“Then the redhead wasn’t my stalker — it was you!”
“What redhead?”
“A girl from my school, but that doesn’t matter now. Just let me go, and I won’t press any charges against you or tell anyone about this. I’ll pretend it never happened.” “But I want you to remember. The threats were to remind you about what you’ve done. Don’t play dumb. You know what I’m talking about.” Yes, I did. But only because I’d relived Sharayah’s memory of what happened last winter on the stormy cliff. Even now, I trembled at the memory of Gabe falling and lying motionless on the jagged rocks.
“I know what happened,” Dyce said, glaring. “Gabe told me.”
“Impossible! How could he when he’s—”
“Dead? Sorry to disappoint you, but he survived.”
“I’m not disappointed, I’m thrilled!” I sagged in relief. “That’s great news! I’m so glad he’s alive.” “No thanks to you,” Dyce spat out. “You left him and ran away.” “I went to get a rope or find someone to help.”
“Sure you did,” he scoffed.
“I did! But when I got back, Gabe wasn’t there. And the tide had come in so I thought he’d drowned.” “Yet you did nothing about it.”
“What could I do? I tried to report it but no one believed me.” “You wanted him dead.”
I shook my head, remembering Sharayah’s overwhelming love for Gabe, how she trusted him even when he called her a fool and turned violent. If he hadn’t fallen, he would have done something horrible, I was sure of it, and I was glad he’d fallen. But that’s not what Sharayah felt. I didn’t need to consult the GEM to know her whole transformation into a bad girl was a reaction to grief. An important part of her had died when he fell. And now this jerk was trying to make things worse. Well, he was dealing with the wrong Sharayah. I may not know much about college life, but I knew about survival and wasn’t afraid to fight for what I wanted.
“If Gabe is alive, why didn’t he tell anyone?” I demanded. “Where has he been all this time?” “Do you really care?” he asked skeptically.
“I shouldn’t — not after what he did.” My fear surged into anger. “You accuse me of trying to hurt Gabe, when he was the one who attacked me. Do you know what he did that night?” Dyce eyed me warily and nodded.
“Of course you do or you wouldn’t be waving that duct tape. What did he tell you? A lie about how I pushed him over the cliff? The only reason he fell was because he pulled this Jekyll and Hyde attitude and attacked me. When we struggled, he fell and I couldn’t help him with my hands taped.” “You left him bleeding and suffering.”
“That’s not fair! What he did was worse — killing the hope and trust of a girl who loved him. Whatever sick revenge you have planned can’t hurt worse than thinking the man you love more than life is dead.” “Are you sure about that?” He gave me a look that shot chills through my already shivering skin.
I swallowed hard, glancing at the stairs and contemplating the odds of success if I made a run for it. I had less than a five percent chance of getting past him before he’d grab me. No one knew I was here, so a rescue from my “rescuer” was out of the question. My only option was to convince him to let me go.
“Dyce, why are you really doing this?” I asked.
He spun the duct tape in deliberate circles as he leaned closer to me. “Gabe had plans that night which he wasn’t able to finish. So I’ll do it for him.” “I don’t believe Gabe would want you to hurt someone he loved.” “You never really knew him.”
“But you do?” I scoffed.
He nodded. “Like we’re the same person.”
“And he approves of this?” I asked with disgust, gesturing around the room that now felt like a prison. “Revenge on me won’t help him.” “There are different degrees of revenge, and honor has merit, too, although I don’t expect you to understand.” He spoke in a harsh formal tone that was different from how he’d spoken when we first met. His mannerisms had altered in subtle yet decisive ways; he spoke less like a teen and more like someone older even than my parents.
“You’re right — I don’t understand.” I forced myself to remain calm. The most important lesson I’d learned from all my self-help books was to stay confident and never admit weakness. No fear was allowed in kidnappings and the music biz. “If Gabe is okay, why did he send you instead of coming himself?” “He can’t move in his body.”
