Masquerade (Heven and Hell #1)(46)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I kept my eyes on Sam and smiled. His eyes flashed once more. I marveled in the fact that it no longer frightened me, I liked it. It made me feel…wanted.

“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.”