Dark Matter (33 page)

The door crashed open and Roger rushed
into the room, searching for the cause of the
disturbance.

He ran his hands over me, his eyes
frantic with fear. He let out a staggered breath then glared at me.
“I thought you were being murdered. What the hell are you
doing?”

I stomped my foot. “I want to leave! I
can’t be here. You can’t make me marry you. I have
rights!”

He cocked his head to the side. “Is
that so?”

I pushed him out of my way and started
for the bedroom door. I flung it open but before I could get out he
slammed it shut, pinning me against the wood, his eyes seething
with anger. “Why can’t you just go along with this?”

“
What is so blasted
important about me getting pregnant anyway?”

“
We’re running out of time
and you might just be the answer we have been looking
for.”

“
What kind of answer is that
exactly?”

“
Everything about you is
different. Your mother had you while bonded. You may be able to
have a child while you are within the age of power. Don’t you see,
you could be the first to bear a male Elemental.”

My face flushed. I had hoped this was
all a ruse to intimidate me into helping the Order. I knew they
were unsavory, but I had never imagined this level of evil. “I
don’t want to marry you, Roger. I barely like you and I’m not even
sure about that.”

His laugh was infused with anger. “I’m
trying my best to make this as seamless for you as possible, but
you keep pushing me.”

“
Not far enough, obviously.”
I shoved at his chest, belatedly realizing I shouldn’t do things
like that with my injured hand. It wasn’t like it did any good,
either. I didn’t even budge him.

He gave me a curious expression.
Instead of being violent like I expected, he stepped back and
reached for my arm. He eased the split off and began moving my
fingers. They didn’t hurt at all. In fact, if I hadn’t known what
happened earlier, I would have never believed it. I curled my
fingers into a fist then extended them. Amazing.

“
You didn’t tell me you heal
quickly,” he said softly.

I met his gaze. “I didn’t
know.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “This has
never happened before?”

I shook my head. “Why.”

The door inched open and Mr. Lambert
stuck his face through the crack. “Here you two are.” He took one
look at me in my bra and panties and his face went red. “Roger,
this is uncalled for. You can’t even wait until
tonight?”

I glared at Mr. Lambert for even
thinking I would agree to such a thing. Roger started coughing
spastically. “It isn’t like that. I was just checking on Rayla.
She’s having difficulty dealing with our timeline.”

Mr. Lambert came into the room then
shut the door behind him. When he turned around, he held the
assured confidence of a man that was about to reveal the secrets of
the universe. “I realize how hard this must be for you. I wish I
could give you a little time to adjust, but there are reasons for
our haste.”

“
There always is,” I spat at
him. “Why even bother with the ceremony? Why not have Roger rape me
right here on the floor? You do realize that is what will happen
later, don’t you Mr. Lambert?” I moved closer to him, trying to get
him to look at me. “Is that what you want for me,
Nigel?”

His eyes flew wide at my use of his
given name. “That is enough out of you, girl. Get dressed.” He
faced Roger. “See that she does.”

Roger’s voice went soft. “If she
refuses?”

I gasped at his question. There he was,
looking at Mr. Lambert with a dutiful expression on his face. If I
had doubts before they were all gone. These two were serious about
this whole mess.

Mr. Lambert smiled at Roger. It was a
fatherly expression that held no residue of his interaction with
me. “Take her to the cottage and do what you must.” With that said
he let himself out then shut the door softly behind him.

Roger paced the room, his eyes never
leaving mine. I watched a myriad of emotions cross his face that
ranged from furor to regret. He finally settled for a solid
expression that held no emotion at all. “You heard him. Get that
gown on before I take you up on your offer.”

I stuck my chin out defiantly before I
walked over to the bed. My back was stiff; my body was aflame with
pent up fear and anger. For one instant I held the fabric in my
hands fully intending to rip it into a thousand tiny pieces. Then I
whirled around. “How dare you treat me this way. I am not a
thing!”

He had the audacity to look confused.
“You are the one insisting on making this difficult.”

“
Yeah, because I am just
supposed to accept that you are going to…” I could not get the
words to come out of my mouth.

“
Would it make you feel any
better if I told you I don’t want to do it?”

I stared unbelievingly at him. “The
only thing that would make me feel better is if you refuse
to.”

He lowered his gaze from mine. “I can’t
do that.” His face contorted into a mournful grimace and his hands
fisted at his sides.

“
Then we have nothing else
to say to each other.” I slid the fabric over my shoulders and
zipped the horrid dress up as far as I could. I tried to grab the
zipper from the top, but Roger beat me to it.

It fit me like it had been poured over
my skin. I caught a glance of my reflection in the window. I
couldn’t bring myself to care how I looked. I grabbed the shoes
from the bed and bent over, secretly hoping the dress would split
in the process.

Roger lowered to his knees and helped
me slip them on. His fingers brushed mine, and I recoiled. He
didn’t bother to respond. He just stood up and took my
hand.

We were like a couple of robots walking
stiffly down the hall to the elevators. I glanced around listening
to the thing groan to a stop then followed him in. He hit the
button for level four.

The hall was deserted. The room he led
me to wasn’t even decorated. Every ideal I had about what a wedding
was supposed to be disintegrated in front of me.

Two men stood by the windows. Mr.
Lambert turned and smiled at me. “Oh, my dear, you look absolutely
beautiful.”

The other man, a short elderly fellow
with silvering hair, nodded in agreement. He didn’t look like a
priest. He wore a brown suit with fraying edges, a mismatched tie
and black shoes. I didn’t bother to return his smile.

