Authors: Gwen Hayes

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Horror & Ghost Stories

Falling Under (28 page)

BOOK: Falling Under

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Haden shot out of his chair. “You won’t touch her!”

“Then you’ll have to.” She nodded to the guards to back off.

“I don’t need to feed.” Haden’s fingers raked through his hair. “I don’t
want
to feed. Just put me back in the dungeon and let Theia return home.”

“You may not need to take human essence to survive, but you’ll always crave it.” Mara dabbed the corners of her wide mouth with a napkin. “I see I’ve spoiled you. Can’t you be gracious enough to thank me? I saw what you really wanted, Haden, and I’ve brought her to you—gift-wrapped, no less. Do you think she looked that good when we plucked her from her world? She may have been appetizing before, but you can’t argue she’s succulent now.” She stood, holding her drink aloft. “Guests, please join me in a toast to the bride and groom.” The ghouls raised their glasses, their bulging eyes and misshapen faces more hideous when portraying their elation. “To Haden and Theia. May you always be as happy as you are at this very moment.”

The guests cheered, Haden slumped back into his chair, and I burst into tears.

As the revelry faded, footmen brought tureens of soup to the table. My stomach growled at the smell of food, but Haden put a stilling hand on my wrist when I reached for my spoon.

“Haden, I’m starving. I can’t remember the last time I ate. You may not need to feed, but I do.”

He squeezed my wrist tighter until I dropped the spoon. “Trust me—you don’t want to eat that.”

He signaled one of the footmen over and whispered something in his ear—well, where his ear should have been if he’d had one. He took our soup and returned to the kitchen.

My tears hadn’t stopped, no matter how hard I tried to still them. Every emotion I’d ever had was close to the surface, ready to spill out. I was hungry and tired and had no idea whether I would live to see another day. The boy I loved sat like a stranger next to me, and I wasn’t sure yet if we were already considered married just because Mara said so.

The faceless footman reappeared and placed a domecovered plate between us. He lifted the lid and I began crying anew. A stack of bread and a jar each of jelly and peanut butter were placed artfully on the platter, along with two butter knives.

“Thank you,” I said the servant. And then to Haden as well.

“You’re in quite a mess because of me, Theia. PB&J won’t get us out of it.”

I had already slathered peanut butter on a slice of bread and taken a bite by then, so I just nodded. I didn’t think anything had ever tasted so good. I swallowed greedily and spoke. “We can make the best of it, can’t we?”

“There is no best of it here.” He sighed. “Are you going to let me have one of those?”

“Make your own,” I answered.

He chuckled at that, and while he made his sandwich, I knew he was wrong. We could make the best of it. I just hoped we could maybe do it someplace else.

When it came time for the main course, I set my gaze on the strange animal that still writhed on the table. All the other guests picked up sharp knives and looked eagerly at the still-breathing entrée. Bile rose and I wished I hadn’t eaten the sandwiches. Sensing my distress, Haden asked if we could be excused.

“Eager to begin your honeymoon?” Mara arched a brow. “How sweet. I’ve prepared the bridal suite.” She formed a sinful smile. “You should both enjoy it very much.”

Haden blushed. “I’d rather hoped to begin our marriage in my own—rather, our—room.”

“Tonight you shall stay in the bridal suite. I want to make sure I get a grandchild soon.”

I shuddered. A child? She wants us to have children already? “Are we already married?” I asked.

“Weddings are different here, pussycat. You’ll have a bonding ceremony after you’re proven fertile.”

Without thought, I reached for my amulet again. The stone felt warm against my palm. I let myself imagine, for only a second, that my own mother was there, watching over me.

The familiar sounds of clicking and scraping heralded the arrival of our escorts made of bones. This time they didn’t manhandle either of us, so long as we went where we were bidden. Haden held my hand as we slowly made our way back to the room where I’d been bathed. As the lock clicked into place, fine mauve dust fell from the ceiling and turned into a fog that ribboned around us and throughout the room.

“What is that?” I asked.

“My mother’s insurance,” Haden answered, dropping my hand and stalking to the window. “It’s a spell.”

“What kind of spell?”

“One she hopes will work better than the Lure. It’s an aphrodisiac vapor.”

“Oh.” Understanding flitted across my addled brain. “
Oh
,” I said with more emphasis. “How long before the
spell
begins working?”

He raked both hands through his thick dark hair once again. The locks fell into a disheveled and inviting mess. “Not very long. I’m very sorry that I didn’t protect you better, Theia. All of this is my fault.”

“Why does she want you to take a human bride so badly?”

Haden looked at me, the weight of the world on his shoulders and reflected in his eyes. “Demons can’t reproduce. We can only create life from your kind. Vampires make other vampires by taking a human—some demons can impregnate humans. Not all, thankfully, or demons would overpopulate.”

I ached to ease his burden. He carried so much guilt for simply being born. I knew how that felt.

He continued, “My mother is especially fascinated by human beings, but she’s also jealous—all demons are, really.”

“Why?”

“Humans are the chosen ones.”

I shook my head. “What does that mean … chosen ones?”

“You have
souls
,” he answered with a reverence in his voice that jolted me. “Demons covet humanity because you have souls,” he repeated. His jaw tightened and he pressed his lips together firmly, like he was holding something back. “It makes us yearn for you. It’s why we crave humans and take your essence, your blood, your lives … but we can never get what we need … what we desire most.”

