Dentelle (38 page)

“Something like that. I’ll give you more details
when I get back in just a minute, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll wait. I promise.”

“Good girl.” I smiled, kissed my finger, and pressed
it against her nose.

“What’s
going on?”
Ash said loudly, scaring the living daylights out of me. I
brought him up to speed then told him I had to go. I’d just spotted the black
BMW from my premonition. Dodging around other vehicles, I hurried towards the
car. I figured the biggest miracle of all miracles was that no one else was in
the parking garage. Lucky for me, the BMW was unlocked, and I quickly spotted
the trunk button and pressed it. I ran to the back of the car and groaned when
I caught sight of Izzy. She was whiter than a sheet of paper and looked dead.
At least her eyes weren’t open.

Bracing myself, I took a deep breath and touched
her cheek. Her skin was extremely cold, and I couldn’t detect any Essence.
Bowing my head, I thought I might burst into tears. How could all of this have
been for naught? What was I going to do with Ava Rose now? What would Kieran do
if he caught me?

But then I felt it, a small tinge of energy.
That was all the motivation I needed. I placed both hands on Izzy’s face and
poured my Essence into her. “Come on Izzy. Feel my energy. Soak it up.”

A minute later, she gasped for air and sat up.
“Lexi! What’s going on?” She rubbed her head. “What happened?” Her short brown
hair was a mess, and her bangs were sticking to her forehead. Her normally
luminous green eyes were dull and glazed over. “No. No. Don’t answer that.
They…they did it again.” She started rambling, and it came out rushed – a mix
of inarticulate words. “They stole my Essence. Again. But not all of it. They didn’t
know it. But I did. I held on. I hid some. In that secret spot. A trick my mom
taught me. It worked. Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe it was you. You saved me.”

“Shh,” I said. “We don’t have time to worry
about that now. What matters is that you’re alive. You’re strong. And I need
you to pull it together and listen to me. I have a plan to get you out of here,
but I need you to listen very carefully and do exactly as I say.” She nodded
and I helped her out of the trunk. I continued drilling her with Essence as I
told her about my premonition, about Ava Rose, and about my plan for how they
were going to escape together. When I felt confident we were on the same page,
and that she was strong enough, I went to get Ava Rose.

I introduced them. “Ava, honey, I need you to
pay attention. Okay?” Her eyes grew wider, and she clutched her towel a little
tighter. I held her shoulders, supplying her with Essence as well, and said,
“Uncle Kieran knows some dangerous men, and they might come here.” She gulped
and started to ask why but I told her how important it was to listen first.
“You know how Uncle Kieran has a lot of money?” She nodded. “Well, these men
are upset about it and want some of that money for themselves. That’s why you
and Izzy are going to sneak out of here. We are afraid these men might show up
here, and we don’t want you here when they do. They are dangerous. Now, where’s
the car Maya drives?”

She pointed to a navy-colored SUV, so I nodded
at Izzy and we worked our way to the car. While Izzy opened the back hatch and
climbed inside, I gave more instructions to Ava. “Okay, so you and Izzy are
going to hide in the back of Maya’s car, and pretty soon she’s going to drive
out of here and take you both with her. Only...” I paused, trying to think of
some kind of excuse that made any plausible sense, but nothing did, so I
finally said, “Except she is going to pretend like you’re not in the car, and
you’re going to be super quiet and pretend she doesn’t know you’re in the car
either.”

“Why?” By now Ava looked and sounded terrified.
I felt so guilty, but this was better than the truth.

 
“Well,
Uncle Kieran thinks these men might have some kind of listening devices or
something, but if you’re super quiet they’ll never know you’re in the car.”

“Oh no! Then why aren’t you sneaking out too?”

I grabbed her little hands. “To be extra safe
we’re taking different cars. I’ll be coming along soon. Hopefully, these men
won’t even show up here. But if they do, we want to make sure you’re somewhere
safe.”

“So you’ll go right after us?”

“That’s right, sweetie. But until then, I need
you to listen to Izzy and do what she says, okay?”

I don’t think Ava was very convinced, but I had
her so scared she climbed into the back of the SUV and crouched down. Quietly,
Izzy and I said good-bye. If she made it out, the plan was for her to contact
Sienna and Michael for help right away. They were with Jason, so it wouldn’t be
long before the whole Bellingham Circle was in on the situation. Hopefully,
they’d still have time to catch a flight to Oklahoma City. We said our
good-byes, and Ava Rose waved as I quietly closed the back door to the SUV. She
looked just like she had in the snapshot.

