Read Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5) Online

Authors: Jennifer Martucci,Christopher Martucci

Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5) (4 page)

BOOK: Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5)
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A scattering of brilliant color exploded in her field of vision.
  Jumbled at first, the disjointed shapes quickly pulled together, as if drawn by a magnetic field, and formed an image.  And the image was horrific. 

Bodies, more than
she could count, filled a room.  Ashen skin, grim and gray and mottled with bruises, bore evidence of struggle.  Faces were frozen in eternal torture, mouths agape, screaming silently. 

“No, no,” Arianna heard her voice echo as if it came from a remote place, not her own body. 

The walls began to bulge and swell, rolling upward and outward as if made of cloth not sheetrock as reality assumed a nightmarish quality.  And Arianna felt as if she were being pulled by a force larger than herself toward the place where the bodies, battered and drained of their essence, waited lifelessly. 

A shrill scream, her scream, pierced the air around her and did not retain the muffled, distant quality of her voice seconds ago. 
Her eyes snapped open and she turned the water off. 

“Arianna!”
Desmond was at the door again.

“Arianna!” he called to her
a second time when she did not answer.  “Are you hurt?”

“No
, I-I’m okay,” she said, though she was anything but. 

“You felt it,” he said and she could hear the soft thump of his forehead tapping the door as he rested it there
and heaved a sigh. 

“Yes,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.  “I felt it, and I saw it.”

She dried her body then wrapped herself in a towel.  She opened the door and found Desmond, his brow furrowed and his lips pressed together tightly.

“I saw it,” she repeated.  “We need to get the others and leave now.  There’s no time to waste.  We have to go now.”

Desmond nodded somberly before tearing out of the small cabin they shared, out into the clearing to assemble the group of almost two dozen who traveled with her.  They would go to the place she saw in her vision. She hoped to find Darius there. 

The countdown to their conflict had begun. 

 

Chapter 3

 

Shaking his head and muttering to himself, Dane shuffled away from Arianna’s doorstep.

“Dumbass!” he chastised himself.  “Stood there like a moron!”  He blew out a loud breath.  “Really, you came all the way over here for nothing?” he mocked Desmond’s deep voice.  “What was I supposed to say,
Desmond
?  Oh uh, I’m in love with your girlfriend.  Yeah, hope you don’t mind or anything.  Just dropped by to tell her I can’t stop thinking about her and dream about taking her away from you.  Yeah, that would have gone over well, ya big dumb douche!” he continued to quietly rant to no one.  “Well as usual, that went well.  Great job, Dane!  She’ll really want you now.”

Dane couldn’t believe how foolishly he’d behaved.  From the idiotic speech pattern he used when he was nervous around her to the stupid hip pumping gesture he’d made when he’d lied and said he was teleporting to see someo
ne, the entire scene was cringe-worthy.  His cheeks still burned with shame as he crossed the clearing and passed the row of cabins, the blustering self-talk over for the time being. 

The conversation he’d had with Arianna replayed in his mind, more than one inane point jumping out at him.  A honey waiting for him in town!  Seriously?  And the ridiculous excuse he’d concocted for being there: Arianna’s instant coffee.  That was just the tip of the embarrassing iceberg.  To say he’d made a fool of himself would be putting it lightly. 

Shoving a hand through his hair, he huffed.  The things he’d said, and the way he’d behaved.  He groaned.  Words couldn’t be taken back.  Actions couldn’t be erased from the minds of the people who’d witnessed them.  They were always there, always a reminder in the backs of their brains.  In his case, Arianna and Desmond were the ones who’d have an image of him, a laughable one, stamped in their heads permanently. 

