Prim and Proper Fate (Twisted Fate Series Book 2) (19 page)

Chapter 13

Sydney blinked rapidly and willed her eyes not to tear up while she attempted to apply charcoal liner. She didn’t normally wear a great deal of makeup, so she had no idea if she was doing it correctly.

“I’m not so sure about this, Sydney. Prim says he’s really dangerous when he isn’t cursed.” Lily gnawed on her lower lip while she watched Sydney’s efforts in the mirror.

“I know,” Sydney replied. “Which is why we have to get him back. And frankly, I’m tired of sleeping alone. How am I doing with the liner?”

“Terrible,” Lily said with a sigh. “Sit down,” she instructed, and she plucked the pencil out of Sydney’s hand. “I think you should tell Brandon and Prim what’s going on.”

“I tried,” Sydney said as she stared at the ceiling while Lily applied makeup around her eyes. “They both think I’m crazy, and they refuse to let me do this.”

Lily sighed again and picked up the mascara wand off the vanity. “It’s so romantic. Just like one of Prim’s books.”

“Except this is real,” Sydney pointed out. “Which is why you have to be sure to follow through on your end of the plan. Otherwise, I really will be dead. Got it?”

“Got it,” Lily said dutifully. She dropped the mascara wand and picked up the lip liner.

“Let’s review. What are the two roles you have to play?” Sydney said, after Lily lined her lips, colored them with red lipstick, and added a layer of shiny gloss.

“First, I cover for you so you can sneak away,” Lily said. “And second, I tell Brandon what’s going on, exactly one hour later.”

“Perfect. That should give me enough time to distract him, but not enough time for him to decide to eat me.” Sydney shivered at the idea. “Brandon will bring Prim and she will curse Gavin, and then everything will be back to normal.” She smiled brightly as Lily clutched her shoulders and swiveled her around on the small, round stool. Sydney stared at the mirror over the vanity.

“Wow. I don’t even recognize myself.” She touched the hair, styled into long ribbons of curls, all the way around her head. ‘Party hair,’ Lily had called it. The eye makeup was heavy, smoky, and dark, pulling out the blue in her eyes. The blush was a shade darker than her normal color, and her lips were bright red and shiny.

“Is that good or bad?” Lily asked worriedly.

“Good. It’s beautiful. I had no idea you could do this. Nor that I could look so sexy.”

Lily blushed. “I used to sit and watch Prim when I was a kid. She has an entire dresser full of beauty products.”

“She hardly needs them.” Sydney turned her head every which way, admiring Lily’s masterpiece. “She’s so beautiful all on her own.”

“Yes. Brandon certainly thinks so. Do you see the way he watches her all the time? Like he can barely keep himself from grabbing her, tossing her over his shoulder, and taking her back to his cave.” She giggled.

“You read too many books,” Sydney admonished. “But yes, I agree with you. His eyes glow whenever he looks at her, have you noticed?”

“Yes. At first, I thought that was just a shifter thing. But none of the other shifters here have glowing eyes.”

“It
is
a shifter thing,” Sydney explained. “It’s what happens to shifters when they’re in love.”

Lily sighed and sank down onto the stool next to Sydney. “I’m so glad. Prim deserves a little happiness in her life. She’s sacrificed so much to keep me safe.”

Sydney smiled brightly at her new friend. “Brandon makes her happy. And as soon as we get Gavin back, we’ll start searching for your mate. You deserve to be happy, too.”

Lily made a face. “Not one of the shifters here. Ugh. I’m so sick of all the peacock-like preening.”

Sydney laughed and stood up, smoothing the front of the black leather skirt Lily had filched from Prim’s luggage. She also wore a red and black striped corset, again courtesy of Prim’s luggage. Sydney had no idea she had so much cleavage. She was extremely self-conscious of the amount of flesh spilling out of the top of the cinched garment.

Lily assured her she looked ‘hot.’ Sydney certainly hoped so. She needed Gavin to get hot. Hot enough to want to sleep with her instead of kill her.

