Page 27 of Ella's Masquerade
Tray said nothing.
Or maybe I just couldn’t hear him over my own screams.
I wasn’t crying for help but ranting at the heavens for their cruelty.
Eight. Fucking. Months.
I had to survive eight more fucking months. And I wasn’t sure I could without killing someone.
“I can help with that.” The soft words came from Tray, and I glared at him over my shoulder.
“Help with what?” I demanded.
“Killing them all. If that’s what you want.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, right. Why are you even here?” I tried to squirm out of his hold with little success.
“You’re not running away from me again, Isabella.”
I rolled my eyes and huffed a humorless laugh. “Right.” I attempted again to shove away from him, and he spun me in his arms. Smoldering black orbs flickered with embers as he glowered down at me, the abnormal effect stealing the breath from my lungs.
Because that definitely wasn’t normal.
Eyes didn’t…flame.
But a fire danced in his irises now, lighting up his features and lending an unearthly appeal to his handsome face.
And is that smoke billowing around him?
I blinked, trying to dismiss the black tendrils rolling off his suit. Only, they intensified the longer I stared.
“I wanted to do this another way, to ease you into your birthright, but tonight proved that’s not going to happen. Any and all foundations of trust have been long bullied out of you. So we’ll go about this the hard way.” He relaxed his hold, but not enough for me to escape. Not that I could. No, after that proclamation, my feet refused to budge.
I ignored the bully crap and focused on the part that cemented me to the ground before him. “What are you talking about? What birthright?”
“The one bestowed upon you by your mother’s bloodline,” he replied, releasing me as a limo came to a stop beside us. “Get in and I’ll explain.”
My eyebrows inched upward. “Yeah, hard pass. You’ll explain here. Right now.”
Annoyance flickered in his features. “I’m really starting to regret my approach to this entire situation. If you knew who I was from the beginning, you wouldn’t dare question an order.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m pretty sure I’d be questioning you regardless.” I folded my arms. “Start talking.”
He opened the door and faced me, his eyes swirling a hypnotic shade of black and orange. “Step forward, Isabella,” he murmured, the words seeming to wrap around me and tug at my spirit to comply.
How… strange…
I yelped as my feet moved, my mind rebelling even as my body followed his command.
“Good girl,” he said softly. “Now settle yourself in the car and don’t scream. I already have a headache.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but the world fell into a haze around me.
Is this a dream?I wondered, pinching my side.Did Charlie or Dash knock me out?
Because this couldn’t be happening.
There was no way I’d just get into the limo without putting up a fight. Yet Ifeltthe leather seat beneath me, sensed Tray’s warmth as he slid in beside me, and heard the door slam.
