to go.

  They woke me up and dragged my half sleeping self out of the bed. I didn't protest, but I did get angry when my Range Rover was nowhere to be seen and we had to take the twins’ truck instead.

  I was going to kill Rain when I got my hands on him. It wasn't like he couldn't afford to purchase his own vehicle, instead he had to rob me of mine. Briefly, I wondered if he knew it had been a gift from Marcus and if he'd still want to drive it around once he found out. Some sick and twisted part in me couldn't wait to tell him.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  From the front, the cottage looked just how it always did, charming and nestled away into its own little world. It looked like a place straight out of a fairy tale, and I half expected birds to start singing and little forest animals to come around the corner, hopping about.

  Nothing so pleasant happened and the woods surrounding us remained silent.

  Since the twins had already seen the wreckage, they went inside. I went around the side of the cottage and toward the back, so I could inspect the damage.

  The sight was a lot worse than what I had been expecting. There were shards of glass scattered all across the grass, making it hard to navigate my way through them. The windows must have exploded from the inside out. Huh. I wondered if that had happened when I'd blasted it with water and hoped not because I didn't want to be responsible for causing any more damage. The back sliding glass door no longer existed and looked like a big, empty hole in the wall. The entire outside of the house was charred and black. Half the porch was missing as well.

  I knew that whatever the inside looked like would be a whole lot worse than the outside, and that thought crushed a little piece of my soul.

  When I went inside to pack, I knew for certain I wouldn't be venturing into the kitchen to check things out. There were some things a person didn't need to see.

  I turned away from the destruction and looked out across the backyard, toward the tree line. Something in the grass glittered, catching the sunlight, and caught my eye.

  Carefully, so as not to step on a piece of shattered glass and cut myself, I made my way through the grass toward that thing that glittered. I crouched down in the grass and picked it up.

  "Ouch," I hissed in pain and dropped the dagger I'd been given during the fight. It was sharp enough to slice my finger open and now I was bleeding.

  I picked the dagger back up and looked at it. I hadn't paid it much attention when Damien had given it to me, I'd been too focused on the horribleness of the situation. Now I looked at it. It was plain, with no markings on it, no nothing. I had no idea where he'd gotten the thing, but it was simple in design.

  "Ariel," one of the twins called and I jumped, but thankfully didn't drop the dagger or cut myself again.

  I stood up quickly and turned to face the house. I hid the dagger behind my back, keeping it out of sight.

  Addison watched me with cool, bright blue eyes. They burned with curiosity but he didn't ask the questions I knew he so badly wanted to. I appreciated it.

  I slipped the dagger into my back pocket and hoped to all that was holy that I didn't cut myself again.

  "I'm coming," I told Addison, as I made my way back through the glass covered grass.

  "It makes me uncomfortable having you out here all by yourself," he muttered uneasily. "Not after what happened back here. Damien told us they were trying to drag Dash off into the woods. We can't have the same thing happening to you."

  I understood his reasoning, it was sweet even, but the thought that they'd never leave me alone again certainly didn't fill me with joy.

  "I thought you guys got them all at the shop?" I asked.

  We walked back around the side of the house shoulder to shoulder. He reached out and took hold of my hand.

  "What the—" He started as he dropped my hand and spun to face me. He lifted my hand and glared down at it. "Why are you bleeding, Ariel?"

  Huh. I had forgotten I was bleeding.

  "I must have nicked it on a piece of glass," I lied, and I didn't even know why it had come out of my mouth. For whatever reason, I didn't want them to know about the dagger. I didn't want them to take it away from me.

  "Shit," he said. "We need to get you inside and bandaged up."

  "It's fine. Just needs a band aid."

  I didn't even really feel it anymore. It had stung at first, but now there was just nothing.

  Addison looked at me like I was crazy. He took ahold of my wrist and very gently led me around the house and inside. I followed along behind him without protest. He went up the stairs and into the bathroom, pulling me along behind him.

  I had to reach up and cover my nose and my mouth because the smell inside the cottage was so bad it made my eyes sting.

  He flipped the lid shut on the toilet and forced me to sit down on it. Again, I went without protest.

  He rooted around through the bathroom closet and came out with a medical kit. All this nonsense over just needing a band aid.

  Addison carefully cleaned my cut and had to wrap two band aids around it, and I didn't miss the look he gave me when he wrapped that second band aid around my finger.

  I looked down at my band aid and giggled. They were black and covered in bright orange pumpkins.

  "These are so Dash," I said through my giggles. I sobered immediately as I looked around the bathroom, suddenly at a loss for words. Little touches of Dash were everywhere. From the orange colored washcloths to the black rug that made some joke about vampires.