She stood up and teetered for a moment on the mile-high red heels with leather straps that wrapped around her ankles. They were also courtesy of Prim’s luggage, and were a tad too small for Sydney’s feet. But Lily insisted they completed the look, and Sydney didn’t have anything even remotely close to these shoes in her possession. If it helped lure Gavin to her, it would be worth a few blisters.

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I think I’m ready. Are you?”

“Definitely,” Lily said with a firm nod. “Good luck, sister.” She grabbed Sydney and gave her a fierce hug. “Be careful.”

“I will,” Sydney assured her, and then she draped a shiny gold rain slicker over her shoulders and belted it around the waist. The rain slicker was also Prim’s. She would have to thank the Fate profusely for her incredibly sexy style when this was all over and done with.

Assuming she survived.

As Sydney tottered outside in the towering heels, she hoped nobody noticed the shoes. She didn’t want to take them off and carry them because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to get her feet back into them again. Thank the Fates for Lily’s help. Sydney was sure she never would have been able to pull this off without her.

Slipping away proved to be amazingly easy, thanks to Lily. That Chala simply stepped into the yard with a glass of Coke in her hand and in an almost comical fashion dropped the drink and then lifted her hands to her face, as if shocked by what happened. Every shifter within fifty feet clamored to help her. Sydney slipped into a nearby truck, cranked the engine, and was driving down the road before any of the shifters in Lily’s attendance even noticed anything was different. Hopefully they would assume one of the guys had taken the truck into town. None would believe their Chala was stupid enough to head into town alone, knowing an uncursed Gavin was out there, searching for her.

Shows what they knew.

She did wonder at Brandon’s absence, though. If he had been anywhere in the vicinity, he wouldn’t have bought their act for a minute. They’d had a backup plan. But it involved Lily actually injuring herself, thus forcing Brandon to focus on her while Sydney slipped away unnoticed.

Sydney drove toward the nearest motel, a rundown building with a flashing sign that advertised ‘Motel—Free Cable,” although several of the bulbs in the sign were burned out and it looked more like ‘Tel-Free-Cal.’ She began to feel nervous that the most important aspect of her plan wouldn’t show. He’d called her cell phone again today, but she hadn’t told Brandon and Prim. She hadn’t even told William, because she did not trust him not to loop in the other two.

“Hello, Chala.” Gavin’s voice had been a purr. The sound had sent shivers down her spine. She knew he was evil without the curse, but she couldn’t seem to remember it whenever he spoke to her. She’d found his gravely, sandpaper voice sexy from the first moment she’d ever met him, and no matter how evil he was, that would never change.

“Gavin,” she said a little breathlessly.

He chuckled. “You like danger, do you, Chala? I’ve come close to killing you how many times, and your panties are wet right now, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

That gave him pause. He hadn’t expected her to admit it. Which was exactly what she had hoped for.

“You still want me, too,” she said boldly into the phone.

“Maybe I want to fuck you first,” he said, sounding as though he were carefully choosing his words. “But your protector makes that rather difficult. I’ve decided it’s best to just kill you and be done with it.”

“What if I told you I could get away from him?” she suggested, grateful he had played right into her plans.

She heard his sharp intake of breath. He wanted it. She could only hope the temptation would be enough.

“That sounds . . . dangerous.”

“For me or for you?”

“Probably both of us.”

“We aren’t in New Orleans anymore.”

“I know,” Gavin replied.

She hadn’t been surprised. Just as she knew he was lurking somewhere nearby, so he also knew where she was. The connection between them had not gone away with the curse. It was that fact that gave Sydney hope. Her mate was still in there, somewhere.

“So you know where we are?”

“I know you’ve run back to the security of your pack. Such that it is.”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“What do you want? For me to slip in your bedroom window? You want to relive some of our more . . . memorable moments?”

“That would be nice.”

Gavin chuckled, gravel over silk. Sydney shivered, the sound spiking her desire for the man he had once been. The man she was determined to bring back.

“You think I’m that stupid? Do you fancy yourself in love with an idiot, Chala?”

“No,” Sydney said defensively. “I can get away.”

There was a pregnant pause, during which Sydney’s heart beat unusually fast.

