The Scarlet Dagger (The Red Sector Chronicles, #1) (33 page)

Guess that restraining order is being breached.

Anger burned in my chest. The scars from being chained in Scarlet Steel served as a constant reminder of what she had done to me, something I didn’t think I’d ever be able to forgive her for.

I glared at her. “If I’m Cinderella, then you must be one of the ugly stepsisters. Can I help you?”

Dezyre didn’t respond to my dig. She teetered on her six inch stilettos, grabbing hold of my arm to steady herself. I stood stone still, an angry frown on my face as she looked me in the eyes. Or, at least, she tried to. She couldn’t quite seem to focus on me.

She’s drunk.

“
I wanted to tell you congratulations,” she slurred, wobbling. The drink sloshed around in the glass, nearly spilling out.

My brows furrowed. “Why?”

“
For winning Aden over.
Bravo
.” She brought her hands together, trying to clap with the glass suspended between two fingers. “I was his date last year, but he cast me aside like spoiled goods. That’s what he’ll do to you, too, once he gets his way with you.”

My gaze faltered.

Huh? What is she talking about?
My eyes widened and I sucked in a tight breath.

Did Dezyre and Aden have sex?

I blushed, thinking about it. Sure, I knew how it worked, but I had never been so into a guy before to even consider going that far. Hell, I had never even been on a real date until now. I knew a few girls at my old high school slept around, but I definitely wasn’t one of them.

Looking into Dezyre’s eyes, I could see the hurt buried within.

She still loves him
, I realized with a start.

I took a deep, calming breath. “Dezyre –”

She shook her head, almost like she was trying to shake something out of her ear. “Spare me your apologies. My revenge will come when he does the same to you.”

She shoved the drink into my hand, letting go before I barely had hold of it. “Here. Have a drink, on me.” Then she stumbled away, muttering something about how off her glamour was tonight, and how she couldn’t even get any hot guys to bring her a drink.

I stared into the contents of the glass, seeing my puzzled face in the rosy liquid.
That was weird.

“
Sloane…
”

Something whispered my name, as if standing right beside me. When I whirled around, there was no one there. I blinked, feeling somewhat sluggish all of a sudden.

What’s going on?

I gazed into the glass, noticing a faint smell, like spices, coming from the liquid. Feelings of love and security wrapped themselves around my mind like a cocoon, tugging at a memory I couldn’t reach, as I slowly raised the glass to my lips, eager to drink.

“
Yes… drink it…
”

My thoughts went numb as the edge of the glass touched my bottom lip.

“
SLOANE!”

A boy screamed my name right before the glass was knocked from my grasp, shattering on the floor.

My mind immediately cleared, and I snapped out of the haze, blinking rapidly. A strong arm looped around my waist as I staggered.

“
What… what happened?” I asked, placing a hand to my clammy forehead. “What was that?”

“
Poison,” Aden hissed beside me.

“
What?
”

I looked down, spotting the remnants of the champagne flute. The liquid had pooled into a crater that had formed in the middle of the floor.

At first, I thought I must be seeing things. But the more I blinked, the more I realized the crater was really there, and an ice cold chill swept through me. I took a quivering breath.

The liquid – whatever it had been – had literally melted the wood.

Chapter
30

Within seconds, security had cleared out the party and Aden hauled me out the doors, accompanied by an entourage of guards. Déjà vu hit me as flashes of the mess hall disaster went through my mind, only this time the patrons were much calmer, evacuating the area as if it was a drill.

“
What happened?” Rook barked, coming alongside us.

“
Someone tried to poison her,” Aden said, looking at me. “Who gave you the drink?”

“
Dezyre,” I replied. “But she seemed… off, like she wasn’t quite herself. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was weird.”

“
I’m going to see if I can round her up,” Aden said. “Rook, look after her for me?”

“
Sure thing.”

Aden gave me a grim smile before breaking off from the group and circling back around. “Where are we going?” I asked Rook.

“
To Aden’s place. The base will go into lock down, but we think it’s best to move you in case the killer’s still here.”

“
Do you really think Dezyre was trying to kill me?” Despite the fact she was definitely jealous and hated my guts, I didn’t think she was so desperately in love with Aden as to stoop to murder.

Rook shook his head. “No. I don’t think so, anyway. She’s always been a bit… dramatic and difficult to deal with sometimes, but she’s not that stupid. She has too much going for her to jeopardize her career like that.”

To hear them speak of it, Dezyre must be able to work medical miracles. But if she hadn’t poisoned the drink, then who had?

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen Paris tonight. Maybe she had found out I’d run away, and decided to take me out. Either way, death had come for me twice now, and I had somehow evaded it.

All because of Aden. He saved my life again.

Maybe he did actually care about me. Or perhaps he had saved me because I was too valuable a pawn to lose.

Either way, I may have outwitted death multiple times, but how long could I really outrun it?

***

We waited at Aden’s place, all huddled together in the living room with a mess of guards outside. The entire apartment had been decorated for Christmas, though considering the circumstances, it felt anything but cheerful. I sat beside the Christmas tree, the light from which caught the sequin in my dress, casting little red balls of light around the room. Over an hour and a half passed before Aden finally arrived.

“
Well?” Rook asked, standing. “What did you find out?”

Aden sighed hard, his face troubled. “When we questioned Dezyre, she didn’t seem to remember ever talking to Sloane. Paris tested the liquid and found it had been glamoured.”

“
Wait,” I said. “You can glamour an object?”

Aden nodded. “Yes, if you’re powerful enough. But I don’t know of any vampires who possess that much control over glamour to pull off such a feat.” He looked at me. “Except for you,” he added quietly.

