Page 24 of When Night Falls
"My name is Rivian. Rivian Duquesne," I state, knowing that most people in this town who are privy to keeping their memories about them would shudder at the sound of my name. But not her. Not my little one.
"How did you get me here so fast?" She looks around as sudden confusion washes over her face, most likely from remembering that she ended up here in no less than that of a whisper of wind. "What did you do to me?" she adds, settling her glances right back on me.
"That's an explanation that you'll have to be okay with receiving at a later date. But you are here, and you are safe, are you not?" I want to answer all of her questions as truthfully as I can, but some things require a bit more of an explanation and I don't have that kind of time right now.
"Okay then…" She chews on her bottom lip, not fighting my lack of details but rather trying to figure out what to ask next. "What kind of party was that? Are you the one who sent me that invite?"
"That's two questions, but I'll answer them." I prepare myself for the truth I'm going to have to tell her, that tonight was really all about her. "That was aVinculumMasquerade. In short, it was a celebration of a certain type of binding. We hold masquerades for a plethora of reasons but tonight was a special occasion. More specifically, it was an engagement party. And yes, I was the one who invited you."
My response makes her gasp, but more so out of mystification than anything else. The utterly fantastic thing about Lucynda is that I can't sense orfeela single drop of real fear eluding from her. She's not as terrified as she wants to be, but confusion still plagues her.
"An engagement party?" She takes a step backward. "Why would I have been invited to an engagement? I don't even know anyone here! And why the masks? And everyone knew my name and . . . and that man! That man was . . . eating that girl's neck." Lucynda maunders as she reaches up and touches her own neck with her fingers, and I see something inquisitive flip through her eyes. "She was bleeding, and everyone was justwatching. And all the other people doingstuffin the other rooms, why were they all on display?" I take this moment to attempt to step closer to her, wanting to tell her not to be afraid but knowing that she's actually not.
She may seem upset, but that's only because her curiosity has gone unanswered and she's desperate to figure out what all this is, but she's not afraid. At least not yet.
I remove the mask from the inside of my suit jacket, the one she threw off and left behind as she ran away into the night. She watches my movements with intent, making sure I'm not a threat to her. I hand her the mask, and watch as she accepts it from my hands, our fingers touch for a feather of a moment before hers slip away to caress the silk of the ribbons on her mask.
She looks up at me, almost nervous to do so but I see the desperation playing a role in her eyes. The need for more, craving the feeling she felt back in the secret hall of poetically pretty pictures painted by those who crave the very same things.
"Why was I invited?" Her soft voice breaks the delicate silence that lingers between us as she continues to explore the mask she wore tonight with her fingers. God, how I craved watching her watch me tonight. "I don't know anybody from this town," she adds in a more pacified tone, but I can tell she's only calming herself in hopes I'll be more inclined to answer her.
"Lucynda," I whisper her name as I close the space between us in two strides and reach for her chin, lifting her face up to look at me, "That engagement party was for you."
"For me?" Her breath hitches as I hold her face in my hands, and I can feel the hunger stir in my veins. I have to let go of her and turn away before she notices, before the change scares her away.
Bloodlust is a nasty curse, and though she has the means to subdue it, the tether also plays a huge role as to why my hunger spikes around her. It needs her.Ineed her. Something I want to explain to Lucynda so that she doesn't think I'm a complete lunatic for hunting her down the way I did, but there's no way to tell her that truth without the potential of scaring her away.
At the masquerade, I didn't intend to feed on that willing human girl, I haven't fed much sinceshe'scome around. But I truly didn't have much of a choice if I wanted my full strength for my agenda tonight. But part of me also wanted her toseeme. Deciding to finger that girl was more of a need to see pleasure draw from Lucynda, not to arouse the girl who was in my lap. I wanted her to see what I am and to know that she wasn't truly terrified. To feel satisfaction in the forbidden. I can still sense the way she felt when she locked her eyes on me. I know she felt gratification from the sins she witnessed.
"Your eyes." Lucynda breaks my thoughts as I try to regain control, and I fear that she saw my eyes change before I was able to turn away, but she indicates otherwise.
"Wait, I recognize you.You'rethe one who was biting that girl's neck. You're the reason she was bleeding and you're-" she cuts herself off, her tone is calm and unaffected, like a quiet rainstorm blanketing the night sky. Fearless.
I finally have myself under control, so I turn back around to face her again, the moonlight shining in from a small sliver of her window where the curtains aren't covering, casting abeautiful glow over her figure. I look at her, even though she seems to be trying to avoid looking at me.
"Horrifically romantic," I say to her, and her breathing gets visibly faster, her chest rising and falling erratically. Her eyes close for a brief moment before she drops the mask without moving, letting it slip from her fingers as she slowly moves her eyes up to meet mine. I am utterly fascinated with her as the gears spin in her pretty head to work the pieces of the puzzle together.
"Have you been leaving me the roses? The notes?" Her tone is cynical almost, but not raised more than a soft and casual timbre. Vexation swirls in her eyes as she glares right at my own, her mouth a straight line on her face and her pale-colored cheeks heat up in a blaze of fury.
She's putting it together, the shadow stalker, the secret admirer, the Poe enthusiast. All at the expense of bringing her to this moment.To me. But she doesn't even know that half of it.
I can see the way her eyes tell a story of deception; tears threatening to free themselves on account of feeling betrayed. I can almost hear her heart cracking, on the verge of shattering into a million pieces as if it was even whole to begin with. I hate the way that makes me feel, never wanting to be the cause of her pain, but the truth is, her heart is mine to break and if that's what I had to do to get her here with me in this very moment, then so be it. Because she will be coming with me after tonight, whether she agrees to it or not.
"You." She lets out on an exhale, her fists curled at her sides. "You've been stalking me." Her conclusion comes abruptly, and I can see that she is trying to decide what to do with the new information she possesses. "You've beeninvadingmy space, my life."
I try my hardest not to intervene, to tell her to calm down and not be scared. To trust me. But I don't want to keep pushing her toward me only to push her away.
The moonlight shifts across her face just a sliver and that's when I can see that she's about to react the exact way I wanted to avoid. The stars in her eyes fade and something manic replaces them.
"You're absolutely fucking crazy. I'm calling the po-"
I rush to her, grabbing her by her shoulders and turning us to gently push her up against the wall, all within the blink of an eye.
"You have no idea how crazy I am, little one. But my crazy is no more outrageous as is your dark, now is it Lucynda?"
She gasps but doesn't fight me. Instead, she looks up at me and something that resembles desire ignites in her irises. A need for something I can't quite figure out radiates from her and it takes everything in me not to fall to my knees at my own weakness. But future kings aren't allowed to have vices, and despite Lucynda possibly being mine, I have to work through this lust just a little longer.
"Why me? What do you want?" she asks. I let go of her shoulders and place one of my palms up against the wall by her head. I let the other fall down to her hair, now disheveled from all of the chaos she's had to endure tonight. I reach behind her head and release some of her curls by removing the small butterfly clip and pocketing it.