Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (34 page)

Rachel was about to beg me to change my mind when
Crimson stopped her. “It’s okay, Rachel. Like Ruby said, some
other day. Maybe the three of us could go out for a girl’s night
sometime. We could drive around town and yell at all the hot
guys like we always used to do.”

What a mindless way to blow an evening—it sounded
perfect
. I couldn’t believe Crimson wanted to hang out with
me.
The rest of the band looked just as cool as she did.
Why
would she want to waste time with me when she could be
with them? Crimson excused herself for a restroom break so I
asked Rachel that very question.

“There’s some trouble in paradise, so to speak.”
Rachel nodded her head in the direction of the rest of the
band. “Do you see that girl over there?
The blond in the
corner with the green stripe in her hair?”

“What about her?”

That’s Ivy. She and Crimson have never seen eye to
eye on anything but things are getting worse. If they can’t
work out their creative differences one of them will have to
leave the band. And since Crimson is the driving force behind
NeverMore, Ivy is the most likely candidate. She’s trying to
turn the rest of the band against Crimson and things are
getting ugly.”

I studied Ivy from where I stood. She wasn’t as well
pierced as Crimson but she sure had her beat in the tattoo
competition. Her left arm was inked in an intricate pattern of
leaves and vines that started at the tips of her fingers and
trailed all the way up her arm. I didn’t know either girl very
well but I got a negative vibe from Ivy—the kind of feeling
you get when you know someone’s up to something but you
have no idea what.

“Hey, before we get to the masquerade dance I want
you to meet Drake Sterling. Whatever you do, though, don’t
mention Crimson. They used to date and it didn’t end very
well. It was a few years ago and I forgot about it or I wouldn’t
have invited both of them. But it’s too late now, I guess.”

I didn’t have to look around too hard to figure out
which one he was. He was standing at the far end of the room
near the spiral staircase leading down to the conservatory
and towering above everyone else in the room. He looked just
like Boone only bigger and hotter.

When he spotted Rachel, he lifted her off of the floor
like she was no heavier than a two year old. “There’s my little
sister!” He swung her around in a bear hug that would put
even a grizzly to shame.

“Drake! I’ve missed you! Without you here, there’s no
one around to help me keep Boone in line!”

“I have a feeling that he has his hands full with you
too!” Drake placed Rachel back on the ground and turned his
eyes toward me. “And you must be Ruby. Boone told me you
were hot but he didn’t do you justice. Love the hair by the
way,” he said pointing to that one stray lock of red hair that
managed to escape the confines of my wig. He gave me a less
boisterous hug and a pat on the back.

What? Wow. I didn’t believe a word he was saying
but it sure was nice to hear. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t
crushing on Drake in even the slightest way. It was just that
Zach used to compliment me daily and I sort of got used to it.
Since the breakup, I’d kinda been going through withdrawal.
Hearing compliments from this serious hottie was a much
needed boost to my self-esteem. But much needed or not, it
still made me blush.
When I gathered my bearings, I tucked
that lock of bright red hair back where it belonged.

“Hey, Rachel, do you think Crimson would want to talk
to me?
I feel really bad about everything that happened
between us.
But I still miss her, you know?
Do you think
there’s a chance she might want to make peace and be friends
or something?”

“No, I don’t—leave it alone Drake.” Rachel gave him a
look of warning. “It’s not a good idea.”

Drake didn’t take her not so subtle hint. “Maybe after
the party I’ll stop and say hi—maybe take her out for a burger
or something.”

Crimson reclaimed her spot at the microphone and
called for Rachel to come over.
Before she walked away,
Rachel shot Drake one last threatening glance. “I’m warning
you—it’s a bad idea.”

Rachel dragged me over to the microphone with her.
“Attention everyone, attention.” The room quieted slowly
until everyone was silent.

“The next dance will be the masquerade dance.” She
held up two bags for everyone to see. “In these bags are
masks.
Once you get your mask, you have to find the lucky
guy or girl whose mask matches yours—they will be your
partner for the next dance. Good luck and I hope everyone
has fun.”

Rachel handed me the bag from her right hand. “Walk
around the room and let every boy pick from your bag—I’ll
get the girls.”

Well at least if I was helping her out, I wouldn’t have
to actually participate in such foolish nonsense.
Knowing my
luck, I would get paired with the school loser. Oh wait, I
was
the school loser. Looks like I was dancing alone after all.

I made my way around the room until I gave out the
last mask, then I returned to the microphone where Rachel
was waiting for me. “Now when you find your match, stand
against the wall so that everyone knows you’re already taken.

The dance floor turned to sheer chaos as girls and
boys both searched for their matches. It was fun to watch the
reactions—the “Yay, I wanted to dance with you!” looks from
some and the “Oh, do I really have to dance with
you
?” looks
from others. I was enjoying myself for the first time tonight
so something was bound to burst my bubble.

“Here’s yours, Ruby—go get your man!” She handed
me a glittery silver mask framed with gray feathers.

“Wait, no…I don’t want to dance with anyone.” I tried
to hand it back to her but she wouldn’t take it. “It’s just one
dance, Ruby. What could happen?”

What could happen? Plenty. I was the queen of what
could happen. The princess of unexpected surprises. Maybe I
would get lucky and my partner would bolt for the restroom
when he saw we were a match.

I slipped the mask over my eyes and roamed the
dance floor like a total moron. Couple after couple slid to the
side leaving fewer possible choices until I was the only one
left standing alone.
I was right—whoever he was, he ran
when he saw it was me. How embarrassing was that? And at
my own party, too?

Maybe no one would notice. Maybe I could slink back
to the makeshift stage and hang out with the band instead.
Excellent idea. It felt like everyone was staring straight at me
as I turned to run away. When I saw who was behind me, I
knew why they were staring.