I blinked. “Then who was it? I certainly didn’t try to kill myself.”

“
I don’t know,” Aden said, growling. “But I’m pretty sure Dezyre is innocent. Paris suspects she had been glamoured by whoever gave her the glass.”

“
No one saw anything?” Rook asked.

“
No,” Aden replied. “I thoroughly questioned every witness. They all say they didn’t notice anyone suspicious, although one girl said she saw Dezyre go into the bathroom carrying a drink and that she was in there for a long time. When she came out, she went straight to you.” He pointed to me, and I frowned.

I leaned forward, rubbing my eyes. This whole situation made my mind spin. I was so tired of all this crap. Why couldn’t people just leave me alone for one night and let me at least pretend my life was normal?

Aden studied me. “You look exhausted. You should rest.” He nodded to the others, and they started filing out. He stopped Rook at the door. “Keep at least ten men posted outside,” I heard him whisper. “I’ll let you know if anything else develops.”

“
As will I,” Rook said, nodding. “Merry Christmas, man.”

“
Yeah, Merry Christmas,” Aden said dryly, closing the door. Once we were alone, he sighed and turned around. “I’m sorry.”

“
For what?” I asked softly.

I watched as Aden sat down on the chair across from me, the Christmas tree lights casting a soft glow on his face. “For everything,” he sighed. “I’m especially sorry for turning you and pulling you into this mess.”

I studied him. “Why did you change me?” My words weren’t angry; more than anything, they were curious.

There was a long pause as he stared back at me. “Because I needed you.”

My eyes narrowed. “As a pawn?”

“
Perhaps at first,” he said, hiding his eyes. “Before I got to know you. Before I…”

I waited, holding my breath, but he didn’t finish the thought. Instead, he rose and knelt next to the tree. “I got you a present.”

My eyes widened. I hadn’t expected him to get me anything. Considering all that had happened, swapping gifts was the last thing on my mind.

“
You didn’t have to,” I argued as he sat down beside me and placed a red package in my hands. It felt slightly heavy, and the wrapping had an odd shape to it.

He didn’t say anything, though something shifted in his eyes as I began unwrapping the gift.

I gasped. There, in my lap, was Leo’s Scarlet Dagger.

I gaped up at Aden, his expression unreadable. “Why?”

“
Because,” he said simply, “you may need it before this is all said and done.”

I looked back down, unable to believe what I was seeing. I ran my fingers over the sheath, as if to make sure it was real. “Thank you. This means a lot to me.”

I didn’t know what I had expected, a necklace, or a sweater maybe, but not this. It was the best Christmas present I could have received.

“
I’m glad,” Aden murmured.

I met his eyes, and the background seemed to fade away as we looked at one another. Slowly, he leaned in, lips parting.

“
He’ll do the same to you when he’s had his way with you.”

I turned my head right as he was about to kiss me. His lips brushed my cheek, and I felt him tense slightly.

“
What is it?” he murmured.

I shook my head, not meeting his gaze. “Nothing. I’m just tired, is all.” I rose, holding on to the Scarlet Dagger. “Thanks again. Um, Merry Christmas, Aden.”

He looked surprised, but quickly gave me a small smile. “Merry Christmas, Sloane.”

I smiled back and nodded once before heading up the stairs, feeling the weight of Aden’s gaze at my back.

Once in the solitude of my room, I changed into a tank top and some sweat pants, and crawled into bed, resting the dagger on my lap. Carefully, I slipped it from the sheath and stared at the red metal.

Fear ran through me, ingrained into my nature from having tasted the metal’s bite twice now. Little over two months ago, this dagger had meant something completely different to me. What had once been a symbol of strength and hope now stirred up memories of suffering and pain.

I shuddered, thinking of all the vampires the government must have experimented on while developing this weapon. Though the Rogues were destructive and – to be honest – probably deserved to die, they had also once been human. I couldn’t exactly put how I felt into words; it simply felt
wrong
.

The dead faces of the extremists, wrapped in their red robes, flashed through my mind. They were no different from me, save for the fact they were a little crazy. And I had killed so many of them without a second thought. What had happened to me since I’d been down here? Sure, I had always enjoyed a good fight, but I had never, ever thought of killing someone.

And I had done so with a smile on my face.

It made me sick at my stomach.
What’s happened to me? Do I even know who I am anymore?

An inky darkness stirred at the back of my mind, a warning, and I was suddenly overcome with the sense that the horizon of my life would grow much darker before I saw a sliver of light. It scared me, badly. Abating my fears, I shivered, rubbing the goose bumps from my arms. Casting one last lingering look at the dagger, I sheathed it and sat it on my night stand before curling onto my side, my eyes fixed on Aden’s gift.

A gift, as it turned out, that had proved to be more of a curse than anything else.

Chapter
31

I wasn’t allowed to leave the apartment for the rest of the week. Tons of extra security had been stationed outside. I rarely saw Aden after our awkward exchange. He was always “working on something at the base” or “helping Paris out with a top-secret project.” Truthfully, I was thankful for his sudden absence. I had enough to deal with in figuring out who was trying to kill me.

Though the base was technically on holiday, I couldn’t bring myself to just settle down and relax. Too many stray thoughts drifted through my mind, a constant stream of activity that refused to be laid to rest. I wandered from my room to the kitchen and bathroom, the only stops on my monotonous daily routine. Being cooped up had never set well with me. Somehow, I always managed to feel guilty for doing absolutely nothing, like I was being lazy and should be working on something. I suppose my whole family had that in common, the work-a-holic syndrome.