Page 73
Story: When the Dark Wins
Untangling from the covers, Pearl’s feet landed on a woven rug of burgundy and cobalt. Under the brightly colored wool lay rushes that crunched the instant she placed weight on her foot. With her every step, the drying grass’s scent mingled with the room’s must, the smoke from the candles, and the smell of ambergris.
Her wrists had been perfumed.
Nose to her arm, she inhaled, and noticed an ornate ring sparkling on her hand. She had not felt the glimmering collection of stones, but now it held her complete attention. The piece was much larger than the art deco jewelry in fashion; the stones were much grander. In the center was a ruby rounded smooth, as big as an eye, anchored by tarnished gold and surrounded by seed pearls.
Unlike the other objects in the room, something about it was wrong. It pinched and felt unwelcome. Yanking the ring from her finger, she cast it off as if it were cursed.
Chest rising and falling in panicked breaths, Pearl tried to make sense of it all—of the stone walls half hidden by pastoral paintings, of the feeling of foreboding—and knew this was a bad place.
Hurtling toward the low, arched exit, she found herself caught by the mirror before her shaking hand might even try the knob.
There was a reason the colossal furnishing had been left there... the door was only an enticement. The true aim of the object was to get her close enough to the reflective glass to see.
Her hair was no longer clipped into a sleek bob. Wrongly, it hung past her shoulders, tangled from sleep. The shape of her body was foreign as well. Where were her prominent ribs, the dark marks under her eyes?
Yes, she’d always been attractive in her way, but she had never glowed with health. She’d never had soft curves or full breasts.
Blue eyes lacked the makeup she’d painstakingly applied every day. She didn’t need the kohl, or the cake mascara. Had she shown up to the Palace Delight looking like this, Mr. Weller would have never fired her. He would have promoted her.
Hell, he would have married her.
“Most nights when I come to you, you have yet to look in the mirror. It’s the journal that habitually grabs your attention, Pearl.”
An unladylike shriek came from the girl, Pearl spinning to find a stranger stepping toward her.
Pinched between long fingernails, he held the ring she’d rejected. He offered it to her, smiling and splendid, but all she could see were his eyes.
They were red as fire and so utterly wrong she thought she might be sick.
Putting the desk between them, she took in the face of what every last woman in Manhattan would deem perfection. He was beautiful, cheeks shaven smooth, dark hair slicked back in the style of Gary Cooper—more handsome than Gary Cooper, if such a thing were possible. But he was not dressed as a gentleman. In nothing more than a long black robe tied with a sash at his waist, he was hardly dressed at all.
Something about him, beyond the blood red of his eyes, set the hairs on the back of her neck to attention.
His gaze lost the crimson glow, growing into an almost soft brown as he smiled. “I am Darius.”
Red eyes, cold stone, and the scream of a dying man in the pitch black… fragments of memory echoed until the room with its finery looked like something else.
A tomb full of monsters.
“Where am I?”
His gaze tripped over her breasts, admiration all over his face. “I did not mean to startle you, Pearl. Come closer so I might see that you are well.”
Dizzy, Pearl put her fingers to her cheek. It had been torn open last she recalled, held together by a red-eyed demon who’d crept through her mind and asked her his questions.
A single candle in a room colder than death.
A corpse’s body moving against and inside her.
Mumbling to herself, caught between the present and the past, Pearl said, “The light went out and you came in.”
And now golden light was abundant, the red-eyed demon was back, wrapped up in beautiful skin and walking toward her with a smile.
She dared to counter his advance with a retreat, and a face that was beautiful grew twisted with impatience. “Kneel, my Pearl.”
It was as if some unseen force shoved her down. Legs hit the floor, the girl folding downward, her body utterly out of her control at his command.
“Look at me.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73 (Reading here)
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207