Racing against time, I backtracked my steps. I
propped open the laundry room door, used Vincent’s key card to get into the
pool room, and even managed to place the key card back on the table. I paused
mid-stride when his high-pitched snore came to an abrupt stop. But he simply
rolled onto his side, and when he took up snoring again, I high-tailed it out
of there and ran to the laundry room. Somehow, I even managed to climb up the
laundry chute, which wasn’t easy. Without my rubber-soled tennis shoes for
traction, I never would have made it. I was breathing heavy and sweating,
though. I went up several floors to get back to Kieran’s room. Once there, I
immediately turned the elevator camera on and then hastened toward the bedroom.
I didn’t even pause to glance at all those pictures on the wall. I’d already
seen them, and there was nothing else to gain except anger. Besides that, I was
under a serious time crunch.

Within ten minutes of being in the basement, I
was safely back in my room. I breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to
initiate part two of my plan. Hurrying over to the bedroom door, I banged on it
and called out to James, “Hey, I’m hungry. I want to talk to Maya about getting
some lunch. Is that allowed? Or am I forbidden from eating, too? Besides that,
it’s getting stuffy in here. Can’t you take me for a supervised walk or
something?” I tried my best to sound annoyed like usual.

“Hold on. Hold on.” I heard him talking into his
walkie-talkie.

A couple minutes later, Maya arrived with a
sandwich, some fresh fruit, and an iced tea. “You have to eat in your room,”
James said smugly, allowing Maya in. She placed the food on the table and
politely asked if there was anything else I needed.

I smiled brightly. “Now that you mention it, yes
there is. Kieran said something about a dress and some accessories you were
picking up for me today. I was wondering if you were doing that soon, because
I’d kind of like to take a look at it, try it on, and make sure it fits. You
know, that kind of stuff. Besides that, I’m in need of something to do after I
eat lunch. I’m getting pretty bored,” I said loudly so James could hear the irritation
in my voice.

“Deal with it. I am,” James called back and took
a bite of the sandwich Maya had given him.

 
“Oh, I
can go and pick up the dress right now. Unless you want something else from the
kitchen first?”

“Thanks, Maya. I have plenty of food here, so
that would be great if you could get it. The sooner the better.”

 
“Very
well, then. I’ll have your dress here within the hour,” Maya said, dipping her
head slightly before exiting the room.

For the next ten minutes, I waited on pins and
needles by the window. When I caught sight of Maya’s navy blue SUV heading down
the street, I did a celebratory dance and jumped up and down on my bed like a
little kid. Pulling myself together, I sat down to eat my lunch and pass the
good news onto Ash.

Not fifteen minutes later, I heard James yelling
in the hallway. Suddenly, my door flew open, and I knew it was show time. He
stomped into my room and looked all around.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Can I come out
now?”

He ignored me and spoke into his walkie-talkie.
“Well, Vincent, you better find her. And you better find her now. I don’t know
how you can lose one little brat kid?” Fuming, he shoved his walkie-talkie back
into the holster on his hip.

“What?” I shouted, jumping up from my seat.
“What’s going on? Are you talking about Ava Rose?”

“Yes,” James snarled.

“I thought you said she was swimming.”

“She was.”

I started trembling, trying my best to put on a
good display of fear. “Well, where is she?” I screamed hysterically. I ran up
to James and continued shouting. “How could he lose her in the pool room?” I
grabbed his arm. “Oh no! So help me…if that idiot let her drown, I’ll kill
him.”

At that precise moment, Kieran walked into the
room. A look of surprise crossed his face. I think because James was in my
room, and I was screaming hysterically. “Who are you going to kill, Lexi?”

I ran over to him, trying hard to force tears to
my eyes. I felt success as wet drops rolled down my face. “Kieran, James just
said Vincent has lost Ava Rose in the pool room. We’ve got to get down there.
She might need me.”

Kieran looked from me to James, his eyes
widening. “Is this true? What’s going on?”

Nervously, and rightfully so, James filled
Kieran in with what few details he had. Kieran turned crimson red and looked
from James to me. “Has Lexi left this room?”

“No, I’ve been locked up all day. Now let’s get
going. We’re wasting time,” I yelled.

“Shut up,” Kieran said. “I’m talking to James.”

“Lexi hasn’t left the room,” James said adamantly.
“I’ve been right outside the door the whole time, and Vincent was supposed to
be watching the kid.”

 
“You’ll
stay here,” Kieran ordered, pointing at me. “And you’ll come with me,” he said,
grabbing James by the shoulder. “How hard can it be to find one little girl?”

