Dark Matter (32 page)

“
Like Ainessa?”

He nearly growled at me, “Don’t say her
name.”

“
Why not?”

“
She’ll know we’re talking
about her. I don’t want to call her attention at the
moment.”

I crossed my legs and tried to get more
comfortable. “Why would you ever want to call her
attention?”

He smirked at me. “I see you get my
point. You need to be more cautious. You never know who is
listening.”

He pried my hand from my chest without
much resistance from me and inspected it, poking my tender flesh. I
wouldn’t look in his eyes. He was being so gentle with
me.

Roger was clearly a complex person that
I would rather not get to know any better, but what other option
did I have at the moment? He nestled my hand in the brace, careful
not to fasten the straps too tightly. The pressure released
immediately.

I wiggled my fingers and smiled at him.
“It doesn’t hurt as much now.”

“
Good to hear.” He looked at
the clock on the wall that revealed it was three-o-clock. “That’s
great. So much for going very far.” He ran a hand over my
hair.

His touch was gentle today, but I knew
that with how volatile he was, it could turn hard in a flash. I had
let my emotions rule me earlier. I needed to control them
better.

He helped me off the table then led me
to the door. Just before he opened it, he said, “I was hoping to
take you to the waterfall, but I guess you’ll have to be satisfied
with spending some time at the beach. We have to be back by five,
so no more antics. Okay?”

“
Sure,” I said a little
deflated. I had wanted to get the layout of the island
down.

I didn’t dare say a word as he loaded
me into a little red dune-buggy that was parked amidst an array of
vehicles at the back of the building. For the life of me I couldn’t
figure out why they would they need a tank here.

He clicked what looked like a garage
door opener that was inside a locked glove compartment and a huge
set of double doors swung open. We emerged onto a gravel road then
turned down a small path that had been cut into the
jungle.

I sat back, enjoying the feel of the
sun beating down on my abnormally pale skin. I hadn’t been able to
go outside in a really long time. At least it seemed that way the
more I thought about it. I had a horrible sensation of dread, as if
I had been in Ignis longer than I realized. I decided to
ask.

“
Roger?” He seemed lost in
thought, and I hated to mess with the comfortable silence we had
going on, but I needed to know how long I had been in the fae
realm. “What month is it?”

He glanced at me, not answering right
away, but when he did, his voice was firm. “July.”

I nearly leaped out of my seat.
“What!”

“
Sit back down!” He was
staring at me, a hard look in his eyes. “You were the one that
asked.”

“
Don’t remind me.” I plopped
onto the seat and shook my head. “I lost nearly an entire year in a
few weeks!”

“
So you finally begin to
see. The fae take. They never give. The sooner you learn that, the
easier your life will be.”

My life had gotten so blasted
complicated that I hated to even think about the questions that
continued to swirl in my mind. I decided to leave those for another
time when I wasn’t this freaked out.

I turned my attention to the landscape,
trying to ignore Roger as he scanned my face. The trees gave way to
tall swaying grasses and white sand. We climbed over a small rise
and my jaw went slack. The sun was a blazing orb melting into the
horizon that gilded the glimmering waves. I breathed in a lungful
of salt and fish, not sure how much I really liked the smell, but
the view was amazing. After I clumsily shed my shoes, I raced to
the edge of the water.

The ocean seemed as eager to touch me
as I was to feel the rush of water around my ankles again. A small
wave crested then crashed at my feet. It withdrew as if it was on a
time constraint. I stumbled to maintain balance and Roger caught my
elbow.

“
Careful,” he said. “I don’t
want you broken on our wedding day.”

Just like that, the magic of the moment
vanished. I felt myself being pulled away from the ocean’s hypnotic
call. Reality wanted me more.

What was I going to do to get out of
this? I had asked myself that same question several times today,
yet I still didn’t seem to have an answer. Instead of arguing with
him like I wanted to, I decided to just say a simple, “Thank you
for this.”

His brows furrowed in a puzzled
expression. “I never really expected to hear you say those words to
me and mean them. I know it isn’t much, but I wanted to give you
some peace before tonight.”

I faced him on wobbly legs. “I don’t
understand you at all.”

He reached out for my uninjured hand. I
was tempted to back away from him, but I let him lace his fingers
through mine. “I may not be what you want, but I hope you will try
to at least like me. We could have a happy life if we gave it some
effort.”

I sidestepped his implied question.
“What if you didn’t have to marry me? What would you
do?”

His fingers dug into mine. “Stop it!
You need to come to grips with what is happening here. There is no
escape—”

“
But there could be. We
could leave the island.”

His grip relaxed but his expression
didn’t. “Then what? Why can’t you see that they would chase us to
the edge of the universe? There is no safe place for us. You and I
are too important to let go.”

I knew deep down he was right even
though I didn’t want to admit it. Everyone else seemed to know what
I was capable of except me. So far I had only glimpsed the
potential of my power.

I let go of his hand and sunk to my
knees taking in the amazing sunset to distract myself. Despair
flooded over me. How much more pain would I have to experience
before my life would settle down. I lowered onto my stomach,
propping myself up on one elbow. The water nearly touched me, but I
was just out of reach.

Roger sat beside me. He didn’t prod me
when I didn’t respond.

I wished I could stay here forever in
the tranquil evening. Why did time have to go so quickly? I felt as
though I was hours away from my funeral instead of my
wedding.