Arianna.  Her name, her face, all of her, haunted his days and nights.  He pictured her as she’d been a couple of nights ago.  He’d watched her as she’d listened intently to Briathos.  They’d been on the outskirts of the clearing, the sun dipping low in the sky.  His gaze had been fixed on her.  He’d stared at her with intensity capable of devouring her whole
, yet he knew it was so much more than that.  His eyes on her had been a soft caress filled with hunger, the kind that promised not just raw lust, but profound love as well.  From a distance, always from a distance, he’d listened half-assed while some boring newbie prattled on about his family back home somewhere down South.  He’d tried to tune in from time to time but his focus had been drawn to her like a moth to a flame, desperate for the light and heat but knowing fully it would be his undoing.  A hot shiver had traveled the length of his spine and filled him with liquid heat when he’d seen a small frown curve her full lips, and the trainee’s words had become a jumbled medley of muffled sounds, his attention had locked on her.  She’d tipped her face up and glanced his way, and the frown she’d worn had morphed to a smile.  Feeling the press of her eyes, his heart had sped.  She’d waved then returned her attention to Briathos.  He’d tried to return his attention to Carl or Chris—something with a “C” he was sure—but it had been useless.  He’d been snared, captured and bewitched by a single smile.  Cal or Cam—whatever his name was—had taken the hint and stopped talking, and Dane had just stood there and watched like a weirdo, completely incapable of leaving even if he’d wanted to. 

That night had been like so many others since he’d met her.  He’d grown accustomed to being outside her world looking in on her.  He’d started to feel like a peeping tom.  Going to her cabin, he’d had every intention of telling her once and for all how he felt.  But when she’d opened the door, and smiled her smile, his world had turned upside down.  He’d transformed into a tongue-tied buffoon as soon as he’d seen her, wearing a T-shirt that clung to her fit body and jeans that hugged her curves.  Arianna was stunning just dressed down and lounging around.  Of course, she didn’t know it.  Other girls, far less attractive than she, strutted around as if they were goddesses.  But she didn’t.  Moments ago, with her sable hair pulled up in a loose bun with wayward strands trailing down her nape, she’d been sexiness personified.  And perhaps it was the fact that she was so unaware of her appearance, the effect she had on him—and every other guy who had eyes—that made her all the more attractive.  He didn’t know.  All he knew was that before she’d uttered a single word, when she’d stood, framed by the doorway and had grazed the side of her neck with her finger, brushing an errant lock that had slipped from her topknot, all he could think about was how he envied her fingers, how he wished it were his lips nuzzling her throat.  He’d fantasized that goose bumps would trail a fiery path across her flesh as he lowered his mouth to her clavicle, that her pants of warm breath spiked with mint would tickle his nose as he enticed her.  And any coherent thoughts he’d had left him. 

So many nights he’d dreamed of her, of pressing his mouth to hers.  He imagined that the moment their lips touched, the air would grow charged with powerful energy that rippled and buzzed along his skin, that the feeling would be mutual.  Dane had loved Arianna from afar for too long.   

Her name had trembled on
his tongue when he’d fumbled and said, “Oh hey Arianna.”

Smooth.  Really smooth
, he thought. 
Couldn’t come up with something better, could you
? he continued to silently berate himself. 

She’d stood far enough away that they
hadn’t been touching, but close enough that the air between them had tingled.  He’d been desperate for her to stay near, to not turn from him, or worse, rush off to Desmond.  Her delicious, soapy scent had filled his lungs with want.  She’d looked up at him, almost shyly, as she’d invited him in, and his heart had bumped his ribcage for several beats.  Something about her had made him forget to breathe, forget his name.  His stomach had curled in on itself.  Watching her smile at him, hearing her voice, had filled his chest with joy that threatened to burst.  He’d been working up the courage for weeks, unable to withhold his feelings, and had planned to free himself of the burden of secrecy.  That is, until he’d heard Desmond’s voice.  The sound had been about as welcome as a bout of diarrhea.  And all too soon, that sense of overflowing joy he’d been feeling was replaced by squeezing pain.  Desmond.  Always Desmond.  He was the source of Dane’s angst.  He stood between any chances of Arianna spending time with him. 

Kicking a tuft of weeding growth as he strode along the path toward the main house, Dane cursed under his breath.  Restlessness crowded his soul, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to watch Desmond cling to Arianna.  The vastness of the compound and surrounding forest felt too small for all of them.  Desmond and his golden-boy, Mr. Wonderful, larger-than-life personality had a way of choking the air out of a room, and apparently a compound too.  He was too much, the way he stifled Arianna, the way he stifled everyone with his presence.  Dane wondered what she saw in Desmond.  Arianna needed someone with a sense of humor, someone younger and edgier.  She should be with him. 

