Dark Destiny: Book One of the Destiny Novella Series (Destiny Novellas 1) (4 page)

She raised her eyes to Bennett only to see cold fury in his face as he scrolled through his phone. He knelt down beside her as he put the phone to his ear. “I’m going to have Jeremy come over now to do his interview with you. The police need to know about this immediately.” He paused. “We will find this man,” he murmured to her, his hand on her knee, “and then I will kill him myself.”

Lily tossed and turned, wincing with each movement despite the fluffy softness of the bed she rested in. Dreams chased in and out of her mind, images of her mother, of Veronique lying in the hospital bed, and a nameless, faceless enemy who had tried to send her aunt a deadly message. Lily was running through the streets, dark shadows chasing her, calling to her, and she knew if she stopped she would be destroyed. Dark tendrils filled the air around her, squeezed her until she thought all of her bones would break, threaded their way down her throat and into her lungs, choking every last breath from her body.

She sat up in the bed, gasping for air, the movement hurting her ribs so badly she felt dizzy from the pain. Someone was there, in the room with her, and he reached for her as she screamed.

“Lily!” Bennett held her arms as she thrashed and fought him. “Stop, it’s just me. Shhh. It’s ok.”

Lily stopped struggling, the frantic burst of energy gone as quickly as it had come, leaving her limp with exhaustion and blinding pain. Tears formed in her eyes and fell, and she slumped against him, trying to calm the wracking sobs that built in her chest and made everything hurt worse.

He held her close to him as she cried, gently massaging her back and cradling her head against his shoulder. He murmured to her gently, words she couldn’t hear over her own ragged breaths but that resonated deep in her body like a physical thing. Vibrated there, soothing, comforting.

“You were dreaming,” he whispered in her ear as she finally managed to relax a bit, tears still flowing but the painful sobbing eased. “I’m right here, it’s ok.”

She clung to the solid reality of his arm, forcing her fingers to relax when she realized she’d been digging into him with her nails. “I’m sorry,” she whispered and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand.

He reached over to the nightstand and handed her a tissue. Moonlight bathed the room in a soft, silver glow and a cool breeze wafted through the open French doors on the balcony. She lifted her hand, placing her palm on his chest and feeling the soft fabric of his white t-shirt beneath her fingertips. His heart beat steady and strong, if not a bit rapidly.

She exhaled and he sat very still, slowly placing his hand over hers and holding it there against him.

“Bennett, I’m so sorry. I’m a disaster, this was such a bad idea. I’m keeping you awake, and—”

“Shh.” He placed a finger against her lips and leaned close, kissing her forehead and smoothing her hair away from her face. “I’ll stay with you, ok?”

She nodded and shivered against the cold. He was warm and she moved closer to him as he lifted the duvet for her to lay back down.

“I should close those doors,” he said.

“No, wait.” She caught his arm. “I like the smell of the magnolias.”

He shifted from the bed and stood, crossing the room to the balcony. “It’s not safe, baby doll. I had no idea they were open. Besides, you’re freezing.” He closed the doors and she heard the lock click into place.

“Someone could just break the glass and open the door,” she murmured.

“We might as well make them work for it—no sense in laying out the welcome mat.”

He walked back across the large room, silhouetted against the moonlight and looking great in a t-shirt and shorts, for crying out loud. Her nightmare-induced fog began to clear as he reached the bed and climbed in beside her.

“My mama raised a gentleman, no worries,” he told her as he settled in and she could hear the smile in his voice. He moved slowly so as not to bump her around unnecessarily. “Just let me hold you while you sleep. You’ve broken my heart for the millionth time in two days, Lily Bordeaux.”

Her mind floated back to the first time she’d met him as she gingerly moved her battered body into the circle of his arms.

‘Bordeaux?’

Yes, ‘Bordeaux.’ Like the wine.

