Cursed be the Wicked (24 page)

An hour or so later, I find myself at the Hawthorne Hotel, with a black mask covering my eyes because, of course, this is a
masquerade
ball.

There are people dressed anywhere from full on vampire garb, complete with pointy teeth and head to toe black leather, all the way down to simple jeans and a T-shirt. That would be me.

And then there’s Finn, who’s looking quite sexy in the short black dress she’s thrown on, as she put it. It shows off her curves in a very different way than the shorts and tops she usually wears. And I like it.

“Your negotiation skills are flawless,” I tell her, close to her ear. My hand slides around her waist, naturally, and stalls at the small of her back. She doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t move to stop me. She’s grinning as though she has a deep, dark secret she’s dying to tell and the blush in her cheeks makes me glad she’s not here with anyone else.

I forgive her for dragging me out to this event. This time.

“I think we’re just in time,” she says, excited, and then pulls me to a corner so we can get a better view of the stage.

“For?”

“Gran’s a guest speaker tonight, giving awards for some of the best costumes, blah, blah, blah. Come on.”

We squeeze through the crowd and I get us a couple of drinks. When Geneva gets up on stage, the entire room quiets down. Except for one idiot in the back I can’t make out, because he’s all garbed out and masked.

I’m not sure if he just called Finn’s grandmother a crazy
witch,
or a crazy bitch, but it doesn’t matter.

“Where are you going?” Finn yells after me as I move to follow the guy through the crowd. I see him trying to leave the party and I pick up my pace to cut him off at the door. When I catch up to him, it all makes sense.

“Hey, Moss!” I call out to get his attention. I pull the mask off of my head and wing it at him for a distraction then I shove him up against the wall.

“Jesus, Shaw!”

“Care to repeat that shit you just said about Geneva?”

He chokes. “It wasn’t me, Coop, it was my brother. I was just chasing him out of the damn party myself.”

I can’t prove or disprove what he’s saying. For now, I know I have to let it go. But I give him another good shove before releasing him. And some advice.

“I think you two have a lot of growing up to do.”

He rubs his throat and the people who were paying attention aren’t anymore. I watch some as they walk away but when my attention is back on Danny again, I notice a glint in his eyes.

“Maybe I should apologize.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Maybe I should go talk to Finnley and tell her how sorry I am. Make her feel better.”

“It’s Finn,
Danny.
”

“I’ll let ya know how it pans out, Coop,” he calls to me over his shoulder as he disappears through the crowd again. I try to follow and stop him but the sea of people is thick and it’s hard to push my way through when I’m not hyped up on adrenalin. When I finally make it back to where I left Finn, I stop because Danny’s already there and she seems to be listening quite intently to whatever it is he has to say.

She pushes hair behind her ear.

She bites her lip.

She smiles at his attempt to flirt.

I watch as he grins and it kills me a little that she’s actually allowing his charming apology routine to continue.

He whispers something into her ear. She nods and whispers something back.

I wonder if she’s letting him in because of the other night and what happened between us, or rather, what didn’t happen.

Dan strides past her when their conversation is over and Finn watches him go, then turns back to watch Geneva finish giving out prizes.

I want to crack Danny’s head open in very creative ways when he looks back to appreciate Finn’s ass, then finds me watching him and winks at me.

Instead of joining her on the sidelines again, I find the open bar and have a couple of Stellas while I cool down.

While I’m letting the first beer dull my senses, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I check the number. It’s the local number that’s been calling me. I debate even answering it but in the end, curiosity gets the better of me. Maybe this time someone will say something.

I press answer and listen for something on the other end. I get nothing. Again.

I end the call and order another beer. I take a walk around the outskirts of the party. When I near the ballroom doors, I notice some booths out in the hallway and take a look. They’re selling T-shirts and other paraphernalia, which in itself is really not very interesting to me.

It’s when I take a closer look at the people milling around the booths that I see Liz. She looks to be volunteering. It seems bizarre but I don’t bother walking over to say hi. I’m pretty sure that with the alcohol in me right now, I’d say something highly offensive. And I can’t afford to offend the woman. Not yet, anyway.

I opt for finally diving back into the crowd to find Finn again. She’s still standing where I left her.
Where Danny left her.
Geneva’s duty is done and now she’s watching people dance out on the dance floor.

I take my place beside her and watch them, too.

“How’s Danny?” I ask sarcastically.

She sips the drink in her hands. “Who?”

“Don’t play coy, Finn.”

She giggles. “Don’t play what?”

“I saw how you smiled for him,” I tell her, seriously. And yeah, there’s jealousy in my words.

I’m guessing she doesn’t have a rebuttal until she turns to me. When I look down, she’s still quiet for a minute as she stares up at me, hard.

“Do I look stupid, Cooper Shaw?”

“N-n-n-no?”

“Do you think someone like Danny Moss could ever possibly make me
smile
the way you do?”

I’m thrown by her question.

“What?”

“For your information? I saw him coming a mile away.”

“I just-”

“Do you know he’s still under the impression we’re going out on a
date
?”

What the?
“But you looked like-”

“I’m nice to the man, Coop. You know why?”

I don’t get the chance to answer her.

“Because he holds Gran’s mortgage in the palm of his hand. I didn’t, nor have I
ever
given the man the wrong impression about my intentions with him.”

I’m about to ask her what those intentions are when she tells me.

“I told him to stop beating a dead horse. And that I was very busy for the rest of my life and, as nicely as possible, after that, I said that if he can’t take a hint, then maybe I’d have to curse his ass to get him to understand.”

I blink once. Maybe twice.

“I can do it, too, Cooper Shaw,” she tells me. Part of me wants to laugh but something tells me I better not, so instead I nod.

“All right then,” she says. Then she turns to watch people dance again.

