Masquerade (26 page)

“
Are you ready to go?” he
asked, his smoky voice sending shivers up my spine.

“
Yes.” I glanced at my
cell. It was eleven. “I have an hour before I have to be home. Can
we go somewhere and talk?”

He nodded, reached into his pocket and
pulled out a key card. It looked identical to the one Cole had. My
breath caught. Did he think…?

He leaned close and whispered in my
ear, “Relax. I got it in case we wanted to be alone
tonight.”

I pulled back, slightly shaken. I was
ready to tell him that I loved him, but I didn’t think I was ready
for a hotel room and all the things that went with it.

“
Heven?”

I shook my head.

Understanding lit his eyes,
and he grasped my hand. “I didn’t get it for
that
.”

I lifted a brow.

“
I promise. I know you
aren’t ready.” He cleared his throat
.
“Neither am I.”

Instead of being relieved,
I was hurt. Why wouldn’t he want to? What
guy
didn’t want to? Maybe I was
getting too attached to him; maybe he wasn’t as attached to me as
he said.

He let out a low sound, almost like a
growl, and pulled me forward. “It isn’t what you think. I love you,
and of course I want you.”

“
Then, why?” I
whispered.

“
I just want you to get to
know me a little better. I want you to be ready.”

I nodded, accepting this.

“
So will you come with me?
To talk? I promise I won’t pressure you.” He kept his
sometimes-golden gaze steady on mine. His eyes were so gorgeous,
almost hypnotizing.

“
I will,” I
vowed.

He smiled.

“
Let me go to the ladies
room first, okay?”

“
I’ll walk you,” he said,
standing.

“
I think I can find my
way,” I joked.

“
I know. You’re just so
beautiful I’m afraid someone might try and steal you away.” He
smiled.

“
Well in
that case,” I said, holding out my arm. He took it and tucked it
beneath his and off we went. The trip to the bathroom was stalled
by many people that we stopped to laugh and talk with. Then a slow
song came on and Sam pulled me out for one last dance. I knew I
would never forget how it felt to be in his arms. Finally, we made
it near the restroom where Sam was distracted by a group of waving
guys
.
He
didn’t want to go to them, but I shooed him away. “It’s only the
bathroom, Sam, I’ll be fine.” He nodded once and went to join the
laughing group as I turned to slip inside.

The inside of the tiny room
was cold. Clearly the staff had the AC cranked up in the ballroom,
making this much smaller room freezing. I went to the sink to check
my makeup and mask. I took out my compact to quickly dust away the
light shine on my nose. When I was finished, I put away the case
and washed my hands
.
I heard the stall door behind me open then bang shut, but I
didn’t bother to look up. When I did, there
was a masked woman standing directly behind me. She was
standing much closer than necessary, and I moved to try and put
some distance between us.

She wouldn’t let me.

When I stepped she stepped, where I
went she went. My hands began to shake.

“
Excuse me,” I told her,
trying to get by once more.

“
He should have done his
job
, and then I wouldn’t have to be here
right now.”
Her dark red lips moved
beneath a black mask that looked like lace. Her raven hair was
bound up with a huge bunch of black feathers sticking out of the
up-do.

“
What?” I tried not to
sound intimidated.

“
How much do you know
about your precious Sam?” the woman practically snarled. I watched
in horror as she reached out and grabbed my arm. Hard. I looked
down at her bronze hand grasping my thin, pale arm. Her nails
looked like sharp, red talons, ready to draw blood.

“
It’s time, little girl.
Time you knew the truth.”

I had no idea what she was
talking about and I didn’t want to know. I opened my mouth to
scream, and she pinned me with a hard stare. “Make a noise, and I
will slaughter you. Then I’ll slaughter him.”

Sam! She was threatening Sam! My head
spun with what this woman could possibly want.

Just then the door burst open, and
Kimber came striding in. “Heven, why didn’t you tell me you were
coming in here?” She stopped short when she saw the woman grabbing
me.

“
What’s going on?” Kimber
demanded.

The woman dropped my
arm
like I’d burned her and leaned in to
whisper “Get rid of her. Or I will.”

I believed her, and I was
terrified. Why would she threaten to kill me? To kill Sam? Was this
some kind of sick joke? My skin broke out in a clammy sweat and
glanced to the stall she’d come out of.
Had she been waiting in there for me?
Who was this woman and why was she saying these
things?

“
Kimmie,” I said, using
the name only Cole called her. I prayed it would be enough to let
her know that something wasn’t right. “Would you mind grabbing my
clutch? I left it at the table.”

Kimber smoothed out the gloss she was
applying and hardly glanced at me. “Sure. Be right back.” She
walked out without even a nervous glance.

Not even two seconds later
Sam burst through the bathroom door with a wild look on his face.
When his eyes landed on the woman and her hand grabbing my arm, he
let out a roar and lunged. In one smooth moment I was behind him,
pressed up against the door. And he was leaping at the
woman.

“
When I
tell you to
–
run!” he called over his shoulder.

What he did next shocked
me.

He punched the woman right
in the face.

She fell backwards, but
caught herself against the wall and stood. “Ask him about his
secrets!” She yelled at me. “Make him tell you what he really
is!”

With that she practically climbed up
the wall and disappeared out the tiny open window.

I stood there in shock, my
mouth hanging open. Then I started to shake.

Sam ran over to me, his
eyes sweeping my entire body. “What did she do to you? Are you
hurt?”

