Masquerade (17 page)

“
I think they’re over.” I
told him, disappointed.

Just then a line of gold shot through
the sky and burst into a million golden stars. I stared transfixed
as they shimmered and dimmed, leaving me feeling a little empty. It
was a shame for such perfect beauty to last for such a short time.
But then another streaked by, and I became mesmerized by color. We
watched the show for a long time, Sam coming to sit next to me on
the swing.

It was perfect.

It felt like a secret.

Like we were the only two people in
the world who knew about this place, and the fireworks were
lighting up the night just for us. I leaned my cheek on his
shoulder as he swayed the swing to and fro. When what I assumed was
the grand finale began, he casually looped and arm around my waist
and pulled me just a little closer, his body buffering some of the
extreme booming. The very last firework to erupt into the sky was
red and shaped like a gigantic heart. Just below my rib cage,
butterflies danced.

“
Thank you for bringing
me,” I told him when everything around us fell silent.

“
You liked it?”

“
Truly.” I sat up to look
him in the eyes.

His knuckles brushed over my cheek. “I
wish I could give you more.”

“
I already have
everything.” I longed to reach out and touch him, but insecurities
and nerves held me back.

“
I got you something.” He
dug
into the pocket of his
jeans.

“
But you already gave me
this.” I held up the cord that held the whistle.

He made a face. “In case
you needed it to scare something away. It’s not exactly something
that shows you how I
feel, or something
that makes you think of me
.

“
I think about you all the
time.” Again the truth behind my words made me feel
vulnerable.
But I didn’t care, the way he
was looking at me tonight, I didn’t mind being vulnerable in that
moment.

His smile was quick and devastating.
“Then this will just show you how I feel.” He pushed back the
sleeve of the cardigan I was wearing to expose my wrist and clasped
something silver around it. Immediately I felt a strange feeling of
rightness, as if a long lost piece of me was finally found. “Okay,”
he said, moving his large hands to give me a view of the
gift.

“
Oh my,” I whispered. “It’s
beautiful.” It was a silver chain that wove together like a rope
and was so polished that it sparkled. Hanging from the chain were
many charms in varying small sizes. Each charm was a key. They all
looked like the old-time skeleton keys, some with rounded bottoms,
while others were more ornately shaped. “I love it.”

I placed my other hand around it and
hugged it to my chest. “I’ll never take it off.” As I said the
words I reached for him, forgetting all my vulnerabilities. But
when I moved my hand away from my wrist the bracelet came with it,
sliding toward the dark ground. I gasped, reaching to catch the
precious treasure.

I missed.

Sam didn’t.

“
I’m so sorry! I’ll be more
careful.”

“
It’s not your fault,” Sam
spoke quietly while reattaching the gift where it belonged. “But
you do need to be careful. The clasp is broken.”

I gasped. The thought of the bracelet
being damaged was heartbreaking.

“
Don’t worry.” His mouth
tilted up. “I can fix it; I just didn’t have time before I came to
pick you up.”

“
Oh, good.” I went back to
studying the keys, trying to learn every shape and curve of each
one. The largest key was slightly tarnished and seemed to be older
than the rest.

He grew quiet and when I looked up he
was smiling. “What?” I asked.

“
You really do like
it.”

“
Oh yes!” I rushed to say,
then I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

He shrugged. “There was a woman near
where I work renting paddle boats today selling jewelry. I wanted
to buy you this necklace, a locket.” He cleared his throat. “But…I
didn’t have enough money.” My heart dropped into my belly at the
thought of him spending any of the money he worked so hard for to
support himself on me. I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up
a hand and continued. “She told me that she was trying to sell a
broken piece, and I was the perfect person to buy it. When she
showed it to me…”

“
What?” I was drawn in by
his raspy tone and interesting tale.

“
It was weird.” He shook
his head. “As soon as I saw it I felt like it should belong to
you.” He looked up, and I saw in his eyes exactly what I’d felt
when he’d clasped it around my wrist. But then they cleared and he
smiled. “And the fact that I thought it was totally
appropriate.”

“
Keys?” I lifted a
brow. Why on earth would he think that keys were
appropriate? I never thought of keys as being romantic before. But
now, the way he was looking at me, maybe I was
wrong
.

“
You’ve unlocked every
place inside of me and left me completely vulnerable.”

Yep, I was
totally
wrong. Keys were
the most romantic gift ever.

“
Vulnerable?” I squeaked.
No way could this calm, gorgeous, confident guy feel that
way.
I
felt that
way.

“
I love you,” he
whispered.

“
You love me?”

“
From the first moment I
saw you.”

Joy shot through me, and my heart beat
wildly. But the moment was ruined when my dumb brain got involved.
For the last ten months my life moved in slow motion, and now
everything was going at warp speed.

He was still watching me, waiting for
me to say something. Probably wanting the same words in return. I
looked into his hypnotic, gorgeous face wanting to say the
words.

“
Sam.” As soon as his name
slid past my tongue his eyes flashed gold. Hesitation slammed
through me. Not denial, just hesitation. I struggled to put the
feelings together because he was waiting, and I desperately did not
want to hurt him. I reached out and splayed my palm over his chest.
His hand covered mine. “I…”

His head snapped around toward the
trees. Every muscle in him tensed. I swear I saw his ears wiggle
and felt the muscles in his legs quiver.

