Catching Temptation (In Darkness She Fades (Book 1) (18 page)

The Goblin King’s delight grows.
“But if I remember correctly, you did lose your glass slippers tonight.”

I ignore his teasing remark and
saunter to the shattered window. The chaos outside is calming to a low rumble.
The goblins must be winning.

Silus positions himself behind me
once again and leans forward to speak in my ear. His breath sends a chill of
adventure running down my spine. “You know, true fairytales are of the most
unlikely couples, and the battles they fight together. These characters have
tragic empty lives, until they finally find one another.”

His message is in his voice; in
his tender tone. A tone someone uses to speak to a lover.

“I think we need to split up.
Your goblins seem to have overtaken the demons, but Jenkins is still in town,
isn’t he?”

“He’s somewhere, hiding no doubt.
I want you to stay here until this is over. Your family members are in the
ballroom with the Peters. You can wait for me there. Jenkins cannot stay hidden
forever.” Silus strokes my shoulders with his spidery fingers. It is a
comforting gesture, a warming relief for my loneliness.

I start to leave.

Large fingers circle my hands.

Silus twirls me into his arms and
steals my kiss, my mortality, my soul – everything. Nothing in the world
matters. Nothing will dare hurt me. The rapid beats of his heart pound against
my chest. Adrenalin courses through my veins as arms explore my lower back.
Silus is literally the man of my dreams.

Breaking for air, Silus gazes
into my swirling jade-violet eyes. “I love you, Temptation Belladonna Falls. I
will come back for you, no matter where you go.”

Nodding, I slide out of his
embrace. Without a backward glance, I leave the Goblin King. Once the door
closes behind me, I suffer a twinge of loss.

The sun and moon medallions on
the walls guide me to the cluttered ballroom. Their constant praise annoys me.
At the top of the balcony, I see my family with a harassed Mr. and Mrs. Peters.

“I don’t have a bloody interest
in what your king wants! We’re leaving–”

“Mr. Falls, if you exit the
theater, you’re in danger of being killed. Can’t you understand we’re trying to
save your lives! Temptation is still out there somewhere–”

“I’m here, Mrs. Peters.”

Everyone gasps.

I rush down the stairs and
descend into the now depressed ballroom.

“Thank goodness!” Mrs. Peters
dashes forward and embraces me. Mr. Peters follows behind his wife.

Although I appreciate the Peters,
I am studying the reactions of my family. Aunt Sally and Uncle Jack control no
emotions on their faces. Even my two cousins do not convey any feelings. 

“We were afraid Jenkins captured
you.” Mrs. Peters motions at my family. “I’m trying to explain to them how
dangerous it is to leave.”

“I can take them.” I untangle
myself from the Peterses’ hugs.

“But the king objected to–”

“I spoke with Silus a moment ago.
He said we’re free to depart from Rosewood.” I catch my Uncle Jack’s eye. “Do
you have the keys to your car?”

Uncle Jack blinks as if startled
to hear me speak directly to him. “Yes. It won’t do us much good, since the car
is sitting at home.”

“Come on. We need to return to
the front of the theater.” The Peters begins protesting, but my family follows
without hesitation. “I’ll need to borrow your keys, Uncle Jack.”

“You’ll get caught if you try to
run home and get it!” Uncle Jack’s disapproving tone lifts my spirit. At least
he still worries about me.

“Trust me.” I say at the entrance
of the theater and hold out my tattooed hand.

He twitches his mustache. Sally
nudges him. “Fine.” He shoves his hand into his pocket and withdraws his
shining keys.

In a flash, I grab them and dash
home. It takes less than thirty seconds to arrive home and two minutes to pack
some bags. I think I am getting the hang of this. In the car, I scoot forward
and place the keys in the ignition. I reverse the car out of the driveway and
then head back to the theater. Goblins stalk the roads. Bone masks cover their
faces. At the corner of Main and Weeping Willow Lane, I wave my family over.
Grabbing my bag, I step out of the car, and move aside for Uncle Jack to take
the driver’s seat. Aunt Sally rushes to the other side, while ushering her boys
to climb in back. I remain where I am on the corner of Mrs. Peters’ lawn.

