by Sarah Tobias
The ballroom had taken on a cavernous feel, with shadows formed by strategically placed spotlights in corners. White and gray draperies cascaded across the walls, flowing heavily to the ground and casting their own shade across the dance floor. Golden chandeliers decorated the walls and tinted the room with a muted glow. Electric candles, placed on each table, flickered their tiny LED flames on white and gray tablecloths.
“Wow,” I said to Macy, breaking apart from her to let the Phantom of the Opera walk between us.
“I know, right? I mean, let’s hand it to them, Amanda and Liz can pull off a party,” Macy said.
Somewhat awed, I followed Macy through the crowd, but I cautiously scanned the people as I trailed behind.
You’d think I’d be searching for fae and other potential threats using my powers for good and keeping these attendees safe, but no. I was watching for Asher.
I found him off to the side, conversing with a few others, and I breathed easier once I noted Gwyn wasn’t around. Asher was dressed in a dark suit. Half his face sparked in the golden light of the chandeliers and candles, but his eyes were obscured under a hollow of black.
As if he sensed my stare, his head tipped up, and he skimmed over the crowd, finding me. The familiar tingling painted its strokes across my skin as I held his gaze. He extricated himself from the conversation and started forward, parting the crowd with his smooth, leveled pace.
I panicked.
No good came out of talking with him. Asher was inadvertent truth serum. Left with him too long, I would absolutely give my dark side up, and he could do with it as he pleased. If only I could touch him.
Lick his skin. Taste his salt. His flesh is seasoning for his soul, my dark flame, quiet until now, whispered with glee.
“Emily,” he said once he reached me, a mere arm’s length away.
“Hi,” I said, finding my voice, pleased it came out normal. Just another day in a haunted ballroom.
“You look beautiful.” Asher’s mouth lifted before adding, “I’m not sure what you’re supposed to be, though.”
I fanned out the skirt of my dress to show off the deep scarlet color at the bottom. “Persephone. I stepped in a bunch of pomegranates.”
His lips parted a little. I hoped in amusement.
“And what are you supposed to be?” I asked. “A guy in a suit?”
Asher shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how to dress for a Dark Masquerade, so I bought this.” He held up a rather disturbing mask. What I thought had been a plain, black mask in his hand turned out to be faded, tarnished gold that dropped down to cover his nose and cheeks, but left his mouth free. Blue lines resembling veins drifted across its surface, with two wide, tear-shaped eye-holes.
“That’s … kind of terrifying,” I said.
He chuckled. “Doesn’t that match the mood? Lurid and grotesque?”
Asher’s description hit a little too close to home; they were words that pestered and plagued my nights. But even the weighted meaning couldn’t have shocked me more than what followed.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked.
“What?”
Asher smiled. “You know, move our feet to music. I think that’s what they do at these things.”
My eyes darted around the room, taking in all the swirling gowns and masked monsters that looped and spun around us, the lowered lights obscuring their ghastly faces. That such a scene surrounded us should have cemented the foreboding that enveloped me as soon as I entered through the doors, especially considering our previous conversation. It wasn’t clear how Asher wanted to handle me and what I knew. In fact, it was suspicious, the way he let me go.
He’s up to something, the dark flame said. And you’re the fly that dies from a honey trap.
I couldn’t dance with Asher. It was much too dangerous. For me. For him.
Yet I so badly wanted to.
“I ... I don't know,” I said.
My darkness prickled, and I fisted my hand against my stomach. For once, she wasn’t banging around in fury, throwing her curled fists of black smoke so they poisoned by bones and smothered my heart. She felt ... anxious. She quivered in my stomach like a dying butterfly, sinking down and away, plummeting as deep within me as she could.
Asher slipped on his mask and held out his hand to lead me to the dance floor, and I smiled with a mix of pleasure and dread that his hand was gloved. I wove my fingers with his, allowing myself to feel like a shy, beguiled girl who was just asked to dance by her crush.
He led me into the thick of the twirling bodies and steadied me close to him, one hand resting on my shoulder and the other curved around my waist, his face hidden by that unsettling mask. Mist hazed around our feet as he led me into a slow dance, holding on tight.
My heart leaped. Asher’s face was so close—if I moved my chin, I'd be within inches of his lips. I dreamed about our kiss. With the dark flame at bay, it was easy to believe I could press my cheek against his, that I could tilt my head and his lips would meet mine.
Asher seemed to sense my raised emotions, because he drew back, raising his gloved hand and settling it under my chin so he could tilt my face up.
“Every part of me tells me to stay away from you,” he said.
I scanned the surrounding people in an attempt to become mesmerized by the sway of movement, their dancing forms resembling dark crests of waves in a sea of fog. I knew if I kept staring at Asher, if I stayed with his warm arms wrapped around me, that I would tell him everything.
I so badly wanted to tell him everything.
Instead, I drifted closer and settled my cheek against his chest, swaying as we joined the dark sea of bodies.
“Maybe you should stay away,” I said.
Asher lowered his head and said into my ear, “Maybe I don’t want to.”
My face creased with torment. I tightened my hold on him before I let go. I had to get away from the promises he left unsaid, the wishes that would turn to dust. A cloud of cool mist filled the space between us.
“A dance like this doesn’t really seem like your style,” I said, observing Asher’s stiffened posture as soon as I backed off.
“You’re right,” Asher replied. “But I had to come.”
His eyes were glittering pools within his mask, his tone switching from warm honey to cold ice.
“You’re here watching for something,” I surmised.
He nodded, his mask emotionless.
“But I can’t know,” I continued. “Or else you’ll have to kill me.”
I said it with amusement, but I wasn’t able to hide the truth in my tone.
“I promised to protect you,” Asher said.
The velvet cadence made me want to believe him, but I couldn’t ignore the residual tension underlying Asher’s words.
“Try to stay out of trouble, Emily. Okay?” he said.
“Are you saying I go running after slimy brown globs and throw construction scraps at them on the regular?” I asked, trying for a grin.
Asher was about to smile in return, I was sure of it. His lips started to twitch, but he stopped short. He narrowed onto something behind me.
I jolted, the tip of a red-hot fire poker running down my spine. My shoulders stiffened, my legs locked, and my fingers curled against my palms. I schooled my shock as soon as I felt the change.
“I have to go. I’m sorry,” Asher said, glancing at me one more time before departing.
I lost a breath or two from the instant frost in his gaze, his slate eyes surrounded by two tear-shaped hollows, but I recovered enough to track him as he melted into the dancing crowd and navigated through the masked monsters.
Not all these monsters were human. There were faes dancing, and I was a fool to pretend otherwise. Asher had spotted one—a fae that distracted him so much he didn’t register my similar reaction. Nor did he spot my eyes behind my mask, blazing with golden fire at the supernatural’s proximity. I had felt it, too.
Something powerful hid in here.
I searched for Macy, finding her with Liz and Amanda, all three trussed up in ripped and bloodied gowns. Macy laughed through her mask as she held a drink up to her lips. Relieved that she was safe, I disappeared into the crowd, following Asher’s path.
This was my chance to see him in action and how he deals with fae. If only I could catch up to him in time.
In my haste, I almost ran head-on into Gwyn. My heightened senses registered our near-contact, and I stopped short before we connected.
“Nice reflexes, Emily,” she said without a trace of sincerity. “Have you seen my brother?”
I’d been too busy scanning over Gwyn’s head, but her voice caught my attention enough to meet her eyes. I smiled at her outfit: a Corpse Bride. I had to admit, while her face was powdered with white and droplets of fake blood rimmed her mouth, she was beautiful.
“I just saw him,” I said. “I don’t know where he got off to, though.”
I told her the almost-truth. Gwyn couldn’t know I was looking for him, too.
Gwyn squinted at the crowd, alert and focused.
“Thanks,” she said, then darted around me without another word.
Shoot. Now that Gwyn was on the search, I had to move faster. Find Asher before she did. Before I was forced to reveal what I was, because the dark flame had come back with a vengeance after sensing this new, succulent presence.
I wasted the next few minutes wandering around the shadowy decorations, peeking into private corners and breaking through clusters of people, but I couldn’t find Asher anywhere. It was only when I sat down at a corner table in defeat that I finally figured out what I should’ve been doing from the beginning.
I was using my normal senses. I hadn’t tried to use the capabilities I'd been refining these past few weeks, and my stupidity made me want to snort. I could find the fae first, and where the creature was, Asher would be there, too.
Except … I’d have to reach another agreement with my dark twin. With the way she was clanging around, I doubted she was feeling reciprocal.
You want it, too, I reasoned with her. You crave this fae’s soul.
YES. Her voice was so loud in my head that I winced and rubbed at my temple.
No one paid any attention. Most were too busy with their spiked drinks and the booming music to register parasites in their midst. I inhaled, nudging the dark flame close enough to the surface for her to locate one body snatcher in particular.
At first, she scraped around, the flames licking at my organs as she made clear her displeasure at being tempered for so long. But she would come forth. Even she couldn’t ignore the lure of feasting on such a powerful beast. The flames fanned outwards and upwards, heat creeping up my neck.
“There you are!”
My eyes went hot at the sound of Macy’s voice.
“Ems, you look nice.” Amanda held a drink to her mouth, but I didn’t need to see her lips to know what kind of quirk they held. “Super festive.”
“Just catching my breath, Mace,” I said, turning my face away.
“Well, come dance! You look so lonely over here.” Macy grabbed my arm, and because I didn’t expect it, I didn't move away fast enough. She snapped her hand back as if scalded. “Oh my G—Emily, you’re burning up! Do you have a fever?”
“Fresh air's what I need, that's all. Don’t worry.” I rose from the table, but knocked into Macy and almost sent her spilling to the floor. The energy inside me crackled, snapped, and begged to be let loose.
“Jeez, Emily! Don’t break her,” Liz said, steadying Macy.
They couldn’t see me this way. I'd unleashed the internal flames and was stupid to think I could keep my dark flame under control in this crowd. With Macy. Oh, Macy, escape me, please.
“I’m sorry,” I said to Macy, meaning it. She met my gaze and flinched back. “Em … your eyes …”
“Holy, what kind of contacts are those?” Liz peered over Macy and into my face.
I turned without another word, flying toward the double doors leading outside, swallowing back sickness. I wasn’t sure what, exactly, they saw, or how much they comprehended. Compelling Macy again was the last thing I wanted, but I would do it if I had to.
As soon as I locate Asher and this powerful fae.
The dark flame sensed my weakness, saw her chance, and punched through, knocking me off balance and scorching me from the inside out as I fell against the brick wall. I gritted my teeth through the burn, squeezing my eyes shut as we clashed. She wasn’t allowed to drive tonight—I just needed enough to find the fae, to find Asher. To see what he did with them.
My dark flame was in no mood to compromise, burning brighter, charring further, blackening all tissue. I let out a scream of protest as she roared fire and I crumbled to the ground, clawing at my neck as she blanketed my mind. With one last beseeching yell, it shoved me into my own visionless pit, anguish coating my screams as she forced me under, trapping me within an opaque, black cloud.
When my eyes opened again, I was her.
Chapter 28
My dark twin turned from the brick wall, angling her head.
In moments, she located a heightened power source, a fae high on the food chain, and I cursed her abilities, so advanced compared to mine. She traced the trail of energy through the city, heading west as she melded in with the scattered pedestrians on the sidewalk.
Had Asher led it away from the hotel? Or had it left of its own accord, sensing multiple points of danger?