Roger pulled me into motion. I focused
on the sound of my shoes clopping over the parquet floors. Someone
was going to come for me. All I had to do was be patient. The fae
would never let him have me.

We had a perfect view of the beach. The
water was still ablaze with the colors of the setting sun. I
imagined walking into the glowing surf and letting it carry me away
from all this pain.

Mr. Lambert said something, but I
wasn’t paying attention. I was trying to hide in my mind, but there
was still a part of me that was unmistakably present. I felt
Roger’s hand at my waist as he guided me to face him.

The man I didn’t know started saying
things about the holy order of matrimony. I turned my steely gaze
on him and he fell silent. “How can you stand here in the name of
God and—”

A hand clamped over my mouth cutting
off my words. I thrashed in his arms, but Mr. Lambert was
surprisingly strong. “I am so sorry, Father. Please
continue.”

The man finished his pretty words with
me writhing about and moaning. He asked if we had rings. Roger
reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of shimmering diamond
bands. The metal was cold against my skin. I felt the burden of
reality closing in on my heart, but I clamped my emotions off. I
was not going to cry in front of these people.

“
You may kiss the bride,”
the old man said.

Mr. Lambert let go of me and Roger took
me into his arms, his lips brushing mine lightly.

Barely nineteen years old, at least in
my book, and I was a married woman.

This time we took a jeep up the
mountain. Twilight had fallen over the jungle, and I gazed
wistfully out into the trees trying not to think about where we
were headed. Maybe there was a lion lurking in the shadows that
would eat me for dinner? I tested my bonds again. Roger had taken
one look at me when he lowered me to the seat and handcuffed me to
the roll-cage.

His voice interrupted my escape plan.
“You might as well give up. We are a done deal now.”

I turned away from him. His fingers
slid into my hair, my skin prickling under his touch. “Please
don’t,” I said.

He pulled the jeep sharply to the side
of the road. As if anyone would be coming down the other side.
Under the guidance of his hands my body slid around to face him. I
glanced at him but had to look away.

He hit his fist into the dashboard. The
vinyl split with a screeching crack. “Do you think I want this? Do
you think it pleases me to know what I have to do
tonight?”

I gritted my teeth and took a deep
breath. “Funny, I don’t see anyone holding a gun to your
head.”

He took my face in his hands, guiding
my eyes to his. “Yes. They are. And not just me, either. My whole
family will be killed if I do not fulfill my duty.”

“
Duty,” I scoffed. “Tell you
what. I’ll slit my wrists and save you the trouble. All I need is a
knife.” I was surprised to realize I might actually be able to do
it right now.

His voice lowered to a harsh rasp. “You
would rather die than be with me?”

“
Don’t know. Never tried
either.”

“
This is no joke,
Rayla.”

I clamped my eyes closed against the
tears that threatened to betray me. “This doesn’t happen anymore,
Roger! Women don’t have to put up with this sort of thing. Why is
the Order so barbaric?”

“
Sacrific—”

“
Don’t give me that crap.
This is all about power and control. You are stronger than me, so
there is little I can do to stop you, but I will cut my own tongue
out before I’ll tell you it is okay for you to—”

“
Don’t say it again. Once
was bad enough.”

I tried to pull away from him, but he
wouldn’t let me claim any distance. “Let me go.” It came out as a
whisper. “Tell them I escaped.”

“
You ask me to sentence
myself and my family to death to belay your fear of an
insignificant act.” He sat there, staring at me, his breath falling
rapidly on my skin.

How could I expect him to put his
family at risk for the sake of my virginity? But it was more than
that to me. It was an ideal I had clung to for strength. I leaned
away from him, but the headrest didn’t afford me much room. “How
did you get caught up in this mess of a life anyway?”

He clenched his jaw as if he wasn’t
going to answer me then sighed. “My father, his father, and his
father down the line for generations have been faithful followers
of the Order. I can do no differently.”

“
Tradition for traditions
sake? That’s a great reason.”

He rolled his eyes as if I were an
imbecile. “We can’t just give it up for Lent. It isn’t
allowed.”

“
So you keep telling me. Has
anyone actually tried?”

His face went stone cold. “They made me
watch my best friend get his head cut off by another good friend.
It was a warning I can never escape.”

I grimaced at the visual. My fingers
strayed absently to my own neck. “That’s awful.”

“
I wouldn’t care if it was
just me. Sometimes I would rather die than continue, but I have
sisters. I can’t do that to them.”

There had always been a part of me that
knew evil like this existed in the world, but I had buried it in
the cocoon only a small-town girl owned. I had never seen anyone
killed, or robbed, or violated for the contents of a wallet. I
didn’t know what it would be like to watch Cassie’s life blood
spill from her body, but in that moment I felt sorry for Roger, the
reluctant villain.

He put the jeep in gear and we started
up the mountain again not saying a word to each other. We rounded a
corner, and I caught glimpses of a small grey cottage through the
trees. It was picture perfect with a white picket fence and an
overgrown flower garden.

Roger unlatched my shackles and lifted
me into his arms. I swallowed hard as he walked toward the door.
The fragrance of summer blooms wafted around me. In any other
circumstance it would have calmed me, now I just wanted to throw
up.

He shifted me slightly, and I heard him
fumbling with keys. He glanced at me while he twisted the knob.
Then we were through the threshold. My heart began to race as if I
were already running out the door. He sat me on the leather sofa,
kneeling in front of me. His fingers slid along my calves then
clasped the backs of my knees before he buried his face in my lap.
We sat there like that for a long time. I didn’t dare move. I was
barely breathing. Maybe he would fall asleep like that so I could
get away from him? And maybe an army would come crashing through
that door at any moment. If there was ever a time for a rescue, now
was it.