As the door slammed shut in my face, I smiled
and muttered to myself, “Damn hard.” Then in order to keep up the charades, I
banged and kicked on the door and shouted, “You can’t leave me here. What if
Ava needs me?”

After a couple minutes, I stopped the antics and
took a breather. For once, I’d devised a plan and executed it perfectly. Now I
just hoped Izzy and Ava would be able to slip out of Maya’s car unseen while
she was picking up the dress.

Pacing the floor with arms crossed, I waited
impatiently for something to happen. Anything. But nothing did. Time dragged
on, and not once did I hear voices or any other sounds. It was eerily quiet.
Despite my earsplitting pleas and loud banging on the bedroom door, no one came
to let me out. Even more surprising, no one came and ordered me to put a lid on
it either. I’m not sure if no one heard me or if I was being ignored on
purpose.

I started fidgeting when I saw Maya’s car
returning down the street. Finally, the moment of truth had arrived. Something
was bound to happen now. At the very least, Maya would bring me my dress, and I
would be able to gauge her temperament – determine if she’d discovered Ava and
Izzy in the back of her car or not. But much to my disappointment, a good half
hour passed and Maya never showed up. That was worrisome, because earlier she’d
promised to have the dress to me within the hour, and she had excellent follow
through. The clock continued to tick.

Had I failed? A queasy, heavy feeling originated
in my gut and slowly twisted its way up my chest and tightened around my heart.
Suddenly, that cramping sensation launched itself upwards like a rock that’s
hurled into a mucky lake. The splattering mud coated my brain with dark sludge,
casting shadows of doubt and stealing away my confidence. This caused all kinds
of horrible illusions to form in my head. Maybe Ava and Izzy had been
discovered and brought back. Maybe Kieran was torturing them right now. Maybe
my part in their escape was being pieced together, and Kieran was planning how
best to punish me. With a lunatic like him, anything unimaginable was
plausible, and I didn’t want to go there.

I was teetering on the brink of insanity when I
heard the bolt on my door. I took a deep breath. I’d already thought it through
and had planned for this moment. When Kieran stepped inside, I rushed toward
him and nearly knocked him over. Getting up in his face, I let loose a string
of frantic, rapid-fire questions about Ava. I asked him where she was, if she
was alive, and if she needed my Essence.

Ordering me to calm down, he looked at me like I
was the lunatic. And maybe I was. Shaking his head, he said, “She’s just fine.
Calm down.” With a swipe of his hand, he waved away my concerns.

I stood open-mouthed, staring at him
incredulously. Seriously? The fact that he’d said she was “just fine” elevated
my concern but also piqued my curiosity. Had Maya brought her back? Had he
checked the surveillance footage and found that the elevator camera had gone on
the fritz? “Just fine,” I shrieked, smacking my hands together in front of his
face. “What the heck does that mean? Last I heard she was missing. That she
might be in the bottom of the swimming pool. I want to know what happened. And
what are you doing about Vincent? How did that imbecile lose her in the first
place?”

In answer to my questions, he flat out lied. I
tried to control my astonishment as the lies rolled off his tongue. “Ava went
exploring like any curious kid would do. She slipped out of the swimming pool
while Vincent was sleeping and used her key card to get into the game room
where she practiced her pool game.” He was nonchalant, like the whole thing was
no big deal. His story grew phenomenally. “Eventually, she wandered up to the rooftop
and fell asleep in a lawn chair.” Obviously, this was all a bunch of crap. So
what was really going on? Despite his attempts at remaining calm and sounding
composed, I knew he was agitated. He spoke an octave higher than usual, and the
tone of his voice was off.

“I want to see her now,” I demanded. Since he
was creating such elaborate tales, and I didn’t sense any threat from him, I
assumed I was not a suspect. This was a good time to push him a little bit.

“That’s out of the question,” he replied smoothly.
“I moved her to her room, and she’s fallen back asleep. She’s exhausted.” His
mouth set in a grim line and his demeanor darkened. His ugly round, bald head
reminded me of a white bowling ball. Glaring, he started going off. “I’ve been
too soft with you – allowed you too much freedom. You will be sequestered for
the rest of the day.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m not.”

In protest, I stomped across the room, picked up
the nightstand and threw it at him. “You are cruel and cold-hearted,” I yelled.
He caught it, but he was not in the least pleased or entertained.