He was the most beautiful Norse god I’d ever laid eyes
on.
No, really he
was
a Norse god—actually a Viking to be
more precise. There behind me stood Zach Mason dressed in
a costume that matched mine perfectly and wearing the same
silver mask I was.

Fate was cruel.
What was he
doing
here anyway?
Where was Chloe? Dancing with him was out of the question.
He hated me and he was dating someone else. I loved him but
I was a danger to him. I mumbled something even I couldn’t
quite make out and started to walk away.

But before I could escape, he caught my hand in his
and I felt that same jolt of energy pulse between us that I felt
on the day I met him, the day I truly fell in love with him. I
should have just broken his grasp and hurried away.
But I
didn’t. Instead, I turned to look at him. Mesmerized by how
blue his eyes looked behind that frame of silver, I stood
motionless as the music began to play.

29. The Man Behind the Mask
Ruby is going to be so mad at me. I’ll be lucky if I’m
not in a full body cast by the end of the night.

I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling while I
ran through the plan in my head. Rachel was a genius and an
evil one at that, but I was more nervous now than the day I
first met Ruby. At least when she ran away from me way back
then, I was able to walk away without ever really knowing
what I was missing. Now, that was impossible. I loved her so
much I thought I might go crazy if I had to live the rest of my
life without her.
Hell, I was probably already insane if I
thought this plan would work.

Ruby was the only thing I could think about. Well, one
of two things—the other thing being how damn itchy my arm
was in that stupid cast.
Only two more weeks to go with that
thing but I wanted to get out the hack saw and chop it right
off. At least I was out of the neck brace finally. There was no
way in hell I would have tried to win her back when I looked
like freaking Frankenstein.

There was so much I needed to say to Ruby, so many
things I needed to explain or apologize for. Why couldn’t I
have just said the words a long time ago? It would have saved
us both a lot of drama.
Of course, we probably still would
have broken up because it was what she felt she needed to do.
And honestly, I kind of needed it, too.
But once she realized
that I knew her secret, maybe she would turn to me for help
instead of pushing me away.

The party didn’t start until six but I would have to be
at the mansion by five if I was going to sneak in without her
seeing me. I don’t know how she did it, but Rachel even got
Shelly and Dr. Matthews to help with this plan. I owed them
some
major
apologies,
too.
My
actions
hurt
Ruby—
unintentionally,
of
course—and
I
needed
to
take
responsibility for that. I was only seventeen but it was time to
stand up and be a man.

I took a look at the Halloween costume hanging on my
closet door. It wasn’t exactly what I would have picked out
for myself but I decided to trust Rachel’s judgment on this
one. She made me try on a thousand different costumes that
day. I wanted to go with the Little Red Riding Hood/Big Bad
Wolf theme. There was something about the thought of Ruby
in that Little Red costume that got me hot in the worst way.
But I guess Rachel was right. If I really wanted Ruby back, I
was going have to go for charming and romantic not furry and
beastly.

How did I mess things up so badly? I had a beautiful,
funny, intelligent girlfriend who thought I was amazing and I
went and screwed it up by not telling her how I really felt.
She knew I loved her—I told her every day that I did—but
what she didn’t know was how much I wanted her. Wanted
all
of her.
It was easy to talk about sex with her over the
summer when I knew it wasn’t really an option. But once we
were free to do anything—and everything—we wanted, I got
scared. Really scared.
Our relationship got so intense so fast
and I just couldn’t handle it.
I was so confused. It was like I
was afraid to lose her but afraid to
have
her, too.

There were so many ways that it could go wrong.
What if I wasn’t any good at? What if my…um…equipment
wasn’t satisfactory? I’d seen a lot in the locker room in my
time and I thought I was more than sufficient, but what did
I
know? Sure, I watched some porn at Boone’s house when we
were younger and his parents weren’t home, but I was pretty
sure they weren’t good examples for how it was supposed to
be. If I really thought all it would take was going to her house
and pretending to be there to fix the cable or something, life
would be much easier. No, things had to be perfect for her—
she deserved nothing less.

There were bigger issues to think about, too. What if I
hurt her? Or worse yet, got her pregnant? If I knocked her up
it would ruin her life. That was the last thing I ever wanted to
do. Of course, if it did happen I would stand beside her 100%
regardless of the consequences. I wasn’t crazy about the idea
of abortion but I’d never even held a baby before. I would
make a rotten father. God, was I over thinking everything?
Maybe, but she would be counting on me to have all of the
bases covered and I couldn’t let her down.

I
even
bought a box
of condoms
so I
would
be
prepared.
They were still under the mattress where I hid
them that day. All except one which I used for practice, shall
we say, so I wouldn’t look like a complete idiot when the time
came to use them for real and I couldn’t even put one on. I
knew they were well hidden but I still got nervous every time
Mom came into my room for something. They were like the
Tell-Tale Heart beating under the floorboards or something.

My number one concern, though, was for my own
heart. It wasn’t beating inside my chest anymore. I tied it up
with a red ribbon and placed it in her hands months ago.
What would happen if we had sex and she decided to dump
me for some reason? I could barely breathe without her now,
how much worse would I feel if we broke up after we got
closer? Once we went all the way, I would be hopelessly in
love with her forever—I knew
that
for a fact. Misty broke my
heart but Ruby had the power to literally destroy it.

In a fit of frustration, I beat my un-casted fist against
the bed. Why did things have to be so complicated? I loved
her and she loved me—shouldn’t that be enough? Shouldn’t
our lives be perfect as long as we had each other? After what
we went through together over the summer, I thought all of
the tough times
were behind us.
All I needed was
an
opportunity to talk to her—alone and uninterrupted. Once I
laid it all out in the open, I was sure she would take me back.
But if she didn’t, I had no idea of what to do next.