Walking into the Ball on Xavier’s arm, I stare wide-eyed as Sebastian stands along the other wall next to Katy. Internally I’m fuming, on the outside, I hide everything. No one would ever be able to tell that it phased me at all. Smiling at my cousin Elena and her date, I take my seat grabbing a glass of champagne. My eyes finding his, I can read his emotions and he feels guilt among anger. Tilting my head to the side, I motion for him to follow me.
Once the door closes behind him, I straighten my back ready to unleash my anger. “You know a call would have been nice, a smoke signal, morse code, or just to see your face. I see the walking STD is still around, are you a thing now or are you just spreading your wild oats?” I snap. Coming behind me, Sebastian presses his lips to my neck, “It’s complicated, and I swear I’ll explain it all. I’m not fucking her. I would never. I love you, Penelope.”
His words sound sweet, yet his actions are anything but. Nodding, I force the tears that threaten to fall back, “I need to tell you something. I did something that I’m not proud of, and you won’t forgive me,” I whisper. Running his hands down my arms, Sebastian nuzzles my throat, “I will. Whatever it is, I will.”
I catch the slight hint of pain in his words, as if he knows, but Devin promised me he wouldn’t tell a soul. “Tell me later when I rip that dress off of you. We have a ball to get back to, and if Xavier so much as breathes near you, I’ll rip his lungs out,” Sebastian hisses, the need evident in his voice. Breaking away from me, Sebastian leaves me alone in the old library. Picking up a worn copy of Vanity Fair, I sit down and read a few chapters. I don’t want to watch Katy and Sebastian together, not when he should be here with me instead.
I’ve been locked away for longer than I should have been, something I’m sure won’t go unnoticed by the higher members of The Society. Closing the book, I reenter the madness of drunken men, and gossipy women, all while the teenagers of the town play games like Truth or Dare, and take drugs. Taking the offered glass from Xavier, I toss the contents back. I’ll need something to take away the sting of the night.
A woman’s scream echoes down the hallway I just came from, the man she was with leans over the edge of the stone railing of the room’s balcony as he spills the contents of his stomach. It’s disgusting. Her screams call for attention again, and that’s when I see her, Katy. Her eyes wide as the blood sticks to her hair and dress. Dead.
Chapter Eight
Sebastian
Running towards the screams, I make my way through the crowd of perfume, dresses, and drunk men. My first thoughts are worry for Quinn, and guilt for leaving her alone in this place. My next are relief when I see her until I notice she is leaning against Xavier as if she can barely stand on her own. Reaching her, I hold her close, her words muffled by my clothes. Pulling back in order to hear her, she speaks in broken sobs the only words I can make out are Katy and dead. Turning around, I look at where the crowd is huddled, “Katy?”
I don’t waste time as I shove people out of my way, my hands finding her cold, still body. Looking up as I hold her close, I register the flash of guilt on Quinn’s face. She wouldn’t, she wouldn’t, would she? The sound of sirens stops my thoughts, my back already straightening as I wipe my face with a handkerchief. Some would feel safe knowing that the police are going to be involved, not me though, I know that if this was a Society death, then the killer would go free. I don’t move as the officers clear the room, my face a mask of indifference at their demands to let her go. “Mr. Johnson, for me to do my job you need to leave,” the officer tells me. Nodding, I take hold of Quinn’s hand and wait for them to do their work.
Hissing in pain, Quinn pulls her hand from mine as we walk outside, “What the fuck Sebastian?” My hand acts on its own, wrapping around her slender neck, “Did you kill her? Where had you been for the last hour?” Pressing into my grip, her eyes darken to a dark green, “I was alone, reading, in the room you left me in. Why weren’t you with her? Or were you? Hmm? Isn’t she your little pet?”
Letting go of her, I turn and shout into the night. Quinn’s hands finding my waist, “I am sorry. I may have hated her, but I didn’t kill her.” Turning around, I bring her to my chest, my eyes closing at the feel of her, “She was my sister. Nathaniel’s daughter, but no one else knows, not yet.” I hear her gasp, her whispered sympathies causing me to cry for the first time in nearly ten years.
We are called one by one inside, officers escorting some to the police