  Leaving this place sucked so bad, I hated it.

  "It's going to be fine," Addison murmured as he crouched down beside me. His finger came to my chin and he used it to tip my face up toward his. "Everything will work out how it's supposed to. You'll see. If this is where you and Dash are really meant to be, then the house will get fixed up just as it was and the both of you will move back in here."

  I jerked back away from him. "What do you mean by that? Of course, we're going to move back in here after it's all fixed up again. Why wouldn't we?"

  He stood up and backed away with his hands in the air, palms facing me in a gesture that screamed he meant no harm.

  "You can live wherever you want to live, pretty girl," he promised as he backed out of the doorway. "My twin and I will be in Dash's room packing up
some of his things for him. We put suitcases up on your bed for you. Holler if you need anything."

  And then he was gone and I was left alone in the bathroom staring down at the Halloween band aids that covered my hand.

  I left the bathroom and moved on sluggish limbs to my bedroom. There were three very large suitcases sitting on my bed waiting for me, just like he'd promised. There was a time when all of my belongings would have fit in less than one of those suitcases. Now, I had too much stuff to fit in all three.

  I didn't need to pack my clothes because there was a closet already full for me at the big house, but I did it anyways. First the dresser, then the closet. I packed all of my boots and flip-flops out of the coffin closet and tossed them inside a suitcase as well.

  My makeup and all of my girly things went into a big beach bag I had in the closet. I had to make a trip to the bathroom with it and I emptied out the drawers Dash had given me into the bag. I brought it back into my room and sat it on the floor at the foot of my bed.

  The trunk in front of my bed was pulled out. I had to heft the suitcases up and carry them over to the floor beside the door. I pulled my comforter off the bed, folded it and stuffed it inside the trunk. I did the same with my comforter that was folded up and on my wicker love seat. My laptop went inside the trunk next.

  I looked around my room, searching for things I wanted to take with me. Some of the books from the bookcase went into the trunk along with empty notebooks the guys had bought for me. I left my band and movie posters on the wall where they belonged, but climbed up on top of my bed and unhooked my beloved dream catcher from its place above my bed. I tucked it carefully away in the trunk and went to close it, but my eyes moved back over the bed.

  My black and white ink drawings of the tarot cards that had been in the Alexander family for so long hung over my bed. They'd been a beautiful gift from both Tyson and Quinton. To take them off the wall would feel too much like I was officially moving out. To leave them behind felt like a betrayal.

  I said fuck it and yelled out for the guys to help me.

  They came running.

  And it wasn't lost on me in the slightest that neither of them spoke but kept giving each other secret glances as they took my drawings off the wall. First The Magician came down, then The Moon.

  I tried not to cry as they helped me cart my suitcases out to the back of their truck.

  It felt like a goodbye and my heart broke a little as we drove away.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  "I don't want to wear a dress," I grumbled under my breath. "This whole thing is stupid. Why can't I just wear pants?"

  Damien sneered at the black dress pants I held up for inspection. I didn't know what the heck he had to sneer at, they were pants he'd picked out for me and they looked perfectly acceptable to wear to a dinner party, just so long as they were paired with a fancy blouse.

  "I will tell you one more time," Damien said in a strained voice. "You absolutely cannot wear pants to a dinner party with the Council. They will take it as an insult and we do not need any more problems right now."

  I chewed on my lip ring while I folded the pants at the knees and hung them back up on their hanger.

  "Can't I just wear a skirt then?" I whined. "Since, you know, you seem so opposed to the pants."

  I didn't want to wear a dress to some ridiculous dinner that I'd been forced to attend. I wanted to put on a pretty dress and go on a date with one of my boys. Now that I could get behind.

  "You're not wearing a damn skirt," Damien snapped.

  I flinched at the tone of voice he'd used because he'd been keeping it together up until this point. He'd finally snapped because I'd pushed him too far. With good reason. He'd been arguing with me about this for at least an hour now while he'd tried to force me to try on dress after dress. I'd vetoed and argued against every single one and it was a wonder he hadn't snapped on me before now.

  "Can I at least pick out my own dress then?" I asked, and actually took a step back when he practically snarled at me like a rabid animal.

  "Well, alright then," I mused quietly. "I'll take that as a no."

  I swear, I saw steam practically rise from the top of his head before he closed his eyes shut tightly. His lips moved and I watched him count to ten silently. I thought about telling him he should probably count to twenty because he was on the edge of what looked like a complete and total meltdown, but felt it was wise to keep my mouth shut and watch him get himself under control.

