Avery

I sat as immobile as possible as I waited for my messenger/slave to return—pacing seemed like a better option but it wasn't unattractive for me to show my emotions; Avery Lazar was all about keeping her emotions in check, which was exactly what I was doing like always . . . keeping my emotions in check. There were so few people that could go beyond my steel walls that I built in order to keep myself apart from the world. it wasn't rare for a person just graze above the surface of my walls, but it was rare if they could make my steel walls falter. There was only one person that had gone all the way. And that person was . . . Adrian Ivashkov.

He was everything the perfect man should be defined as. Adrian was gorgeous, courteous to all, charming, everything that the perfect man should be. He and I had once met at one of annual royal banquets. He had been kind to me when I felt like the world had turned down on me. I chased after him for quite a while. When he finally showed some interest in me, I did not hesitate in making my move on him. Our relationship was going well until he came here, to the very place where I was at in this very moment . . .

Everything changed.

My best friend kept tabs on Adrian while I stayed at home, trying to be the perfect daughter for my father who was trying to be the perfect father. Adrian and I stayed in touch, but nothing was ever the same. My friend said that Adrian had eyes for a new girl. Rose Hathaway. She ruined everything Adrian and I built, our plans and our dreams. Well, my dreams. The dreams I had for Adrian and me were never voiced aloud because I was afraid of what he would think.

And then that same girl goes off and breaks Adrian heart, claiming that she never wanted to see him again because her love for him had faded. Adrian was devastated, maybe that was understated, but there was no better word to describe how Adrian was left. I reached out for him again; it seemed like the old flame sparked again . . . for me. Adrian seemed lost. He was not looking for love or any kind of relationship, for that matter. A few years later, he went back to Rose's life again.

And this time . . . it was me who was lost.

I went crazy, literally. I was not well in the mind. I killed two of my most important allies: My guardian Oscar and my brother Reed. When they asked me why I had done, I told them out of my own pleasures. Officers had declared me a psycho and had sentenced me for years in a mental institution. As they locked me, I argued: I was not a psycho . . . I was just mad . . .

The cold rain drops that fell on my face from the gray sky brought me back from my memories. The sky's dark color matched my persona; we were both connected to the dark. My smile vanished when I noticed Mr. Taylor, Henry, came back empty handed. He was supposed to have come with the girl! Adrian and Rose's daughter. That Maya girl. I could just try and go after Rose and kill her so that I could finally get my happy ending with Adrian, but it seemed more prudent, more satisfying if I tampered with their daughter first. Nothing hurt more than seeing a son/daughter suffering, which was exactly what Adrian and Rose were going to feel when they realized that their daughter was dead.

"Well?" I asked impatiently, crossing my legs for the millionth time.

Mr. Taylor seemed afraid to answer. He already knew what was coming for him if he did not have good news for me.

"He knows you too well." He simply said as if it were an explanation of some sort.

The clouds were starting to clear and it would be bad if I stood up and the sun beams hit me; it would be like poison in my veins or venom in my system. Ever since I had developed my "Black Spirit Powers" when I had killed my brother and guardian, letting their powers fill me, I could not have anything to do with the sun without dying. I belonged to the dark and the sun belonged to the light. We would never mix anymore.

"Explain yourself, Henry." I commanded, staring deeply into his eyes. I could not use compulsion on him because I had taught him how to refuse compulsion.

"Tony Lewis was in charge of keeping track of you. He knows how you work, your every move, and he knew that eventually you would come after Maya."

I knew what Henry was trying to tell me: He took her away. I wanted to fume and go crazy. I looked up at the sky, the clouds clearing even more. If the sun came out anymore, I was dead. It would be a little more trouble to deal with Tony but he would be taken care of. He was just a mere distraction in my plans. Oh, well. He took Maya away, but he was also giving me more time to plan Maya's torture and death.

I eyed Henry as I began to retreat back to the darker part of the forest. "You are lucky that the sun is coming out or else you would have been dead."

