Inception (The Marked Book 1) (31 page)

40. CENTER STAGE

The soft amethyst lights danced over Trace’s form—playing with the blue in his eyes, the contours of his face—solidifying the fact that he was an angelic being, in every way. He stood facing me in the middle of the empty dance floor, taking me in as though I were made entirely of magic.

“Can I have this dance?” he asked, pulling me into him until we were standing heart to heart.

I wanted to tell him he could. That he could have
this
dance and
all
the dances after that, but all I could muster up was a meager nod. He smiled down at me in a tender way and then began moving, swaying us to the sound of the music as the crowd in the room slowly melted away. It was just me and him again—Jemma and Trace. Just the way I liked it.

“I have a secret to tell you,” he announced, his warm breath tickling my ear as I pulled in his spellbinding scent.

“Is it bad?”

“Depends who you ask, I guess.”

“Tell me.”

A bashful look of want swept across his face, endearing and charming all at the same time. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

I stared up at him dumfounded.

“No. That’s not right.” He shook his head. “I
know
I am.”

There was a tsunami of emotion washing through me, every wave threatening to pull me under. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. “I-I...”

“You don't have to say anything. I just want you to know how I feel.” He needled me with his eyes again. “No matter what happens, always remember that.”

A heaviness pressed in on me. “Why do I suddenly feel like you’re saying goodbye?”

“I’m not saying goodbye,” he said, though it lacked conviction. “I’ll never say goodbye to you.”

There was a light tap on my shoulder and then a voice. “Mind if I cut in?”

I turned to see Hannah standing behind me with a lopsided grin on her lips. I couldn’t decide whether this was the worst possible timing or the best.

“Oh, um, okay. Yeah. I guess so,” I said reluctantly, stepping back from Trace.

“Jemma.” Trace tried to hold onto my hand.

“Find me later,” I said, pulling my hand free. I needed a minute to get my thoughts together, to process what he had said.

I hurried off to the ladies room, leaving Trace and Hannah behind on the dance-floor.

I hardly recognized the girl reflecting back to me in the mirror. The hair, the makeup, the ball gown; it was all so beautiful, so glamorous, and yet inside I felt the same. Scared. Confused. Unsure of myself and everything around me. I turned on the faucet and cupped my hands under the running water. I wanted to splash my cheeks with it; to drown in it; to wash this foreign girl away from my sight.

If only it were that easy, I thought, letting the water pour out from my hands before turning off the faucet.

“Speaking of the little she-devil,” said an irritatingly familiar voice as I reached for the paper towel to dry my hands. “Here she is now.”

Nikki and Morgan were standing by the door gawking at me, bony shoulder to bony shoulder. Even though Morgan was a good three inches shorter than Nikki, her five inch heels gave her the edge she needed to make the cut.

Wanting to avoid yet another confrontation with them, I tried to bolt for the door but Nikki had already locked it behind her and was walking over to me, slow and steady, like a hungry snake on the hunt.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing out there?” she asked, venom oozing from her accusatory words.

“Can you be more specific?” My patience with her was wearing thin.

“With Trace. I saw you.”

“So?” Trace had made it clear that there was nothing between the two of them. Her days of claiming him were over.

“Are you trying to kill him or are you really that dumb?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

“I’m not acting,” I snapped back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“She doesn’t know,” said Morgan suddenly. It was more than just giving me the benefit of the doubt. She
knew
it, sure as fact. “He hasn’t told her.”

“What is he thinking?”

“You know what he’s thinking,” answered Morgan, regretful.

Nikki’s eyes snapped back to me as if she were just seeing me—really seeing me—for the first time. The way she stared at me startled me. For the first time since I met her, her hard, icy facade had faltered. There was something else in her eyes. Fear, pain, worry? I couldn’t quite pinpoint it but it was making me uneasy.

“I won’t let his happen,” she said, a vow of truth that only she understood. “If he won’t stop it,
I
will.”