“
Come on.” He rose from the
swing gracefully, taking me with him. “It’s late. You have a
curfew.”

“
What’s wrong?” I worried
on my bottom lip. Was I too slow to respond?

“
Nothing.” He took a deep
breath through his nose and quickened his pace. I practically had
to run to keep up.

I dug my heels into the
ground, but he pulled me right along like I was doing nothing at
all. “Sam,” I whined
. I shouldn’t have
hesitated to tell him I love him back. I just – froze. The words
were there, my heart practically beat just for him – so what
happened with me?

He practically tossed me
into the truck and rushed around to get in
. As he drove his shoulders were tense, and he kept giving
anxious looks in the rear view mirror. I was stupid and ruined the
night and now he was angry
.
When we turned onto a busy street in town, he
pulled
to the side of the road. “I’m sorry
about that.”

“
No – I’m
sorry.”

He tilted his head to the side and
looked at me. “Why would you be sorry? You didn’t do anything
wrong.”

“
But, I thought – we left
in such a hurry.”

Sam’s eyes softened. “I
thought
I heard something in the woods,
probably an animal, but I didn’t want you to be afraid. After what
happened the other night at church…”

“
Oh
.” He hadn’t left because of what I hadn’t said. But,
he
was right to have left. I was scared
before the fireworks, and another wild animal sighting could have
sent me over the edge, but still, we were having a moment, and now,
it was lost.

On the other hand, it got me out of
saying whatever it was that I was going to say.

“
I wished we could have
stayed longer.”

He smiled, reaching over to
take my hand. After another look in the rearview mirror he pulled
out into traffic and drove
me home in
silence, holding my hand the whole way.

When we pulled up to my house I
glanced at the clock. I was a whole hour early for curfew. Why did
the night have to end so soon?

“
I had a really great
time.” I said, hoping he missed the tiny catch in my
voice.

“
Hey, I’m sorry.” He
scooted across the seat to me. “I had a really great time too, and
I ruined it by panicking back there.”

“
It’s okay.” I fingered the
keys on my new bracelet. I knew I should give it back to him; he
worked too hard and needed his money too much to spend it on me. I
went to undo the clasp, but it slid open and felt into my palm. I
lifted my hand out, but Sam shook his head and tucked my fingers
around it.

“
It belongs to
you.”

“
It’s too much.”

“
It was a steal. The lady
practically gave it to me.”

“
Really?” I asked,
suspicious.

“
I promise.” He laid a hand
over his heart and bowed his head. I found the action sweet and,
from him, believable.

“
Okay.” I smiled. “But no
more presents, all right?”

He grinned and kissed me quick.
“Agreed.”

“
Thank you again.” I
glanced at the clock. I wished the
night
was just beginning.

“
If I bring you home early
a few times then your mom won’t mind when I take you out so often,”
he whispered, tracing my lower lip with his thumb.

I smiled because it would totally
work.

“
I love you,
Heven.”

I was once again saved from responding
because he kissed me. It was a deep and thorough kiss that left me
breathless and fuzzy headed. He chuckled, coming around to get me
out of the truck and leading me to the front door. “I’ll call you
tomorrow.”

Already I couldn’t wait to hear his
deep, raspy voice. “Okay.” I slipped out of his warm embrace and
opened the front door, looking back once before going inside. He
was watching me go with an unreadable expression. I waved and went
inside.

It was the last time I saw him before
he disappeared.

The Hate

My taunting was becoming
less of a threat. And now he blatantly ignores what I told him to
do.
He is more ignorant than I thought,
and she is much smarter than I gave her credit for. The little
witch has managed to reel him in. He is besotted with her, giving
her jewelry and proclaiming his love. Our kind doesn’t love.
We destroy love.
He knew
I was watching, and like a white knight, he swept her away from
danger.
He knows her days are numbered.
Trying to delay the inevitable is stupid. Lucky for him I like to
play with my food before I eat, or she would already be
dead.

He shouldn’t have chosen her over me.
Once I find what I am looking for, he will beg to rule with me. He
will see that I am the one he belongs with. But first, she must
die.

I watched him kiss her, practically
attacking her mouth with his. She pretended to like it and batted
her eyes at him as he walked her to her door. An incredible urge to
attack her right then came over me. My body trembled with the force
of how much I hated her.

I held back because he knew I was
there. He was on guard and watching. When I kill her I want it to
be a surprise. Even he won’t be able to stop me.

She let herself in the house, and he
waited while she locked the door. When he turned he looked right at
me, his eyes flashing in the dark, a silent challenge. He was
angry, I could smell it. He gunned the engine when he drove away. I
didn’t bother hiding the fact that I was following him. He issued
the challenge, and I was answering. Maybe I would just kill him
too.

Sam

For a single moment I thought she
might say it back. The way her eyes melted when I gave her the
bracelet, the way her body molded against mine as we sat in the
swing. I had started to believe it might be possible.

Then we were interrupted.
I smelled trouble coming; I heard its silent trip through the
woods. Was one night was too much to ask for? What should have been
a night to remember turned into another threat to avoid.

I couldn’t sit out there in
the open with her any longer, she was a sitting duck. Her safety
wasn’t something I was willing to chance
.
So instead of waiting to hear the
words I desperately wanted, I ruined the moment and pulled her
away.

I knew she was upset, I
could see it in her eyes. She thought she had done something wrong,
and for that I was pissed. How much more was she going to have to
endure all because I love her?