“You would do that?” he finally asked. “Knowing you’re sneaking away to your death?”

“You won’t kill me,” Sydney insisted, baiting him, and at the same time, desperately hoping it was true. “I don’t believe you will.”

“Then you are a foolish Chala,” he snapped, sounding irritated. As if he didn’t really want her to make it easy for him. As if he didn’t really want to kill her.

“Fine,” she replied, letting her temper show. “Don’t do it then. But this is your only chance. After this, they’re tucking me away someplace far, far away. And then they’re coming after you. And at this point, they don’t really care if they curse you or kill you.”

Maybe it had been the conviction in her voice. Or perhaps the temptation had been too much for him to resist. Whatever the reason, he had abruptly changed his mind and decided it would be “amusing” to meet her. And then he had chosen the location, although she’d guided him somewhat. It couldn’t be too far from Killian’s home, because Brandon and Prim needed to be able to reach her in time. But it had to be far enough away for Gavin not to suspect a trap. She figured he would anyway, and that was fine. She was meeting him alone, at least for the moment.

She guided the truck into the parking lot of the old motel. She could sense him. He was near, watching her, undoubtedly. She took a deep breath and climbed out of the vehicle. The florescent light over the entrance to the motel office flickered ominously, making her feel as if she were walking across the set of an old horror movie.

She stepped into the office, grabbing the chipped Formica counter to keep from toppling over in her too-high heels. The floor was covered in a brown, threadbare carpet that she suspected had once been some other color. A tiny sign on the counter announced ‘Vacancy.’ It was a basic plastic sign that could be flipped when necessary to state,
‘
No Vacancy.’ A bell was parked on the counter next to the sign. Sydney tapped the bell and the sound reverberated throughout the small room.

She waited, her nerves strung taut, but no one appeared. She lifted her hand to push the bell again, when she spotted the note.

Room 214

A key lay next to the sign. It wasn’t a key card, but a real key with a red plastic tag attached, the number 214 inscribed in black. Sydney looked round, but there wasn’t anyone else in the vicinity. She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing her senses to open wide.

He was close. Waiting. She hoped he at least let her get into the room. If he grabbed her while she was still in the parking lot, then she knew his intention was to kill her, not sleep with her. And then her plan would really, truly be for naught. She still had a solid thirty minutes before Lily even brought her absence to Brandon’s attention. Allowing for argument, planning, and travel time, she figured she had a minimum of sixty minutes before Brandon and Prim came to her rescue.

Maybe she shouldn’t have asked for a full hour.

She dawdled as long as she figured she could get away with, then grabbed the key and strode out to the truck, so she could pull it around the side of the building, where a map on the Formica counter had indicated the room she wanted was located. He was watching her. She could feel it. She added a little sway to her step, like she saw Prim do so effortlessly.

Her hands were shaking so badly she had a hard time inserting the key into the ignition. A hand suddenly wrapped around her own, steadying it enough to manage the key. She gasped, and heard the rusty chuckle she knew so well.

“Surprised, Chala? You came here to meet me, remember?”

“Y–Yes,” she stuttered. “I–I just didn’t expect—”

“That I would be wise enough to cover my ass? Drive,” he ordered. He was seated behind her. She could feel his breath on her neck. Lust warred with fear in her mind, and she knew he could sense it.

“Around back. Room 318.”

“I thought you left a key for me in the office,” she said as she drove. She’d purposely left the note, for Brandon and Prim.

“I know you did,” Gavin replied. “Go. Inside. Now.”

Sydney climbed out of the truck, stumbling on the high heels. Gavin grabbed her arm and crab walked her toward the door to the motel room.

“Interesting outfit, Chala. Are you wearing anything under that coat?”

“Maybe,” she said, a tad defensively.

Gavin chuckled again. “Flirting is not your forte. Too bad. I like a woman who knows what she wants and then goes after it.”

Sydney considered objecting to his words. She hadn’t had any clue what she wanted when she and Gavin met, and he hadn’t seemed to mind at all. In fact, he seemed to like being in charge, guiding her, teaching her, both in bed and out.