Masquerade (Heven and Hell #1)(50)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“No. I’m different.”

“Are you telling me that you aren’t human, Sam?” The words felt wrong coming out of my mouth. How could he not be? I’d felt his heartbeat. I’d touched his warm, rough skin and felt his chest expand with air when he cradled me against him.

He flew across the room and grabbed the mask on my face and tore it away. I flinched and stumbled away, his sudden anger and violence scared me. I stared at the pieces of the broken mask as they fell to the floor. I had a feeling that my heart was going to look like my mask very soon. “They did that to you!” Sam yelled. “That woman in the bathroom, she did that! She isn’t human. Neither am I!”

Any other time I would have cowered. I put a finger up to my puckered scars. The source of all my pain. “You did this to me? How?”

He unbuttoned his tux jacket and tossed it on the bed. Then he undid his tie, shirt, white T-shirt and belt, tossing everything on the bed.

“What are you doing?” I couldn’t help but look at the door; he was standing in my way.

His pants joined his other clothes, and I began to panic once more. I backed up as far away from him as I could get. Why was he taking off his clothes? What was he going to do to me? Too soon, my back hit the wall. I reached around behind me and grabbed fistfuls of the heavy curtains that framed the large sliding door. I was searching for anything that would anchor me – that would keep me from collapsing in fear. Then it dawned on me that I should be looking for a weapon.

The very fact that I needed a weapon to protect myself from Sam was enough to make me hysterical. I released the curtains and grabbed up a heavy brass lamp from the desk. I held it up high, over my head. “Don’t come near me. I’ll use this.”

The thought of hitting him with anything made hot tears spill over onto my cheeks. But I would do it. I was tired of being scared all the time, and in that instant, I decided I would never be helpless ever again.

“Just watch for a second,” he pleaded with me, making no move to come closer. He pretended that he didn’t even see me wielding a lamp. Was I that unthreatening then? Another violent shudder wracked my body, and I nearly dropped the lamp.

I glanced to the side at the sliding door. It led out onto a small balcony. I wondered how far down it was and if I would survive the jump.

“Don’t run.” He said, his voice going deeper than it ever had before.

I shook my head. Given the first chance I would run like hell.

“I mean it, Heven. Please, stay and give me a chance to explain.”

I nodded. I couldn’t help but stare at the strong angles of his body. The rippling bronze muscles of his chest and arms. He was so utterly beautiful. How could anyone so gorgeous not be human – not be made by God? I forced my thoughts away from his beauty. Beautiful or not, if he came at me, I was going to have to hurt him. I couldn’t let my feelings get in the way of my safety.

Some strange sounds drew my attention, and I looked over to Sam. Or…what I thought was Sam. He was hunched over, his face pulled taunt in pain, and it seemed as though his body was tearing itself apart.

There were horrible sounds. A sharp, popping sound that echoed through my ears, and every time something popped, his limbs seemed to sag lower from their sockets. There was a terrible ripping sound, and Sam arched his back, the muscles in his jaw flexing. My hand flew to my mouth as I stared in horror as his body ripped itself apart. I whimpered; the sound was terribly weak compared to the sounds of Sam’s destroyed body.

He dropped onto hands and knees, his arms looking like Jell-O. This weakness made me wonder if maybe I would be able to escape. Then, he looked at me. His eyes were hard and glowing. The gold that sometimes streaked through his eyes seemed to catch on fire and light up. It burned through his stare and his eyes changed…turned. They weren’t Sam’s eyes anymore, they were the eyes of an animal – a predator.

I screamed and threw the lamp. It hit the bed and bounced away. I ran toward the glass doors and began tugging on the handle, trying to open them. They were locked. I was trapped. Think! I began searching for the lock, trying to see where to unlatch the door.

“You promised!” Sam yelled. His voice was not his own. It was deep and the words vibrated my bones. “Wait!”

The last word he yelled came out as an inhuman growl and I froze. I recognized that sound. I’d heard it in my dreams. Slowly, on shaking knees, I turned.

Sam stared at me, and the rest of his form seemed to fall away. His face transformed, elongating, widening. He made a sound like he was in pain and his back arched up like a cat. He stretched out his arm – only it wasn’t an arm any longer.

It was a paw.

And it was covered in black fur.

Razor sharp claws shot out of the ends and flexed, ready to attack.

Black fur seemed to spout over his entire body, and I watched – terrified – yet morbidly fascinated as his ears disappeared and sprouted up higher on the top of his head. They stood up in angry triangles, reminding me of my old neighbor’s Doberman pinscher.

Then his ears flattened against a giant head and a horrible sound ripped from between its teeth. Teeth that were so long that they stuck out from beneath its black gums and hung forth in promise of harm.

“Shit!” I screamed and renewed my search of the lock with force. I finally found it and yanked, the door giving way and the cool night air rushed in around me. I tripped running out the door, my dress catching beneath me. I tugged at it and got up, reaching for the balcony rails. My hands closed around them, and I sobbed in relief. I didn’t even bother to look down because I didn’t care how long the drop was. I would take my chances.

I would rather die down there than be eaten alive up here.

I hurried to climb on the railing as I heard a commotion behind me. I held my arms out and stepped off, closing my eyes and waiting to fall.

Instead, strong jaws caught hold of the length of my gown and yanked me backwards. I fell, but arms caught me. Black furry arms. I screamed when I saw the claws so close to my skin. I fought. I kicked and struggled. I punched and clawed. It didn’t matter. This thing was so much bigger than me. I was going to die.

I found myself on my feet as the animal walked, on two legs, back to the other side of the room. He was so much scarier on two legs than four. He towered over me this way, and I knew that even trying to kick him would be stupid. My foot wouldn’t even reach its waist. At least when he was on all four I had a chance at kicking and hitting it in the face.