Seriously? My wedding. Never mind that
I didn’t feel old enough to get married; I didn’t even have a gown.
I gazed down at my left hand, specifically my naked ring finger. I
would be perfectly happy to keep it that way for many years to
come. The ruby ring that Gibbit had returned to me glinted in the
sun. It was as worthless as any mortal ring would be. The only
thing that kept me from flinging it into the sea was the state of
my other hand.

I started really processing what was
about to happen to me. Tears trickled down my cheeks, but I didn’t
make a sound.

After a while, Roger said, “We should
get going. I’m sure you would like to freshen up before the
ceremony.”

I thought about staying just the way I
was, dirt encrusted and all, but I didn’t want to lose my virginity
like…oh heavens, I couldn’t even think about that.

I stood up and walked to the buggy.
Roger followed me in overwhelming silence.

What a happy couple we made.

Instead of taking me to the horrible
cell that had become my home, Roger took me to the large building
in the middle of the compound. The hallway was empty when we walked
inside. White subway tiles glistened under the florescent light
like frosted glass. The halls might as well have been made of ice
like everything in the fire realm from how cold I felt. Was it
really freezing in here or was it just my heart crusting over in
preparation for my new life. Either way, my skin prickled in
protest.

I was escorted to a room that was much
better than I expected. Thankfully, it had a private bathroom. I
nodded at Roger, grabbed the lacy underwear that lay next to a
pretty beaded white gown on the bed and headed for the shower. The
other door thudded closed before I had a chance to shut
mine.

I still turned the lock. I bypassed the
mirror because I didn’t want to see how horrible I looked. It would
probably just make me feel worse.

I stayed in the shower a really long
time. I tried again and again to call the elements to me. I focused
on turning the water to ice until my head throbbed, but instead of
obeying my command it flowed happily over my body in a warm
blanket. I shivered even though steamy heat enveloped my skin. The
only thing I had accomplished was turning my blood frigid in my
veins.

“
Won’t someone help me?” I
said in a soft whisper out of sheer desperation. I slid down the
wall and stretched my legs out in front of me, letting the water
wash the tears from my eyes.

A faint popping noise caught my
attention. I would recognize that sound anywhere.

Hope filled my lungs, and I threw the
curtain wide, fumbling with the knobs to turn the water off. The
room was so foggy that I couldn’t see him. Where was he? “Gibbit?”
I asked softly. For a moment I had forgotten that I was naked.
Blood rushed up my face as I scrambled for a towel.

“
No, Miss,” a tiny voice
said. “I never thought to be confused for that rascal, but I won’t
hold it against you.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Fexlie!” I nearly shouted. I had only
heard her voice once, but I would never forget the soft
melody.

“
Shhh!” she hissed. “You
trying to bring the whole compound in on us or what?”

“
Sorry.” The steam had
cleared enough for me to see that she wasn’t actually in the room
with me. “Where are you?” I whispered.

“
Here,” she said. I followed
the tiny sound over to the sink, but I still couldn’t see
her.

The mirror looked funny even under the
blanket of fog, so I grabbed another towel to wipe it off. I could
hear her laughing in a sick sort of pleasure at my fumbling which
nearly made my icy blood boil. “Fexlie!”

“
Oh, all right.” The space
around me distorted like a pool being disturbed. If I concentrated
really hard, I could see her small body.

She was a couple inches tall, tops. Her
hair was a brilliant green and her skin was covered in an
iridescent psychedelic pattern that looked similar to camouflage.
The more I stared at her, the harder she was to see. The tone of
her skin kept changing like light sifting through shimmering
leaves.

When I was finally able to tear my
attention away from her skin, I just as soon got lost in the depths
of her vibrant pink eyes. She had long lashes that swept past her
delicate brows toward her hairline.

She smiled at me, revealing a perfectly
straight set of bright gold teeth. The combination was striking yet
odd.

When I opened my mouth to speak, she
shushed me. “I’ve disabled the hidden mic, but the camera is still
working. I didn’t want to give them cause to think something was
wrong.” She frowned at me. “If you don’t stop staring at me as if
you’ve just seen your lost Gran, I’m afraid our little visit will
be cut short. Pretend I’m not here.”

I nodded fractionally then went to work
drying off and getting semi-dressed. The thought that someone might
be watching me was more than disturbing. What kind of sick person
puts a camera in a bathroom?

Fexlie sat on the edge of the sink. Her
legs were swinging casually. “I’ve been searching for Master for
days with no luck.

“
Who?” I asked before I
realized. “Oh, you mean Zach. Why are you calling him
master?”

She laughed and the melody eased some
of the tension I felt. “He don’t like it none, if that’s what
you’re wondering.”

“
Then why would you do
it?”

“
It is out of respect,
nothing more. He saved me from a horrible existence.”

“
You’ll have to tell me
about that later, but now, I think we had better get out of
here.”

Her expression fell and with it my
hope. “I don’t have enough power to transport you.”

I ground my teeth together, trying my
hardest not to let anger take over my words. “You mean you didn’t
bring anyone with you?”

She sighed, shaking her head. “No one
would listen to me. Where are they keeping him?”

“
I think he is somewhere in
this building, but I don’t know for sure. I’ve only seen him once.”
I bent over as if I was picking something off the floor, but I
really just wanted to see her better. “You have to get me out of
here. They are going to make me marry Roger Wayne
tonight!”

“
Good.”

“
What!” I yelled nearly at
the top of my lungs.

“
Settle down! I need some
time to get Master out. That distraction should do nicely. Once he
is free, we’ll come for you.” She started to fade.

I reached for her. All I caught was
air. “No!” I cried, hitting my fist into the mirror. Glass
shattered all around me.