Fiendish Play (21 page)

“Oh...I am? Am I? In every single way?” My voice changing to something deeper, cheekier, sinful.

Anais started to blush, and held up the box to hide her rosy red cheeks. Her eyes darting all around the room, avoiding mine. She was so innocent when she wanted to be.

Her eyes went to my shelf where another box sat high. “Oh, you made yourself a box too?”

I was surprised she even noticed it. “That’s not a music box,” I tried to tell her as she placed her own down and ran across the room to investigate further. I think she must have thought I made them as a set. But the box on my shelf was different. I carved it many years ago. It was just a little project of my own. She opened it up and looked in, her head flicking up to me.

“What...is...this?” Her voice changed completely. She stuttered and her hands started to shake.

I walked towards her and she dropped my box. Perhaps a spider had crawled inside or some insect she was frightened of. Something to explain her bizarre reaction. My gold coin rolled out of the dropped box and stopped near her foot.

“You mean my lucky coin?” I said picking it up along with the box. I looked over the box quickly to see if I had missed something else. An insect maybe?

“Lu...lu...lu...cky...coin...” Anais stuttered.

“What’s wrong with you?” I said resting my hand on her shoulder. “Is it too nerdy? A guy keeping a coin for luck. It is, isn’t it?” I looked at the coin in my hand remembering when it was given to me at that carnival. “Yeah okay, so maybe it’s a bit childish. But it actually has an interesting story to how I acquired it...see it started with this carnival...”

Anais stepped away from my hold, making me divert from finishing what I started to tell her. I look at her confused, wondering why she was pulling away. “Anais?” I questioned, wondering why she continued to back away from me. “What’s wrong?”

Anais took two more steps back towards the door. “Anais? Talk to me. What’s the matter?”

She glanced behind herself and then looked at me, like she was trying to figure out a way to escape. I didn’t fail to notice the urgent way her expression changed. The way she kept walking backwards. She shook her head and then smacked her forehead, pretending like she had completely forgotten something.

“Oh my God James, I just remembered, I have to do another favor for my uncle this morning...” Her head turned again. “Now...right now. I’m so late. He’s going to be so disappointed with me.”

Lies.

I knew she was lying to my face. She could barely look me in the eye and everything about her body language told me there was something else going on. She looked rigid...scared. But not at me. At something else. Did the realization about what we did last night and today’s initiation test just hit her now? Was she worried we’d be found out? Was she worried I would fail? I was sure there were probably a million different scenarios playing out in her mind about tonight. Anais’ insecurity always appeared out of nowhere. The Lappell was always weighing on her mind.

I picked up the music box I made for her while walking to the door. “Don’t worry. I’ll take you home now. You shouldn’t be too late.” I was playing along for her. She needed to be alone with her thoughts and worry. She needed some time before tonight. Anais nodded and smiled, silently thanking me for being understanding.

Then she suddenly reached out and took her music box out of my hands, taking me by surprise. She held it tightly to her chest. It was like she needed to be close to it. Like it was her way of keeping me close to her heart...in case we were separated.

{18}

Twenty-one years ago...

LIAM

Have you ever arrived somewhere and known something was off? Like everything that was supposed to be — felt wrong, moved, shifted, out of place. The stench of horror on the tip of your nose. Like walking right into a nightmare in slow motion except it was happening with every step you took. With everything that you saw.

But I knew I had to keep going. I had to see where the trail of blood went.

Delia didn’t know I was coming tonight. She had no idea I had flown in to surprise her. That I planned to set up the cottage and make it look like a romantic interlude so when she came home I’d be waiting. Arms open...red velvet box in hand...down on one knee. But when I drove up to the cottage, the lights were already on. Then I saw red droplets of what looked like blood on the stairs. And then there was the bloody handprint on the door.

