Wicked Game (25 page)

The spell had been broken. He was a monster. She was a maiden. In the fairy tales the monster always devoured the maiden.

He could
only
be a monster.

“
I have to return to the party,” she informed him stiffly, voice raw with emotion and threatening to crack with tears. It took all her resolve not to cry. She wouldn’t let him see how much he could hurt her.

Without another word she spun around, shoes clicking on the floor as she marched away, out of the corridor, out of the world he had shattered with his own vicious nature. Tears streamed down her cheeks but she wouldn’t let him see,
couldn’t
let him see how devastated she was…

The orchestra had taken another interval. One of the guests was playing the piano forte quirkily. There was boisterous laughter mingled with chatter and petty gossip, all these things making her feel detached from the people she loved, the people that didn’t have fangs and couldn’t snap her neck like a twig with their bare hands. She ached to be reunited with them, to find her father, to talk to her sisters, to dance with Edward and have normality and humanity, far away from Anton.

The ballroom held nothing for her. The masks confused her; frightened her and she did not think them fascinating any more. They were grotesque, ghastly, the maniacal grins of jesters, the hooked noses of witches, the snout of a ferocious wolf baring its yellow teeth. People hid behind disguises, they protected secrets that could destroy reputations and harboured desperate, dark longings like Anton did. She wanted to escape from the sea of liars and deceivers, to find peace and salvation and so she fled from the room, tears falling thick and fast.

The entrance hall was blissfully empty and the deserted staircase was like a sanctuary from the drama, from the death that craved her. She sat half way up, buried her face in her heads and wept, too incensed, too distraught, too terrified to stop. She wished she could find a way to renounce the truth, to forget the creatures that made the night
treacherous, that children feared in the darkness when parents kissed them goodnight and told them not to be afraid.

Well, they should be afraid. Very afraid. Everyone should be
afraid that abominations like Anton were allowed to exist.

“
Ruby.”

The voice was familiar and soothing. Ruby sniffed and looked up to see Edward take one of her wet hands into his own, stroking it with his thumb, gazing down at her with eyes that almost made her heart thaw. He removed his mask and sat beside her on the step. Ruby was so relieved to see his honest, handsome, human face that she
hiccuped, choking on her tears. Resting her head on his shoulder she continued to cry, not feeling at all ashamed of being so emotional in his presence.

Edward tensed in surprise, not rejection. He gradually relaxed and wrapped an arm around her. His warmth was welcoming after Anton’s bitter coldness.

“I don’t want to know any more,” she sobbed, inconsolable, “It’s all so wrong. Everything. The dead villagers. Anton. The graveyard, the ball, the masks…it’s all so terribly wrong.”

Gripping her shoulders Edward gently prised her away. She had been scared Edward wouldn’t care anymore, that he’d had enough of her silly behaviour and paranoia about Anton. She wiped her cheeks, tired of crying. It was all the seemed to do of late.

“What are you talking about Ruby?” he asked seriously, not a hint of blame in his voice, “What connection does Mr Black have to the deaths in the village?”

“
I…I…I,” Ruby gasped, breathless and light-headed, afraid she had made a most dreadful mistake.

It almost gushed out of her. The truth. The whole truth. From the graveyard and the corpse to the nightmares and vampire that had pledged itself to her, the very vampire lurking somewhere in her house, hunting for its next victim.

Edward stared at her, eyes wide and expectant. So he didn’t hate her. She couldn’t bear to think how that kind face would twist with revulsion and loathing when she confessed what she knew, what she had known all along about the murders, how it was her fault and hers alone. Without her blood Anton could never have killed those poor people.

That was when Ruby remembered that she couldn’t speak of it. Not now. Not ever. It was too much of a risk, and not one she was willing to take.

“I…I don’t know,” she lied sadly, bowing her head with regret, “It is just a feeling. I am being foolish.”

Edward caught her under the chin and lifted her head until her eyes met his. The green in them was so vivid it made her want to weep again, to take back the lie and admit the truth, whatever he might think of her subsequently.

“I don’t believe you could ever be foolish Ruby. You have every right to be distrustful of him. He is a very dubious character and has aroused my own suspicions.”

“
Oh Edward,” Ruby sighed.

Edward’s thumb glided across her cheek to wipe away residual tears. Ruby wasn’t entirely sure how it happened; she didn’t know who made the first bold move but a couple of seconds later their lips were locked in a sweet kiss. Shock flared in her and at the same time an immense sense of satisfaction. Unbeknown to the rest of her conscious mind, she had been concealing this longing for some time. The question was being answered, the need fulfilled. Edward’s lips were soft and smooth, fitting perfectly against her own, as if they had been designed for this purpose and this purpose alone. Their lips moved in rhythm, attuned, the kiss becoming deeper, Ruby dizzy in the delight of discovery. Her fears seemed so far away, exiled by the exhilaration of
such a kiss.

It stretched onwards, into forever, until a deadly voice interrupted and the world came crashing down around Ruby.

              “What in
God’s name
do you think you are doing?”

WATTY AWARD WINNER 2012

It was Ruby's idea for her and her sisters to go grave robbing and save their father from the wrath of his creditors. She knew it wouldn't be a pleasant experience to steal from a corpse but what happens when they unearth more than they bargained for? Ruby's blood unleashes a darkness, one that claims to love her, one that threatens to consume her, one she must fight with every heartbeat.

Coming in 2014