  "Why the hell do you care so much about what you're wearing?" he inquired in a neutral voice. "Would it really bother you so much to wear a dress I picked out for you? I would never pick something unflattering or that I thought you'd be uncomfortable in, you have to know that by now."

  Damien had gotten better about picking out my clothes for me when he went shopping. The thing was though, that when he was left to his own devices and picked out the clothes he actually wanted me to wear they weren't the right size and were bright, perky colors. I was not a bright and perky kind of girl. My breasts were usually the only perky thing about me. If I let him pick out my dress, the chances were high I'd end up in something glaringly pink and covered in sequins.

  Pink was okay when it came in the form of underwear and socks, but anything else was a big, fat no for me. I'd take my black, red, and yellow over it any day of the week.

  I twisted my fingers together nervously.

  "Uhh..." I paused before asking, hoping I didn't set him off again, "Can it at least be a black dress?"

  I couldn't do a red one tonight, it would draw too much unwanted attention to me and I already knew I'd be under serious scrutiny as it was. I didn't want to add to it. Yellow would give off a sweet vibe I wasn't willing to sport tonight because I felt anything but sweet lately.

  "I can work with black," Damien said softly, and my body relaxed infinitely. "And I'll even let you pick out your own shoes."

  I appreciated the last part, even though I knew he'd probably regret it later after seeing my shoe choice.

  Damien slid hangers around until stopping on one.

  "This is perfect," he murmured, as he pulled the hanger off the rack and turned to me. He held the dress up for my inspection and waited. The look on his face told me that if I didn't approve of the dress he might murder me right here in my ginormous, outrageous closet, consequences be damned.

  The dress was far more conservative and plain than I had imagined he'd ever pick for me. It was a long-sleeved black number. The skirt flared out at the hips and stopped mid-thigh, which was my only complaint because it was a little on the short side. There were white cuffs at the sleeves and a white collar at the neck. It was remarkably plain and yet I liked it a whole lot. It looked like something a witch would wear for a night out, and it had the added bonus of covering up the scars along my collar bones. I didn't want them on view tonight for the Council to stare at, that was the last thing I needed right now.

  "I like it," I told him honestly, and felt slightly bad for him when his shoulders slumped and he tipped his head back to the ceiling to mutter under his breath, "Thank fuck. She kills me with this crap."

  I reached out and plucked the dress out of his hands.

  He looked me in the eyes and said in a sad voice, "Please, no Chucks tonight."

  And with that he stormed out of the closet, the black silk robe he wore billowing out behind him like a cape. I was willing to bet that robe had been a gift from Dash, I had one just like it.

  So much for getting to pick out my own shoes tonight. I would have gone with my black and white Chucks if he hadn't said anything. They were comfortable and worked well with pretty much anything. I figured they'd go just fine with the dress, maybe even give the whole look a bit of an edge.

  "Oh, and, Ariel," Damien called from the doorway. I turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow in question. "Don't try to cover up your scar." He lifted a hand and waved it gracefully around in front of his cheek. "I've grown rather fond of your
face and that includes the scar you wear on it. You try to cover it up and it's going to piss me off."

  And with that he really was gone.

  Damien could be incredibly sweet at times, he just chose not to show that side of him to many people. I was one of the lucky ones who got to see it.

  I wore a small, secret smile on my face as I dropped the towel that I'd wrapped around my body after getting out of the shower. I slipped into a pair of black, lacy panties and matching bra. I pulled the dress over my head and moved to the tall, heavy stand up mirror on the floor in the corner of the closet.

  I stared at my reflection in the mirror, tilting my head to the side to study myself.

  I had dried my hair in the bathroom because of its length, because I didn't want to get the shoulders on whatever outfit Dame picked out for me wet. The ash blonde locks fell in loose waves around my face, flowing over my shoulders and down to my breasts. My green eyes were beautiful, even I could admit that, but they held a wealth of pain and sadness that I could never seem to get rid of, no matter how much I tried.

  As my eyes raked over my figure in the dress Damien had picked out for me, I realized he'd done good, damn good, because I looked right in that dress. It suited me and was something I wouldn't feel uncomfortable in.

  I bypassed my Chucks on the floor and reached for a pair of plain black Mary Jane's and slipped my feet into them. They were soft and comfortable, I'd never worn them before.

  Normally, I would not take a purse with me because I'd be able to shove whatever I wanted to carry inside a hoodie pocket. But I needed a purse tonight so I could have a place to keep my cell phone in. I'd leave it home, but needed it with me so I could spam Rain with text messages all night long.

  My father was not happy about having to be left at home while we all went off without him, and had made me promise I would text him every half an hour. It seemed a lot like karma if you asked me. Nobody was asking my opinion on anything though.