You see something like that and your heart drops in a way you didn’t think was possible. Like your soul that you are never sure truly exists, squeezes your heart so tight you can barely breathe. You find it hard to even walk. Not even consciously aware that you have the ability to tell your brain what to do. You become frozen, surrounded in an air bubble of shock. “
It has to be a hallucination,
” you tell yourself. It can’t possibly be real. Then there is the surge of adrenaline, combined with the fear for the person you love, knowing that this moment could destroy you...kill you. She can’t be dead. She can’t be dead. You tell yourself what you need to hear.

I took hold of the door knob. It was warm to touch. Like the people who were here had left their deadly mark. What had happened to Delia? Could I even live life knowing what I was about to see behind this door? I knew we were playing a dangerous game. Not with our love, but I was helping Delia behind the scenes in this world. Sourcing potential candidates for change. Members in the Lappell who were like us, forced into a life of servitude. Our greatest fears and the people we loved used against us to make sure we did what we were supposed to. What we were all fundamentally against. We were secretly taking on a king, and we didn’t even have an army. Trying to make powerful chess moves in a game we were not skilled at playing. There was talk already amongst the chapters...whispers of people on the inside working against them. Gathering information. Hiding their secrets. Trying to get out. But no one knew we were part of it all...that was, until I saw the blood. And the print on the door.

You see something that could mean the end of you, and your whole head fills with the doubt you never should have ignored to start with. Why did I have to reveal myself to Delia? Why was she the one I let in? Exposed my real feelings for the Lappell. Why did she end up having the same feelings too? I thought it was destiny. Our paths and our hearts were meant to meet. Meant to combine. Meant to live on. I believed in fucking love God dammit! Our love was supposed to overcome these walls.

But I was a fool. A lovesick fool.

The blood on the door hadn’t dried. It was recent. I swallowed, knowing that the last time I held Delia alive in my arms, could have been the last.
Fuck you fate!
You allow us humans to believe in something grand and it becomes real...and then you take it all away. Isn’t that how it works? Isn’t that how the world goes? It screws you, and you never see it coming.

But that isn’t true either. Because I did see this coming. And so did Delia. We were kidding ourselves into thinking we could change anything when we had no game to begin with. No real power. This was my fault for supporting Delia’s quest in the first place. I would forever blame myself, and hide in my own hatred for eternity if she was now a casualty of this cold war.

I twisted the doorknob, prepared...
not prepared
...for what I was about to see. My heartbeat had never been as loud as it was at that moment in my ears. The first thing I noticed was the smell. It hit my nose like a punch to the face. Disinfectant. Alcohol. Blood and cold steel. Then I saw her and everything else around me stopped. I could only see Delia. Her movements, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Her eyes, wide and glowing. Not cold. Not still. She was...alive. Then my eyes shifted to her hands, her fingers spread wide in shock. A pile of sheets, covered in blood fell to the floor.

“Delia...” Did I even say her name? I don’t know. I could hear it, but I wasn’t sure I said it.

Her throat bobbed. She swallowed. She was nervous. “What are you doing here Liam?”

That was what she said? That was the first thing that came to her mind? She was asking ‘me’ why I was here?

The next part didn’t even need words. I simply walked across the room, avoiding the bloody unanswered question sitting in a heap on the wooden floor, and pulled out the red velvet box from my pocket, placing it gently and slowly on the table top.

Delia’s voice emerged behind me but she hadn’t moved from where she stood. “Oh Liam.”

“I guess you can figure the rest out,” I said staring at the box, which I hoped was a new start for us away from here. I was going to try and convince her to come back to the States with me. Build a life together with what we had. She was breathing heavily. I could hear her nervous intake all the way across the room.

“Liam...I...this...”

“Don’t,” I stopped her. “Unless it’s the truth. Don’t Delia. Don’t lie to me.”

“Liam…”

“Why don’t you let me ask the questions alright?”

I could only stare at the red velvet box. I couldn’t turn and look Delia in the eyes. I didn’t want her face and her body to hide the truth I could hear in her voice. They were too good at keeping things hidden, but I knew if I stay focused on her voice alone, I would be able to know if she was being honest with me.

