Page 19 of Temptation
I had to admit—he’s had several chances to end my life, and we both knew that I remembered what happened that night. So why didn’t he? Why did he keep me alive? Why did he invite me tonight?
But all those questions were answered a couple of hours after I arrived at the catacombs, after they gave me a black cloak and dark green mask, when Skylar walked into the room, pale as a ghost, with fear written all over her face.
The moment I spotted her, I took a step forward, but long fingers wrapped around my arm and pulled me backward. It took me a second to recognize the eyes of the person who kept me in place.
Kane.
I wanted to shout for her to run, to get out of here, to save herself, but as if reading my mind, he only shook his head, his dejected eyes boring into mine. Now I understood what he meant the other night when he begged me to take her away from here.
Now I understand the desperation lacing his voice. Those weren’t the words of a madman, but of a guy that knew what was happening but he couldn’t say. And now we were too late.
Run, I wanted to scream at her.
Get away from him, I wanted to shout.
But none of the words ever came. I realized how wrong I was to ever doubt her. There were moments where I thought that she maybe knew what was happening but was acting stupid. This here, this was my proof that she had no clue what exactly was going on.
Her lips trembled as she moved further away from him, while his hungry eyes devoured every inch of her, taking more and more and more, until the picture of a protective brother I met not so long ago became distorted.
People from the back knocked into me—some of them removing their masks, others laughing, while I wanted nothing more than to walk up there and remove that smug smile from Dylan’s face.
Skylar stumbled down, lost in the sea of people who started hugging her, holding her captive, while Kane kept his hand wrapped around my arm.
“Let me go, Kane,” I sneered and removed my mask. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Calm your fucking titties, Ash,” he muttered and removed his mask as well. “You dying tonight won’t solve anything.”
I ripped my hand away from his grasp and looked ahead toward where they crowded Skylar. “Maybe, but I will be happy knowing that I killed this motherfucker.”
I started pushing through the sea of people at the same time that Dylan stepped down and pulled her back to him.
Panic was written all over her face and the blood on her hands started smearing on her white dress, creating a morbid contrast. Lauren’s lifeless body lay on the altar while Judah stared down at her with a grin that could scare even the strongest of men.
God, what the fuck was happening here?
“Ash!” Kane yelled from behind me, but I had one goal in my mind and that was to get to Skylar. “For fuck’s sake…” he trailed off. “Stop!”
But didn’t he understand? I didn’t want this for her. I didn’t want her surrounded by these monsters.
They already took my parents away from me, and now they were going to take her too.
Almost there, I told myself. I pushed a figure in the red cloak that still wore a white mask, and just before I could reach the end, a tall body intercepted my way.
I looked up ready to argue when I saw Rowan’s angry face.
“Ro.” I nodded. “Get out of my way.”
“I can’t do that, Ash.”
“Ro—”
“Ash!” Kane finally reached us and stopped next to me. “Are you insane?”
“Maybe. But they aren’t taking her away from me.”
“They already took her, you idiot,” Rowan said, and Dylan suddenly wasn’t the only one deserving of my punches. “But if you make a scene now, do you really think that you’ll be able to take her away from the Order?”
“I have to try,” I gritted out. “If I don’t try, she will forever be their captive.”