He slammed it onto the floor, and it actually
splintered into pieces. “You will see her tomorrow,” he said punitively. His
gaze wavered as he spoke, which was surprising. Typically, he was a master at
deceit, always looking me straight in the eye without flinching or blinking
when telling a lie.

And that’s when I fully comprehended what was
going on. He had no idea where Ava Rose was. And he had no intention of telling
me she was missing. Miraculously, he still hadn’t clued into my role in this
matter. Then again, James had assured him I’d been in my room all day and
Vincent was such an idiot it was totally believable he could lose a little
girl. I bet Kieran was burning with rage, trying to figure out where exactly
Ava Rose had gone off to. If I had to guess, I’d say he hadn’t realized Izzy
was missing, too. I mean, why would he? Obviously she was believed to be dead
or she wouldn’t have been thrown in the trunk in the first place.

I almost smiled. He was putting on a good show
for me, but acting was not his forte. I was much better at it than he was. I
was surprised steam wasn’t coming out his ears, though. He was such a control
freak by nature, and failure was totally unacceptable. Knowing that a child had
disappeared despite all his high-tech security systems had to be driving him
insane. However, somehow through it all, he kept his wits about him and
understood he had to hide the truth from me. If I had any reason to believe Ava
Rose was still missing, I’d come unglued – hysterical even. That would screw up
his plans for a nice subservient linking ceremony. And that was the most
important thing to him right now. His concerns over our “perfect little
linking” was clouding his judgment. He should be delving deeper, trying to find
out if I’d been involved with Ava in some way. But he wasn’t, and that was a
pleasant surprise.

“I want you focused on our linking,” he said
roughly. “To do that, you’ll need privacy, time to get ready, and a lot more
solitude. He paused and glanced at the time on his cell phone, his lips forming
a crooked smile. “Just a few hours more.” Looking eager and excited, he ran one
hand over his smooth, ugly head. “I will leave you, and Maya will bring in your
dress and accessories. I expect you to look amazing.”

“This is crazy,” I raged, making sure my face
was a mask of unveiled hatred. “And dressing up is asinine.”

He took a step towards me, and I wanted to move
back as he shook a finger in front of my nose. “Our linking is an extraordinary
event. We will be considered royalty among the Ray-pacs. Tonight we will have
several witnesses, all who will be expecting a show. And that’s what I intend
to give them. Perception is everything, and you will play your part. And you will
play it masterfully or all the people you love will die.”

Every muscle in my body tensed, but I didn’t
open my mouth and say what was really on my mind. I knew he was a trickster and
the Ray-pacs who followed him were not only evil, they were stupid and ignorant.
Blind perception at its best.

“I expect you to look and act like a queen
because that’s what you’ll be.” His voice was firm and proud. “My queen. And
before long, others will flock to us and want to join our pack. Under my
leadership and with your Essence, our domination and power will be unstoppable.
We will grow in numbers, and with you by my side, I will reign supreme among
the Ray-pacs. We will be unstoppable.”

I’m sure I turned pale. The depth of his
delusions was mind-boggling. Fate must have set our paths to cross for one
reason and one reason only. So I could destroy him. I tried again – one last
time. “Please, let me see Ava.”

 
Shaking
his head, he turned on his heel and walked to the door. “Stop. I’m all out of
patience. Maya will take care of her, and I will check in on her as well.” He
smiled like only the devil could. His eyes glowed amber, but I could see the
flames of hell burning within them. “Until tonight, my Queen.” He blew a kiss,
and I imagined throwing a dagger in return.

The door closed and the lock clicked into place.
I stared at it long and hard before softly vowing aloud, “I will never be a
Ray-pac. And you won’t be one much longer, either.” With that, I took myself
off to the bathroom. I needed a long hot shower to wash away all traces of
having been in his revolting presence.

How ironic, I thought several hours later, as I
gazed at myself in the mirror. The sleeveless, flowing evening gown that Kieran
had chosen for me was amethyst in color. In fact, the shade was pretty darn
close to the bridesmaid dress I’d be wearing in Ally’s wedding. That is, if I
survived this mess and made it home to be a part of Ally’s wedding. I’d only
been gone a week, but I missed my best friend. I even missed her sassiness. She
was the only one, besides Kieran, who could boss me around and get away with
it. Big difference was, hers was done with love and laughter, not
threat-management.

