Fading Into Darkness: The Under Series Book 2 (17 page)

“So what do you think? Do you think Cam will let me?”
“Why do you want a hot tub so badly?” Senka asked laughing.
“Cause they're warm and bubbly. I love bubbles!”
“I thought cat's hated water?”
“So what do you think?”
“If you want a hot tub you should get a hot tub. I doubt Cam will care what you stick on the roof it's
not like he uses it. You could probably build a casino up there and he wouldn't notice he's too
preoccupied.”
“Hmm casino....now there's an idea.”
“Rex I was joking.”
“Maybe so, but that's not a bad idea. I could rent a building up there and have my very own casino.”
“Okay, so who would come to this casino? We're not in Vegas.”
“You guys could come. I would run it and be king of the casino.”
Senka laughed. “So you want me to spend my hard earned cash in your casino so you can get rich
and I lose all my money.”
“I could wear a purple top hat and hold a cane.”
“You would look like a dodgy pimp. I think you've been down here too long.” Senka said as we
slowed down in front of the gates.
I pulled my hood up and hid under Kenzie's hat and Jack's sunglasses and we passed through
without a hitch, they didn't even stop the car this time.
Senka hopped out and pressed a button on the wall. The garage door lifted and Rex pulled the SUV
in. We parted ways and Senka and I strolled across the grass. It was late and had just gone midnight.
“So are you good friends with those two?” I asked.
“I've known them a long time. Jack is anyone's friend he's an easy going guy not much bothers him
and Rex well Rex he's an acquired taste.”
When Senka said he'd known them a long time I didn't think he was talking about a few years. I
think he actually meant a few decades or longer, Rex had used the word century earlier and he
wasn't laughing when he'd said it. I think they had know each other a very long time. Mack was
right about everything, everything he had ever told me was true. I was living amongst fallen angels
and fallen angels clearly didn't age. They were immortal. I'd never seen Senka eat anything and the
only thing stocked in the fridge upstairs was drink. I was convinced Senka was a fallen angel and all
he lived off was energy drinks. I wondered how that worked?
“I thought he was funny.” I replied after a few moments of quietness, I was distracted by my own
thoughts. “You know you talk as if you've known them for years. I don't even know how old you
are?”
“Twenty four. I'm twenty four.” he repeated like he wasn't sure himself.
We stopped at the bottom of the trellis, I stole a quick look at him and he was watching me closely. I
think we both knew he wasn't twenty four.
“Who's queen bitch?” I blurted out.
Rex had mentioned it earlier and I was really curious about it. It was going to eat at me all night if I
didn't ask him about it.
“No one. She's no one.”
“She?” I said playing with the flower headband I had wrapped around my wrist.
“Someone that used to live in the manor.”
“Were you and her.....”
Senka ran his down his face, it was clear he was uncomfortable about this subject.
“It was along time ago and she's no one that's all you need to know.”
I slowly nodded and wished I hadn't asked.
“Shall we?” He pulled himself up onto the trellis. I climbed up next to him and he kept close beside
me, making sure I held onto the right parts. We reached my balcony and both swung our legs over
facing each other our knees touching.
I took Kenzie's hat off and placed it on the wall between us.
“So thanks for taking me with you, my one night of freedom.”
“It's not over yet.” he said reaching for my face, his hands found their way into my hair and he
pulled me towards him and into a kiss. I returned his kiss without much thought. Senka was my
own personal forbidden fruit, he was becoming irresistible. I stopped in mid kiss and bit my lip to
restrain it from moving back for more. I still needed to know if Senka had taken my memories. He
stroked the side of my face with the back of his hand.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I'm just tired.”
He swung his other leg over the wall and lifted me over.
“So I'll see you tomorrow?” I asked.
Senka looked at the patio door then at the floor, not answering me.
“Senka,”
“I don't want you sleeping down here alone.” he said in a hushed voice.
“Why not?” I asked.
I think this had something to do with the candle he'd seen at the side of my bed. Emmett and his late
night candle lighting visits, I had nearly forgotten. I was so tired I would have drifted off to sleep
and forgotten I was going to pretend to be asleep, so that when Emmett had come and gone, I could
blow the candle out. Emmett's candles and his weird chanting was to suppress my memory and I
wanted my memory back more than anything so there would be no more candles. Senka knew
Emmett might come looking for me later, I couldn't stay here.
Senka didn't reply, he probably didn't know how to explain it to me, but I had a good idea as to what
was going on.
“Okay,” I said without waiting for him to make some excuse up. “Can I sleep in your room?”
“Sure.”
“Maybe I should get changed first.”
Senka followed me into my bedroom and sat on the edge of my bed.
