Dark Secrets (97 page)

“
What must be done?”
I said. “What?”

“
Please?” she
shrieked. “Please don’t, David, I’m p—”

“
Shh.” He covered her
mouth, slipping behind her, cradling her spine to his chest. “It
will be over soon.”

She hummed her
aversion in the back of her throat, tugging at his hand.

“
It hurts more if you
fight, Rochelle,” he whispered into her hair, meticulously rolling
her head to expose the vein on her neck. “I’ll try not to enjoy
this.”

“
David, no!” my
squeal broke off as he sank his teeth in, yanking the girl’s head
back until a bone broke through her collar. I covered my face,
trying to hide from the reality.

“
No. You must
see.”

“
Please, no, Jason.
Please don’t make me watch.”

He ripped my hands
from my face. “You
will
watch.”

As I looked back into
the memory, David looked up, his eyes meeting mine—disturbing the
core of my soul with the ferocity behind them—tearing out my every
ill-conceived notion that he was once human inside. I hated him
then, as I saw the monster he’d warned me about so many times—I
hated him.

I sobbed loudly,
watching his victim fall limp in his arms, her last breath
releasing in a whisper, “David?”

He moved
closer.

“
I’m
pregnant.”

I drew back, frozen,
unable to think; my heart pounded in my chest as the realisation of
the loss that could never be retrieved flooded my angry heart,
bringing a cascade of tears down my cheeks.

Rochelle
faded.

David dropped her
lifeless corpse to the floor, letting her head hit the ground, her
neck twisting awkwardly as she fell—then stood up and walked away.
His heavy black boots were the last thing I saw in the memory
before reality washed in like cold water on my face, making me jump
inside. “Jason,” I cried through deep, breathless sobs. “I’m so
sorry.”

All I could see was
her face as she tried to beg David—heartless, merciless, and
unrelenting David—for her life.

Jason wrapped his arms
around his knees and crossed his ankles where he sat on the grass
beside me. “This is the pain I’ve lived with for too long. Do you
see now?”

“
I don’t want to see
it.” I rolled forward, rooting my trembling hands to the grass, my
soft curls sticking to the tears around my lips. “Please get it out
of my head.”

“
I can’t. You own it
now.”

I couldn’t breathe. I
couldn’t believe what I’d just seen. “Why? Why did he kill her?” I
asked.

“
She carried another
soul inside her.”

“
The baby? He killed
her because she was pregnant?”

He nodded once. “At
the preliminary hearing, he claimed he was keeping the
peace—ridding the world of an unauthorized half-blood.”

“
Did he…was he
ordered to do that?”

“
No. He took it upon
himself.”

“
Then how do you know
that’s why he killed her? How do you know it wasn’t an attempt to
change her—so you could keep her?”

Jason stiffened. “He
tried that one. Outside the council chamber, alone, he told me he
meant it as a surprise—that he lied to the Blood King about his
reasons to avoid punishment.”

“
Then, why didn't she
change?”

“
Even if he was
speaking the truth—even if he meant to change her, only one soul
can be immortalised, or they will both die.”

“
So, then, maybe he
didn’t know she was pregnant?”

“
My brother is not
ignorant, Ara, you know this.”

I exhaled. He was
right. David always had the upper hand. Always. Nothing got past
him. “You loved her—like he loves me?”

The grip around his
knees tightened. “She was
everything
to me; fifty years has
passed, and that has not changed.”

“
But…now you’re
planning to do the same thing to David. Don’t you know what I am to
him?”

He studied my face
with repugnance. “Yes, and I will take that from him.”

My head rocked from
side to side in astonished, intensely maddening disbelief. How
could my David be capable of such horror? “I know it means nothing
to you, Jason, but…I am so,
so
sorry,” I whispered with a focused, watery
stare.

“
You’re right. It
changes nothing,” he said irresolutely. “Now you know why you must
die.”

“
Ara!”

I looked up to the
sound of that voice; Mike—he was close—so close that if I dared to
scream, he’d find me.

Without warning, Jason
swept me from the wet grass and threw me over his shoulder. All the
blood rushed into a tight pulse in my lips and cheeks, making it
hard to see, leaving only the whipping breeze as evidence to the
ground moving beneath us. I didn’t care if he took me away, though.
I hung limply over my captor, unable to feel anything anymore. All
I could see were Rochelle’s eyes in her last moments—the fear, the
desperation for her life and that of her unborn child—while a soft
whisper repeated from my lips, “David. How could you?”

Chapter
Thirty-Three

We broke through into
a clearing and a dense, shadowy darkness overtook. The only lights
around were a thousand twinkling stars in the sky and the distant
glow of the Masquerade; pink, like the last drop of sunlight on the
horizon.

Jason set me down in
the long grass, my bare toes sinking into the dewy soil. I hadn’t
even noticed my shoes fell off until now.

The voices of the
hunters—the ones searching for me—were as faint behind the height
of the towering trees around us as the soft, magical music of the
ball, still playing, perhaps to keep the patrons calm. But I knew
they could search all night, put posters up on every tree, phone
every television station in the world, and they would never find
me.

“
They
will
find you,” Jason said, his voice revealing his position in
the darkness. “Once I'm finished with you, that
is.”

“
What? You’re going
to leave me here?”

“
Yes.”

“
Please, Jason. Don’t
do this,” I begged, stepping away, reaching for the place my silver
locket used to rest. “Just think about it for a second.”

He laughed lightly.
“Ara-Rose, I
have
thought about it—for a very long time.” He appeared in front
of me. “I know exactly what I’m going to do to you.”