“Temptation, get in the car.”
Uncle Jack’s brow drops beads of sweat onto his shirt while his eyes dart to
every dark corner in sight. He cringes as a goblin limps by laughing and
carrying a bloody knife.

“I’m not going with you, Uncle
Jack.”

Uncle Jack narrows in on me.
“What?”

“I need to stay a little longer.
I know I’ve caused you a lot of problems over the past year, and I’m grateful
that you’ve all put up with me, but now you can see I’m not crazy.”

Uncle Jack steps out of the car,
the protests of his wife and sons forgotten. Fear of the demons and goblins
seem to extinguish in this moment. “Temptation, you are my niece. I’ve watched
you grow up right along with my own children. You’re the closest thing I have
to a daughter. I–” His eyes are watering. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you from
the start. You were never one to make up stories. I should have never allowed
that doctor to send you to that psychiatric hospital for all those months.”

Tears drip from my eyes. I wished
to hear those words so badly from Uncle Jack, but thought the day would never
come. The remaining weight on my heart lifts, tearing away the lingering
depression of the past. I truly embrace the freedom of my past. “Are you going back
to Urbanna?”

“
We
are going back to
Urbanna.”

A sharp pain enters my chest.
Jenkins is hurting Silus. The battle is shifting.

“Uncle Jack, you said you
regretted not trusting me, so trust me now. I need to stay here a little
longer. I’ll follow you to Urbanna. I’ll find you, but I have to help someone.”

Uncle Jack paces the pavement
mumbling.

“Dad! We have to go!”

Carting me into a hug, he says,
“You better follow or I’ll come back. I swear I will!”

“Thanks, Uncle Jack.”

Releasing me, he hops back into
the car and drives out of Rosewood. I inhale a deep breath before facing the
theater.

My bare feet beat against the
grass. The goblins keep the townspeople at bay as I sprint into the theater
house. The hallway does not smell of lemon or cleaning supplies anymore. The
odor of death wafts through the historic house. Depositing my bag in the
hallway, I return to the balcony. The Peters talk in rapid conversation with
Whelan and Victoria below. I jog down the stairs, careful to tiptoe around the
sharp crystals from the fallen chandelier.

“Temptation! We thought you were
leaving?” Mrs. Peters says.

Whelan grips Victoria’s waist.
Victoria’s face looks bruised and scratched from the Cyclopes rats.

“I have an idea how to help
Silus,” I say.

“Silus?” Victoria asks.

“The Goblin King.”

“Oh.”

“I remember Silus telling me that
the only thing that calms Jenkins’ demons is song. That’s why he held Victoria
and me in such high regard. So I thought why not have Victoria and I sing, and
see what happens to Jenkins.”

Victoria’s eyebrows rise and the
first genuine smile I have ever seen forms on her lips. “I’ve always wanted to
try a duet.”

“That’s brilliant,” Whelan says.
“The speakers extend out of the theater and all around the town square. I’ll
repair a few of the damaged cables.” He jumps on stage and off to the side to
tinker with the sound equipment.

“Well, Dearies, what are you
going to sing? We don’t have a band and I’m not sure I have any modern music–”

“I have something.” Victoria
follows Whelan and whispers to him.

On the stage, I pull out two
microphones. Another painful pressure to my throat causes me to choke. I drop
the microphones. Mr. and Mrs. Peters rush to my side. Their worrying voices are
surrounding me. I can only succeed to choke out the word, “Silus.” I feel his
heart leap and wonder if he heard me speak his name. The pressure on my throat
disappears. Inhaling a few times, I manage to say, “We do this now. We’re out
of time.”

Victoria snatches up the
microphones from the waxed floor and hands me one. “Ready?”

The Peterses’ move aside so I can
stand next to Victoria. “What are we singing?”

“A classic with a
modern
twist. I actually got the idea from your obsession with opera rock.”