I took the hoodie off and folded it up.
“Do I have to take them off they're so comfy.” I said looking at the hi-tops on my feet.
“I think Cam would confiscate them if he found you wearing them.”
“Right Cam, I nearly forgot. He likes me in dresses.”
“There's nothing wrong with wearing a dress.”
“Okay so why don't you wear a dress.” I joked walking into the bathroom to change. I stripped off
everything except for my own panties and I kept the bra on. It wasn't like Cam was going to do a
strip search, he would never know. I walked back out in my thin white cotton nightdress. My altered
nightdress seemed to have wondered off, my guess was Narmi had taken it. Hopefully she would
wash it and bring it back.
I rolled all the clothes and hi-tops back into the large piece of fabric.
“So I'll see you up there in a minute, no detours except to drop that stuff of right?” he asked.
“No. No detours. Not unless Emmett is waiting with a net at the end of the corridor to catch me.”
“Don't be too long.” he said ducking out the balcony door.

I sat on Senka's bed hugging my knees to my chest fiddling with a loose thread on my nightdress, to
the point I had over fiddled with it and made a small hole. Senka was lying down next to me
stretched out resting his arm behind his head, he looked so relaxed. I had never felt so un-relaxed
and undecided. I was in mixed minds. I wanted to be here, I didn't want to be here. I wasn't entirely
convinced it was Senka I wanted lying next to me. Images of Mack on the beach flashed across my
mind and I squeezed my eyes shut and reopened them trying to focus on the strange retro horror
movie we were currently watching. I felt the tips of Senka's fingers as he ran them down my back, it
was no surprise I couldn't follow the movie with him distracting me like that sending my body into
overdrive. A pleasant cold chill made the hair on my arms stand up and sent a prickle down the back
of my neck and it wasn't the bad kind of sensation, it was tingly and electric all at once.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“Um I dunno, maybe?”
Senka pulled the covers out from under me and wrapped them around me. I leaned back against the
black leather headboard. Senka hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me over to him so we
were both sitting next to each other only difference was he was on top of the covers. Where I
wanted him to stay for now. At least being in here with Senka meant I was safe from Emmett and
his candles, another night I was avoiding his memory tricks. I was using the word tricks instead of
witchcraft. I found saying the word witchcraft was strange and completely unfamiliar to me and
basically to old fashioned. I associated witchcraft with old ladies with messy straw like hair. I
imagined them riding around on brooms, they probably lived in little cottage in the woods with their
cats and used cauldrons for cooking small insects. Well whatever Emmett was doing for Cam,
witchcraft or not I was going to do my best to avoid it. I didn't trust either of them right now. I was
running out of people to trust, I glanced sideways at Senka. His Senka scent was doing strange
things to me. A mixture of coconut and smoke. All I wanted to do was throw my arms around him
and bury my face into the crook of his neck.
I had to look inside his head. I needed to know. Now seemed like a good time, we were alone and I
wanted to see if I was capable of doing it again. All I had to do was look into his eyes and think
about what I wanted to see. Easier said than done. I had a tornado of things whirling round inside
my head.
Concentrate. You can do this. Did Senka take my memories?
I repeated it over and over
inside my head until I felt ready and certain no other wondering thoughts would pop in.
“Owww!” I said raising my hand to my face.
“What's wrong?” Senka asked pulling my hand away.
“I think I got something in my eye. It stings so much. Can you take a look for me?”
“Sure hold still. Which one?” he said holding the sides of my face and tilting my head backwards
slightly.
“Left side.” I looked in his eyes as they searched mine.
Did Senka take my memories?
Was the last
thought I had before everything started to blur in my peripheral vision. I closed my eyes and
everything went black.

I was walking along a corridor inside the manor. It was the floor with my bedroom on. I came to a
stop outside my bedroom door. A hand went up to the door as if to knock but stopped. I knew that
hand and the arm it belonged to. Senka's pale skin and tattoos gave him away easily.
“Pull it together.” he quietly mumbled.
There was no one else standing around so I could only assumed he was talking to himself. It was
such a normal thing to do, something I would do. I smiled to myself then remembered I was on a
mission, a mission to find out whether Senka sucked my entire life and memories from my head. I
really hoped not.
He knocked three times and stood back. I racked my brain for any memory of Senka knocking on
my bedroom door, the other night when he woke me up was the first time he'd been in my room.
Well that's what I thought, this wasn't looking good. I already couldn't remember this day.
I watched as I opened the door. My hair was done up in a messy bun and I was wearing my white
cotton nightdress, which I was currently wearing and had left behind with my body in Senka's
bedroom. I had just woken up and it was obvious. I looked a state I probably hadn't even brushed
my teeth it was so early.