Well, Lily ‘Bordeaux-like-the-wine,’ you’re a long way from home. Why did you leave Boston…

It felt like a lifetime ago. And now she was with Bennett again, this time fearing for her life and charged with finding a strange artifact she knew nothing about. Her enemy knew everything about her, about her family. Had been in her home and watched her sleep. How was she supposed to fight that?

Bennett was so warm. She burrowed up against him and sighed. He groaned, so quietly she felt more than heard it.

“I’m sorry,” she said, thinking she’d kneed him in the groin or something equally mortifying.

“No, no, not necessary,” he said, and she knew if it were light enough in the room, she’d see his mouth quirked in a half smile. “I’m just going to think about boring things for awhile. Maybe cold things. You go to sleep, now.” He patted her shoulder in a very brotherly fashion and she laughed through a sniffle. She wasn’t an idiot, as much as she’d like to claim at least a sense of naivete. That he couldn’t see her blush was some comfort.

“Do you want me to move?” she asked.

“No, definitely do not move. Just be still.”

She bit the insides of her cheeks, glad to be distracted by smug feminine satisfaction. Her world was falling apart, and she was happy to have aroused a guy. She couldn’t resist one small comment.

“You said your mama raised a gentleman.”

“Hell, Lily, yeah. A gentleman, not a eunuch.”

She laughed and he placed the back of his fingers against her cheek.

“There,” he whispered. “That’s better.”

“Ben?”

“Hmm?”

She closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

CHAPTER SIX

Lily felt the morning light before she opened her eyes. The soft patter of rain on the windows signaled a cold, soggy day, but she welcomed it. There was something comforting about rain, something that suggested sitting before a cozy fire in a soft blanket with a good book and drink of something deliciously warm. She nestled down into the pillows and sighed with contentment. In another minute she would have to get ready for the day in the shop downstairs, but for now, she could enjoy the quiet, the cool.

She shifted her leg and winced at the pain in her thigh, brows drawn in momentary confusion until she remembered where she was and sat upright. She was alone in the bed, no sign of Bennett anywhere, and she looked at the clock on the mantle. Almost ten a.m. Lily put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes in mortification. She’d screamed and cried in the night, she’d awoken Bennett, and now she’d slept half the morning away.

She groaned as she moved to the edge of the bed, sliding out of it. It was chilly in the room despite the closed balcony doors, and she wished she’d have bought heavier pajamas than a tank top and shorts. Her shopping bags from their brief trip to the store the night before were nowhere to be found, and she knew she’d placed the bulk of them on the small settee at the foot of the bed. Frowning, she entered the bathroom and saw her toothbrush and toothpaste next to the sink where she’d left them the night before. The bag with various toiletries also sat on the counter top and she wandered slowly to it, finally lifting her eyes to examine her reflection in the mirror.

“Ew.” There were bruises on her face, neck, and shoulders, and her eyes were puffy from crying in the night. The cut on her lip was healing—she supposed she should be grateful for small things. Now she could smile without it splitting in half. Not that there seemed to be much worth smiling about. She had to call Mimi, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. When Lily’s mother had died, Mimi had put a brave face on it for the girls, of course, but Lily had seen those moments when Mimi’s guard was down, had felt the intense pain her grandmother suffered at losing her oldest daughter. Now she was on the brink of losing the other one.

Resigned, she sighed and made quick work of getting herself cleaned up. Her hair was a mess, but it was a pretty mess. She’d always had that going for her—the long strands of thick, silky black hair had always curled well on their own, especially in humidity. She finger-combed through it, wincing at the tangles but glad she was more often than not able to affect a beachy look without having to spend too much time on it. She hadn’t bought any makeup—just the thought of trying to slather it on her face made her wince. Even her teeth hurt, and she was reminded of it when she brushed them and rinsed her mouth with cold water.