“Stop
what
? Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” I said, my words crackling as they surfaced.

“Morgan, tell her what you saw.”

“I can’t,” said Morgan as she turned to fluff her red curls in the mirror beside us. “It’s not my future to share.”

“I swear to the heavens,” snapped Nikki, her fists balled up at her sides. “If you don’t tell her right now I will tear this building down, brick by goddamn brick!”

The bathroom lights flickered violently as she spoke. It was almost like her emotions—her fear, or rage, or whatever it was going on inside of her—were manifesting themselves in the electricity around us.

“TELL HER!”

“Alright, alright, just calm down!” shrieked Morgan, pulling her back a step. “You’re gonna to fry us all, for God’s sake.”

“I have perfect control over my ability,” retorted Nikki.

“So you say,” scoffed Morgan, “but I happen to remember a backyard bonfire incident that—”

“Can both of you just shut up and tell me what’s going on?” I said, breaking up their little tiff. “What did you see?”

Morgan shook her head, a subconscious gesture that instantly told me it was going to be bad.

“Look, I didn’t ask for any of this. It’s not like I have control over what I get to see. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, but it’s not like I can do anything about it.”

“I understand,” I nodded, digging deep for patience.

“I promised him I wouldn’t share what I saw with anyone, but I don’t know what else to do, you know? He’s my friend, too, and what he’s doing is just plain wrong. I can’t stand by and watch him throw his life away. I have to believe that I had the vision for a reason, to like, save him.”

“Save him from what? What was the vision?” It came out loud and frantic, like a child lost in the woods, calling out for its parents. I hardly identified the sound as my own.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” said Nikki, shoving Morgan out of her way. “He’s going to get himself killed! For
you
—because of
you
—to save
you
! Do you understand what I’m saying?” 

“You’re lying!” My immediate instinct was to reject it. To reject these foul words that were nothing more than the desperate attempts of a desperate girl trying to hold on to a guy that no longer loved her.

“I’m not lying,” she said, her expression overcome with despair. “I wish to God that I was.”

I shook my head hard as though trying to shake the conversation loose from my mind.

“Just ask him. He’ll tell you the truth if you ask him.” Water pooled in her aquamarine eyes.

The veracity hit me like a gunshot, making me feel sick to my stomach. She wasn’t lying. Every cell in my body knew it. She was telling the truth and she was petrified to her core of it.

Trace was going to die.

Because of me.

41. PARTY CRASHER

It took me a while to get myself together enough to leave the washroom. Trace was waiting for me outside the door when I walked out behind Nikki and Morgan. The concern in his eyes only made it harder for me to look at him. To face him. I was angry with him for not telling me the truth about the vision—the real reason he had been keeping his distance from me when I first moved here. He knew getting close to me would eventually kill him and he did it anyway. My anger ebbed as a flood of other emotions cannonballed through me.

“Are you okay?” he asked me as the three of us circled around him. His hand came out towards me, a sympathetic gesture, but I twisted away from his reach.

“I’m fine.” I couldn’t find the warmth in my voice anymore. I was already building a wall around myself, laying out the bricks in a frenzy, only this time, it wasn’t to protect myself from the outside. It was to keep the outside—to keep Trace—from getting in.

Morgan stepped into Trace’s line of vision. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

He tried looking around her. “Jemma—”

“It’s important,” she pushed.

With his shoulders back, he nodded and then followed her over to the main bar that was already swarming with students and faculty alike. His eyes grazed over me as she spoke to him, letting me know I was the topic of their discussion. I wondered if she was alerting him to the fact that I knew the truth. That I finally knew his secret. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking at that very moment. Would he be willing to accept the inevitable heartbreak that would come when I told him I could no longer see him?  

“You need to stop this thing with him before it’s too late,” said Nikki, watching Trace from a distance like an implacable lioness stalking her prey.

“How am I supposed to do that?” I could feel a heavy thickness settling into the back of my throat. “What am I supposed to say to him?”

