Dark Matter (11 page)

He had wandered in here a few hours ago
as if he owned everything in the room, including me, with a garment
bag tossed casually over his shoulder. I had been in the sitting
room trying to figure out where that button Finn had pushed was,
just in case. I was on my knees when I heard a slight rustling.
Shoving my hands behind my back, I whirled around. He only laughed
at me.

He looked different all of a sudden:
surer of himself if that was even possible. I jumped to my feet.
“What do you want?” I asked a little more forcefully than I had
intended.

His gaze traveled to my toes and back
up in answer. The jerk took his time about it. I cleared my
throat.

He laughed a little more boisterously
this time and set the bag on the couch. “This is for
you.”

“
I kind of got that already,
but why are you bringing me this? It isn’t like I need another
dress.”

“
Trust me. You don’t have
anything that compares to this.”

I shook my head and lowered the zipper,
groaning the farther down it went. The thing looked more like
lingerie than an actual dress. The fabric wasn’t quite sheer, but
it was thin as chiffon. There was even less of it when I lifted it
out of the bag. “Only in your dreams Heath,” I said without looking
at him.

He sat next to me, pulling an ankle
across his knee. “Do you really want to argue about something so
insignificant? I wouldn’t be asking you to wear this if there
wasn’t a good reason.”

“
Your idea of a good reason
and mine aren’t even in the same galaxy. What purpose could me
wearing a slutty dress possibly serve other than to boost your ego
or turn you on? I’m hardly psyched about either of those
options.”

He laughed. “You’re going to have to
take my word on this one, Rayla. I went through a lot of trouble to
get it here. Either you want to leave or you don’t. I couldn’t care
less, either way.”

I stared at his suddenly dark
expression hoping to see a crack in his armor. It wasn’t there. I
shook my head and took the dress to my closet. When I returned, he
was gone.

He hadn’t even told me what the plan
for tonight was. I didn’t know if I was headed to a celebration or
a battle, which made me even more nervous. Would Finn and Cassie be
there?

I was swiftly running out of options
where Heath was concerned. I didn’t like displaying myself like
some sort of trophy he had just acquired, but that was what I would
be tonight. To the winner go the spoils. We’d just have to see
about that.

I picked up the necklace I had chosen
and fastened it around my neck as if it were a shield. Lysanne was
going to be mad at me for getting ready on my own, but there was no
way for me to slip more trinkets into my clothing to entice Gibbit
with her watching me. If I had had my way, I would have been
wearing the dress with the gargantuan shoulder pads. I could have
hidden a lot of things in them.

Someone was knocking at the door. To my
surprise, it wasn’t Lysanne. Heath lingered in the doorway more
handsome than I had ever seen him. He was wearing a grey tailored
suit that looked boutique expensive. His dimple made an appearance
as he smiled at me. “You look beautiful,” he said, plucking a red
rose right out of thin air and handing it to me.

“
So do you,” I taunted,
turning to place the flower on my pillow.

He coughed out a laugh. “You sure know
how to stick it to a guy, don’t you?”

I grinned. “You should see my right
hook.”

He chuckled and placed his hand on the
small of my back when I stood beside him. Unnerving was too light a
word to describe how it felt to have his skin touching mine in such
an intimate place. I glanced at him and considered telling him to
move it or lose it but figured I had bigger battles to worry about
tonight.

Heath led me down the stairs. A subtle
tension tightened his shoulders and the set of his jaw was stern
despite his casual facade.

I cleared my throat. “So, what exactly
are we doing tonight?” I pulled at my neckline, trying to inch it
up a little. I hated this dress, and I was sure that his good
reason for me wearing it was merely to embarrass me.

“
We are meeting to discuss
the change in leadership. Finn has relinquished claim to you
without much of a fight, which is rather unusual.” He sighed. “I
honestly don’t know what is going to happen.” He stopped and took
my hands into his.

