Dark Masterpiece (Serendipity Series 3) (3 page)

She could barely breathe. Her? Live with and
learn from Traevyn Whitelaw all summer? Just the thought made her
dizzy. She shook her head. “Professor, I—I don’t know what to
say.”

“Say you’ll go,” he urged.

She nodded. Like she would
ever pass up
that
opportunity!

He grinned again. “Excellent. You leave in
two weeks. I will be contacting you with directions and a list of
things you’ll need to take with you. Congratulations, Evie, you
deserve it.”

With that, he turned and left her standing
there, still completely dazed. It would take her awhile to wrap her
mind around this one. Traevyn Whitelaw… A slow smile spread across
her lips. She bet he was magnificent, full of life and beauty. She
turned and all but fled out the door, wanting to go tell Meg as
soon as possible.

* * * *

Two weeks later

Evie was beyond irritated. She had been
driving for hours, gotten lost three times and, to top it all off,
she had her annoying seventeen-year-old brother popping gum in the
passenger’s seat. She scowled at nothing as her fingers gripped the
wheel tighter.

Her brother heaved a dramatic sigh.
“Seriously, Evie, just let me go back home. Why do I have to come
on this lame trip with you?”

She sighed. “For the last time, Seth, Mom
and Dad are going to be gone all summer and there’s no one to watch
you.”

“I’m seventeen!” he cried. “I don’t need a
friggin’ babysitter! Why couldn’t you just leave me at home?”

Evie met his eyes for a moment. “Need I
remind you of the last time you were left alone? Mom and Dad came
back early and found two of your friends having sex in their bed
while another lit up a joint in the bathroom!”

Seth huffed. “Is that going
to be held against me forever? At least
I
wasn’t doing that
stuff!”

She rolled her eyes. “No, you were drunk and
passed out on the sofa.” She shook her head. “Look, I’m not too
thrilled about having to tote you around either! This is my chance
to work with the greatest artist of all time, and I have to bring
my little brother along! I’m not jumping for joy here, but Mom and
Dad had no one else! I called my professor and he said it should be
fine if you come with me. I have no other option and neither do you
so shut up and help me look for this turnoff.”

Seth sat back with an
agitated scowl. Evie sighed. She was
not
happy about her parents dumping
her brother on her at the last minute. This was the chance of a
lifetime. The last thing she needed was Seth hanging around all the
time. He was a moody teenager. He would just be an annoyance. She
glanced at him with his bleach blonde hair and leather jacket. He
looked like Billy Idol. She was sure that would make a great
impression.
Please, Evie, you’re our only
hope.
Why did she always fall for that?
She was sure there had to be somebody,
anybody
else
who could have taken Seth. Yet, here she was, stuck with him
all summer. It figured.

She guided her car down the winding coastal
highway and turned onto the remote dirt road that was practically
non-existent. They were somewhere in Big Sur, hours and hours away
from Ashland. She felt like she had been driving for eons and the
last portion of it had been on Highway 1, which was only a two-lane
highway right next to the ocean that twisted and curved for miles.
She had been battling Seth for control of the radio for half the
journey, and he had appealed to her about five times to let him go
back home. She just wanted to get where she needed to go so she
could be away from her brother and away from the road.

The road took her down toward the cliffs
overlooking the ocean, and the trees began to get denser and more
foreboding-looking, their thick branches jutting out in awkward
positions that looked like gnarled fingers. Wisps of fog slithered
through the branches like serpents and Evie suddenly felt like she
had ventured into a horror movie. She continued to drive, the fog
getting thicker as she went along.

“Dude, Evie, this is kind of creeping me
out,” Seth muttered.

Evie rolled her eyes. “It’s just fog.” But
she did have to admit, everything felt dark and foreboding, and
that was an ominous feeling.

Without warning the road widened out and an
enormous, Gothic-looking house came into view. Evie gasped in
surprise and slowed the car to a stop as she stared at the
structure. It was dark, nestled in a grove of eucalyptus trees,
sitting like a lonely sentinel. The architecture much resembled
that of a sixteenth-century manor and she briefly felt like she’d
traveled through time.