A drumming beat echoes out of the
theater and courses through Rosewood. I recognize the revised beat pulsing with
electric guitars. “The Phantom of the Opera!”

Victoria smiles. “Fitting, isn’t
it? You lead first.”

The tone of the music slows a
little and I burst into the song. Closing my eyes, I will myself to see through
Silus’ eyes. He is standing on top of a building overlooking the carnival and
listening to my singing. All of the demon townspeople below stop and listen.
They do not flinch or fight back as the goblins tackle them to the ground and
tie them up against the broken debris from the carnival rides.

Victoria joins me. Pulsing into a
strong, beautiful beat, the music makes me feel empowered.

Honing in on my ability, I try to
see through Jenkins’ eyes. He is crouching on top of the clock tower in the
town square. Unable to move or even see his demons falling at the hands of the
goblins, his only focus is on the theater house. The buzzing of his heart
imitates the hum of an angry wasps’ nest, but as Victoria and I sing, the
buzzing ceases and gives him a moment of pure bliss. He feels human.

I pause. Victoria continues.

Silus’ yell and a burst of pain
in the back of my head, sends me swirling back to myself in the theater. I
sway.

“Come on, Girlie! Me master be
gettin’ the better of Jenkins. Keep yerself awake!”

Remorse’s grin at the balcony
snaps me back into reality. I join Victoria as we hit the climax of the song.
Desperate to see the battle raging between Silus and Jenkins, I attempt to shut
my eyes again.

Victoria snatches my wrist, to
get my attention, and then shakes her head.

Victoria’s right. Focus. Sing.

The song ends and a huge uproar
of praise courses from the outside of the theater.

“Yah did it, Temptation! We
captured the townspeople.” Remorse waddles down the stairs.

“Did Silus kill Jenkins?”

Remorse stops. “You tell me,
girlie.”

A knot forms in my stomach. What
if he did not win? What if he… Shaking away the gut-wrenching thoughts, I focus
in on Silus once again.

Treetops zoom below. He whips his
eyes over every dark inch of the forest. Panic seeps in with every beat of his
wings. “Temptation get out of my head. I need you to abandon Rosewood. I’ve
lost Jenkins. It isn’t safe!” I want to protest, but Silus touches his
thumbnail into the palm of his hand. “I’ll miss you, Temptation.” Pushing down,
his nail pierces his own skin, and blood rolls off his palm. The pain travels
to my hand and I regrettably leave Silus’ mind.

“Be our master winnin’?”

Fluttering my eyes to get
adjusted to my reality, I spot eyes peering at me from all angles of the room,
waiting for my answer. “He needs your help finding Jenkins. He’s scanning the
forest.”

“Jenkins be afraid of us goblins.
We’ll not disappoint his expectations of us, will we?” Remorse forms an impish
smile at the sound of the cheering goblins as they march toward the exit.

Caressing the scar on the palm of
my hand, I think,
I’ll miss you too.

Victoria, Whelan, and the Peters
join the goblins in search for Jenkins. I follow behind, picking up my bag when
I make it to the hallway. Beyond the front door, townspeople clash their teeth
together at the mocking goblins. Since the music died, their old personalities resurface
again. The biker gang’s motorcycles no longer inhabit the street, but Jerald’s
did. Swinging a leg over the motorcycle, I start the bike, and take off down
West Ironwood Drive. Checking my mirror, I spot Remorse’s scowl as I depart
Rosewood. Trees devour the scenery and I focus on the road. Passing an aging
tombstone, I check my rearview mirror to see the words, Welcome to Rosewood. A
tall man stands in the road behind me. Wings expand in the moonlight. Slamming
on my brakes, I skid to a halt. “Silus? What are you doing?”

“Don’t insult me by mistaking me
for him.” Jenkins arches his head up so the moonlight sketches out his sharp
features and horrible teeth; his feral eyes lock only on me. “My blood is in
you too. You can run Temptation, but I will find you.” He stands parallel with
the sign, unable to cross the threshold into the human world.

I carefully situate myself on the
motorcycle. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us, Jerald.”