The Beginning of Connie and Isaac: Blue Butterfly Series (The Blue Butterfly Book 3) (9 page)

June, 2005. Aged 14.

IT WAS THE
night before the initiation. Frederik, or Master nas I’d come to call him, had thrown a huge party. I’d thought it rather sick, but as the alcohol started to flow, easing my nerves and worries, I’d started to see it as a good idea. Definitely a good idea when Ice collapsed towards the end, his alcohol consumption so high he’d drunk himself, and his worries, into obliteration.

Fall Out Boy’s
The Phoenix
blasted through the speakers just as Bullet forced another beer into my hand. “Come on, Shadow.” She pulled me across to the space cleared for a dance floor, both of us thrusting our bottles into Panther’s hands as we weaved through the mass of other dancers into the centre.

“I’m gonna change you like a remix,” Bullet belted out of her drunken mouth as she pointed to me. “Then I’m gonna raise you like a penis!”

I laughed loudly, shaking my head at her adaptation of the lyrics. She grinned back at me as she placed her hands on my hips and turned me around so she could grind against me. “That’s better. Smile. Forget tomorrow for an hour and live. It could be your last party, sister.”

I closed my eyes to take in her words, but when I opened them, my body went stiff. Isaac was drinking in the middle of a few sentinels. My stomach clenched at how handsome he looked in tight black jeans and his customary boots. A simple grey t-shirt hugged his muscles. I frowned and peered closer, wondering what it was about him that looked different, until I realised his blond hair had been dyed black. However, it wasn’t him that grabbed my attention, it was the tall blonde, lithe girl, hanging on his every word that made something strange happen to my insides. She giggled at something he said, and he turned to look at her and smiled back. Just as I was about to close my eyes and cut them out, he leaned into her and kissed her.

Bullet, sensing my sudden change, rested her chin on my shoulder and looked to see what had captured me. She sighed before she spun me around to face her. Her eyes were narrow and probing. “Please don’t tell me you feel something for Isaac.”

I shook my head, but the blush that heated my cheeks outed my lie.

She closed her eyes for a second and dragged in a breath. “Bloody hell, Shadow. You can’t go there. For one, he’s our commandant, and for two, Isaac doesn’t do relationships. He fucks. That’s it.”

I lowered my eyes. I had been telling myself the very same thing for the last three weeks. Yet, I had caught him looking at me slyly, a distant look in his eye and a longing on his face. Once or twice, during the times we had trained alone, I knew he had come close to kissing me but he’d backed off, mumbling something about my age.

Bullet grabbed my arms, her grip fierce as she shook me. “Shadow. Isaac is a mean bastard. He is known for fucking you once then turning his back on you. You think that screwing him will give you a better chance in here?”

My mouth fell open at her accusation. “What? No!”

Mouse had come to join us and her eyes were wide when she figured out what we were talking about. Bullet glanced at her then a cruel smirk contorted her pretty face. “Mouse will tell you!”

I stared from Mouse to Bullet, trying to tell myself that she didn’t mean what she had insinuated. But when Mouse blushed and looked away, my jealousy over the blonde bitch with Isaac was nothing compared to how I felt towards Mouse.

Bullet made me look at her again, but this time the sadness that covered her face brought tears to my eyes. “Isaac will never love you, Shadow. I’m sorry I sound so cruel but you need to learn what he’s like. He’ll fuck you, most definitely, but he will never hold any feelings towards you. Ever.”

Her blunt words hit me hard. Taking another look towards Isaac I found him in the blonde’s embrace, his mouth moving hungrily on hers. He opened his eyes and caught me looking. His brow furrowed before he pulled away from her. She stared at him quizzically before she followed his line of sight. Her eyes narrowed on me before a cruel smile filtered across her face.

“Who’s that?” I asked Rogue when he meandered over to us.

He looked across and I didn’t miss the way his body stiffened when his eyes found the object of my question. “Fuck!” he hissed. “What the hell is she doing back?”

Panther huffed. “Finished her latest assignment in record time apparently.”

“Who is she?” I asked again, my mouth moving but my gaze fixed on Isaac while he stared me out.

“Becca.” Rogue grated out the name with a tone full of hatred. “She’s one of the assassins. She’s been in France on a contract.”

Mouse shook her head at me furiously, her hand sliding across her throat. It was a warning. And one I took heed of if my friends felt the need to alert me.

Rogue looked between Isaac and me, his eyes hard. Suddenly, he slid his arm around my shoulder and turned me around. As I looked at him to question what he was doing, he pushed his mouth to mine and started kissing me. I was so surprised, I couldn’t do anything other than stand there like a lemon and let him kiss me. A range of whoops and whistles rang out, but just as quick as he’d kissed me, he drew back. It was only when I saw Rogue’s shocked expression that I realised Isaac had pulled him back.

We all stared at Isaac as he glared at Rogue. My heart panicked but I remained silent. I knew Rogue was in trouble and I desperately wanted to ease the shifting rage between the pair.

“He was just wishing me good luck for tomorrow,” I said lamely.