His stare was intense enough that I
felt as though a thousand people were all judging me. I glanced at
the floor and swallowed hard. When I looked up again the
determination in his eyes was still there. I gritted my teeth. “Why
are you looking at me like that?”

He released my hands and blinked. “I
hadn’t realized I was looking at you in any particular way. Does it
bother you?”

“
No one likes being
scrutinized,” I barked.

He raised a brow. “Is that what I was
doing?”

I shook my head. He was acting very
different than he had earlier. He was somber, and I didn’t like
it.

“
It doesn’t matter. Let’s
just get this over with.” I started down the hallway toward the
Great Hall.

He caught up to me at the doorway. The
entire place was alive with voices until we entered the room.
Silence followed us as we walked toward the reigning king and
queen.

She was a beautiful woman with long
flowing hair and tawny skin. Her eyes looked like the midnight sky
with only a hint of blue in them. At certain times they seemed as
black as her hair.

Her bondmate angled himself a little in
front of her as though he was protecting her. He was like most men
in this place, stunningly handsome with a subtle red tint to his
dark hair, but he seemed different for some reason.

As I thought about it, I realized I
couldn’t feel him at all. When I looked at other men, my body
aligned with theirs. I could feel their power as I would the sun
caressing my skin. It was a relief to be able to look at a man
without feeling anything at all about him. I wished I could stare
at him all night, but from the look the queen was giving me, I had
already taken too long to move on.

I glanced away from her and noticed
Finn studying me from over in the corner. Cassie was next to him.
She gave me a small smile that I returned with a grin. Even though
they probably wouldn’t believe it, I didn’t have any hard feelings
toward either of them.

The worst thing I could imagine was for
me to be bound to the man Cassie loved. I would give up just about
anything for her, and if that meant my freedom then so be it. I
wasn’t going down without a fight, though.

Queen Elsbeth stepped forward. I tried
to curtsy because I wasn’t sure what I should be doing and nearly
tripped over my own feet. Heath seemed amused momentarily, but his
expression hardened when she addressed him. “I understand that you
fought Finn for the right to claim this girl without the permission
of this court.”

Heath didn’t seem fazed. He bowed his
head and said, “Yes, highness. I felt Rayla leave the castle and
had to take action. She would be lost to us if I had not.” A gasp
exploded from the crowd.

I couldn’t believe he told her that. He
had made me think he would help me get out of here, and now I was
worried that he had lied merely to get me to come with him
willingly. I trusted people too freely, but how could I change
something so fundamental about myself? I shouldn’t even have
to.

Elsbeth considered his words without
much in the way of emotion. When she spoke, her penetrating voice
filled the room. “Since there were no witnesses to this battle…we
shall have another.” Didn’t Cassie and I count? She raised an arm
high above her head and motioned toward the back doors of the great
hall. “To the Colosseum!”

People clamored to be the first through
the doors. I didn’t even have time to react before hands clamped
around my arms. Bodies pressed tightly against me, making the air
grow thick. I was immediately hoisted above the crowd, carried away
by a wave of people, not knowing where in the world they were
taking me. This could not be good.

We didn’t have to go far. They pushed
through the giant doors and flowed out onto an enormous field. At
least four times larger than the one at Notre Dame, the stadium was
unbelievable. The walls rose to staggering heights and were crowned
by a glowing dome of amber light. The place looked more like a
football stadium than the magnificent roman edifice that shared its
name. The only real difference was, as most things in this place,
it was made completely of ice.

My flesh was bruising under hot hands.
I was pretty sure my flimsy dress had ripped up one side exposing
more of my thigh, as if it wasn’t bad enough to begin with. They
carried me up some stairs and set me down on a rather ordinary
looking bench. Unlike the ice in my room, it melted the instant my
skin touched it. I was shivering immediately, but no one seemed to
notice, or maybe they just didn’t care.