“Next time you want to know something, just ask it.”

“Will do.”

She waits a beat or two before adding, “And I saw you threatening him after Gran was done talking.”

“You did?”

“I already told you once, Coop, I notice things.”

She takes an exaggerated deep breath. “Especially thoughtful things.”

This is Finn’s thank you. I smile and go back to watching people dance.

“He pissed me off.”

She laughs. “Everyone pisses you off, Coop.”

Geneva finds us as we’re moving back into comfortable territory with each other. She hugs her granddaughter.

“I’m so glad you two made it.”

Finn doesn’t mention Danny and neither do I. But Geneva gives me a look that somehow makes me think she knows what happened too.

“Dance with me young man, before you’re too drunk to stand. I have to go home and climb into bed. These old bones are tired.”

I look to Finn for some help here. Dancing. Not my favorite pastime. Not to say I can’t, I just feel like a complete dolt while doing it. Especially when I’ve been drinking.

Finn doesn’t get me off the hook. She just nods toward the dance floor, urging me to do as the woman says.

The music has slowed to a pace that doesn’t make me feel idiotic but I do feel slightly
odd
, dancing with Geneva and not having much to say. Then my mind wanders to Mom again and I decide maybe I’m not at a loss after all.

“Hey Geneva, you said you knew my mom, right?”

She nods once. “That’s right.”

“What was she like?”

“Oh, Coop, I don’t have the greatest memory these days but what I do remember of your mom is that she was a sweet girl. Had the whole world in front of her and she was ready to take it, too, until . . .” She trails off and her stare glazes over as something catches her attention behind me.

“Until what? What happened?”

Her eyes flutter and she sees me again. “What? I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

She’s forgotten once more. My opportunity for information has slipped away. She can talk about witchcraft all day long, probably in her sleep, but ask her a simple question about the integrity of your family and forget about it.

“I think I need to go, Coop,” she tells me with a yawn. “Call me a cab?”

“I’ll take you.”

“Oh no you don’t, you and Finn should stay, have a good time. Besides, you’ve been drinking.”

I follow her off the dance floor.

“No really-”

She waves at me. “Just call me a cab, Cooper.”

I smile at the way she uses my full name when she’s being stern and I do as she says. After we make sure she’s in the taxi all right, Finn and I step back inside to the ball.

She takes my hand and arches an eyebrow.

“My turn?”

I don’t have second thoughts about it this time. I don’t wish I could get out of it. In fact, I lead Finn out onto the dance floor like it was my idea because the sooner I can feel her body pressed against mine, the better.

The deejay has great taste in music every once in a while at least. I give Finn a small spin and then pull her into me. It’s as though Danny Moss didn’t exist, much less the conversation we had about him a short while ago.

I smile. She blushes.

I smirk. She slaps me on the arm, softly.

I breathe. Because it’s easy around her.

My hand slides down along the back of her dress. When my fingers threaten to feel her up in the middle of the dance floor, Finn tucks her bottom lip in between her teeth.

“How about we get outta here?” I suggest, against my better judgment.

Finn rests her head against my chest.

“Okay, but after this.”

The song changes and it’s slower. Or maybe I’m slower, more comfortable with Finn in my arms again. My heart doesn’t ache anymore. Instead, it beats steadily with hers.

I try not to let the alcohol I’ve had affect my ability to make the right decision. The more we dance, the less confident I am in that happening.

People are laughing and drinking on the outskirts of the dance floor and I scrutinize their costumes. Most of them seem so fake. I’m curious as to how many of these people are here for the fun and drinking and how many have ulterior motives.

As Finn and I cross the floor, one woman in particular captures my attention.

At first, I’m positive I’m just imagining things. I write it off to our surroundings and blink the vision away but when I see her again, I can’t pretend she’s not there.

I stop and make my eyes focus.

“Coop?” Finn says, but I’m too fixated to answer her. The woman is half hidden behind strangers but I know it’s her, even with the shadows covering her face.

It can’t be her. She’s dead. But it’s her.

It can’t be her, Coop.

“What the . . .?”

Finn pulls away from me. “Cooper?”

I squint and sway. I’m lightheaded but it’s not from the beer. It’s from seeing a ghost. I could swear she smirks at me.

“You okay?”

I look to Finn for only a split second, but when I try to spot the woman again, she’s gone.

My eyes dart around and when I see her, ducking out into the hallway, I run after her.

“Coop!”

Voices become mumbles around me as I push through the crowd. I can just see the last of her dress as she slips through the exit and when I burst out into the hallway, it’s as though she’s disappeared into thin air.

I look right, then left. I see a door closing. It has to be her, so I run that way, until I’m outside.

I see her with some other people I don’t know. She’s laughing now and I hear Finn somewhere behind me.

“Coop!”

I ignore her as I grab an arm and pull. “What the hell are you playing at?”

When the woman I’ve been chasing spins around, she’s shocked. Her friends aren’t all too happy either.

“I’m-” I don’t finish my sentence. Instead I find myself studying the woman. Her face is similar, her dark hair is styled the same, even her eyes are the exact color, but now that I’m up close, it’s obvious I was wrong.

“What the hell are you doing, dude?” one of the men accompanying the girl asks. She pulls her arm out of my grasp and rubs the soreness out. I must have been holding on tighter than I thought.

“I saw her,” I tell them. Someone. Whoever is listening.

“I don’t care who you saw, you need to back off, man,” another friend warns me.

I’m confused as Finn approaches.

“I know I saw her.”

“Coop?” she says, then turns to the strangers and gives them a smile. “I’m so sorry.”

“Screw you,” one of the men says. He puts an arm around the girl and they walk away. The woman holds my stare until they’re at a safe distance, then she turns and joins in their conversation. They don’t look back.