Isaac moved his glare to me. “Really?” We stood rigidly, waiting for our leader to bark an order but when he did, the others frowned and I gawped. “Meet me in my quarters, Shadow.” When I stood still he growled angrily. “NOW!”

I nodded then scurried off, but not before I heard him spit at Rogue. “Have you touched her?”

My heart beat furiously as I stood in the middle of Isaac’s living quarters. I couldn’t understand what had just happened. My mind contemplated different scenarios as to why he’d pulled Rogue away but I couldn’t find an answer for any of them.

When his door flew open, I stepped back at the anger he radiated. He fixed his eyes on me then slowly stalked towards me. I knew I was in trouble but I couldn’t figure out why.

As he advanced I stepped back, moving away from his fury, but when my back hit a wall and I couldn’t move, I had no choice but to stare him out.

“How much have you had to drink?” he barked.

I shook my head in confusion. “Uh, about three bottles.”

He scrutinised me deeply, his gaze boring into my soul. “Are you sure? Are you drunk?”

“No!” I shook my head furiously. “No, I’m not drunk. It’s the initiation tomorrow. I’m not that stupid!”

“Aren’t you?” he whispered, his voice a mere breath. “You seem to be.”

“I don’t understand.” And I didn’t. I’d limited my supply of alcohol. I’d trained hard and religiously over the previous three weeks, sometimes falling in bed at three a.m. to be up again at six, so his anger with me was uncalled for.

I gasped when, with lightning speed, his hand grasped my chin and he yanked my face to his. “Has Rogue taken your virginity?”

My eyes were as wide as my mouth. “What? Of course not! Of course he hasn’t!”

He chewed on his bottom lip like a maniac, his teeth scraping the thin layer of skin from it. His chest heaved with his rage but there was something in his eyes that called to me; a need, a longing, a softness he only ever showed to me.

Before I could question his strange expression, his mouth descended on mine, the warmth of his broken lips scraping at my own. I gasped into his mouth but that seemed to only empower him. My back pressed against the wall as Isaac pressed against me, his tongue probing and seeking entry. I tried to stop him, my fists bunching the material of his shirt in my hands but I was powerless, and if I was honest, I was as much his puppet as he was my master.

He groaned when I let go of his shirt and lifted my hands to his neck, clasping them around him and pulling him to me. The heat from his kiss was intoxicating, his greed making my belly throb with a warmth I had never experienced before and his reverence making me kiss him back just as hard.

He pulled away and sighed, resting his forehead against mine. “You have no idea how much I want to be inside you, Shadow. To feel your heat on me.” He groaned to himself as he closed his eyes. “On your sixteenth birthday, your virginity is mine.”

I gawped at him, shocked but amazed by his declaration. Yet I knew what he said was the truth. I hadn’t been wrong about him, I had seen it in him. “It’s yours,” I whispered, making his eyes snap back open. But I swallowed. “That’s if I come back from those woods tomorrow.”

He was silent for a moment, pain pouring from him as he looked at me. Lifting his hand, he softly cupped my cheek. “You will. You have to. You’re mine, Shadow. And not even death will take you from me.”

I FACED THE
cluster of trees at the south entrance to Bleak Woods, the shadows they set on the ground around my feet a warning of how I was about to be eaten in their depths.

My team, West, were silent in the seconds before I ventured in. I could feel their despair and terror for me. Each one settled their hand on my shoulder, giving me a squeeze of comfort before they filtered away, leaving me with Isaac.

I heard his heavy swallow and turned to him, forcing a small smile. “I promise.”

He gave me a nod, his gaze locking me in his spell as he reached out and grabbed my hand. “You do what you must in there, Shadow. For the first couple of miles you’ll be safe… well, from Ice, anyway. He’s coming in from the north entrance so it’ll be a good way in before you meet him.” I nodded firmly. “Use whatever you can, and take what the woods give you naturally.”

I nodded again, desperately trying to moisten my dry mouth. “Is there a time limit?”

He shook his head. “No. You need to come back to the south exit though; that’s the only rule. Whoever exits from their respective entry point wins. If you leave from the north, you lose.”

“But I thought it was just the one out that wins.”

“Well, it is, but if you fail to leave through this point you’ll still lose. That’s all there is to it, really. Kill Ice then come back here.”

“So simple,” I whispered as I squeezed my eyes closed.

Isaac clenched my hand hard. “You can do this, Shadow. I know you can. I wouldn’t have insisted you were on my team if I didn’t think…”

“You requested me?”

“I did. So don’t let me down, pretty girl.”

His eyes softened on me for a moment. He turned to look over his shoulder, searching for the others, but when he found them further down near the bottom of the hill, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. “I’ll await your return. Stay safe and use your head, my love.” He turned abruptly and walked away, leaving my heart spinning with his endearment.

Blowing out a breath, I turned back to the woods. Looking down at the shadows around me, I smiled. The shadows were on my side, their worship of their namesake giving me their strength. “Let’s do this,” I whispered to them as I ventured in.