Page 28

Eleven

My heels hit the closetdoor as I fling them, trying to get them as far away from me as possible. I can’t breathe. Not in those shoes, not in this dress, not in this house.

The suffocating blue fabric fights to stay glued to my body, but I rip it off and fling it toward my forgotten heels. Fuck that. Fuck this ring on my finger, the dainty necklace choking me, all of it.

I can’t strip down fast enough.

I needair.

The moment I’ve got pajamas on, I rush to the sliding glass doors to let myself out onto the balcony and grip the railing. I’m on the second floor so a fall wouldn’t kill me, but the thought is tempting anyway. I—

I’m not alone out here. There’s someone in the corner.

Holy shit.

Whirling around, what’s left of my heart leaps into my throat until I realize it’s just Draven. Sitting cross-legged on the chair in the corner, almost completely obscured by shadow. It’s just Draven.

“What?” I snap, adrenaline coursing through me. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to see if you were okay.”

There aren’t any hidden motives in his tone, but I find myself wary anyway.

I’ve been bitten by him before.

“I’d be fine if I could get two minutes to myself,” I mutter. “It’s the happiest night of my life. Why wouldn’t I be happy?”

He doesn’t respond right away. He sits there staring at me like he can clearly see through my mask, and then he holds out his glass in offering.

There’s a fingers worth of amber liquid swirling around, calling to me.

Offering peace in more ways than one.

I take it, drain it, and hand him the empty glass. “Cheers, big brother.”

The sideways smirk he returns has my gaze traveling up to that scar and wondering how he got it, but he doesn’t give me an opportunity to ask. “Miss Maddy always tells me it’s okay not to be okay. I’m still trying to believe it, but it pops into my head every time I’m feeling how you’re looking right now.”

He hands me a bottle of sleeping pills with a passing comment on how he knows I haven’t been sleeping well, but I find myself wondering what he thinks he sees.

I don’t knowhowI feel right now. Numb, I guess. Sure, I’m scared and disappointed and maybe even a little angry, but there’s a blanket over all of it. A blanket dulling it down, drowning out the noise. Numbness.

“What do you think he’ll do to me?” I ask, popping the top off the bottle and dry-swallowing three of those little magic pills. “In the end, when he realizes he won’t get what he wants. You think he’ll send me away?”

A frown overtakes his face. “Possibly, but I don’t believe he’d harm you. The chief of police is an enemy he doesn’t need, but unfortunately there are ways to make shit look like an accident.” He isn’t helping me at all, but there’s a calmness that comes with his honesty. “He doesn’t care if what you two have is real, he just wants another heir that isn’t me. Morella is the one in danger here, because if she was out of the picture, Alex would be a good boy and do what he’s told. He always does.”