One step at a time, Lexi. You just have to get
through tonight first. I turned sideways for a profile view and then spun all
the way around, finding it difficult not to admire the chiffon A-line dress
with its halter neckline and crisscross back straps. Narrower at the top, it
flared wider at the bottom, resembling the letter A. I sighed. The only reason
I knew so much about it was because Ally, the fashion guru, was always
imparting her vast knowledge. Right about now she’d be pleasantly surprised at
my attention to detail since she always accused me of tuning her out, which
normally I did, unless of course we were talking about jeans. I decided right
then and there that if I lived through this, I was going to splurge and buy
that ridiculously trendy pair of Rockstar tie dye biker jeans.

Looking at the face staring back at me in the
mirror, I just shook my head and tapped on the glass. Was that really me?
Kieran had not warned me a cosmetologist would be coming in to style my hair
and do my make-up. Obviously, he hadn’t trusted me to do it properly. And he
would have been right. I hated to admit it, but my hair looked awesome – smooth
and full on the top, becoming wavier with big, soft curls towards the bottom. I
guess that’s what happened when you used hot rollers.

The cute, petite woman who’d transformed me
looked like someone straight from behind the MAC counter at Nordstrom. She’d
talked technique the entire time. Not only had she rudely plucked my eyebrows,
she’d even highlighted them with a brow pencil before applying a shimmery
purple eye-liner around both my eyes. She followed that up with some light
browns expanding outwards onto my eyelids. Then she used an eyelash curler
before applying mascara, so my eyelashes were twice as long as normal. When she
tried to cover up the mole under my eye with concealer, I brushed her hand away
and said, “I like my mole.” Crazy thing was, I’d always complained about it
before. Funny how someone trying to control you and change you makes you
fierce, and suddenly you’re more than happy with who you are and how you look.

I’d never been this dressed up or made up in my
life. The only time I could ever imagine going this far out would be on my own
wedding day. And even then, this was over the top. This was Vogue magazine kind
of stuff. Did Kieran view our linking like a wedding? Oh, man! How sick! Thank
goodness it was Ash, not Jason, witnessing this event – well, this event which
wouldn’t be a linking but would turn to an annihilation real quick.

Before I knew it, the wee early morning hours
had arrived, bringing with them Aria, Aiden, Zola, and Rafe. They practically
knocked down my door and heralded me out the door. I was impressed I warranted
such an escort. I knew the moment of the moon’s absolute maximum size had come
and gone. Not because of the time on the clock but because I could sense that
Aria wasn’t linked. I was, of course, still linked with Ash, but no one knew
that. After a few vulgar comments from Rafe about my body and the how the dress
accentuated all the right curves, I raised my arm and slammed my elbow into his
face. He yelped and started back at me, but Aiden held him off, reminding him I
was Kieran’s possession and that I needed to arrive in one piece or Rafe would
receive a much more severe beating.

Holding his cheek, Rafe eyed me furiously and
said, “You can just use a little of that Essence to fix my face, and I’ll
forget it ever happened.” He stepped closer as if he really expected I would do
it.

I laughed in his face. “Not a chance. I’m not
touching you. But if you get me some super glue, I’d be happy to cement your
lips together. Maybe that will shut you up for a while.”

He turned bright red, and I thought he was going
to blow up and attack me. But Aiden grabbed him by the arm and pushed him
forward. “Let it go.” Then he turned around and said, “You better watch
yourself. You’re not making any friends here. And you’re going to be part of
our pack after tonight. I suggest you think before you say or do anything you
might regret.”

I shot back in a nasty voice, “Make no mistake
about it. We will never be friends. And once Kieran and I are linked, I won’t
be
part
of your pack. I will
rule
this pack alongside him. And if you
screw with me, I’ll find a way to get rid of each and every one of you. So
maybe you should think before you speak.”

Aria snapped at that comment, and came at me.

I stopped dead in my tracks as her fist came in
swinging, and allowed her to graze me. But she sliced through more air than
anything else and lost her balance. I dodged for her, grabbed her by the
shoulders, and shoved her against the wall. With anger and adrenaline pumping,
I kneed her in the stomach and then slapped her across the face multiple times.
I didn’t punch her out of fear I might reveal my actual strength. I didn’t want
to give the slightest hint that I was still linked. She wasn’t used to being
unlinked and seemed to have no natural fighting abilities whatsoever. The
humorous part was that the others couldn’t pull me off her without getting
burned. She started to fight back, but I kicked her, which wasn’t as easy in a
dress. But since it flared so nicely at the bottom, I had no problem knocking
her off her feet. Suddenly, Kieran’s voice was loud and clear in my ear,
promising vengeance if I didn’t move away from Aria. I looked around and saw
that Aiden was holding a walkie-talkie next to my ear.