“Are you in danger?” I asked. Given the mystery blood splattered everywhere, it was my first concern. It obviously wasn’t hers, but blood isn’t a safe sign, in any circumstance.

“No...” Her voice small, quiet...truthful. “I don’t think so.”

“Are you hurt in any kind of way?”

“No...”

“Was someone else here? Someone who
was
hurt?”

She took a minute before she spoke next. The gravity of the situation heavy on the silence she gave back. I knew this story or part of the story I was about to get, was going to be hard on her. I could sense its pain. The difficulty. This wasn’t something she should talk about. I wasn’t supposed to be here.

“Yes, someone was here. But Liam, you need to understand…that this was my fault. I caused this...” She took another minute before she kept going. “I should have never helped my brother and his friends. I helped them find Hamilton. And when they ran...” She sighed heavily. “And when they ran...” Again she couldn’t finish.

“And when they ran, Hamilton went after them,” I assisted. She murmured a ‘hmmm’ which I took to mean I was right.

Hamilton and his men. Yes, it was no wonder the cottage looked like this now. My heart started to speed up for Delia. I didn’t want to imagine what had happened. Hamilton Brooks was Delia’s boss, but he was more than that in our circle. He was Elite Lappell. The highest order. A mastermind. An evil god. He wasn’t someone you played games with or tried to get one over. You obeyed. And when you didn’t, his wrath was brutal, merciless, and bloody. She had mentioned to me that her brother was in London, but I didn’t know why. I thought it was just a visit, but there was obviously a lot more to that story.

“Wait, you said your brother?”

“My brother is okay...but…his friends…and that girl. That fucking girl. She’s the reason for all this…and now...” Again she couldn’t finish her sentence, leaving my mind to try and piece things together once more.

“Delia, what happened here? Who got hurt?”

I turned to face her now. I couldn’t let another second pass letting her deal with this pain all on her own. I needed to be her strength too. Even if this was beyond our control and out of the scope of safety. Delia had always been honest with me. We’d never had a reason to lie. But this felt different, like it was perhaps not her story to tell. That she was mixed up with something beyond the borders of our relationship. Another dark and scary world that was colliding with our own.

“There was an accident. Someone was shot and…” Her voice cracked. She inhaled sharply. “But he wasn’t dead. I mean he didn’t die. They all thought he did, but he didn’t. The men sent here didn’t realize he was still breathing until it was too late and they were driving away with his body. And by that time...
she
was long gone.” She glanced at the bloody sheets. “They called me because I was helping them. They brought him here. I know a doctor who I trust who helped us…but he was hurt really bad…there was so much blood loss…we even had to get more. The doctor worked for hours…”

I could tell she was giving me as much as she could possibly reveal. Bits and pieces. But there was pain in her voice…like she knew him. And she had said it was her fault? That she was responsible? And how was her brother linked to all this? And the girl…what girl?

“Who’s ‘they’ who brought him here?” I asked.

“Men...from New York. They were organizing everything. Helping them.”

New York?
I looked around the room once more, trying to see what had happened here. What fate was dealt for the guy whose blood I could still smell in the wood and the air?

“Did he...” I took a quick breath. “Die here?”

Delia stared at me, offering no answer. None I could see in her face or body.

I repeated myself. “Delia, did the guy who was shot, die?”

Stone cold eyes stared back at me. She couldn’t say? Or…she wasn’t allowed to?

Who was this guy? And why could she not tell me what happened to him?

Delia could tell me anything. I knew she trusted me. So why not this? Why not this person’s identity?

A buzzing sound cut through the tense silence. My eyes went to where her cell was vibrating on a side table only a few steps away. Delia gave me a pained expression, hoping I wasn’t about to do what she knew I was about to do. But I needed to know. I wanted answers. To all of this. A reason she was hiding from me, her beloved. I needed to know why she looked like she was the one who had been shot.

We both stepped forward at the same time towards the cell but my hand reached it first. I pushed answer. Delia was closer to me now, her head turning away. She knew who was on the line already. She could only wait for me to react.