The soul of this fae pulsed stronger when we reached West 46th Street, the trick-or-treaters that had been running in and out of bodegas all evening experiencing sugar highs long ago going to bed. As we passed 11th Avenue, I wondered where this fae went. Buildings and storefronts thinned out the farther west we moved, warehouses and widened streets taking their place. The wind blew harder the closer we got to the Hudson River, my dress billowing out behind me.
When we reached 12th Avenue, she’d taken me farther than I’d ever gone in Manhattan, with only loading docks, storage facilities and vacant parking lots in the vicinity.
Yet, the pulse of the fae was tangible and near.
Where were we?
We hummed with the fae’s proximity. There was something different this time, I could feel it, and so could she.
We approached the Hudson River and were alone on streets as we stood in front of the shipping docks. A flash of light came from above, illuminating us for a few seconds before disappearing into the night.
The bright, lavender light also lit up the looming structure directly in front of us, so large and imposing that it blocked out the horizon.
I could make out an outline as we drew closer, but it didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, it made me feel way, way worse. It was the shadow of a ship. A big, scary, hulking, military vessel.
The fae had chosen an old World War II aircraft carrier for its lair, its flat outdoor surface spanning nearly nine football fields long. The body of the ship tapered down into the water, creating a sharp seam at its bow that resembled a knife slicing into black waters. It was massive, a gray giant standing still, with the Manhattan skyscrapers standing guard around it. Its enormous surface originally held almost one hundred fighter planes before they took off and warred in the skies above. This ship had survived missiles. Freaking Kamikaze bombs.
Now, retired and preserved relic that she was, she had to endure soul-sucking creatures from another realm. Me included.
Curious, my dark flame used my body to creep forward, interest piqued at the thwack of noises slamming together and the ominous sound of something fluttering against the wind. She crouched, using the cover of the warehouses to her advantage as she honed in.
There. The flash of a wing above the ship.
This fae was circling low in the sky, flying over the ship’s command center, skirting antennae and other satellite machinery, its black wings moving up and down in a slow, curved rhythm as it studied its prey below. I glimpsed movement, a figure ti
ny like an ant, as it paced a section of the ship’s flight deck.
Oh, no—Asher. It had to be Asher.
We need to help him, I said. The winged creature’s circles were getting smaller and lower.
My dark flame hunched against the warehouse. Immobile. I glowered.
I tried again. We have to move.
Just watch, she said, her mouth—my mouth—warping into a brittle smile. And see.
That my evil dark flame was willing to watch and wait rather than pounce and devour this fae in one fanged gulp was alarming. She was up to something, and her plans never ended up being positive.
With a sudden yank of movement, my dark flame somersaulted into the air, unfolding to grip the hull of the ship and climb up to the flight deck. It creeped me out, the way she used my body to crawl up metal like a possessed demonic bug in a dress. Halfway up, she vaulted from the hull and onto the wide base of the ship’s platform, taking cover behind one of the fighter planes on display, its exterior painted black as ink and shining like wet gloss under the moonlight.
I’d once told Macy I’d love to come here and see actual fighter planes of history up close. Little did I know I’d be taking cover underneath one, the strong smell of chemicals and cleaning oils assaulting my nostrils as some other realm’s spiteful miscreant dive-bombed an aircraft carrier.
The creature rushed Asher with such velocity it was a smudge against Manhattan's neon-quilted horizon, its fanged mouth going for his chest. Asher dove to the side, his arm raised, striking the fae out of mid-air and sending it into a rolling tangle behind him. Although a part of me knew that Asher would have to possess powerful stamina to face these supernatural crazies, witnessing his savvy dexterity still came as a shock.
Asher balanced on the balls of his feet, his tuxedo’s blazer billowing behind his hips, spinning just as the fae righted itself and launched, its glowing eyes bright with fury. The fae predicted Asher’s defensive punch and spread its wings, enveloping Asher and hammering him to the ground.
This ship could sustain heavy damage, like explosions and bombs and such, and still be ready for action.