I continued walking, ideas of torture rummaging through my head.

You should have stayed with me in the first place, Adrian . . .

Maya

My dad didn't really care about Tony and me, but my mom did so that's why I found myself sitting next to Kyle on the plane or else I would have been sitting next to Tony. As it was, I did glance occasionally at Tony, but he was too busy in his own worries to notice me. I looked back at Kyle and tried smiling for his sake. It was hard to forget that he was going to die. And it was even harder to just accept the fact.

"How are you?" I asked, holding his hand close to me.

"The same." He said, simply, shrugging. He changed the subject quickly. "I told Malese about it. She toke it hard."

"Poor Malese . . ."

We continued to talk about nothing really when I started to doze off. I dreamt about a possibility. Maybe one day Tony and I could live that possibility.

Those blue eyes suddenly got closer. I could see nothing but love, and concern in them. His lips suddenly molded with mine. I stiffened, but soon returned the kiss. It was sweet and loving. I pulled away and looked into Tony's eyes. I realized something. I loved Tony.

"Get off me!"

"No can do, my dear; you're my prisoner for the night."

Tony and I were lying on the bed resting, after a vigorous round on the bed. We were looking at the ceiling where one of my boots somehow had gotten stuck on the fan and most of my clothes were lying, scattered on the floor.

We looked away from the ceiling when we heard a branch scratching against my window.

I sighed irritably and ignored it, while Tony chuckled.

I grinned at the sound of his laughter and said to him, "It's probably Kayla's lover trying to sneak out of the house while the other lover tries to get in the house."

Tony choked on unneeded air and said "How many guys does she have?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it were a million. She is always claiming that a woman needs to be satisfied."

His mouth was still gaping, but then it closed as he said to her, "How can she take so many rounds? I'm tired after just one round."

My eyes bulged as I burst out laughing."Am I too hard for you to handle?"

He kissed my forehead, and then grinned at what I said next."If you say yes, I'd become a criminal just to get your kiss."

Tony replied, his voice shaking slightly with laughter. But things heated and turned serious again. Tony's eyes darkened and said, "I'd like to be the criminal and steal a million kisses from you."

I grinned at his words. "Do you think I could still visit your restricted section tonight? Or are you so tired that you can't handle another round of loving?"

No words from his mouth, but definitely a kiss Maya got, a kiss that turned into so much more.

After we were done I said to him, "I think this house is cursed. Kayla's way of thinking has suddenly taken over my mind . . ."

In response there was a chuckle and another round of kissing.

I was brought back to life when Kyle started shaking me. "What?" I asked as I looked up at him.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "We've arrived." He was still giving me a weird look.

"What?" I repeated.

"You were whispering Tony's name every now and then as you slept. It made Dad and me wonder what you do with Tony . . ." He burst out laughing.

I blushed and looked away to Tony. He winked when he noticed me. Oh, crap he must have been in on the joke too. My blush grew even darker. I looked over at my mother who was sitting next to Cade and Dante; she did not look too pleased. For one, she wouldn't look at me. Two, she kept giving Tony dark looks. Why couldn't she just let me be. I knew that I wasn't an adult, I still needed a few months to be legal, but still. I was seventeen! I needed some respect in what I did in my life. I wasn't a baby anymore.

As we descended the stairs of Dad's plane, I asked Kyle, "Do you think my mom is hates Tony?"

Kyle didn't look at me as he answered. "I do not think she hates; however, I do not think she likes him."

"Great . . ." It made me sad. I did not want my mother disliking Tony if he and I would ever get together in the future.

"Don't fret over it, Maya." Kyle said as I put my hand in his. "Dad likes Tony and if Dad likes him, our mother is bound to like Tony as well."

"Still . . ." I sighed. "If Tony and I ever have a thing in the near future, I need my mother's approval as well. Not just Dad's."

"You and Tony are pretty serious, right?"

I looked back at Tony and he smiled quickly before returning to his duties. "I think so . . . I'm not sure."

