Chapter Thirty-Seven – Molly

 

The night air chilled my sinuses as I breathed in deeply and positively luxuriated in my escape from the house’s stifling environment. No sea of flesh out here on the porch. No sounds of sex and soft moans, no string quartet playing over everything, no waitstaff wandering the party with trays full of drugs and alcohol. Most importantly, there weren’t any more gentlemen suitors coming after me. I’d had to dodge two others by using the powder room excuse on my way out here. Now, it was only me and the nocturnal creatures, the shadows softly draping themselves over everything despite the bright floodlights shining down from sconces nestled in the house’s outer walls.

I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to warm myself as I regretted not having worn a shawl or a wrap. Anything at all would’ve been better than what I had to cover me, which was more or less nothing.

Now the thousand-dollar question was: Where was Luke?

Had he managed to get inside the mansion yet? Or was I really as alone as I felt in that moment?

As I stood there with my hands on the rail, contemplating where he might be, my thoughts suddenly cleared, and my heart began to race.

When I’d been a girl, one of the neighborhood boys had decided he could use binoculars to see inside my room while I was changing before going for a swim. I remembered a feeling on my back of being watched, like some kind of hunter-gatherer instinct had kicked in. Back then, I’d spun around and caught him spying on me from the limbs of a tree down the way. I’d closed the blinds and the curtains, furious about what he’d done. The next day, a girlfriend helped me get revenge by pantsing him at lunch in front of almost the whole school.

He never looked in my window again, but that sensation of being watched stuck with me through the years.

And that feeling was exactly what I was experiencing as I gazed out into the shadows. What was that phrase, about staring into the abyss, and it staring back after too long? I swallowed hard as I began to gain a visceral understanding.

What could be watching me, though? The capcaun? That was likely, considering where I was standing. I swallowed hard, not wanting to make any sudden movements.

God, I’d been so stupid to come out here on my own. But what other choice did I have? The zmeu, not to mention that software CEO, was wandering the halls of the mansion. This was his domain, after all. But I knew if I ran into him, that that would be the end of this. And me.

But what would staying out here do for me? How safe was I out here, alone and unprotected by Luke?

I backed away from the railing, each breath almost a wheeze as I turned away from the desert and started to head back for the house.

The window tinting was heavy, enough so that anyone who was trying to see in at this time of night would struggle, especially combined with the glaring floodlights positioned every ten feet or so. The room was filled to the brim with the coupling of wealthy businessmen and willing prostitutes on the scattered chaise lounges and wingback chairs, and I imagined I could hear the sound of flesh on flesh.

I stopped in my tracks as something gripped my heart like a cold claw, its snappers locking around and seizing me till it seemed like the next beat just wouldn’t come.

There he was, walking amongst the crowd, looking on with serene pleasure as the partygoers indulged themselves in all the carnal delights he’d provided. The architect of this whole weekend. The man who had seemingly looked into my soul the night before.

Heidi’s kidnapper.

Dominic.

He wore the same domino mask from the night before, with its little piece reaching up to his forehead, and a tailor-made tuxedo of some Italian cut, hair coiffed just right.

I stepped back from the windows, nearly tripping over my heels as one of them snagged in a gap on the patio. My shoe came off, and I stumbled back a little as my bare foot landed on the cold surface.

Behind me, rocks skittered and ran down the mountainside.

Frantically, I turned around, my breath catching in my throat.

The capcaun was here.

I just knew it was here. I could practically feel it in my bones. I peered out into the nighttime landscape, imagining four glowing red eyes peering back at me.

I groaned. Why had I come here? I wasn’t like Luke. I wasn’t some kind of superhero with supernatural powers and military training. How did I ever think I was equipped to deal with this? I couldn’t even stand outside in the dark without having a panic attack.

I needed to go. I needed to just march right back out to the valet and demand to have the car back. Consequences be damned. Luke had been right; this wasn’t the place for me. This wasn’t the place for a barely employed nanny.

I was only myself, and nothing more.

I bent down, readjusted my shoe, and slipped it back on. Sucking in a deep breath as I straightened out the front of my dress, I went to stand upright. I turned away from the dark, my eyes trailing over the windows. They stopped when they reached Dominic’s.

He returned my look, his stare piercing right through the window tint, freezing me in place from the shock of how powerful he seemed. How confident as he stood in the middle of the flesh-ridden party.

Unable to move, my mouth just dropped open a little.

He started to come towards me, each footfall like a peal of thunder in my mind despite the fact that I couldn’t hear it. A cocky, malevolent-looking smile formed on his lips, and he began to walk to the door. He reached out, grasping the doorknob in his hand.

Unsure of what to do, or where to go, I took a deep breath as I stepped back towards the railing. He had me in his grasp, and he knew it. Out here, with my back to the darkness, and no way off this porch, I was right where the zmeu wanted me.

But before he could step outside, a staff member came walking up in a seeming hurry.

“Sir?” the staff member said, getting his attention.

“What is it?” Dominic asked, his accent as thick as sauce on his words.

With his face turned away slightly, the staff member leaned in close and whispered something.

Dominic’s eyes went wide. “Kevin?”

The employee shrugged. “We can’t find him anywhere.”

The zmeu nodded. He released the doorknob, letting it swing back into place. With a little knowing wave, he was back into the party, leading his employee away.

I let my breath out in a great rush, my whole body feeling as if it were deflating.

“Hello again,” said a familiar voice from beside me.

I nearly jumped off the porch in surprise.

“Christ, I didn’t mean to scare you,” said the nameless software CEO from before. He must have come out to the porch through a different door farther down the building from me. Now, he was standing just a few feet from me, drink in hand. “I came looking for you when you didn’t show up in the private room like we’d discussed.”

Slowly, I turned to him, hand to my rapidly beating heart. I gave him the best, most genuine smile I could, which couldn’t have been sincere-looking in the slightest. “Sorry, I couldn’t find my friend. And I didn’t want to disappoint.”

“Oh, believe me,” he said, setting the glass of liquor on the porch railing, “that wouldn’t have been a disappointment. Not at all.”

And then he was reaching for me and trying to pull me into his arms.