CHAPTERONE
“Pearls are for people who think they’re rich.” My mother grabbed the necklace in my right hand and, without a care, dropped the iridescent string of beauty onto my vanity, the clatter jarring in my quiet bedroom. She leaned across my back to pick up another necklace on my table and then promptly clasped the sparkling jeweled necklace around my throat. “Diamonds are for people whoarerich.”
“Mother…” Air slipped past my lips in a heavy sigh. I touched the twinkling jewels with careful fingers, staring at my reflection with disdain. “There is something to be said for restraint. We don’t need to brandish our status all the time.”
“We do at this party,” she stated, her full lips thinning. Her brown eyes narrowed, crinkling around the edges with aged attractiveness, and her delicate shoulders shuddered ever so slightly. “You know what we saw. A show of power and wealth may be all that keeps those…beasts…at bay.”
My nostrils flared as the memories bombarded my already shattered grasp on reality. Men stripping down to their nakedness. Whirlwinds of white. Then wild animals where men once stood amongst the green, green forest floor.
My lips trembled in horror. “I don’t understand why you can’t tell father what we witnessed on our trip. We could leave New City if you did. We could be safe.”
Her small left hand flittered in the air in a wiping motion, dismissing my objection with aggravation—once again. “Quit asking this of me, Mina. You need to keep what we saw to yourself. Your father is friends with the whole disturbing lot. He would have us evaluated if we said the most powerful businessmen of this world turned into unthinkable creatures. And I bet those psychologists, who would do the evaluating, are on the beasts’ payroll—or are monsters themselves.”
I swallowed on a dry throat, my gulp audible in the waiting silence. My fingers dug into the silk cushion I sat on as I gazed into the mirror and held my mother’s severe—and frightened—regard.
I eventually nodded and asked what I feared the most, my voice barely heard in the quiet, “Do you think Father is one ofthem?”
She instantly shook her head, her blonde hair not moving in her tightly elegant bun. “No. I’ve never once seen anything like…that. For all his faults, that isn’t one of them.” Her hands clasped my shoulders in affection, and she bent to kiss the top of my own blonde head.
I released the breath I had been holding, my chest heaving in relief. I gripped her right hand until my knuckles turned white. “I don’t want to go tonight. Tell Father I’m sick again, and you need to stay home with me.”
She placed another gentle kiss on the top of my head but shook her own with determination as she straightened and released my shoulders. “We can’t. We’ve missed the last four business parties. Your father will become suspicious if we miss another one. Tonight, we go and do what we do best. Smile and be the perfect family.”
Unbidden, my lips twitched in humor.
One perfect eyebrow rose on my mother’s face.
It was a challenge. Her will against mine.
A slow smile etched itself on my refined features. “You win.”
Her brown eyes moved heavenward in silent exasperation, but she quickly clapped her hands at me. “Stand up. Let me see you.”
“I look perfect, Mother,” I muttered.
I stood anyway, facing her, and allowed her to do her pre-party evaluation of my person. With my height at over six feet, my mother’s face was eye level with my cleavage. As her eyes scrutinized my long blonde hair, the carefully applied makeup around my blue eyes, the black gown hugging my curvy figure, my fingers still twitched as I worried if I had forgotten anything.
Finally, she nodded once with approval. “Flawless.”
My fingers relaxed down by my sides.
Knock. Knock-knock.
Our attention swiveled to my door.
“Are my beautiful ladies ready yet?” Father called from the hallway, his voice tight with accusation. “No one is sick tonight?”
My mother glanced at me, that brow rising again.
She was right. Like always.
Father was already doubtful of our previous actions.
“Unlock,” I stated clearly, plastering on a smile.
My door clicked and the latch released.
When my father entered, Mother and I appeared the perfect picture of serenity and class. His formidable, tall form filled the doorway, his right hand on the doorknob as he held the door open. Father’s tight expression slowly cleared to reassured pleasure as he scanned our attire. He grinned with delight, his cheeks pinching. “You two look stunning this evening.” A brief flare of concern entered his gaze, meeting my stare head on. “Are you sure you’re okay to go out?”