“Holy crap,” Seth said. “What kind of guy is
this? A friggin’ warlock or something?”

Evie shook her head to regain her senses and
unbuckled her seatbelt. “Come on, he’s an artist. It makes sense
that his home would be artistic.” But she couldn’t shake the
feeling that there was something horribly lonely and tormented
emanating from the dark edifice.

She got out of the car and started toward
the front door, shivering as the eerie ocean breeze blew gently
across her skin. She heard the forlorn cry of a seagull as she
approached and, behind it, the rhythmic pounding of the ocean
waves. The breeze rustled through the leaves of the eucalyptus
grove. Evie had to take a deep breath to calm her nerves before she
knocked on the heavy, oak door.

“Seriously, Evie, let me go home,” Seth
whispered, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. “I can
hitchhike, or take a bus, or something. If you want to stay here in
Edgar Alan Poe land, that’s cool, but I’d rather not if you don’t
mind.”

Evie scowled and shushed him just as the
door swung open. She raised herself taller and prepared a smile,
but it promptly faded upon seeing the man in front of her.

He was very tall and had
thick, black hair that fell in shining strands all the way past his
waist. His hair alone made her stop and marvel. She had never seen
such long hair on a man. At least not on a man who wasn’t a sleazy,
old biker, or a Native American. Then again, maybe he
was
Native American… She
wouldn’t know… And his hair wasn’t frizzy and scary like those
eighties rockers. It was shining ebony that looked like it would
feel like silk.

“Can I help you?” he queried.

Evie opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
He was absolutely, breathtakingly…beautiful. Beautiful like art,
like the covers of fantasy books with the rugged, manly, yet
gorgeous hero. His features were harsh, all hard lines and sharp
angles, undeniably masculine, but there was a strange, elegant
beauty around his sensual lips and light green eyes that made Evie
feel like she was looking at a living masterpiece.

Seth cleared his throat discreetly, which
brought Evie out of her stupor, and she gave a nervous cough.
“Excuse me, I am looking for Traevyn Whitelaw,” she murmured.

His facial expression remained impassive,
and he merely shifted his weight in a lazy manner. It was a languid
movement, like a jungle cat stretching. He sighed. “And you
are?”

“Um…I—I’m Evelina Austin,” she stammered.
“I’m—uh—supposed to be studying with Mr. Whitelaw for the summer…
As his apprentice.”

His pale eyes seemed to look her over for a
moment before they fixed on her own. “I am Traevyn Whitelaw,” he
stated.

She swallowed.

“Who is your companion?”

“Oh, this is my brother, Seth.” She flashed
a nervous smile. “My parents dumped him on me last minute. There
was no one else to watch him all summer. I called Professor Roth
and he told me it should be okay if I brought him with me.”

His dark eyebrows drew together in a frown
and he stood up straight. “Oh he did, did he?”

It was almost a snarl. Evie retreated a step
as his presence seemed to suddenly fill the entire world.

“It is most
certainly
not
okay,” he spat, his voice a menacing growl. “Let me make one
thing perfectly clear to you, Miss Austin. This apprenticeship
program was not my idea, or my doing. Professor Roth approached me
with it, and it was out of respect and gratitude for him that I
reluctantly accepted. If not for him I would never have made it to
where I am now. So, yes, you will be my apprentice. I will teach;
you will learn what you will. What you do with that knowledge is
entirely up to you. It is not any fault of mine if you fall flat on
your face in your desired career. Professor Roth recommended you,
so you must have some talent, but I want to get one thing straight,
Miss Austin. I have better things to do than entertain a
starry-eyed college student and her delinquent brother.”

Seth frowned. “Hey,” he protested.

“I am doing this out of obligation,” Traevyn
finished, “not by choice.”

Evie stared at him, dumbfounded. He moved
quickly, making her jump, and motioned her inside. She hurried to
obey, grasping Seth’s wrist and hauling him in after her.