Stopping, Dane balled his hands so tightly his nearly nonexistent fingernails bit into his palms.  “Shit,” he hissed between his teeth as he spun and doubled back.  To maintain the lie he’d told about having a “honey” waiting for him in town, he needed to return to his cabin and get dressed as if he were going on a date.  So dumb!  But he’d told the lie, and now he was committed to seeing it through to its shameful, agonizing end. 

As he scaled the steps to his cabin, the thought of going back to Arianna’s cabin crossed his mind.  He could go back, ask her to take a walk wi
th him and tell her how he felt about her.  Let Desmond stay behind and stew and wonder what they were talking about.  Desmond hadn’t been there when she’d been hurting.  He had.  True, Desmond had been imprisoned by Darius who’d assumed his likeness and tricked Arianna into believing he’d been unfaithful, but Dane had still comforted her.  That fact remained.  And they’d grown close during that period of time.  He’d always had feelings for her, but his love had grown tremendously while Desmond had been gone. 

Tempted to go to her and act on the impulse luring him back to her cabin, Dane released the doorknob and took a tentative step away from his small front porch.  But he froze when another, terrifying thought occurred to him.  What if she shot him down?  What if she rejected him outright, or laughed at him? 

All this time, he’d operated on the assumption that she harbored some type of tender spot for him, that she reciprocated his feelings for her, even if it were to a lesser extent.  What if she didn’t?  He’d be forced to see her every day, her face a constant reminder of his one-sided affection for her.  Their friendship would be ruined.  He would lose her forever. 

Turning back to his front door, he pulled his keys from his pocket and jabbed one in the lock. 

“What the hell was I thinking?” he mumbled as he walked inside.  “I can’t tell her
ever
.”

The realization lanced his heart like a sharpened blade.  He clutched the spot on his chest just over his heart, the pain beneath his fingertips penetrating and real.  His love for her would be a secret he’d never be able to share.  It would remain his forever.  Arianna was with Desmond.  That was that.  He needed to put her—or more specifically a relationship with her—out of his mind.  It seemed an impossible task.  All he’d done was think of her nonstop since Beth had brought her home.  Arianna had branded herself on his heart.  She radiated an alluring mix of power and humility, of toughness and sensuality.  She’d also radiated profound sadness that gave him a burning ache to hold her and protect her, to comfort her; which had been exactly what he’d done when Desmond had been out of the picture. 

Pacing, Dane felt the tension inside him grow so taut he felt like a bowstring ready to snap.  Arianna was his addiction.  Looking at her was like biting into pure decadence.  Being around her infused him with hope.  It was no wonder he’d found himself quickly falling into something for which he’d had no name.  Love, the strange emotion that made him restless, crazy and consumed by thoughts of her, had been just an overused word; nothing more.  What he felt for her was so much more.  He doubted he had the strength to give her up.  He knew he had to try, but the notion was as depressing as swearing off laughing for the rest of his life. 

An impotent rage filled his gut.  For so long, he’d existed, not lived, going through each day as
if it were a chore.  Sure, he hadn’t been as keenly aware of how bad it had been then as he was now, but since meeting Arianna he realized all that had been missing.  He didn’t want to surrender that feeling yet.  He didn’t want to extinguish the small flame of hope he carried.  No matter how slim his chance was of being with her, he clung to it regardless. She anchored him to a life worth living. 

Pounding his fists against his thighs, he spun and faced the front of his cabin.  Beyond the window, he noticed a flurry of activity.  Trainees, some clumped in groups while others paired and made their way around, littered the clearing.

“What the hell?” Dane said, his mind temporarily relieved of thoughts of Arianna and potentially unrequited love. 

He rushed to the front door and out onto his porch.  He spotted the guy—Cabe, Cai, whoever he was—that he’d been talking to a few days earlier. 

BOOK: Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5)
9.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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