“Morning,” Senka said in the most formal voice I'd ever heard him use.
“Morning,” I replied. Even I was cringing at the way I was staring at Senka.
I fluttered my eyelashes and smiled as my eyes roamed the length of his body. OMG! I officially
wanted to die. Was I always this obvious around Senka? I wanted to reach over and slap myself and
tell me to stop.
“Can I come in for a minute?” he asked.
I nodded and moved away from the door. I was shocked. Senka had been in my room before and I
couldn't believe I'd just let a stranger into my bedroom so easily. But Senka did have an amazing
smile and when paired with his blue eyes it made him irresistible.
“So what can I do for you?” I asked.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“About what?”
Senka went over to the balcony door and walked outside.
“Come sit with me.”
I obediently did as he said and sat down opposite him. It was weird looking at myself across the
table, I wondered if this was what having a twin felt like. Even inside Senka's body I could feel my
cheeks burning, in complete embarrassment at how see through my nightdress was. I was so
burning it when I got back. Senka managed to keep his eyes mainly on my face, which made him a
gentlemen in my eyes right now.
My eyes flickered between the trees watching the birds and I kept stealing glances in Senka's
direction when I thought he wasn't looking.
“Do you like it?” he asked bluntly. It didn't sound like Senka, it was so coarse.
I obviously detected it because my reply wasn't what I was expecting to come out of my mouth.
“What do you mean? Do I like the location of my bedroom? Do I like sitting out on this balcony?
Do I like the gardens or maybe you mean the hundreds of butterflies that flutter around like a swarm
of locust?”
“In general do you like it here?”
“No, not particularly. I find it rather odd.” I replied watching Senka through guarded eyes, a
complete change to the girl that had first opened the door.
“So did Cam send you up here to talk to me?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I wanted to talk to you. I want to know all about you.”
“That makes two of us. Unfortunately I don't know who I am.”
“You don't remember anything?”
“No.”
“Do you want to remember your past?”
“More than anything.”
“Why is it so important for you to remember?” he asked firing back quickly.
“So I can remember the person I used to be. Right now I feel empty. I don't know anything about
who I am or the person I used to be. So I can't answer your questions.”
“You don't know what they are yet.”
Senka raised his hand to the side of his face and retrieved a cigarette. Something I'd seen him do
before, he often kept one behind his ear.
My face changed from curious of Senka to basically disgusted. It was true I hated the smoking but it
was Senka and it was something he did so I'd grown used to it, it no longer bothered me but it
clearly bothered the
'past me'
.
“Those things are toxic. Does everyone have a death wish here?”
Senka laughed.
“What's funny.” I asked dryly.
“You. You cracked a joke. A good one considering where we are.” he replied.
“Okay I have no idea what you're talking about but nevermind. So what are these questions you
wanted to ask me?”
“What do you think of Cam? And don't tell me what you think I need to hear. Tell what you feel.
Cam will never know about this conversation.”
“I think he's lying to me. I don't trust him.”
“What else?” Senka added.
“Why do you want to know all this?”
“I need to know this before I make my decision.”
“What decision?” I asked.
Senka dragged the ash tray across the table and tapped his cigarette into it.
“Are you happy?”
“Not particularly.”
“Cam wants to marry you. What do you think about that?”
“I think that's crazy. I don't even know him.”
“So you don't have feelings for him?”
“No I don't. You're being really weird, do you interrogate all the guests like this?”
“Only the pretty ones.”
“I'm not pretty, so maybe you knocked on the wrong door.”
“ I disagree. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since we crossed paths the other day.”
“You know Emmett will be walking through that door any minute if you were having any insanely
crazy thoughts or male urges.”
“We both know that's not true he's gone out for the morning. Didn't he just leave here? Cause I
could have sworn I saw you saying goodbye to him about ten minutes ago.”
“What do you want?” I asked. I could see I was getting impatient with him.
“Cam wants me to do something.”
“What does he want you to do?”
“Something I think I'm going to regret if I do it.”
“Then don't do it.”
“Maybe you're right.” Senka said taking a drag on his cigarette.
“I like your top.” I said looking at his chest.
Senka looked down and brushed the front of his T-shirt. It was one of my favourite ones that he
wore a lot. It had a picture of two skeletons on the front one was holding a beer and the other one
was smoking, I always thought it was quirky like Senka.
Senka laughed softly. “Good answer,” he said standing up. “It's been good talking with you Ruby.”
he said stepping away and walking inside.
“That's it?” I said following him inside. “Will I see you again?”
“Do you want to see me again?” he asked looking over his shoulder at me.