“
She didn’t hurt me.” I
said, a strange feeling settling over me. I looked into his eyes,
so guarded and wary.

She might not have hurt
me, but he was about to.

I felt it down in my
bones.

Kimber picked this moment to rush back
in the bathroom. “Are you okay? What happened?”

I straightened and turned.
I prayed the smile I plastered on my face looked real. “Sorry about
that. She was just getting a little too pushy. I think she might
have been drunk.”

“
Some people have no
class.” Kimber said, buying my story. “And who told her that outfit
looked good? And where the heck did she go?”

“
I have no idea.” I said,
fear pumping through me. “But thanks for that.”

“
Anytime.” Kimber smiled.
“Cole and I are leaving.”

“
Sam and
I are too,” I said
, trying to sound
normal.

“
You okay?” Kimber asked,
turning to look at me. “You look pale.”

“
I’m fine, just
tired.”

She nodded. “I’ll call you
tomorrow?”

“
Sure.” I said
brightly.

She went out the door,
leaving me alone with Sam. I dropped my act and looked at him,
about to ask what was going on. “We have to go.” He said, grabbing
my arm and rushing from the room. We got a few stares when people
saw him coming out of the girl’s bathroom, but he didn’t seem to
notice.

“
Sam?” I began.

He was busy towing me
toward our table to get our stuff. His eyes traveled the room and
never stopped
. I planted my feet on the
floor, and he swung around to face me.

“
That woman said you had
secrets. She said that you lie. Do you know what this is about?” I
asked a tremor in my voice. I was half afraid of the
answer.

He aged about ten years right before
my eyes. He nodded miserably. “Yeah.”

“
What’s going
on?”

“
My time has run
out.”

Sam

Heven was in her element.
It was something to see. I had a feeling that the way she was
acting tonight was a glimpse at the way she was before I came into
her life. So vibrant and real. She had this sort of charm, this way
of making people feel good about themselves, and people wanted to
be around her.

In a way it made me sad.
Not sad that she was coming back into herself, but sad that I had
been involved in taking that away from her to begin with. My
thoughts drifted to the body in the bottom of the lake: Andi.
Tonight should have been her prom night as well. Instead, she was
alone in a watery grave, and there were people out there mourning
over her status as missing. The police had been searching to no
avail. I had heard some talk that they were going to list her as a
runaway.

Music flowed out of the
ballroom, it was something upbeat and loud. I heard Heven laugh at
something her friends were saying, and I thought how odd it was
that I was standing in this place thinking about a dead
body.

I pushed the dark thoughts
aside as the evening went on, determined to have a good time. All
the masks made it hard to relax. Every time someone drew near I
would have to decide if they were friendly or not, if we knew them
or not
.
Word of
Heven’s mood, and I suspect the way she glowed, drew people to us
like a magnet. I hadn’t realized how popular she had been
Before
.
It
was almost
intimidating. How could I compete with all of these people? How
long until she figures out that she can do better?

I squelched those thoughts
as well, telling myself that Heven’s feelings for me weren’t the
issue right now, keeping her alive was. Hopefully, someday when I
removed the threat to her life she would be able to tell me that
she loved me. Words I hadn’t heard in so long. My eyes scanned the
crowd once more, searching for anyone suspicious. Damn these masks
and formal attire. Thankfully, I had a profound sense of smell, and
I didn’t catch any familiar scents from my roommates so, for now,
we were safe.

Turns out Heven isn’t much
of a dancer, which comes as a bit of a relief to me. I didn’t
dance. It made me feel like an idiot out there trying to move to
some impossible beat. But I did like the slow dancing…I smiled at
the thought of allowing my hands to roam just a little bit lower on
her back as we moved.

The slow dances were much
less common than the fast dances so when the upbeat music was
playing we mingled in the crowd (by Heven’s request) and made a
stop at the giant punch fountain. It seemed like a silly thing to
me. If I wanted a drink why not just pour it out of a pitcher into
a glass? Instead we stood in a long line (who knew a punch fountain
could be such a draw?) and waited with clear plastic cups in hand.
When it was your turn you were supposed to let the punch flow down
into your cup until it was full. The liquid splashed and
splattered, and I thought it was annoying, but then Heven laughed
at the silly thing, clearly pleased.

Maybe punch fountains
weren’t that annoying after all.

The food was good. I was
always hungry, and there was a lot to eat. Heven seemed amazed at
the amount of food I could put down and watched as I shoveled in a
couple of plates of mini sandwiches, cookies and fruit. She sampled
a few things off my plate, but otherwise sipped her punch while
socializing with the crowd that surrounded us.

When a slow song came on I
pulled her out onto the darkened dance floor and slid my arms
around her.

“
Are you having a good
time?” I whispered in her ear.

“
The best.”

“
I want this night to be
perfect.”

“
It is.” She said, gazing
at me like she wanted to say something more. My stomach dipped a
little with what I hoped it might be. She rose up on tip
toe…

The sound of a muffled
bang caught my attention, and I stiffened, looking around for the
source of the noise.

A large, swinging door
opened to the room the caterers were using and I saw a whole box of
trays had fallen to the ground.

“
Sam?”

I swept my eyes around the ballroom
one last time, making certain I didn’t sense any threat before I
looked down. “Sorry, I thought I heard something.”

She frowned, and I thought
she might ask what was wrong so I spoke before she
could.