"Nobody is ever sure of anything. But you seem pretty serious. If you love him, who cares about what the world thinks, Maya?"

"We aren't talking about the world; we're talking about Rose Hathaway liking my man. That's even worse."

He chuckled. "Whatever . . . I'm starving. And we need to go find Zara and tell her."

That made me sad. Zara was going to take it bad. Mom and Dad had put it up to me and Kyle to telling Zara the bad news. Kyle because he could make her see reason; me because I would be the only one who could cheer her up. We had to wait a couple of hours before we could see Zara. She was busy in school at the moment and my dad nor mother wanted to disturb her while she was studying. That meant we had some hours of chilling in New York. Before we could go anywhere, we had to go our penthouse in town so that we could relax after some time on the plane. Aunt Jade had let my dad bring along Kayla and I was thankful for that because she was going to be my companion for the next three weeks! We were going to party it up with Kyle!

Kayla threw herself on my bed when we finished showering. "When are we going shopping?"

"We can go now if you want?"

She threw herself off the bed this time. "Yes!" She reached for her bag. "My daddy gave me awesome credit cards this time!"

"Well," I said, reaching for my bag and pulling out some cash money. "My daddy gave me the Benjamins!" I waved my hundred dollars bills over her face. "Smell that sweetness."

"Okay, you whores," Dante said, coming into my room, "Mom said you guys can leave already only if I go as your guardian."

"Only Dante would know a whore when he sees a whore," I said as I got my awesome Coach purse and hung it over my shoulder.

Kayla laughed. "I would know a whore when I see a whore. I deal with whores every night. Well, only man whores."

"Okay, Kayla. I so do not want to know what you do on your spare time." I put up a hand to stop her from saying anything more.

I almost skipped to where my daddy was sitting, sipping on his liquor. I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Can Tony come with us?"

"Tony!"

"Yes?"

"You're on guard duty with Dante. Don't let Maya out of your site."

"Sure thing, Lord Ivashkov."

"Absolutely not!" My mother exploded. "Tony has the rest of the day off!"

My father sighed dramatically as I pleaded with him. "Go have fun, Maya. I'll deal with your mother."

"No! Guardian Lewis was supposed to have the rest of the day off! Guardian Jacobs can go instead. Or I can."

"Oh, Mom, don't get offended but—" Her dark look shut me up. We didn't look alike in physical features but we shared similar personalities.

"Rose, Rose." My father said and looked at us. "You guys may leave already. The duties have been assigned and its final," he said, giving my mom a look. He was boss here. "Have fun, sweetheart."

"That's what I'm talking about Kyle!"

Kyle rubbed my back. "Don't stress about it, Maya."

"Maybe we shouldn't go near each other at all," Tony suggested.

"Dude, that still won't make her happy. You don't know our mom." Kyle told Tony.

Everyone was quiet, even Dante as we made our way towards the garage where my Dad's seven series BMW was parked. It was when we were getting into the car that I remember that I forgot my purse. Crap. I thought I had slung it over my shoulder.

"Oh, shit. I forgot something let me go get it."

Tony stood up. He didn't like leaving me alone. "I'll go with you."

"No, no. It's okay. I'll be right back." I hurried off back into the building.

The hallway as empty. Odd. There had been people when we had come out of it.

Suddenly, the lights went out.

I had the odd feeling of someone following me.

Movement in front of me.

I stopped walking and looked around. Maybe Kayla had decided to follow me and turn off the lights or something. There had to be an explanation for this. But there wasn't.

It was getting closer.

Then, I heard Tony's voice. Or I thought it was Tony's voice. "Maya, come with me . . ." it whispered.

"Where are you?"

"Behind you . . ."

It was behind me. I could feel it breathe down my neck.

I turned around and met laughing blue eyes. The woman laughed. It reminded me of ice. "You were too easy to find. . ."

The door that led outdoors opened. The real Tony walked in. "Maya!"

"To—"

I heard her faint evil laugh as a wave a power hit me and knocked me out . . .

Top of Form

Bottom of Form