I swallowed, grateful
that the dark cloaked his face. If I’d been able to see the intent
behind the smile I heard in his voice, I was afraid my skin might
have fallen from my limbs. But, ignorant, I could pretend to be
strong. “Then, why haven’t you done it yet? Are you waiting for
some perfect moment?”

He stepped forward,
the shadows lifting, revealing his eyes as hollow, yawning caves.
“No, Ara. I’m a vampire—we like to
play
with our food.”

“
I'm not your food.
You came here to kill me. That makes me a victim.”

“
Yes, I suppose it
does.” His firm grip sent a rush of blood shooting from my arm to
my heart; he pulled me closer, his orange-chocolate scent waking my
mind to a different version of the dream it always put me
in—casting me suddenly into the theatrics of a nightmare. “But
still, I have a few games—things I want you to suffer before I kill
you.”

“
Don't do that,” I
said, pushing his chest, unable to get my arm free. “Don’t keep
saying things like that.”

“
Stupid little thing,
aren’t you?” he said with a laugh. “Or, perhaps, brave—making
demands of your reaper.”

“
I’m not afraid of
you.”

“
You should
be.”

Something exchanged
between us then, a kind of knowing that came from experience; it
was as if I could see every thought beyond the darkness of his
eyes. He wanted to do something to me then—what, I didn’t know, but
it made me suddenly not so sure of myself.

“
Do you know what his
favourite genre of film was? Did he tell you?”

“
Horror.” I nodded,
eyes on the ground.

“
Yes. So, I thought I
might make this little charade as gruesome an end as I could dream
up, so that when I show him the memory, he will be haunted by it
for the rest of eternity.” He walked slowly around me, the feel of
his eyes gliding over every bare inch of my skin, stopping in front
of me with his cold breath moist on my brow, his body close like he
was my David. “I haven’t eaten for five days and the hunger in me
is so vicious right now, I'm not sure I can make this last as long
as I would like.”

I closed my eyes,
crossing my forearms over my chest.

“
I've touched your
hair before.” He lifted a clipping and pressed it to his nose. “I
watched you—while you slept, and never intended to touch you, but
your hair—” He breathed in deeply, closing his eyes. “You smell so
pretty. Did he ever tell you that?”

I nodded.

“
And it’s not just
your blood—it’s you, your human cosmetics, your hair, your clothes.
All of you.” He considered the chocolate-brown curls against his
palm for a moment, running his thumb over them. “This is easier
than I thought.”

“
What?” I asked,
feeling my shaky breath brush warmly across my salty, tear-stained
lips.

“
I was sure your
beautiful face would force compassion within me, but—” he shook his
head, dropping my hair, “—I feel nothing for you, as if you were
merely a dog who had bitten a child. I just want to see you dead—in
the worst way possible.”

My crossed arms
tightened over my chest.

“
And, don’t get me
wrong; I do see this as a waste of life—beautiful life. I will not
deny the fact that you are something special, Ara, but I cannot let
you live. You understand this?” He lifted my chin; I nodded,
sniffling. “However, I would like to dance with you one last time
before I begin.”

My body moved with
his, close, circling like two birds falling mid-flight. The feel of
his cool fingers at the ribbon of my corset and the softness of his
palm against mine, made me wish only that I were
his—
his
girl,
for
him
to touch,
to love, to hold. I wanted to be a part of him, as I once was with
David.

He spun me out from
his body gracefully, and I twirled back into his chest, completely
intoxicated by his spell—and completely aware of it too. We swayed
together in the cool breeze, surrounded by the trees, where no one
could see us, and no one would ever find us—not until he was
finished with me.

“
Beg me not to kill
you,” he whispered, his lips against my brow like a kiss. “Beg me
and I will show you mercy.”

“
I—” My throat tightened, eyes spilling with tears as I looked
into his; he was just like David. But he was going to kill me no
matter how much I begged. And the worst part was, it didn't matter
to me, because, as if a thread of finely-woven silk had bound us, I
was unable to resist. I
wanted
him to kill me; I
wanted
him to hurt me first—because
it would be an honour to die by his hand.

“
That’s not a very
convincing plea for your life, Ara,” he said.

The faint blue sparkle
surrounding my thoughts persisted like delirium consuming an
otherwise rational mind. I smiled up at him, wishing we would dance
this way together, forever. “What are you doing to me, Jason? Why
does nothing make sense?”

“
Hush now, sweet girl. I am making this easier by allowing you
to feel safe with me. It is one of
my
many talents.”

“
But I—”

“
Shh. This is an
extension of kindness, child. Do not look a gift horse in the
mouth.”

My throat fought hard
for its own vocabulary—for common sense. But he smelled just like
David, and I missed him so much I just wanted to believe he was
David; to imagine for one last moment that I was in his arms—that I
still mattered to him.

“
Close your eyes and
you shall believe it.”

“
You can never be
him. And you’ll just be closer to becoming the monster he is by
killing me—” My gaze delved deep into his hollow, shadowed eyes,
“—but you will never have a heart like his, and I will never give
you mine.”

We stopped moving, his
hands slipping from my body, an icy rush tearing away the cloud of
my confusion, leaving behind a sudden explosion of terror. “I don’t
want your heart, you stupid girl.” He peeled me from the closeness
of his body, tossing me off to the side by my arm. But my dress
caught under my toes, my hands flailing as I fell backward,
stopping against the ground with a high-pitched surge of wind
blasting from my lungs.