“Well, girlfriend,” she said as she straightened and examined herself again with a critical eye. “Time to find a freaky talisman.” The very thought made her queasy. She had no idea what it was, where it was, or why Ronnie had never told her about it. Her mind replayed the one-sided conversation she’d had with the strange man the night before and experienced an adrenaline surge that had her gripping the edge of the counter. Her knees felt weak and wobbly as his strange voice ran through her head again—he knew about all of them, Mimi, Dahlia, Poppy, everything. All of it. And she knew nothing about stuff that their very lives depended on.

She took as deep a breath as she could manage and straightened again. Lily hated things that were a mystery to her, was intensely uncomfortable going about her day without a plan in place. She left the bathroom, muttering. “Time to make a plan, then,” she said and looked again for the bags of clothing. Her eye caught on a tall wardrobe, and on a hunch, she went to it and found that someone had put her new clothes on hangers and in drawers.

“Bennett,” she whispered. He was another mystery, and her brows drew together What did he really think of her?
How
did he think of her? They had truly been good friends, so the thought of seeing her lying half dead in the road must have been a shock to him. It would make anyone appreciate the friendship all the more. And as for his arousal the night before—she blushed again—she was pretty enough and she knew it. Lie in bed with any heterosexual man and there would probably be a natural reaction.

It was safer to think along those lines, she assured herself as she chose a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. That way her guard was back up. Just as she’d had to do when he started dating Steph. She knew she’d loved him then, just as she was afraid it was going to happen again now. But she’d clamped down on those feelings before, she could manage it. Friends were safe. She was going to enjoy his company the way she had before. Unreserved, and with no expectations.

She put her aching self into her clothes with hands that shook—probably from hunger and a healthy dose of fear—and decided to put her shoes on downstairs. It hurt too much to keep bending over, and besides, she probably had the house to herself. She could have walked around half dressed all over the place if she’d wanted. Bennett had a job, after all, he wasn’t going to just hang around with her every day.

Shivering a bit, she zipped up the hoodie. It was nowhere close to her usual work attire. She always looked every bit the professional in the shop, much to Ronnie’s dismay. She was as different from Veronique as a person could get—Ronnie dressed like a cute gypsy and Lily looked like she belonged on Wall Street.

She bit her lip, thinking of her aunt as she walked down the second floor hallway to the front stairs. The stairs themselves were a grand affair—wide and sweeping, everything a person would imagine a southern home to have. It was strange to be there, strange to still remember where everything was. She almost expected to see Mrs. Duschesne chopping vegetables at the kitchen island when she rounded the corner and went looking for a drink.

Bennett was there instead, and she’d so convinced herself that he was at work that she jumped and dropped her shoes. “I didn’t know you were here,” she breathed.

He looked at her with his half smile. “Where else would I be?”

“At work. Don’t you have to work?”

“I took some vacation time. I have two weeks worth I need to use or lose.” He was pouring her a Diet Coke and nodded at one of the tall island barstools.

“Bennett, you’re doing too much.” She sat, feeling ridiculous. Lily was the firstborn, the caretaker, the one who usually poured the Diet Coke and told people everything was going to be ok.

“Zip it, Lil. You think I’m doing all of this just because I’m a nice guy?” He slid the drink over to her and flipped a dishtowel onto his shoulder. He leaned on the island as she took a sip of the beloved beverage and studied her with those amber eyes that reminded her of a gold lion. Something exotic in the veldt. “If you were to describe me to other people, would that be the first thing you’d say? ‘He’s such a nice guy…’”

“No,” she said with a grin, setting the glass down and wiping her thumb across the top of it. “I’d say, ‘He’s the hottest guy…’”

His lips quirked in response. “Really. You wouldn’t think to say something like, ‘He knows me better than I know myself. He knows I need him because I think I can do everything on my own even when it’s too much?’ Lily, you used to lead every study group, make arrangements for every activity, orchestrate every last detail so that the people around you were all taken care of. You think I never noticed that? That you worked yourself to exhaustion to make the dean’s list, to help Ronnie run the shop, to see that things were perfect for everyone else, even at your own expense?”