“Figure it out, or I’ll figure it out for you.” Her words were meant as a threat and she wasn’t even trying to hide it. “I won’t let him die, not for anyone, and certainly not for
you
. You’re not even worth the gum under his shoes.”

“And you are?” I shot back, angered by her constant barrage of biting comments.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” she answered, her tone a sadistic song of secrecy.

God, I hated that tone. I hated everything about her.

She turned on her heel and started off towards Morgan and Trace but paused suddenly, mid-strut. “Oh. I almost forgot,” she said, spinning behind an umbrella of long, ebony locks. “Taylor’s outside looking for you. It sounded important.”

“Okay.” She totally didn’t have to relay that message to me. Maybe she was turning over a new leaf. “Thank you.”

Her lips curled up on one side. “You’re so very unwelcome.”

Okay then. Maybe not.

I made my way to the front of the Hotel and exited through the double glass doors. I spotted Taylor right away; under the veranda, chatting privately with Hannah and a senior guy whose name I couldn’t remember.

“Hey, is everything okay?” I asked Taylor as I approached the three of them. “Nikki said you were looking for me.”

“Walk with me?” There was something odd about her tone though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It definitely lacked that distinct bubbly pitch that was all Taylor.

I examined her face as the two of us made our way down the pathway towards the parking lot. Her expression was vague and unreadable, hollow even. “Is everything okay?” I repeated, feeling the chill in my bones deepen.

“I’ve never felt better.”

“Are you sure? You seem a little...off.” There was no nice way of putting it.

“I just don’t want you to be upset with me.”

“Why would I be upset?” I tried slowing her down but she squirmed out of my grip. “Tay, talk to me.”

“He’s waiting for me. I can’t be late.”

“Who’s waiting for you? Your date?” I couldn’t remember her date’s name for the life of me, and I felt horrible about it. Shows what kind of friend I’ve been lately.

“No, not him.”

“Then who?” My insides gnawed at me, begging me to turn around. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it, and her failure to respond was only making the feeling worse. “We should go back. We’re missing the party,” I reminded her, as though I actually cared about the stupid dance. 

“It doesn’t matter. I
have
to meet him.”

I flinched at her aberrant disregard of something she had raved about incessantly for the last few weeks. The dance mattered—it mattered to
her
, and up until a few minutes ago, it was the only thing that mattered to her.

“I’m going back inside, I don’t feel good,” I baited, hoping my announcement would sway her from going forward. “Can you come with me? I need to get some water and sit down for a bit. I’m sure your friend won’t mind if you meet him a little later.” Once I’ve had time to gather plenty of reinforcements and figure out what the hell was wrong with her.

“I have to see him. He’s waiting for me.” She marched on without even so much as a glance in my direction. This wasn’t Taylor. Not
my
Taylor. It was as though some alien had invaded her body and taken over her mind.

Before I could say another word (or drag her back inside by her hair) she came to a sudden stop between two parked limousines. Maybe she’d finally came to her senses, I hoped, though her failure to turn around wasn’t very reassuring.

“Okay, so...what are we doing exactly?” I glanced around the empty parking lot and waited for her to say something that would explain her odd behavior. When she didn’t, I leaned in and waved my hand in front of her face in a bid to get her attention. “Hello? Is anyone home?”

The limousine door suddenly sprung open. Startled, I jumped back and then gasped as Dominic slithered out from the back of the glossy black car. He was wearing a tailored suit and a condescending grin that told me in no uncertain terms that he was behind this somehow. His skin seemed to glow under the frosted moon, casting an angelic reverence over him, though I knew there was nothing holy about him.

“You look exquisite, angel.” He took a step towards me but I quickly moved back. He didn’t even acknowledge Taylor’s presence even though she didn’t break eye contact with him once.

“What are you doing here?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer. “We’re leaving. Taylor, come on!” I tried tugging on her arm but she refused to budge. It was as though she were under some kind of spell. “What did you do to her?” I accused.

“I can’t help it if she desires my company.”

