Page 18 of Divine Violence
I looked at the group of women standing a few feet away from me, mentioning Kairos Adair and his two friends, but I had yet to see this infamous man. Alexander and Dominic were obviously the two friends, but Kairos was nowhere to be seen.
Wasn’t this his party?
“So,” a feminine voice sounded behind me and as I turned around. It was one of Anastasia’s friends. “I didn’t quite get your name?” Her fake smile made me sick to my stomach.
“Because I never gave it to you,” I retorted, sipping the vodka cranberry I got from the bar.
Her smile wobbled, and she kept glancing back at her group. “But you need to tell us your name. Mine is—”
“I don’t care.” I looked at her. “Whatever game you guys are trying to play won’t work. Now go back to your little friends and tell them to fuck off.”
Her eyes widened, shock and disbelief visible even behind the blue mask she wore. “B-But… You can’t—”
“What? Tell you to fuck off?” I smiled. “You really should find better friends, darling. You don’t want to fuck with me. Trust me.”
If only they knew.
“Where are you going?” she called out after me as I started walking toward the tall, glass doors. “Hey!” Her heels clicked against the floor, but I was faster with my boots.
I didn’t have enough patience to deal with her and also pretend that I wanted to be here.
The cold air slammed into me as soon as I stepped through the doors, lower even than the coldness they were creating on the inside.
“Jeez.” I shivered, rubbing my arm with my free hand. “Is it fucking December already?” I asked out loud to no one in particular and walked to the end of the balcony where another set of stairs led toward the ground.
A large, already covered pool stood in front of me as I climbed down. If I wasn’t that distracted by the stunning bush of red roses right next to the pool, I would’ve noticed a lone figure standing on the other side.
My fingers froze as I reached out toward the roses, my eyes glued to the man whose face I couldn’t see. But I fucking knew those shoulders and the shape of that body.
Even in the shadows, I would’ve been able to recognize him no matter how many years had passed.
I placed the now empty glass on one of the sun loungers and started walking toward him. I needed to see him. I had to know if the connection I felt on that rooftop was just a figment of my imagination or if it was something tangible, something I could hold on to.
I needed him to block all those other thoughts away.
“We finally meet, little Sparrow.”
Fuck. Me.
His voice felt like velvet on my cold skin. As he stepped into the light, the breath I was about to take lodged itself in my throat. My lips were dry, parched, suddenly thirsty for something more than simply water.
His jet-black hair swayed with the wind and curled around his face. As the light illuminated his entire body, I took a step back, seeing that he didn’t wear a mask like the rest of us.
Instead, skull makeup was masterfully applied to his skin, hiding the real person. Who the fuck was he?
“I would probably say the same, but I have no idea who you are,” I said with renewed strength, surprised at the tone of my voice.
Even with the distance between us, I could feel the raw, unhinged power emanating from him. I knew that it was him. The same animalistic attraction that I’d had for the simple shadow slammed into me in full force, pushing me one step backward.
Where everyone else wore tuxedos and suits, this man wore a white shirt, tucked into a black pants that were hugging his thighs. Rolled-up sleeves at his forearms revealed tattoos I didn’t have time to investigate, but I wanted to.
I wanted to walk toward him, to tell him that I’d waited long enough, but my pride and the stupidity of yesterday haunted me, stopping me from doing it.
His long legs ate the distance between us. Before I could turn away and leave him just as he left me so many times in the past, he stopped right in front of me, taking my hand in his.
“You know who I am, Echo. You’ve always known.”
I kept my eyes plastered on the black buttons on his shirt, avoiding his eyes. “I’m afraid that I have no idea what you are talking about.”