The wave of people rushing up the steps
was staggering. I had no idea that many people resided in the
castle. Every face seemed eager for this battle. I was frantic to
find the only one I cared about but didn’t see Cassie until most of
the people were settled into seats.

She was on the opposite side of the
stadium as if representing the other team. I only recognized her
because she had been wearing the most stunning aqua-blue gown that
glowed like the Caribbean Sea and magnified the paleness of her
eyes. I wished I was closer to her, but I didn’t dare
move.

Two burley men flanked the only way out
of here. I was pretty sure they were Royal Guards. They weren’t
necessarily any bigger than the other men around me, but they were
a lot scarier. Each one had eyes deep as ebony that turned on me
simultaneously. A dark force emanated from both men as though they
got their power directly from Satan. One of them looked away from
me as if bored beyond belief, but the other one wouldn’t take his
eyes off me. I could feel his gaze like a thousand pound hand on my
shoulder anchoring me to my seat. I tried to ignore him, but it was
really hard.

When I finally looked at the field,
Heath and Finn were the only people left. Heath threw his jacket to
the ground and stalked around Finn like a gladiator of old. I
couldn’t make out Cassie’s expression, but I could only guess how
freaked out she was.

What had just happened? I knew this was
an option, but I hadn’t thought it would feel like this. I could
have thrown up if I had actually eaten anything in the last few
hours. As it was my nerves felt like electrical wires about to blow
a circuit.

Elsbeth raised her hand and the crowd
grew silent. She smiled gloriously. “Let the battle
begin!”

Chapter Eight

Before I could even blink, Finn was
surrounded by a ring of fire that soared fifty feet above his head.
His silhouette was merely a writhing wraith in the gigantic blaze.
I covered a gasp with my hand, but on closer inspection, I didn’t
actually think he was on fire. He moved in an odd sort of dance.
The flames began to spin in a whirlwind, rising toward the glowing
roof. Finn circled an arm above his head as if he held an invisible
lasso. Around and round the swirling inferno spun in a dizzying
array.

Then suddenly with a loud groan the
mass of fire began morphing into something else entirely. It
writhed and screamed like the uncontrollable beast it was becoming.
I gaped at the newborn creature, not sure what it was. It looked
like an odd mix between a dragon and a bull. The head was elongated
with sharp horns that flickered like sunlight through a dirty
window. The body was pure bulging muscles. The thing dropped to the
ground as a thick crust formed over the flame. Most of it was
solid, but its eyes, nose, and mouth spewed fire and smoke like a
volcano. Finn tucked his hands under his armpits and watched almost
dispassionately at his creature being spawned into existence. The
funny thing was that it all happened within a matter of
seconds.

The newly formed monstrosity twisted
its head and looked at Finn. His chin fell in a slight nod. The
creature turned and charged Heath faster than I could
blink.

Heath stood with his mouth agape as
though caught off guard. Just in time, he somersaulted out of the
way to avoid being devoured, but the beast’s fangs sank into the
edge of his shirt. The cloth sizzled up his abdomen like a lit
fuse.

He pulled the shirt off and flung it to
the ground, touching an inflamed spot on his stomach. He glared at
Finn who only laughed at him. Others in the crowd joined in. I
almost felt bad for Heath. Finn wasn’t making this as easy for him
as I thought he would.

The air was ripe with smoke and ash. I
coughed, wishing I had something better to cover my nose than my
hand. Heath’s scent clung to my fingers, and I was getting dizzy
from inhaling it. No matter how tipsy I got, my paltry dress was
staying where it was, thank you very much.

Heath’s power over me seemed to be
getting stronger the longer I was around him. The only other person
that had affected me this much had been Zach. I swallowed hard as I
thought about him. Here I was wasting time, and he was lying
somewhere in agony hoping someone would come help him. I wasn’t
sure how I knew that, but I did. I felt it as surely as the heat
pulsing off the beast below. I had to find a way to rescue him,
whatever the cost.