His words made the hollows in my heart ache. I’d never given much thought to having a soul before.

“You—your kind, your mother’s kind—take souls, don’t you? That’s what essence is?”

“I don’t need to, not for survival, because I’m also human. My mother is more gluttonous than she needs to be, but even draining someone else’s soul doesn’t give her one. Theia, a human soul is the most beautiful, most desirable, the most … everything.”

“And you don’t think you have a soul?”

His expression softened again. “I doubt very much that I do.”

“You are half-human, Haden.”

He shook his head, not wanting to discuss it now. “My mother, she pretends to hate humans, yet she spent many men’s lives trying to conceive me. This place, the way she runs things, is a testament to her desire to emulate your world.”

“This place is nothing like my world.”

“Oh, I know. I know better than most.” Haden’s voice had a bitter edge. “I’ve spent most of my life focused on the differences between the two. Humans are her playthings. She likes to play with their minds, dig into their psyches and see what she can pull out.”

I thought of the sewn-together women and knew she’d done that to them. An experiment. They were her dolls.

“Now you understand why I don’t want you here, lamb. Under is the origin, the birthplace, of nightmares. Every night terror a human has experienced was pulled from this place. And my mother is the ringmaster of your bad dreams. Even if I get you back … I don’t know how or why you were able to freely travel back and forth before, but she’ll find a way to keep you if she can. I can block your deepest sleep only so much. You’re far too vulnerable.”

Even while I focused on his chilling words, I could feel something else happening inside me. My body felt slower. Even blinking became a sultry, languid movement.

A new responsiveness hummed along my nerve endings when his look darkened slightly. My tongue dipped out to wet my lips, and he looked away quickly, stifling a small groan.

The spell was beginning to work. And not just on me.

Taking a few steadying breaths only intensified my awareness of my chest, the way the gown magically pushed my breasts up and out instead of my usual preference to minimize and hide. They felt tight and tingly pressed up against the fabric. Turning away from Haden so he wouldn’t see the flush of my skin, I found myself staring at my reflection in a large mirror. Once again, my mirror image startled me with its unrecognizable likeness. The girl staring back at me was no girl at all. She was a woman, with womanly secrets and needs and desires I’d never understood before. My skin took on a rosy glow, my hair had loosened enough from the updo to look as if I’d already tussled on the big bed, and my eyes shimmered with intensity.

Behind me, Haden raised his head and our eyes met in the reflection. The familiar beat of his heart charmed mine into synchronicity. Time coasted, not really standing still but no longer on the same plane as the rest of the world. Haden swallowed hard and his nostrils flared just a touch.

His gaze traveled slowly to my chest, framed like a gift in red satin. He met my eyes again. They pierced me with a look of hunger. His breath unsteady now, he fought the effects of the spell. I could tell by the way he clenched his hands into fists over and over. Clench, release, clench, release.

I imagined what it would feel like if he touched me right now. My skin felt so hot, I suspected it would burn him. But we’d been burning for each other since we’d met, and I craved to succumb to combustion in his arms, under his hands.

The corners of my mind rounded, softening away thoughts that tried to intrude on the lovely, fluid feelings that had taken over. Haden crossed the room in a daze, stopping just behind me. I stood as still as stone, holding my breath, waiting for the electric moment when he would finally touch me. He brought his shaky hands to my shoulder, only an inch from my skin. I expelled my held breath and panted softly.

A faraway voice—my own, I think—warned me away from him.
Move away, put distance between you, fight the dark magic
.

I could have just as easily held off a tidal wave with an umbrella.

“Touch me,” I whispered.

“I shouldn’t,” he ground out. But the very tips of his fingers traced my shoulders. I shivered from the contact. “Theia.” His voice had never been richer, as if the word had been spoken directly from his soul.

Softly, while I watched in the looking glass, his lips replaced his fingers. So tenderly, they traveled a slow path from my shoulder to my neck while his hands gripped my arms firmly. I understood that he needed to hold me tightly to keep us both from floating away. I arched my neck, giving him more access, and leaned my shoulders into his frame.

His warm kisses on my neck turned my bones to gelatin. My hands reached behind me and I grasped his formal overcoat to keep from sliding into a puddle on the floor. Even knowing it was my downfall, I wriggled against him. Urging him down a dark path. He bit me then, lightly, covering the sting with his gentle lips. I whimpered then, and the tug of desire careened into frenzy.

Turning me towards him, he took my mouth in a kiss, a ferocious kiss. I was dizzy with the sensations ricocheting through my body. I tried to loosen his cravat, but it tangled in my fingers, and he had to push me away while he undid it himself. As soon as his neck was exposed, I lunged back on him, pulling his shirt open, exploring his neck and shoulders with my own kisses. We stumbled to the bed, Haden whispering words of love as he pulled kisses from me. I had never felt so very much in my own body before. It was as if I was aware of every eyelash, every cell.

“Theia, wait. We need to …” He paused. He tried to blink away the fog, tried to be good, but I didn’t want him to stop.

I saw it in his eyes. The wonder, the love, the desire. My heart burst with the power of it, bleeding love like blood through my veins.

“We can’t do this. I can’t do this to you.”

I turned my head when movement caught my eye. Though the mirror faced the bed, Haden’s reflection, and only Haden’s, was visible. Where I should have been was empty space. My heart seized and I felt myself disappearing again. I tried to clutch him to me, but my hand went right through him and I sank into a spinning vortex. Alone.

Again.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN