She shivers in happy anticipation and quickly puts on the dress as I chuckle to myself.
Then I spot the phone I left in here. I can’t think of the last time I’ve checked it. It’s very unlike me, but then again, you don’t get married every day.
So, I feel a sudden jolt of anxiety when I lift my eyes down to the screen and notice dozens of missed calls.
Most of them are from Logan. He’s one of the few people who knows what I’m doing, along with Everest, Lucy and Vincent. I beat Vincent up until I was absolutely sure he wasn’t to blame. None of them have the same information. Vincent has the location of the house, Lucy arranged this ceremony at her childhood home. My driver of course brought us here, but he didn’t have the details beforehand, and besides, I don’t allow him a phone, only a beeper that permits me to call him but prevents his communication with anyone else. Everest and Logan, of course, know everything, but that’s different. They’re Devils.
And I’m not worried about Lucy or the driver, who have both been a constant in my life for years.
We know there are two rats, and one of them has been dealt with. The other rat, whoever it is, can’t possibly know a thing.
There shouldn’t be any reason for Logan to be freaking out right now. And yet he is.
I leave Seraphina to finish getting dressed in the bedroom, and go back to the living room. As dread slowly creeps in, I call Logan back.
He answers almost immediately. “What the fuck, Damien? Where’ve you been?”
“Getting married,” I spit out. “What’s going on?”
“You need to get the hell out of there, man. Noel is coming.”
“What?”
“I said,” snaps Logan, as if I was too stupid or too deaf to understand the first time, “get out. Noel is on his way. He has a gun, and he’s planning to kill Seraphina.”
18
Seraphina
Ismooth my new white dress down over me, all the strange emotions I’ve been struggling with giving way to a giddy sort of happiness. Somehow, between his hands, and his tongue, and his fingers, stroking my back… I’ve fallen so fully into his trap that I’m starting to wonder if it reallyisa trap, after all.
I find myself believing it isn’t.
If it is, though, it’s a beautiful one.
I leave the bedroom, a wide smile plastered on my face, but freeze when I see Damien’s expression. His face is livid, his eyes flash dangerously. My happiness crumples. Has he already realized his mistake? Has the inevitable moment when he’ll cast me aside already arrived?
Without a word, he grabs my arm and pulls me outside the house to the car. The driver’s waiting there, as usual. I don’t even know his name—he’s always been a shadowy presence, on the other side of the tinted glass.
Damien practically throws me into the back of the car. I expect him to follow me in, but instead, he walks around to the other side, opens the driver’s door, and whips out a gun. A scream of surprise escapes my lips as he pulls on the trigger without so much as a word. The driver crumples, and he slides the man out of his seat, leaving him bleeding out on the driveway. I’m shaking when he returns to me, opens the door again and drags me out.
“Why… what…” I breathe.
In horror, I take in his bloodied shirt and his fierce expression.I just have time to catch a glance of the driver’s corpse, his eyes unseeing but a look of surprise etched into the lines of his face, before Damien pushes me into the passenger seat, buckling my seatbelt around me. Then he takes the driver’s place and pushes down on the gas pedal so hard that I’m whipped back against the seat.
I wait for him to slow down, but he only goes faster, weaving in and out of traffic at a terrifying pace. I clutch the sides of my seat, willing my panic to ebb enough to allow me to speak.
“Was he the rat?” I manage at last, my voice coming out in an unsteady spurt.
“Don’t know.”
He continues to drive at a maddening pace, and I find myself shutting my eyes, certain that we’ll crash.
“You… don’t know?” I squeak. “Then why did you kill him?”
“What I do does not concern you,” he growls. “Stop prying or so help me, I’ll whip your ass right here, on the side of the road.”
It’s been a while since he’s spoken so harshly. A lump rises in my throat, and I try desperately to swallow it.