“Paralyzed? So he’s like in a wheelchair? Ohmygod!” I whispered hoarsely. “That’s horrible. Why didn’t he tell me? I would have helped.” “Like you helped him over the cliff?”
“That was an accident, and I was horrified when it happened. I’m sorry he’s hurt, but none of this will heal him. Don’t you realize that kidnapping is serious? Is this worth going to prison?” “Life is my prison,” he said with a bitter smile. Then he jerked me to my bare feet. “Hold out your arms, Sharayah.” “No!” This was too familiar, as if the nightmare dream of Sharayah’s was repeating itself, only by a different beach and with a different guy.
I screamed, but although my voice was strong, my arms weren’t, and his fingers pressed fiercely, binding my wrists with tape. I struggled, overwhelmed with a sudden dizziness. I wondered if the tea I’d sipped had been drugged.
“Let me go!” I cried, fighting to stay clearheaded.
“It’s your fault I have to get rough,” he said, pushing me back against the seat. “I was going to make you fall in love with me first.” That confirmed it — he was insane.
“You can’t just make someone love you,” I argued.
“Oh, can’t I?” He chuckled. “Saying things like ‘you’re different from other girls’ is a good starter line. It’s sad, really, how easy it is to manipulate naive girls. All it takes is some compliments, poetry and a romantic meeting. So I paid that kid a hundred bucks to attack you.” “That kid?” The room around me seemed to spin. “You mean … Warren?” “Right. It was all staged, of course, and he followed my script. I showed up just in time to rescue you, dazzle you with my heroics and look into your eyes in a way that left you longing for more. It was working, too. You wanted to see me again, didn’t you?” “No!” I lied, unwilling to give him that satisfaction. I’d been intrigued, grateful and eager to see Dyce again. But I’d also felt guilty, too, because how could I be attracted to Dyce when I had such a great thing started with Eli?
But now I find out his rescue was scripted! Unbelievable!
Warren’s role in this was even more surprising. Why would a Dark Lifer care about money? Or could I have been wrong about Warren? The gloves may not have meant anything, simply been a bad fashion choice. Is that why my GEM told me he’d been returned to his “dwelling”?
“Don’t deny it,” Dyce was saying. “We both know you wanted me.” “I just want to get far away from you.”
“That’s not how you felt yesterday when I left you on the beach. You were so awed by my heroics you would have done anything I wanted.” He said this in such an arrogant manner that if my hands weren’t bound, I would have slapped the smile off his cocky-ass face.
Instead I spat at him.
“Damn you!” He jumped back, swearing and lifting his arm angrily.
I cringed, expecting his hand to smash down on me. But he used the back of his palm to wipe his cheek. “That was disgusting and crude. Why are you making everything so difficult? This would have gone so much smoother if you’d fallen in love with me like you did before.” “Before?” I gasped.
“I thought the wild girl behavior was fake and expected that you’d be the same innocent soul that fell in love with Gabe. I brought you here planning to win your heart with gifts, poetry and romance. But you didn’t even recognize my poetry. Then, instead of falling into my arms, you refused to even step on my boat.” He scowled at me, as if it was my fault this kidnapping wasn’t going well and I should apologize for ruining his plans.
Yeah, like that was going to happen. I scowled right back.
“I expected you to be grateful and malleable, not so defiant. Aren’t you afraid of what I’m going to do?” he taunted. “I could take you far out to sea and dump you overboard. Then I would just leave you — like you did with Gabe.” I remained silent, too stubborn to give him the satisfaction of fear.
“No pleading or crying?” He studied me, his eyes under the brim of his hat slanted with curiosity. “Fine. I’m through here. This should hold you while I go up top.” In a swift movement, he ripped off a long strip of duct tape, splitting it with his teeth. He grabbed my legs with his other hand and forced tape around my ankles, so tightly I winced in pain. Then he peered down at me, as if waiting for me to plead with him to let me go. And I might have