“Follow,” Traevyn commanded, shutting the
door.

Evie trailed behind him up a staircase, her
hands shaking horribly. The entire house was so dark, full of
mahogany, black leather furniture, and wrought iron. She could even
see a few tapestries on the walls, but her chance to take a look
was limited as she hurried after Traevyn.

He led them down a hallway to a door, which
he opened. “This will be your room,” he stated. “The boy can have
the one across the hall. You will find it slightly less prepared as
I was not expecting him.” He fixed his eyes on Seth.

Seth retreated behind Evie.

“The kitchen is downstairs
and the guest bathroom is at the end of the hall. If you have a
problem that you can’t seem to solve on your own, my room is at the
far end of the
other
hall, if you make a left at the top of the stairs instead of
a right. When I feel like teaching, I will find you. Otherwise,
please do your best to stay out of my way.” He turned and strode
back down the hall, disappearing around a corner.

Evie stared, acutely aware of her own
heartbeat drumming in her ears. She swallowed, her mouth dry.

“Evie!” Seth hissed. “Dude, I told you!”

She blinked and looked at him. “That was not
what I expected.” She poked her head in her room and turned on the
light. There was a queen sized bed with a headboard and footboard
of rich oak and a vanity made of the same. The curtains were a
deep, dark purple, as was the bedspread. On one wall hung a thick
tapestry of a Celtic pattern in black and gray. “I feel like I
walked into a Bronte sister novel,” she whispered.

“That guy is freaky,” Seth muttered.

“Seth, go get our bags,” Evie demanded as
she fingered the tapestry.

His eyes bulged. “Are you out of your mind?
That guy probably has a dungeon and a torture chamber. If I get in
his way, he’ll do awful things to me!”

Evie scowled at him. “Then
don’t get in his way!” she cried. “Just go, Seth! I’m
not
going back home!
This is an opportunity for my future. I don’t care how much of an
ogre that man is, I’m staying. Now go!”

Seth threw his hands up in the air and
started to grumble incoherently as he made his way back down the
hall.

Evie heaved a sigh and
flopped down on the bed. Her hands were still shaking. She was good
at putting on a front for Seth that she didn’t care how evil
Traevyn Whitelaw was, but the truth was, after that display, she
had no idea how she was going to survive the next three months.
This was not at all what she had expected. She’d pictured Traevyn
Whitelaw as this insanely passionate, yet somehow normal man who
would be patient, show her his technique, and share his life
experiences with her. She had
not
expected a devastatingly handsome Heathcliff with
no desire to have her in his home at all. The way he had spoken to
her, like she was an intruder in his entire universe, made her
uneasy. How was she supposed to learn anything when her teacher
didn’t even want her there?

Barrett deBoer’s insensitive words flooded
her mind and made her frown. Maybe she could just get by on her
intelligence, but she doubted it. This man seemed much worse than
Barrett, if that was possible. Maybe if she was some gorgeous
supermodel he would have reacted differently to her presence.

She all but groaned aloud. What she had
imagined was going to be an amazing experience, she was now
convinced was going to suck horribly.

It was going to be a long summer.

Chapter Three

Evie had never in her whole life felt a week
drag on longer than the past one had. She had barely even glimpsed
Traevyn Whitelaw since their first, rather brutal meeting. When she
had, he had only offered a curt nod. It was getting old. She and
Seth had driven thirty minutes every night to eat at the same pizza
parlor in Monterey because they were afraid to even venture into
the kitchen. The rest of the time they had been living off of snack
cakes and toaster pastries. Not once had Traevyn come to see if
they were all right, needed anything, or were even still there.

There was never any noise in the house. It
was so silent it was eerie, and the chilling fog that encompassed
it in the morning and evening made everything seem gloomy. All of
the floors on the upper story were hardwood, which made everything
colder when the fog came in. Half the time Evie was sitting in bed,
huddled under a pile of blankets. No one could have convinced her
that it was summer if she hadn’t known any better. She felt more
like she was in a prison than in a famous artist’s home.