“Like hell she does.”

With his eyes still leveled on me, he raised his forearm to Taylor and flashed a wicked grin as she wrapped her hands around his bicep, latching onto him as though he were her life line.

“You’re not going anywhere with her.”

His smile deepened. “Oh, but I am. Of course, you’re more than welcome to join us. I’d actually prefer it if you did.”

I scoffed at his absurdity. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” That much I knew for sure.

“Suit yourself.” He ushered Taylor back to the limo and helped her inside before climbing in himself.

“Taylor! What are you doing?” I yelled over to her, frantic now. “Get out of the car. RIGHT NOW! You don’t know what you’re doing. He’s dangerous—”

“You’re wasting your breath, love.” He knew it, and somewhere deep inside, I did too. He slammed the door shut and rolled down the window. “She won’t be changing her mind about joining me. I promise you.”

It was clear Taylor was under some kind of spell and was going, with or without me. She had no idea what she was doing, no control whatsoever. I couldn’t let her leave with him knowing what he was. Knowing the kind of monster he could be. She was my best-friend and that meant everything to me.

Without giving myself any more time to think about it, I walked over to the car and pulled the door open. “Push over.”

“Gladly.” A twisted smile spread across his face letting me know this had been his plan all along. He slid over just enough so that our bodies would still be flesh up against each other.

“Where are we going?” I asked as I tried to carve more room for myself by way of my elbow.

“I have something special planned.”

“I’m sure you do, you sick son of—”

“Ah, ah, ah, angel. You don’t want that beautiful mouth of yours getting you into trouble again, now do you?” His hand came up as though he were going to caress my face.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” I warned, twisting away from his reach.

Curls of fog wafted in and out of view as the limousine veered down the throughway in a hurry. I didn’t know where we were going but I knew it wasn’t anywhere good.

“I swear to God, if you hurt one hair on her head, I will make it my life’s mission to kill you.
Slowly
.”

A quiet groan rumbled at the back of his throat. “I think I’m rather enjoying this new side of you. Very feisty.” He was discernibly enthralled. “Of course, I’ve never been one to desire the damsels in distress. I’ve never quite understood their appeal.”

“I don’t give a damn what you desire!” I snapped, already angry and on edge. “I care about my friend and keeping her away from sickos like you, so just spare me the details.”

His smile morphed into a full blown laugh. “I sure hope this one turns out to be worth it in the end.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

His lips curled into a satisfied grin. “Well, you don’t seem to have very good taste in companions, now do you? Perhaps a little too trusting with your heart?” 

“Better than having no heart at all.”

“That almost hurt,” he smirked, shifting in his seat. “You’d be surprised how liberating it is to only care for yourself.”

“How very progressive of you.” I couldn’t even fathom being that cold-hearted. That empty. “What about your family? Your friends? Don’t any of them matter to you?”

“I pay them no mind therefore none of them matter.”

“What a sad way to live.”

“Not it the least. Consider the alternative—you yourself are a prime example,” he said in a mocking tone. “How well has your heart served you thus far?”

I didn’t answer. Even if I had a good enough response, I wouldn’t share it with him. He didn’t deserve it. I would never share another part of myself with him again.

“Your silence speaks volumes.”

“So do your condescending assumptions.” I picked up my vibrating phone and stole a quick glance at the text message from Gabriel:

We lost Engel. Dominic is missing. Get home ASAP.

A day late and a dollar short. Story of my life.

Dominic snatched my phone from my hands. “I guess we’ll just have to see how far that heart of yours takes you—how much you can truly endure. I think you know as much as I do that this is only the beginning for you.”

A sickened feeling flooded my insides.

All I wanted to do was get away from Dominic Huntington and all of his thinly veiled threats and manipulations. But I had no way to escape, and nowhere to run to. I was stuck here, at the mercy of whatever vile thing he had planned for me, and all I could do was continue to trudge forward
knowing
in the very pit of my soul that something horrible was about to come my way.