“Maybe.” I replied. I knew when I said maybe it really meant yes.
He spun around and stepped closer. He slowly raised his hand to my face. I stayed still as he
reached up and cupped the side of my face with his hand. I was surprised I was letting him, I didn't
even know him back then. But even I could see the longing in my eyes, I wanted Senka to touch
me.
“It's a shame you wont remember this.” he said looking into my eyes, his hand still on the side of
my face. My eyes clouded black and closed and I fell forward like a limp rag doll into Senka's arms.
He caught me and lifted me onto the bed. I was still breathing, it was as if I'd fallen asleep. It must
be how his ability worked, but all I could think about was how much of my memory he'd taken. Was
this it, had he already done it? Was there no going back?
Senka reached over and swept a wisp of hair away from my face.
He left me sleeping and closed my door. He took the steps two at a time with his long legs, up to his
own floor and strolled along the corridor. Everything looked higher up from this angle and he took
such large steps it didn't take him long to reach his door. He unlocked it and kicked the door shut.
He fell backwards onto his bed and let out a sigh, he sounded exhausted. He looked up at the
ceiling.
“Alex,” he groaned. He pulled his legs up and stood on his bed and easily managed to reach the
ceiling pulling down the poster that was stuck to it.
There was a knock at the door and Senka answered it still holding the poster.
It was Alex, he playfully slapped Senka on the cheek twice and walked in.
“What's this?” Senka asked holding the poster up tilting his head to look at it again. It was a picture
of a woman with long red hair wearing absolutely nothing except a pair of bunny ears posing
seductively.
“What! I thought you said you liked bunnies?”
“Yes the fluffy kind that hops along the floor.”
“I'm sure she'd hop along the floor if you asked nicely.”
“Get rid of it,” Senka said pushing it against Alex's chest. “Is there a reason for this social call
Alex?”
Alex produced two passports from his back pocket and chucked one to Senka. Senka flipped it open
there was a photo of himself inside.
“I had to shave a few years off, I don't think twenty nine suits you.”
“You made me twenty four.” Senka said annoyed.
“Well I know you don't like pretending to be too young. But you don't look twenty nine, you barely
look twenty one.”
“I like being twenty nine.”
“All right grandpa.”
“Alex what is this for?”
“You apparently need them for travelling nowadays.”
“I know what a passport is for why do you have them?”
“Our trip.”
“Alex about that.....I've decided I'm not doing it.”
“Senk we've been over this. Even if you decide not to go through with it, Cam will make things
really difficult. He'll find a way to make you do it anyway.”
“Don't you think I don't know that.”
“So how did this mornings visit with her go? I know that's where you've been. You didn't
accidentally erase her memory while you were there did you?”
“No I didn't. I only took the memory of our conversation together. She's different.”
“Why? Does she have webbed feet?” Alex asked.
“No. She doesn't like Cam.”
“Who does?”
“She doesn't like it here.”
“It must be tough on her. She has such a hard life down here.” Alex said sarcastically.
“Alex,” Senka said warning him to stop.
“Okay, okay. Go on.”
“She liked my T-shirt.”
“Well that's great she likes your T-shirt. Is that what you're making your decision on? The fact that
she likes your T-shirt?”
“Well I like my T-shirt and she likes my T-shirt. I think we're going to get along just fine.”
“Fine, fine, fine, everything is fine. Cam is going to be savage, but it's your funeral. But then again I
should probably dig a grave for both of us, cause it's not just you he'll take it out on. He'll probably
make my life hell as well if you tell him you don't want to do this.”
“I know and I've already got it covered. You don't have to be so dramatic he's not going to kill us.
According to Cam, Ruby is highly gifted and she's strong, mentally strong. I'll just tell him I had a
little go at it this morning and it didn't work, that she was somehow guarding her memories inside
her mind or something along those lines. He'll never know and he won't be mad so stop over
reacting.”
“Well I hope she's worth it? I'm putting our travels on hold because of her,” Alex pointed at the
passport in Senka's hand. “Keep it. Just encase you change you mind.” Alex said opening the door.
“Right well I'm off to Copeland.”
“Why you headed there? No wait, let me guess it has something to do with a girl.” Senka said
leaning on the door.
“Yes and no. Scuba diving course at the college, starts today. I've signed up and the diving
instructor is banging.”
“Did you really just use the word banging? No one uses that word anymore and you call me old.”
“Whatever. I have to go or I'm going to be late. See you later. Good luck with sleeping beauty.”
Senka slowly closed the door and the walls around me started to move, whooshing past my face. It
was like sitting inside a moving car looking out the window. I closed my eyes and waited, slowly
counting to ten before I reopened them.