My friends. I quickly weave through the crowd and make my way back to our private section. Jared, Aurora, Miguel and Morgan are still there, totally oblivious to my alarmed expression. James. I have to find him. I make my way back out to the main bar area. I don’t see him anywhere and the giddy women he was sitting with are all still seated in their booth. Shit. James is gone.
Fear snarls in my belly, blood pounding in my ears as my eyes dart around frantically. This isn’t supposed to happen. My friends are supposed to be safe! And here I am, half-drunk and unable to even defend them or myself! An involuntary whimper at my pathetic vulnerability escapes my lips, followed by a choking sob.
“Gabs?” I spin around to face a familiar pair of green eyes. Thank God!
“Holy crap, James, where were you?” I crush my body against his, genuinely happy to see him.
“The bathroom. What’s wrong?” James embraces me hesitantly, puzzled by my sudden anxiety.
“Nothing. Just got scared when I didn’t see you,” I mumble with a shaky voice.
“Come on, I think you’ve had one too many martinis,” he chuckles.
I let James lead me back to our friends. Miguel and Morgan are dancing to a slow song and Aurora and Jared are making out on the couch, her body draped over his lap. I’m too shaken to care and turn my body away to ignore them.
“How about we head back to the house and jump in that hot tub!” James shouts over the slow, sensual music. He gives me a little wink, indicating that is motive is to get me home to sober up. At this point, I feel completely coherent but I play along.
After we’ve closed out our tab, we grab a taxi and make our way back to our vacation home. My friends are still rowdy and restless with intoxicated energy and we all disperse to put on our bathing suits. I’m more thoughtful and cautious than anything else but reluctantly change out of my dress into my swimsuit. I’d rather stay indoors than venture out next to naked in the frigid air but I don’t dare let my friends go out there alone. Who knows what could have followed us home.
“Come on, girls! We’re waiting!” Jared catcalls from the hot tub. He, James and Miguel are already there with a bottle of tequila and shot glasses.
Morgan sashays out first, flaunting her fuchsia sequined bandeau bikini as if she is a runway model, despite the freezing temperatures. The guys erupt into playful hoots and hollers. I follow, a towel wrapped around my black monokini, ignoring the requests to reveal what’s underneath. Aurora is last, of course, strutting with catlike grace in a bejeweled teal string bikini that leaves little to the imagination. The guys nearly burst with hormone-charged glee. I don’t resist the urge to roll my eyes, and grab a shot and down it before anyone else. The conversation is casual, consisting mostly of Aurora telling us about her travels around the world. A few more shots later, she straddles Jared and I take that as my cue to go to bed. James, Miguel, and Morgan soon follow.
After a hot shower, sleep comes surprisingly easy. Again, my dreams are vivid yet distorted. Just flashes of different scenes, like frames from a camera. A picture of all of my friends together, laughing, happy, united. Then in the next flash of light, they all begin to fade away, each one by one. Darkness swallows the frame, and there’s…nothing. The dream shifts again, manifesting into a horrid nightmare. My friends, shown sprawled out in different locations, their necks ripped wide open, blood sprayed on every surface. Their eyes are open, cold and vacant. They were living witnesses to their own deaths. But there’s something else. Their eyes are now blue. Bright, glowing, icy blue.
I jerk awake in the dark room, my eyes wide and searching for some sign of familiarity. It’s suddenly become very cold and I shiver violently. I sense movement at my bedside and reflexively turn to look. Someone is here. A shadowy figure stands but a few feet away from me. I can hear my heart beating like a drum in my ears, and I can’t will myself to breathe. My chest aches, gripped by the unleashed scream caught in my throat. I am frozen with immense fear.
This is it. He’s found me. The Dark One is here with me, alone in this room.
Chapter Twenty Seven
My trembling hand mindlessly reaches to flick on the bedside lamp. If this is my demise, I want to look at death in the face. I want to stare into the eyes of this Dark Warlock as he massacres me. Light floods the room with bright intensity, revealing that no one is there. I am alone. But I know I saw someone. Someone was definitely here hidden in the shadows. I sit up and rub my eyes, scanning the room for any sign of movement or disruption. Just seconds ago I was dreading death, and now I am searching for it.